In the restaurant industry, time is an ingredient as important as salt or sugar. It’s the invisible seasoning that can make or break a restaurant’s success.

That’s why a growing number of foodservice businesses, of all sizes and categories, are exploring labor-saving products in their battle against the clock. These ingredients aren’t just culinary shortcuts; they are strategic decisions that can improve your operation’s efficiency and success.

Why Choose Labor-Saving Products?
Labor-saving products provide more than convenience. By removing unnecessary steps, streamlining prep procedures, and incorporating time-saving ingredients into your most popular and profitable menu items, you’re not just simplifying food preparation; you’re opening up a world of possibilities for marketing, social media engagement, and business growth.

The direct benefits of labor-saving products are clear…

• Save Staff Time: Reduce the hours spent on tedious prep work.
• Cut Training Requirements: Simplify the on-boarding process for new staff.
• Reduce Waste: Minimize the risk of human error and ingredient spoilage.
• Ensure Consistency: Deliver the same high-quality experience every time.

The ancillary benefits come with time…
With time reclaimed through labor-saving ingredients, your team can shift their focus from the cutting board to the drawing board. This newfound time could be used for brainstorm sessions that fuel fun marketing ideas, epic food photo shoots, fostering engagement with your audience across social media platforms, and to drive overall business growth.

“I wish I had more time…” is something I hear often from business owners regarding their marketing efforts. Marketing, social media management, and content creation are just a few of the areas that would benefit from having more time. What other aspects of your business could benefit from a little more time invested?

Looking toward the future of foodservice, in a world exploding with AI-powered advancements; it’s clear that speed and efficiency will be increasingly tied to profitability. By embracing labor-saving products, you’re not only keeping up with the times; you’re future-proofing your business.

Visit www.dennisfoodservice.com/laborsavers to explore a selection of our favorite labor-saving ingredients. For personalized recommendations and suggestions, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Account Executive. Together, let’s optimize your kitchen’s efficiency and unlock new opportunities for success.

Multitasking ingredients such as flavored butters, sauces, dressings, and gravies save time and money in the kitchen.

Multitasking ingredients can enhance several dishes keeps food costs, labor, and inventory in line. Ingredients that can be used in more than one item are the Holy Grail of menu management, keeping food costs, labor, and inventory in line. Dennis offers a variety of products from multiple vendors that are designed with multitasking in mind—you can use them as is, or as speed-scratch basics for multiple applications.

Consider the following examples as a template for maximizing the utilization of your own flavor-building inventory. 

Flavored Butters

One of the easiest and most convenient ways to add flavor to food is by mixing seasonings and other ingredients into butter, which can then be chilled or even frozen for later use. In addition to using on steaks and other proteins hot off the grill, these butters can be used to:

• Sauté or dress vegetables
• Slip under the skin of chicken before roasting
• Include in a signature bread service
• Offer with cornbread or muffins
• Float on a bowl of soup
• Top off a baked potato
• Spread on grilled or toasted sandwich bread

Nestlé Professional Chef Mary Locke suggests the following to offer as schmears for corn on the cob, but the butters have many other uses:

• Fire Roasted Poblano Flavor Concentrate with butter, Cotija, and a squeeze of fresh lime
• Herb de Provence Flavor Concentrate and goat cheese
• Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Flavor Concentrate thinned out with a dab of good olive oil and toasted pine nuts
• Fire Roasted Jalapeño Flavor Concentrate and mashed, ripe avocado
• Chipotle Flavor Concentrate, blue cheese, and crumbled bacon

Dressings as Marinades

Many dressings, particularly vinaigrettes, include an acidic ingredient such as vinegar or citrus juice, which also serves as a tenderizer in marinades. Other common dressing ingredients that tenderize proteins include honey and yogurt (think of tandoori marinade), which also aid in flavor-boosting caramelization when cooked.

Likewise, many marinades can be used as dressings for salads and other chilled foods—perhaps with the addition of an ingredient to make them more clingy, such as oil or mayonnaise.

Creamy Sauces

Creamy, relatively neutral-flavored sauces such as béchamel, Alfredo, and cream gravies have many uses in addition to adding a luxurious touch atop cooked foods.

• Use as a replacement for cream sauce or béchamel in a casserole or au gratin
• Flavor mashed potatoes or other vegetables by substituting a creamy sauce for some of the liquid
• Customize with the addition of tomato, pesto, sautéed onions, mushrooms, crumbled bacon, and so on
• Use in cream soups, such as Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice or Seafood Bisque
• Substitute for cream sauce in a classic Spinach and Artichoke Dip recipe
• Mix with vegetables and a protein (optional) for a main course stuffed baked potato

It’s All Gravy

Talk about a menu workhorse: Gravies of all kinds are the ultimate multitaskers. in ways that go way beyond the mashed potato.

