Hey! Hospo Biz Owner.
Rent a Smooth Operator.
Less chaos. Smarter systems. Better business.
Running a hospitality venue is a juggling act!
Imagine Collective helps cafés, restaurants, QSRs and commercial kitchens get on top of food costs, menus, people and processes — from new openings to multi-site growth.
Practical know-how. Hands-on support. No fluff.
Your venue. Your Challenges. Our Know-how.
From one kitchen to a whole group of venues, we’ve got you covered.
Need help with a specific operational headache or looking for someone to support your business over the longer term?
Rent a Smooth Operator for a one-off project or ongoing hospitality operations support — whatever works for your venue.
From food cost reviews and menu development to supplier sourcing, operational audits, team training and day-to-day systems, we get into the nitty-gritty of your business.
No cookie-cutter solutions. Just practical hospitality expertise tailored to your needs, your team and your commercial goals.
Let’s get your venue running like a well-oiled kitchen!
Cost of Goods and data driven menus
We jump into your cost of goods (COGs) and help you understand where you can improve to boost your bottom line.
Create the perfect menu
We can help design your pantry list and keep up with the latest trends in the market. We keep our ear on the ground so you don't have to.
Labour Review
Understand how to support your team better, improve kitchen functionality and reduce wage expenditure all whilst boosting customer experience.
Food Safety
Make sure your kitchen and team are up to scratch with current Australian industry standard safety procedures and processes.
Business Optimising
Make things run more smoothly, make more profits, get happier customers. From SOPs to Ops we have you covered.
Smashing Kids Menus
No more boring chicken tenders and chips, make your venue known for offering families great options for their kids.
Food Audits & Mystery Shop
Get ready for an external audit from a governing body or council, or run your own internal audits to make sure everything is as it should be. With our support, we can ensure your commercial kitchen is ready to be assessed.
Multi-site growth & Strategies
Whether you're in HORECA, QSR, Aged Care, Restaurants Cafes, or Meal-Solutions, we help you ensure you successfully launch over multiple sites and still continue to deliver the same great experience your customers know and love.
Easily train your team
Our experienced and qualified chefs and ops managers can assist you with in-venue training. We teach your team in person, sharing knowledge and know-how. We equip your team with keeping your kitchen and front-of-house innovative and profitable.
Product & Pantry List Tendering
We reduce your costs and wastage by creating and/or sourcing the perfect product for your pantry. Stop wasting your time on Google, and let us find the right products for your business.
Start a Meal Delivery Service
From helping you with your product labels, to optimising your kitchen and work flows, we give you the end-to-end support to get your meal delivery service running and profitable.
Marketing Support
We make your brand pop more than your fave bottle of champagne.
We can be your support to making your venue stand out from the crowd, attract and keep more customers.
Boost Your Hospitality Success
Borrow Expertise, Transform Operations, and Spice Up Your Menu
In the competitive food and beverage industry, scaling is essential. Imagine Collective offers the operational expertise you need to thrive.
Unlock Your Potential: Our experienced Operations Managers and Menu Development Experts; here to elevate your business.
- Streamlined Operations: Access expert knowledge for optimised logistics, refined menu development, and exceptional customer experiences.
- Drive Growth: Tackle challenges with efficient processes, quality control, and outstanding service.
With Imagine Collective, you gain:
- Expert process refinement and productivity boosts.
- Tailored inventory management and cost-control strategies.
- Market insights to stay competitive.
- A focus on building brand loyalty through exceptional customer service.
Empower your business today—partner with Imagine Collective for a scalable future in the food and beverage industry!
Why Choose Us?
Are you in the food and beverage service industry? Look no further!
We’re your ideal match for all things food and beverage.
Your perfect venue partner, we have everything you need from a food service consultant.
We keep our ear out for the latest industry trends and standards, keeping your heads and shoulders above your competition.
With our expertise, we help you find the right brands, understand trends, and launch new products.
We connect you with industry experts, and of course, the best value food and beverage deals to optimise your margins.
We’re venue activation experts, guiding you through the industry with 20 years of FMCG experience.
Ready to pop?
Some things are better together
Like Cheese and
Crackers
Like a sommelier pairs the perfect wine with its matching dish, we pair end-users with the right food partners and brands – both those we represent and those we don’t.
Our guiding star is to ensure everyone’s goals are met.
Better yet, we provide ongoing support to maintain these relationships – so you can move from strength to strength!
We break down food trends, dietary needs, why it is important to have separate prep areas and much more creating the perfect pantry list and menu.
Allow Imagine Collective to help expand and enrich your relationships while you focus on your customers (and not your cost base).
get your commercial kitchen live and kickin'
With support from Imagine Collective you can get absolutely everything set to open a successful commercial kitchen of any size or shape.
We match you with the right brands, products and industry experts to skyrocket your business.
Who do we work with?
We love working with hospitality venues & Groups that align with our own values.
Working with us lets you connect with our growing network of FMGC businesses.
