With the changing domain in the hospitality sector, chefs and food & beverage managers are viewed to be the most sought-after careers in the hotel management field. Though choosing one of the careers out of these two categories may be as easy as picking up your favourite genre of movies, it is often difficult for students who slightly have an interest in both these disciplines. The typical contrast making both these different is the direct involvement of a career as a chef in the kitchen and the overseeing of the kitchen operations and other responsibilities as the food & beverage manager career. Check out the complete article ‘Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager’ to know more about each of these career choices!

Also Read: Hotel Management Career Options in India

Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager

A chef is a person who prepares, cooks, and presents dishes for customers. A Chef works in a hotel or restaurant kitchen and is responsible for the efficient operation of the kitchen, including its various departments, inventory, other chefs/cooks, and so on. As a result, in addition to knowledge of food preparation, a Chef must also have managerial responsibilities in the restaurant. Whereas, a Food & Beverage Manager plays an important role in a restaurant or hospitality establishment, ensuring proper service, preparing and executing daily work plans, providing directions to restaurant employees, managing the kitchen and bar operations, and ensuring customer comfort and satisfaction.

The table below distinguishes Chef and Food & Beverage Manager based on Personality Traits:

Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager: Educational Requirements

The education requirements for both Chef and Food & Beverage Manager can be checked from the table provided below.

Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager: Courses

Most of the Hotel Management courses in India have a course curriculum that can enable a person to become a Chef as well as a Food & Beverage Manager. However, there are some courses that are better suited for one of the two careers.

Courses to Become a Chef

Given below are the courses that are good choices for becoming a Chef in India.

Also Read:BHM vs BBA (HM) vs BA Tourism

Courses to Become a Food & Beverage Manager

The following table contains the courses that are best suited to become a Food & Beverage Manager in India.

Also Read:Hotel Management vs Culinary Arts

Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager: Skills Required

The table below gives a comparison of the skills required for a Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager. Candidates can check which skill they are good at or most comfortable with and use it to shortlist their choice of career.

Also Read:How to Choose a Hotel Management College After 12th

Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager: Career Scope

The career scope of a chef and food & beverage manager is as diverse as both of these disciplines. With the varying working environments to diverse job roles, we advise you to go through the separate career scopes of both these careers below:

Career Scope of Chef 

Chefs have a diversity to work across different work grounds and various job roles. Below are some of the key career scopes of a chef:

Executive Chef

Refer to the responsibilities of a career as an executive chef: 

• These chefs work in hotels, restaurants and multiple other food service establishments. 
• Executive chefs are mostly involved in seeing different elements of the kitchen from kitchen staff management to food preparation to menu planning and more. 

Catering Chef

Check out about the responsibilities of catering chefs below:

• Catering chefs are mostly seen working in corporate events, weddings and parties. 
• They are involved in the preparation and presentation of food for special events. 

Sous Chef

Sous chefs' careers are regarded to be a bit indifferent to other chefs, check out more below:

• Sous chefs also assist executive chefs in the management of the kitchen. 
• These chefs also lead a team of chefs and oversee the food preparation and presentation.

Private Chef

Refer to the responsibilities of private chefs: 

• As the name suggests, private chefs work in a home or yacht. 
• They prepare food or meals for individuals or families in a private setting. 

Pastry Chef

Check out about pastry chefs below:

• Pastry chefs work in various settings including bakeries, hotels and restaurants. 
• Aligning to their job role name, they specialise in preparing baked goods and desserts. 

Consultant Chef

Refer to more details about consultant chefs below:

• Consultant chefs are employed in work settings including restaurants, hotels and various food service establishments. 
• They are responsible for developing menus, improving operations in the kitchen and training staff. 

Career Scope of Food & Beverage Manager

From menu planning to budget management, food & beverage managers are directly responsible for managing the operations of restaurants, hotels and other settings. Refer to some of the popular career options taken by food & beverage managers:

Catering Manager

Check out the responsibilities of catering managers below:

• Catering managers are accountable for managing the operations of catering businesses. 
• They also do the financial management, menu planning, staff supervision and others. 

Restaurant Manager 

Restaurant managers work in hotel or restaurant settings, refer to more about them below:

• These managers are directly accountable for the complete restaurant management. 
• They look after the operations of the restaurant which comprises staff management, financial management and menu planning. 

Event Coordinator

Refer to the roles of event coordinators below:

• Event coordinators work in events such as parties, corporate events and weddings. 
• They plan and coordinate the special events. 
• These event coordinators also select the event venue, vendor coordination and menu planning. 

Hotel Manager

Check about the hotel manager career below:

• Hotel managers oversee the operations in the food & beverage department of the hotel. 
• They develop menus, manage staff and secure customer satisfaction. 

Cruise Ship Manager 

Refer to the responsibilities of cruise ship managers below:

• These managers are responsible for looking after the operations of the food & beverage department on the cruise ship. 
• They also have to manage the staff members, develop menus as per the demand and maintain customer satisfaction.

Chef vs Food and Beverage Manager: Salary

Well, deciding the career whether as a chef or food & beverage manager is dependent on the interest of the candidate. It is also one of the important factors to be considered by the candidates before finalising their career choice. 

There are a few parameters based on which the salary structure of students will depend, including:

• Experience level of candidates 
• Type of organisation the candidate is working in
• Size of the organisation 
• Location of the organisation 
• Type of cuisine they are specialised in 

Check out the individual salary structures of different roles in both of these careers below:

One very important thing to note is that we see that while Chef mostly plays a background role in most restaurants i.e. he/she does not directly interact with the customers, a Food & Beverage Manager is a person who can be seen at the forefront of the restaurant operations.

Both of these job roles are very important for a restaurant to run efficiently and successfully. Thus, both the Chef and the Food & Beverage Manager have a good salary scope and can seek good employment opportunities in any part of the world.

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