Time-Saving Solutions to Boost Culinary Efficiency
For today’s consumers, retailers and operators, solutions that minimize guess work and maximize flavour, convenience and accuracy are in high demand. At home, consumers want to simplify and elevate their meals, choosing retail options that deliver both convenience and global flavour. Additionally, private label options bring familiarity and culinary excitement to a home cook’s repertoire, perfect for easy-to-prepare items like meal kits.
The desire to enjoy foodservice meals at home has amplified since the onset of the pandemic. Maintaining the quality of takeout and delivery is essential, with pre-portioned meals, long hold times and sustainable packaging as key solutions. Curated meal kits (and beyond such as cocktail kits) are another way operators are delivering restaurant-quality experiences to their customers at home.
Back-of-house and front-of-house efficiencies have been key for operators to survive the effects of Covid-19. Chefs are simplifying menus to streamline operations and be able to better predict and control food orders. While talk of robotics has been buzzing for years, operators may find utilizing such machines imperative as restaurants continue to face labor shortages.
3 TRENDS TO WATCH
LOCATION:
Convenience will be found in even more foodservice spaces, with brands and retailers delivering meal solutions through vending machines, pop-ups and branded partnerships.
FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS:
Wellness attributes will be an area of continued focus within the snacking space as consumers prioritize their mental health.
AUTOMATION:
Technological advances, such as robots and enhanced point-of-sale systems, will serve as ways to optimize operations.
insights
INCLUDE SEASONAL INGREDIENTS INTO YOUR PRODUCTS
- 33% of UK consumers indicate they would like to see ready meals that have premium-quality and seasonal ingredients.
OFFER LUNCH TAKE-AWAY DEALS
- 40% of German consumers purchase takeaway/home delivery food for lunch.
- 55% of German consumers who order through third party ordering/delivery services would like restaurants to offer low cost food/drink subscriptions (e.g., 10-day lunch and dinner packs).
OFFER SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING OPTIONS
- 44% of UK consumers indicate environmentally friendly packaging is important to them when making food and drink choices.
Culinary inspiration
Get inspired by these on-trend concept to create innovative offerings using Custom Culinary® products.
crispy duck breast with seasonal stir fry vegetables & teriyaki sauce:
Preparation:
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Duck Breast:
- Brine in 1 : 4 parts of the Custom Culinary® Gold Label Roast Chicken Fond.
- Marinate and brine the duck breast with the diluted fond for 24hrs.
- Take out the duck and dry it off with a paper towel. Slice carefully the duck fat on top of the breast, but don't cut into the meat.
- Take a cold pan and place the duck breast skin side down into the pan. Heat the pan to low to medium heat. Leave it on the fat side until golden brown and crispy. Sear the breast from the other side and place it at 140°C for 12 min into the oven.
Stir Fry Vegetables:
- Wash and cut the vegetables in bite sized pieces - carrots, fennel, swiss char, cauliflower, etc.
- Place a big pan over high heat. Add some rapeseed oil and sauté the vegetables for 3-4 minutes.
- Stir for additional 2 min before deglazing the vegetables with Custom Culinary® Gold Label Roast Chicken Fond.
Teriyaki Sauce:
The operationally friendly Custom Culinary® Master's Touch® Teriyaki Sauce is the perfect solution for streamlining kitchens, providing reliability, ease and convenience to serve a high volume of menu items with guaranteed consistency.
- Drizzle some of the Custom Culinary® Master's Touch® Teriyaki Sauce over the Duck Breast.
- Give some Sauce on the Side.
Our Chef for this trend:
Chef Alex Tieck
Alex is a Commercial Chef for Custom Culinary® . He supports foodservice brands by developing new products, sharing trends and giving them ideas! He gained knowledge and experience through his years working in Berlin, New York and Sydney.
Custom Culinary® products that Alex used:
- Custom Culinary® Master's Touch® Teriyaki Sauce - A Japanese style Teriyaki sauce with soy sauce, ginger and lime. Suitable for Vegans, Low fat and No artificial flavours.
- Custom Culinary® Gold Label Roast Chicken Fond - A classic roast chicken fond to be used in soups, sauces, stew, casseroles and risotto. 21% Roast Chicken.
Enjoy!
foodservice inspiration
Flax & Kale (Spain) is leveraging the induced interest in work lunch delivery due to many people working remotely. They offer multiple packs, one of them composed by a weekly pack of 5 different plant-based ready meals with a juice.
Goldie Boy (Australia) smash burger is currently available as a DIY KIT delivered direct to your door. The burgers come with a house-made adobo kewpie special sauce.
Pizza in the Post. Pizza Pilgrims (UK) offers a delivery pack to make 2 neapolitan pizzas. Each pack contains dough, mozzarella, basil, tomato sauce, parmesan and caputo flour. It is a subscription based model (monthly, bi-weekly or weekly).
Less is more! Burger King (US) is planning to simplify its menu and remove some products that have become too complicated to build in order to improve drive-thru times. The chain will also improve menu design to make it easier for customers to make quick decisions.
Ocado (UK) installed on its canteen a Semblr, the food-service robot. Semblr assembles a meal based on a customer’s personalized order. Ocado employees will have Asian fusion bowls and 17 different ingredients to choose from. The robot can make up to 110 meals per hour.
Chef Speranza- Corporate Executive Chef Custom Culinary®, discusses how to adapt to change and streamline operations to increase operational effectiveness, value added solutions, and speed scratch formats that address the challenges of labor shortages.
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