“By implementing best practices in food and beverage systemwide, Meyer Jabara Hotels is seeing consistent revenue growth year over year,” said Justin Jabara, MJH VP of Business Development and Acquisitions. “In 2017, we asked the IMPACT team to focus on improving guest satisfaction, growing food and beverage sales, and lowering overall FB costs. Their contribution was impressive.”

Here are a few IMPACT results:

• The Ala Carte Committee worked with MJH properties that have larger retail restaurants to grow overall ala carte sales. By year end 2017, beverage sales increased by 8.7%.
• The Catering Committee, through a holiday sales contest, increased revenues in December 2017 by $235,000 over December 2016, and built an online Menu Library that is being shared systemwide.
• Through its partnership with Avendra, many MJH properties converted to US Foods, a Master Food Supplier. As a result, the Purchasing Committee reported that food costs were down systemwide.

IMPACT Committee members put in countless hours away from their full-time roles to focus on food and beverage and find ways to improve this very important revenue stream and differentiator. Last year, the Unique Experiences Committee kept MJH properties updated on seasonal menus, local food-sourcing programs, and on-site Chef’s Gardens while the Limited Services Committee worked with teams at hotels with smaller food-and-beverage operations to help them navigate the purchasing conversion to US Foods. Overall, the group is making a big “impact” on the MJH FB product, and corporate couldn’t be happier.

“The FB IMPACT committee brings together decades of experience within Meyer Jabara Hotels, and the team works collaboratively to enhance the FB experience,” said Eric Churchill, MJH senior vice president of operations. “Whether it’s a complimentary continental breakfast at our limited-service hotels or our full-service hotels with multiple outlets, we look at opportunities to enhance the guest experience and differentiate ourselves from the competition. We recognize how important FB offerings are to our guests, and therefore we strive to deliver a world class experience through this outlet.”

All for One, One for All

Each sub-committee within the IMPACT program is comprised of food-and-beverage managers from varying Meyer Jabara properties. Instead of directives coming down from the corporate office, these hoteliers are collaborating at the property level to share what is working in their specific markets and sharing those initiatives across the MJH portfolio.

“The MJH IMPACT initiative is giving us real-life results,” said Joe Kelly, general manager of the Sheraton Philadelphia University City hotel. “The success at one property enables other hotels to determine if an idea can work for them. By sharing results, it supports why a sister hotel should try a new initiative.

“IMPACT has been in place for three years now,” Kelly said. “It evolved from doing the basics, like establishing purchasing goals and sharing occasional results from a specific hotel, to organizing companywide beverage promotions and setting up competitions for hotels to be awarded for sales and profit growth. These shared practices are reaching associates at all levels within our properties’ food-and-beverage departments; employees are aware of our focus on FB as a company and everyone is encouraged to jump in by contributing ideas and staying actively involved.”

Journey Culture Cultivating FB Success

Meyer Jabara Hotels has cultivated a unique culture known as the “Journey” — a combination of strategic leadership tools and behavioral principles that focus each associate on providing exceptional and memorable experiences for their guests. At the end of the day, what makes Meyer Jabara Hotels different is its people. This culture enables the company to attract and retain the best-of-the-best associates who deliver an industry-leading customer experience.

“Each FB IMPACT Committee walks the talk of the Journey culture,” Kelly said. “We are successful because we actively practice Journey principles. This includes operating with transparency – we share results, both good and bad, across our hotels. Maybe we abandon an idea or collaborate to figure out what went wrong and try again. We communicate frequently and share results so that we learn from each other’s successes and failures. We follow a detailed plan of action to determine what each committee will focus on, who will be responsible, when we will complete our initiative, and how we will achieve these goals.”

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