• Over hearty sandwiches like French dips, open-face turkey, and New Orleans-style po’ boy sandwiches
• As a dip for fries or tots, or for a classic poutine
• In casseroles, shepherd’s pie, and pot pies
• As a binding for meatloaf or meatball mixtures
• As a flavor-building thickener for soup
• To moisten a brunch-worthy egg strata
• In a simmer sauce for pot roast, chicken fricassee, and other braised proteins
• In quesadillas, instead of—or in addition to—cheese

Sauces = Spreads = Dips

Sauces are the true shape-shifters of the menu-making world. Depending on qualities such as flavor and thickness, a sauce can be used as-is or in additional uses such as a warm spread (for sandwiches, for instance) or a dip for finger foods.

The cheese sauce is a perfect example. The binder for mac-and-cheese and the topping for nachos and steamed broccoli can also be used to create a cheeseburger, fondue, or dip for fries. Thicken cheese sauce with a product such as cream cheese to make it more spreadable or add flavor and body with products such as crumbled cooked chorizo or crabmeat to create a dip.

Stir into scrambled eggs, mix into fritters, layer on flatbread, or mix into beer and broth with sturdy vegetables to create a soup.

Content courtesy of Nestle Professional
GreatMenusStartHere.com

750,000 jobs is roughly 6.1% of the foodservice workforce. Simply put, restaurants face a challenging path to employment recovery. And, while some progress is being made, that progress is slow to take effect. In fact, a recent report shows that one in three operators are seeing a drop in the total level of culinary skill in their kitchen staffs (Datassential, 2022).

So, what steps can you take in the while waiting for this current labor shortage to improve? Here are a few tips to help simplify back-of-house prep and improve efficiencies in your establishment.

Consider using speed scratch ingredients on your menu to help reduce prep time BOH and increase prep consistency for your staff. Examples include pre-chopped vegetables and pre-marinated and pre-seasoned proteins.

• No-prep Produce
• Labor Saving Products
• Multitasking Ingredients

Try fully cooked proteins on your menu to reduce cook and prep time in the kitchen and help all workers — regardless of skill — create entrees quicker and more efficiently.

• Hormel Fire Braised Meats
• Fully Cooked Hams
• Innovative Chicken Products
• Easy BBQ Products

Use base recipes to add cross utilization and labor-saving versatility to your operation, easily expanding menu options with only a few additional ingredients.

• Turkey Breast Base Recipes
• Find more labor-saving inspiration in our blog…

Consider investing in new technologies, equipment or innovations to implement back of house that will save time in the long run.

• Date Code Genie (Ultimate Foodservice Label Maker)
• QR Codes for Digital Menus & Ordering
• DIY Digital Menu Boards

Restaurants should be picky when hiring new employees, but they should also adjust their hiring expectations and practices. Additionally, new employees must be properly trained, and welcomed into the workplace culture–not just the open position.

• How to adjust your restaurant recruiting process during COVID-19
• Restaurant Server Training Tips, Techniques, and Best Practices

Running efficiently during these lean times is no easy task, but there are ways you can get ahead without taking shortcuts. We hope these tips are a great place start.

National Restaurant Association, 2022
Datassential One Table Report, 2022

There was no “deep end.” In fact, many businesses affected by pandemic-fueled labor shortages simply decided not to open. At the same time, 2021 was a record-breaking year for travel and tourism destinations like Maine. The question then becomes, where is the workforce that will see us through future record-breaking years? Enter, HospitalityMaine and Derek Fassett.

Derek Fasset, the new Workforce Development Director at HospitalityMaine, recently took the reins of a multi-year workforce development plan. His top priority is building momentum by creating self-filling pools of hospitality workers across the state. As we know, these employees are essential. Whether you’re a small independent business or a multi-million dollar resort, a successful season depends on your ability to fill job openings. In this episode, Derek shares how Maine’s premier hospitality organization is working with its partners across the state to create a pipeline of employees. This system will be crucial to the success of Maine’s hospitality-based economy for years to come.

Upcoming HospitalityMaine Workforce Development Events

January 26
HMEF- Maine Department of Corrections Webinar

February 2
HMEF- Bureau of Rehabilitation Services & Maine Medical Center Webinar

February 15 [Updated Date]
HMEF- Learning Works Webinar

To learn more about HospitalityMaine, or to become a member, visit their website at www.hospitalitymaine.com

Dennis Knows Food Podcast   podcast@dennisexpress.com

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Mod your quickles with unique flavors!

Peruvian Quickles – Add a hearty teaspoon of either Aji Amarillo paste #23188 or Aji Rocoto paste #24443 to your quickles for a pleasing layer of Peruvian heat.

Calabrian Quickles – Add a healthy amount of Calabrian chili peppers #23697. They’ll add a bold firey flavor to your quickles.

Sweet & Sassy Quickles – Add a mix of yellow sweet peppers #23190 and red sweet peppers #23186, plus a couple ounces of the sweet pepper brine to your quickles.

Truffle Tomato Quickles – If using cherry tomatoes, pealing them will allow the flavor to absorb deeper. Add roasted red tomatoes #23222, roasted yellow tomatoes #23194, and substitute ½ of the salt with truffle salt #23184.

