Keep Your Fresh Ingredients
One of the first things to be swapped is fresh items for frozen. We’re here to say, keep the fresh! Let’s look at a couple major areas that will help you retain valuable fresh ingredients and not turn to frozen options.
Menu
Start off by looking at what is in your pantry. Can you cross-utilize produce items in more than one dish? Are there new and unexpected ways to use the fresh item or even create a new dish or limited time offering? There are many ideas and abundant inspiration available within the produce industry. Produce providers that specifically work in foodservice offer consultations with menu planning and development and can bring new ideas and strategy to maximize the fresh produce items in your pantry and back of house efficiencies.
Sourcing
The other area to look at is the sourcing itself. Are you working with the grower / packer that can cut and pack produce to your specific spec and case size? Are you taking advantage of product that can be trimmed and cut before it is shipped? What about custom packed commodity produce? There are grower and processors out there that have the agility to work with foodservice providers on their custom specs or case sizes. The right partner will make or break your produce program.
- Maximize existing fresh produce items in your pantry through menu
- Use grower processors that will cut and pack to your specific needs
- Use fresh cut produce to help with labor that has shifted to front of house needs
Stabilize Fluctuation
Our markets and business are anything but predictable, but there are some strategies with produce that stabilize the unknowns.
Market
Whole or commodity produce is subject to the ups and downs of the market price. There is also the unknown with yield on commodity, how much will you be able to use once the item is trimmed and prepped. Fresh cut takes away the variables of market and yield because the preparation is done near the source, but it fully customized to your need. Starting your sourcing strategy with fresh cut products takes away any questions about what you will receive and what you will pay for it.
Labor
A challenge restaurants have dealt with this year to an even greater degree has been labor. It is was already a pain point before COVID for operators with rising labor rates, but with more of the workforce staying home to quarantine, not much labor is left for food prep. Purchasing fresh cut items puts the prep work with the grower / processor also giving you more control over food safety and resulting in more consistency with the product (a big benefit for multiunit operations). Besides easing the labor burden on operators, fresh cut produce is a sustainable option with only the usable produce shipped across the country saving shipping space, emissions, and shipping costs.
- Commodity produce has variable yield and pricing that changes with the market
- You have 100% yield with fresh cut produce
- Static pricing with fresh cut product
- This brings predictability to budget and planning resulting in stability
Look for the Right Team
Sometimes bringing in the right people can make or break your business, but especially with fresh produce items and the variables and special demands they bring to sourcing and use. It starts with the grower, processors and ends with the teams supporting you after the purchase. Those with experience, able to work quickly, respond to your calls and emails, and get stuff done are the teams that will point you to the growers, shippers, and strategies that can turn produce into an area of your sourcing that is enjoyable and easy. It is those teams that can take the unpredictability of a global crisis and bring a little more stability and freshness to your restaurant’s operation through produce.
- Team with experience with foodservice, growing, processing, and shipping
- Responsive to your calls and emails
- Work quickly to find solutions
- Know how to connect you to the right growers, processors, and shippers
