Interview with West Ngcwabe, Food & Beverages - Group Manager of Fahrenheit Hospitality

Can you introduce us to your area within the group?

My name is West, I am responsible for food and beverage for the group. I cover all of the hotels within the umbrella of the Fahrenheit Hospitality. It is a very complex department of which I would say is the revenue/cash cow of all of our hotels. Obviously there is a lot of attention to detail and consistency that goes behind that. Food and beverage (F&B) is probably where 80% of the revenue comes from. There has to be a consistent brand or product that we offer throughout the group. Everything doesn’t have to be necessarily the same, because each hotel has its own identity and each hotel has its own unique F&B aspect within Fahrenheit. When you come to Maison Fahrenheit you identify with Maison, when you come to Loft Fahrenheit you identify with Loft and when you come to Morningside, which we manage, it also has its unique identity. In terms of quality of service and the quality of the food, it all has to gel together and be consistent with each hotel.

My job is thus very complex because there must be that consistency throughout all of the brands and all of the products. I can’t have one that is much better than the other, they all have to be within the same standard. Consistency is a huge challenge. I think any hotelier in Nigeria will tell you that consistency, whether it is in human capital or consistency of receiving the same food produce, is a huge challenge. You can’t just walk into a place and expect human capital to be on par or to be that great; it is something that you have to invest in with time and training etc. to get what you want. It is different in other environments where you know that you are surrounded by human capital that has the capability of executing certain things. Not taking anything away from what we have on the ground, it is just something that you have to invest time in whether it be in the kitchen or any other service area.

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