What our clients say
Here are just a few of our glowing testimonials from people just like you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Imagine Collective provides hospitality operations consulting for restaurants, cafés, quick-service restaurants (QSR), hospitality groups and aged care foodservice operations across Brisbane and Australia.
Our operational consulting focuses on improving systems, cost control, labour, procurement, foodservice performance, SOPs, menus, compliance and day-to-day operational efficiency.
What does a hospitality operations consultant do?
A hospitality operations consultant helps foodservice businesses improve the way their operations perform day to day.
This can include reviewing labour and rostering, cost of goods (COGS), purchasing, menus, P&L performance, standard operating procedures, food safety, team structures, supplier arrangements and operational workflows.
Imagine Collective works with restaurants, cafés, QSR businesses, hospitality groups and aged care foodservice operations to identify operational gaps, improve systems and create stronger commercial and operational controls.
Does Imagine Collective provide hospitality operations consulting in Brisbane?
Yes. Imagine Collective is a Brisbane-based hospitality and food business consultancy providing operational support across Queensland and Australia.
Our hospitality operations consulting can include:
- Operational audits
- COGS and food-cost analysis
- Labour and rostering reviews
- SOPs and operations manuals
- Procurement and supplier reviews
- Menu development and menu engineering
- P&L analysis
- Food safety systems
- POS and operational technology
- Tendering
- Operational management support
Imagine Collective can support individual venues, multi-site operators, QSR businesses and aged care foodservice operations.
Does Imagine Collective work with businesses outside Brisbane?
Yes. Imagine Collective works with hospitality and foodservice businesses across Australia.
Our team can support restaurants, cafés, QSR operators, hospitality groups and aged care organisations requiring operational reviews, systems development, cost control, menu analysis, procurement and ongoing operational support.
The consulting approach is tailored to the size, structure, location and operational requirements of each organisation.
Does Imagine Collective work with QSR businesses?
Yes. Imagine Collective provides operational consulting for quick-service restaurant and fast-casual businesses.
QSR operations require strong systems, consistency and cost control, particularly when operating across multiple locations.
Imagine Collective can assist QSR businesses with areas including:
- SOP development
- Labour and rostering
- COGS management
- Menu engineering
- Procurement
- Supplier management
- Operational audits
- Food safety
- POS systems
- Multi-site consistency
- Operational processes
- New-site and growth systems
The objective is to create repeatable operational systems that support efficiency, customer experience and scalable growth.
Does Imagine Collective provide foodservice consulting for aged care?
Yes. Imagine Collective can provide operational and foodservice consulting for aged care organisations.
Aged care foodservice operations require careful management of food quality, cost, procurement, systems, compliance and operational efficiency.
Imagine Collective can assist with areas including:
- Foodservice operational reviews
- Procurement
- Supplier tendering
- COGS analysis
- Menu development
- Kitchen and foodservice workflows
- SOPs
- Food safety systems
- Labour and rostering
- Operational audits
- Inventory and stock management
The scope of each engagement is developed around the specific operational and foodservice requirements of the organisation.
What is included in a hospitality operational audit?
A hospitality operational audit examines how a business is performing across the areas that affect efficiency, consistency and financial performance.
Depending on the operation, the review may include:
- Cost of goods
- Labour and rostering
- Purchasing
- Procurement
- Stock and inventory
- Menu performance
- P&L results
- SOPs
- Food safety
- POS systems
- Supplier arrangements
- Management systems
- Kitchen and service workflows
For QSR, multi-site and aged care operations, an audit may also examine consistency between sites and whether operational systems are being followed effectively.
The purpose is to identify operational gaps, unnecessary costs, risks and opportunities for improvement.
Can a hospitality consultant help reduce labour costs?
Yes. A hospitality operations consultant can help identify whether labour is being used efficiently and where rostering or operational processes may be contributing to unnecessary costs.
Imagine Collective can review labour and rostering alongside sales or service demand, operating requirements, workflows and management structures.
For restaurants, cafés and QSR businesses, this may involve matching labour more effectively to trading patterns.
For aged care foodservice operations, the review may consider production requirements, service schedules, kitchen workflows and workforce utilisation.
The objective is not simply to reduce hours. It is to create a labour structure that supports the required level of service while improving operational efficiency.
Can Imagine Collective help reduce food costs and COGS?
Yes. COGS and food-cost management are important parts of Imagine Collective’s hospitality and foodservice consulting.
A COGS review can examine:
- Supplier pricing
- Purchasing
- Product specifications
- Portion control
- Menu pricing
- Stock management
- Waste
- Inventory
- Procurement
- Menu margins
For QSR and multi-site operators, this can also involve reviewing product consistency and purchasing across multiple locations.
For aged care organisations, food-cost analysis can be considered alongside menu requirements, procurement and foodservice delivery.
The goal is to understand where costs are being generated and identify practical opportunities to improve control.
Can Imagine Collective create SOPs and operations manuals?
