Inefficient systems are wasting over 250 hours a year per employee across the F&B industry.
Hospitality is supposed to be about people and allowing teams to unlock talent and unleash great service. However, for F&B operators, an alarming amount of the day is spent alone with spreadsheets, browser tabs and system logins that don’t talk to each other. Behind the scenes, thousands of food and beverage businesses are losing valuable hours every week.
New research from Access Hospitality has revealed the extent to which disjointed systems that cost time and money have become widespread in the hospitality industry.
The true cost of disconnection
Over four in 10 (44%) F&B businesses use between two and four different software systems regularly, while more than one in 10 (12%) are juggling eight or more each day.
It’s no surprise that, as a result, over a third (38%) of F&B employees report spending one hour or more a day switching between different systems or manually combining data.
With an average of 58 minutes a day being wasted, this means that in a full working week, 4 hours 50 minutes are lost (and 250 hours over a full year) simply switching between different systems – time that could be far better spent doing things to improve the guest experience.
A lack of connection doesn’t just waste time; it undermines efficiency and morale. When systems aren’t connected, decision-making is slower, reporting becomes inconsistent, and teams are left frustrated, which often impacts service.
For frontline staff, the impact is just as real: missed updates, rota clashes, and inaccurate stock levels. System inefficiencies add friction to daily operations in an already pressured environment.
How AI solves the problem
Designed for the fast-paced F&B industry, Access Evo is an all-in-one platform powered by AI that unites data and systems to ensure results stand out. It is designed to empower F&B businesses to focus on meeting guests’ needs as the entire operation is brought together in one seamless platform.
This integrated platform has a tailored dashboard that delivers live insights from multiple software tools, so you know what’s coming, not just what’s happening. Smarter, faster decisions and measurable ROI are then enabled across your operations.
Champa Magesh, Managing Director of Access Hospitality, shares: “We provide the freedom to do more. Instead of juggling multiple logins and re-entering the same data, a process costing F&B businesses over 250 hours a year, Access Evo provides seamless, real-time information from one dashboard.
“From handling labour costs and sales performance to keeping an eye on stock and compliance, these processes become more streamlined and automated. This means you can then spend less time operating systems and more time reacting faster and managing your team, business and customer satisfaction.
“With everything connected in one place, teams can focus on what truly matters - delivering exceptional service, driving profitability, and creating efficient operations. The result is a more agile, productive and connected business ready to seize new opportunities and respond to challenges.”
Reclaim time from where it matters most with AI
The future of hospitality isn’t about introducing more systems - it’s about connection. By integrating operations under one roof, Access Evo allows F&B businesses to experience solutions that don’t bring any surprises. Instead, it’s about creating harmony between people, processes and technology, ensuring every part of the business speaks the same language.
From FOH to back-office, information flows seamlessly, empowering teams to make faster, more confident decisions.
Working smarter, not harder, frees up the hours lost to manual admin so businesses can focus on what really counts: people, service, and growth. Technology that feels invisible but provides results that stand out.
Magesh adds: “In hospitality, the human touch is irreplaceable – owners and operators know their establishments best. Access Evo doesn’t take that away; it amplifies it, delivering real-world solutions that make a tangible impact so staff can make the right call in the moment. Intuition is enhanced with insight, so data and experience work together to create more connected and responsive hospitality processes.”
To learn more, download the 2025 Report: AI in the Hospitality Sector.
Methodology
*Source: Access Hospitality Technology Research, 2025
*Total number of hours lost: the data revealed that 0.96 hours on average are spent per day by F&B employees when switching between different systems or manually combining data. This is 58 minutes a day, and with F&B managers working an average of 5 days per week. This is 4.83 hours per week. For the year (52 weeks), the total is 250 hours, 9 minutes.
