Chef Tom Colicchio once said, "The key to success in the restaurant industry is consistency and attention to detail." Colicchio knows a thing or two about foodservice. He has delivered pearls of wisdom as a judge on television’s “Top Chef” since its beginning in 2006. His sage advice is the product of owning and operating several successful restaurants in New York City.
No matter the scale of an operation, decision-makers are always on the lookout for ways to eliminate waste, save costs, gain efficiency and increase new capabilities. Organizations can take real steps toward these objectives by looking at consistency.
Affecting change across locations, shifts and teams begins with a holistic approach to standardized processes — and a critical component of these processes is uniformity.
Here are a few more compelling quotes from Chef Colicchio to emphasize the importance of uniformity in foodservice equipment. Consistency can have a powerful impact on your bottom line once established across your restaurant, cafeteria or c-store network.
“The foundation of cooking is rooted in tradition, but innovation is what keeps it exciting.”
Are you known for a signature dish? Or does your establishment feature certain dishes on certain days of the week? “Taco Tuesday,” anyone? Don’t let legacy systems or ways of doing business stymie innovation. Among the many lessons from the pandemic is that restaurant operations can be nimble when they want to be. The right piece of equipment offers flexibility for experimentation with recipes or format.
You can capitalize on innovation as long as your operation is prepared to integrate it. If the R&D team unlocks a better way of doing something – such as “Taco Tuesday To go” – uniform equipment across locations allows for a smooth rollout.
The design and technology behind holding food for pick-up lives up to the technique and creativity of dishes in today’s kitchens. Flav-R 2-Go® Locker Systems are customizable and secure while optimizing customers’ convenience. With a dedicated locker, set to a dedicated temperature, a customer simply enters a code to retrieve your latest creation at peak freshness. Customers are not waiting in lines, so the entire customer experience is hassle-free and user-friendly. Locker systems allow your team to prepare consistently innovative cuisine without disrupting the flow of your operation.
“The measure of a chef is not just in their technical skills, but in the way they treat their team and guests.”
Just because the industry is moving closer to automation, doesn’t mean employees are being edged out. In fact, the right piece of equipment allows your team to put the “service” back in “foodservice.“ After surviving a tight labor market and looking ahead to increasing minimum wages, operations are making do with lighter staffing. However, technological advances have increased overall efficiency, freeing up personnel for more customer-service-oriented responsibilities.
Installing uniform foodservice equipment across locations leads to more proficient personnel. And proficient personnel possess higher job satisfaction. This is the backbone of the service profit-chain theory: Happy employees lead to happy customers, who in turn, generate higher revenues and profits for your business.
Let freestanding warming drawers free up your team (and turn them into happy campers in the process). Automatic processes and other time-cutting features help your team move faster. Employees gain peace of mind with the ability to prepare large quantities of food in advance of the big rush. Visual and audio alerts for temperature and time allow employees to focus on the human side of service — connecting with customers.
“The kitchen is a place where passion, precision and creativity come together.”
The foodservice industry is first and foremost a business, an exacting analysis of the culinary arts. However, mixing business and art does not have to be like mixing oil and water. By cultivating the traits of a passionate worker, organizations can respond to market challenges quickly and increase revenues in the process.
We’re not just talking about a passionate chef. Passionate front-line workers are often the ones who sense opportunities first. They are closest to the product and interact directly with customers. As a result, they are in position to notice trends in customers’ requests or questions. Businesses can respond to these flashes of insight across multiple locations with ease, assuming you have uniform equipment in place.
Food display cases and merchandisers easily create impulse sales and offer to-go convenience by placing food products at your customers’ fingertips. The simplicity of the design gives employees a blank canvas to experiment with imaginative mains, add-ons and snacks. When one location strikes creative gold with an idea, the success can be replicated across stores in no time flat. With uniform food display cases and merchandisers you’ll be in position to multiply those creative merchandising opportunities by the number of venues you operate.
“A great chef is always learning and evolving, never settling for mediocrity.”
Efficiency can be found in driving synergy throughout a restaurant, cafeteria or c-store network. Sharing common processes across locations has always been good business sense. You demand consistent human resource policies company-wide. You value consistent branding and messaging. Shouldn’t it stand to reason that equipment uniformity should be standard as well?
Continuity can be achieved at hyper-speed when all operations are using the same equipment. And that starts by finding the right foodservice equipment provider to meet your needs. Contact a helpful Hatco representative and unleash the power of equipment uniformity strategies for your operation.