Yes. Imagine Collective can develop standard operating procedures and operations manuals for restaurants, cafés, QSR businesses, hospitality groups and aged care foodservice operations.
SOPs can cover areas such as:
- Opening and closing procedures
- Ordering
- Receiving goods
- Stock management
- Food safety
- Kitchen processes
- Service procedures
- Cleaning
- Management responsibilities
- Procurement
- Reporting
- Operational audits
Strong SOPs reduce reliance on knowledge held by individual employees and help businesses create more consistent operating standards.
For QSR, multi-site and aged care organisations, documented procedures can be particularly important for maintaining consistency across teams and locations.
Can Imagine Collective help improve restaurant, QSR or foodservice profitability?
Imagine Collective can help businesses identify operational factors that may be affecting financial performance.
This can include reviewing:
- COGS
- Labour
- Menu margins
- Supplier costs
- Procurement
- Stock and waste
- P&L performance
- Operating systems
- Workflows
- Management processes
Rather than focusing on one cost alone, the objective is to understand how different parts of the operation interact and where improvements may be possible.
The appropriate recommendations depend on the individual business and its operating environment.
Does Imagine Collective work with multi-site hospitality and QSR groups?
Yes. Imagine Collective can provide operational support to individual venues as well as multi-site hospitality and QSR groups.
Multi-site consulting can focus on improving consistency and operational control across locations through:
- Standardised SOPs
- Procurement
- COGS analysis
- Menu systems
- Operational audits
- Supplier agreements
- Reporting
- Labour systems
- Food safety
- Management processes
As businesses expand, systems that worked in one location may not scale effectively.
A structured operational framework can help create clearer standards and better visibility across the group.
Can Imagine Collective review procurement and supplier arrangements?
Yes. Imagine Collective can review procurement and supplier arrangements across hospitality, QSR and aged care foodservice operations.
This can include examining:
- Current suppliers
- Product specifications
- Pricing
- Purchasing processes
- Contract arrangements
- Supplier performance
- Tendering
- Product consolidation
- Distribution requirements
Effective procurement is not simply about finding the cheapest product. It involves balancing cost, quality, availability, consistency and operational requirements.
Can Imagine Collective help with supplier tenders?
Yes. Imagine Collective can assist hospitality groups, QSR operators and aged care organisations with supplier tendering and procurement reviews.
A structured tender process can help organisations compare suppliers against clearly defined commercial and operational requirements.
This may involve reviewing product categories, specifications, pricing, service requirements and existing supplier arrangements.
When should a hospitality or foodservice business hire an operations consultant?
A hospitality or foodservice organisation should consider operational consulting when issues with systems, costs, consistency or growth are affecting performance.
- Common reasons include:
- Rising food costs
- High labour costs
- Inconsistent operating standards
- Poor visibility over financial performance
- Supplier problems
- Menu profitability issues
- Excessive waste
- Weak SOPs
- Rapid business growth
- Opening additional locations
- Difficulty maintaining consistency between sites
- Operational dependence on individual employees
- Procurement challenges
An independent operational review can help identify priorities and develop practical improvements around the areas creating the greatest operational pressure.
What types of businesses does Imagine Collective work with?
Imagine Collective’s hospitality and foodservice consulting can support businesses and organisations including:
- Restaurants
- Cafés
- Quick-service restaurants (QSR)
- Fast-casual businesses
- Hospitality groups
- Multi-site operators
- Foodservice businesses
- Aged care organisations
- Commercial kitchens
- Food and beverage businesses
- The scope of support is tailored to the operational requirements and objectives of each business.
What information should we prepare before a hospitality operations consultation?
Useful information can include current menus, supplier pricing, food costs, labour information, rosters, P&L reports, purchasing data, existing SOPs, operational reports and details of the main challenges affecting the business.
Not every business will have all of this information available.
An initial discussion can help determine what information is required and which areas should be reviewed first.
What is the difference between a hospitality operations consultant and a business coach?
A hospitality operations consultant typically works directly on the operational systems and commercial performance of the business.
This can include analysing COGS, labour, procurement, menus, SOPs, P&L performance, food safety, suppliers and workflows.
Business coaching is generally more focused on helping owners or managers develop their own leadership, planning and decision-making.
Imagine Collective’s operational consulting is focused on understanding how the business operates, identifying practical opportunities for improvement and helping develop systems that can be implemented within the operation.
We're specialists in foodie match making
Choosing Imagine Collective is like adding the perfect seasoning to your culinary business. We offer tailored product research, matching your venue with the ideal brand. Our services extend from free consultations, where we serve up tasty insights and samples, to comprehensive pantry overhauls that identify market trends and potential allergens.
We collaborate on all stages of new product development, turning your food concept into a tantalizing reality. With us, your gastronomy goals are just a bite away!
Start working with us
It’s really easy to get started with us. All you have to do is fill in this quick form and someone from our team will be in touch with you in a jiff.
