Discovering the Strategic Advantage of Seasonal Staffing in Food and Beverage Companies

As one of the most dynamic industries operating at present, the food and beverage industry remains under constant pressure to meet the customers’ changing demands and their urge to try new and different tastes and flavors. With an aim to stay ahead of the competition curve, food and beverage companies always try to create and launch new and unique products.The primary factor that affects the demands and needs of customers in the food and beverage industry is seasonality. When seasons change, the preferences and demands of customers also change and this causes the food and beverage companies to encounter a lot of challenges resulting from increased workload. Here seasonal staffing comes to the rescue! This article gives an overview of seasonality in the context of food and beverage companies and the key challenges associated with it. It also demonstrates the strategic advantage of seasonal staffing in food and beverage companies with a focus on contingent staffing solutions.

Seasonality and its challenges in the food and beverage industry

Seasonality in food and beverage is a natural event affected by certain factors such as changes in weather conditions, holidays, and festive events. The food and beverage products that consumers love during one season may not be preferred in the next season. For instance, fresh juices, salads, ice creams, and cold beverages are highly preferred and consumed by customers during the summer season. However, the demand for the same products decreases during the colder season as consumers demand hot beverages like coffee, hot chocolate, tea, etc. While the changing seasons and the evolving customer demands bring enormous opportunities for food and beverage businesses, these also present challenges that cannot be overlooked.  

The top three challenges affecting the food and beverage industry due to changing seasonal demands are:

1. Inventory management: For certain food and beverage products, the demand graph fluctuates all year round. In such cases, it becomes challenging for companies to strike the right balance between products and their demands. They need to ensure that they hold adequate inventory to fulfill the demand and not excess inventory that could go to waste.
2. Shortage of labor: Another major challenge prevalent in this industry is the food and beverage staffing shortages. Due to seasonal increases in product demands, food and beverage companies need more workers. Inversely, when product demands decrease during the off-peak seasons, it becomes financially burdensome for employers to retain such a huge workforce, leading to mass layoffs.
3. Quality control: Sustaining the quality of products during seasonal highs is yet another challenge for food and beverage manufacturers. Even when companies have adequate staff to handle the increased pressure on manufacturing and supply chains, they might fail to meet quality standards in the absence of a robust quality measurement system.

Related read: Leveraging Contingent Staffing for Seasonal Demands: A Practical Guide

Seasonal staffing: What is it?

For all the above challenges, there comes one solution that can be utilized by food and beverage companies, and that is seasonal staffing with contingent workers. Seasonal staffing means hiring temporary workers for the management of the increased demand with changing seasons. For instance, outdoor restaurants specializing in summertime menus can hire temporary waitstaff during the summer holiday tourism boom. Similarly, food retailers or supermarkets can switch to seasonal staffing by engaging temporary retail workers or increasing customer service teams during peak Christmas sales periods.

How can seasonal staffing in food and beverage be strategically advantageous?

 The ways in which seasonal staffing in food and beverage can be beneficial are described below:

1. Flexibility in labor management

By hiring seasonal workers, food and beverage employers can efficiently scale their business up or down according to seasonal demand fluctuations. Contradictory to permanent, full-time hires, employers don’t need to offer seasonal contingent workers long-term employment.

2. Cost-efficiency

By opting for seasonal staffing in food and beverage, employers only pay for the additional support when they require it. With no long-term commitments, no added benefits and perks, and no fixed compensation, employers can manage workforce costs more efficiently while meeting seasonal demands.

3. Rapid onboarding

Expert staffing agencies can bind food and beverage employers with a vast pool of skilled and talented professionals who can rightly fit into their business and fulfill their seasonal hiring needs in no time. Besides that, staffing agencies undertake a streamlined approach to screening, shortlisting, interviewing, assessing, and connecting potential candidates to food and beverage employers. This assists in preventing unwanted delays, which usually occur during the direct hiring process.

4. Introduce specialized skills and unique perspectives to teams

With their wide array of skills and knowledge gained from previous work experience, every seasonal hire in food and beverage companies helps enrich the stagnant teams demonstrating fresh perspectives, creative ideas, and innovative solutions. 

When food and beverage employers choose to hire seasonal employees through reputable staffing agencies, they are sure to get hold of professionals with specialized skills, thereby engaging the right talent in their business during hours of need.

5. Improve morale and boost productivity of existing teams

With the increased tasks and duties during seasonal peaks, the existing, full-time employees usually feel physically as well as mentally exhausted, failing to achieve the desired work-life balance. Thus, with seasonal staffing in food and beverage, employers can reduce stress on permanent team members, providing them with extra hands on deck to meet seasonal demands. This not only decreases workload but also creates a positive work environment.

Conclusion

Seasonal staffing in food and beverage companies is not just a necessity; it is a strategic move. Seasonal contingent workers provide food and beverage businesses with the additional support they need during seasonal highs. The challenges of inventory management, labor shortages, and quality control that are usually witnessed during seasonal peaks can be efficiently addressed through seasonal contingent staffing solutions. 

When you are looking for seasonal staffing solutions for your food and beverage business, the key is to search for the right staffing partner! And that’s where Denken Solutions comes in. Contact us today and fulfill your staffing needs with ease and efficiency!