Labor is an enduring challenge in every sector of the foodservice industry. With most of your team’s energy focused on meal production, making changes here can produce big wins.
Over the years, you’ve survived the never-ending reset button of finding staff, keeping them engaged, and staying competitive at a time of elevated hourly wages and salaries. Even so, you still need to search for money-saving advantages.
That calls for a close look at processes, and meal production is a huge process with many moving parts. Using the “lean thinking” approach, watch for waste and ask “why” questions as you drill down on the area of concern.
As you observe, focus on five of the seven major waste areas – motion, waiting, overproduction, overprocessing, and defects. Making small changes can add up to big wins for your bottom line.
Uncover Time-Saving Strategies
Monitor your team over a period of time. Watch different shifts on different days of the week to discover patterns that could benefit from changes. For example, it’s worth asking “why” questions if you see team members:
- Spending a lot of time preparing a recipe that does not provide value.
- Not using the right product or prep method for each situation.
- Guessing how many servings of a recipe to prepare.
- Not using standardized recipes.
Each of these scenarios involves meal production, which can be addressed with time-saving strategies. To save your team prep time, heat-and-serve entrees such as lasagna or meatballs are a solution. So is using prepared sauces, sides, or soups instead of scratch.
Fully cooked and sous vide proteins offer consistency while saving kitchen prep time. Premade desserts are another labor-saving option, with many pre-portioned and individually packaged choices to control serving sizes.
Convenience Foods to the Rescue
Using time-saving convenience foods doesn’t mean shutting the door on creativity. Your goal is to streamline the cooking process without making sacrifices that affect the meal experience.
Are labor-heavy recipes made during shifts short on staff? Try speed-scratch swaps or prepping ingredients on another shift. Speed scratch cooking is a creative and simple way to add flair to foods and variety to the menu.
For example, a mac and cheese bowl takes on a whole new profile with the plus-one addition of sous vide chicken. Or take the same bowl and add cut-up fresh broccoli to create a different flavor profile.
“Speed-scratch cooking leverages the convenience of pre-made items while still incorporating the flavor and quality of fresh,” said Kurt Kwiaktowski, Gordon Food Service Corporate Executive Chef. “Use speed-scratch to strike a balance between time and labor convenience and culinary creativity.”
Another solution is switching to products packaged for speed and ease of use. For example, try saving time and reducing motion by using bulk yogurt in a bag that can be squeezed into a serving dish.
If scratch cooking is part of your brand, washed and trimmed fruits and vegetables save prep time without sacrificing quality, flavor, or creative possibilities. Markon Ready-Set-Serve produce saves washing time, reduces the risk of knife injuries, and virtually eliminates prep table food waste.
See Savings and Benefits
When deciding on premade or speed-scratch menu items for meal production, there are four areas to watch:
1. Cost-benefit. Are ingredient changes worth it? Evaluate any dollar savings achieved by needing less labor, getting higher yields from food products, and improving the shelf-life of foods.
2. Consistent quality. Convenience products help your team create the same flavor and presentation every time. Premade products also help compensate for inexperienced staffers.
3. Menu application. What’s the best way to roll out new ingredients? Aim for a rule of three – use the ingredient you’re buying in at least three recipes. Order quantities based on need so there’s less food waste from overproduction.
4. Guest Expectations. Will people notice ingredient changes? Convenience products must meet your flavor and appearance expectations or they won’t satisfy your customers. If you have a “favorite from-scratch recipe” in your lineup, be careful about changes.
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