Evaluating the Quality of Food Service Products in Shopping Centers

The urgency of the research topic is due to the growing tendency of diversification of restaurant business and its penetration into the trading space of business centers, shopping and entertainment centers, supermarkets and hypermarkets, which requires the study of their economic feasibility and effectiveness (expediency). The purpose of the article is to assess the quality of services of food products and the prospects for their development in Ukraine. In the process of research common methods of study in economic science have been used: abstract-logical and economic-mathematical modeling. On the basis of analytical marketing methods using graphic vector mapping, the main elements of the formation of quality food service restaurant services in shopping centers have been investigated. The article outlines the advantages and disadvantages of placing foodcourts in shopping centers, and determines and assesses the quality of their provision of restaurant services. The scientific novelty of the research is to study the innovative concepts of restaurant facilities (foodcourts), to substantiate the criteria for the quality of their services, and also to conglomerate the estimates obtained in the construction of the quality vector. The practical significance of the results obtained is that they provide theoretical preconditions for the formation of competitive formats of restaurant facilities. The given comparative characteristics of the conditions of activity of foodcourts demonstrate the prospect of diversification of restaurant business in zones of guaranteed high traffic - shopping centers. On the basis of studying the criteria of quality assessment of food service standards of the metropolitan shopping center, the quality vectors of various restaurant concepts have been formed. The analysis showed that consumers choose the establishment mainly due to the brand recognition and the convenience of the location in the Fudzon shopping center. Therefore, it has been proposed to focus on the efforts of owners of food products on quality management and the introduction of new marketing technologies that will create a competitive restaurant product attractive to investing. Such a tool for improving the quality of service may be the Mystery Shopping ("secret buyer") method used in the form of longterm or permanent plans to control the service and motivation of staff in the network of service restaurants restaurant facilities and allows you to quickly identify the shortcomings.