Middle Eastern Quickles – For a adventurous twist of flavor, add 1 tablespoon tahini paste #9926 and a healthy tablespoon of Za’atar #23230 to your quickles.

“Posh” Quickles – For an upscale quickle add a pinch of saffron #23192 to your mix. This works well with artichokes, tomatoes or seeded and shaved summer squash.

Pillsbury Scone Dough Variety Pack #33264
Pillsbury Blueberry Scone Dough #33152
Pillsbury White Chip Raspberry Scone Dough #33148
Pillsbury Cinnamon Chip Scone Dough #33153

Bacon can be messy, time consuming and space straining. Your guests want bacon – we want you to have a better way.

Introducing Hormel® Bacon 1 Half Slice Bacon

By creating this half slice, Hormel brings you a superior product option at a time when pre-making sandwiches and burgers is more relevant than ever. For grab-and-go, takeout, and offsite assembly, this bacon is perfect right out of the package.

This half slice bacon gives you the same performance and thickness of an 18/22 slice count raw bacon. It’s the same revolutionary fully cooked bacon as the original, but it’s now sliced in half to save you an extra step. Plus, you’ll get portion flexibility and cost control – you can use fewer slices without compromising on coverage.

A truly premium bacon – perfectly done.

• It’s the same perfectly cooked bacon as the original, just cut in half.
• The taste and quality rival bacon cooked from raw.
• It clearly out-cuts and outperforms conventional fully cooked bacon.

Simplify your operation – easy, fast and simple prep.

• It can be prepared in 5 minutes.
• Far less grease and mess than raw bacon.
• It’s already sliced in half, saving a step.
• No paper in the bulk package means less waste and less foreign material.

Really good bacon – really great cost control.

• You have complete cost flexibility over your bacon usage.
• Half slices fit your bun/bread applications, providing excellent coverage.
• Use fewer slices without compromising coverage.
• No need to cut or fold your bacon strips, reducing labor.
• These premium half slices provide dependable, consistent performance.
• Elevate your current precooked offerings by offering a fully cooked bacon that looks, tastes and performs like a bacon cooked from raw.

Bacon 1 Half Slice Bacon is item #25710

Winning the labor war

Second to food costs, labor is the second largest cost for restauranteurs. Depending on a restaurant’s concept, labor costs can run as low as 25 percent or as high as 40 percent. As a benchmark, 30 percent is considered a healthy average to aim for your food cost. The good news is that labor is a variable cost and there are steps you can take to improve it.

Scheduling is normally a dreaded task on the to-do list, and whether it’s one person’s job or a shared responsibility of the management team, it is important to use a consistent form of scheduling. Here are eight smart scheduling strategies that will not only save you money and time but eliminate the stress that comes with the task.

1. Look at Historical Sales Trends to Create a Forecast – Using your historical sales trends alleviates the guess work of what you can expect to sell. Sure, a large party might walk in right at closing and you will need someone to stay late, but typically, your historical trends will be a good indicator of your labor needs. Pay attention to peak hours per day to see where you can scale labor back. Perhaps there is a slow sales period mid-afternoon between the lunch and dinner rush when you can cut a few servers or kitchen staff. Also notice seasonal trends such as conventions, sporting events, and patio weather in which you may need to augment your staff.

2. Stagger Shifts to Mitigate Labor – Staggering clock-in times allows you to increase labor as sales increase throughout the day. If each shift starts out slow and builds sales, overlap labor to have employees on the clock only when you need them. This can also be used to rotate opportunity amongst your staff.

3. Enforce clock in and out times – Another unnoticed cost is employees who clock in early. For example, if you have 25 employees who clock in 10 minutes early and make $8/ hour, that’s $33.33 in additional wages per day, or $12,166.67 per year. Locking down your POS so that employees can only clock in within 3–5 minutes prior to their shift starting will save you money.

4. Pay Attention to Part-Time versus Full-Time Employees – If you are tracking full-time and part-time employees for benefits or ACA compliance, you will need to be mindful of who should be scheduled as full-time and who should be scheduled as part-time. Looking at historical labor trends will help you determine who has part-time and who has full-time status.

5. Consider Total Labor Cost – The cost is not attributed just to regular hours worked but also over time, double time, shift or employee meals and if you live in an applicable area, special pay. If any of these may apply to your business, consider the outcome when creating your schedule as a preventative measure.

6. Schedule to Strengths – Know your employees’ strengths and weaknesses and use them to your advantage when scheduling. Take a good look at which day parts are busiest for you. It may be more important to have someone who is quick and efficient for a busy lunch shift to avoid unnecessary comps and someone who is a master at upselling to increase revenue during a slower dinner shift.

7. Cross Train Employees – Cross training ensures that you have enough flexibility to react to any situation that may arise, without having to call in additional help. Having a busser who can run food or a server who can help behind the bar can help you avoid disappointing customers if an unexpected crowd came in or if an employee no shows. It can also lead to a more cohesive team as employees are given the chance to see and respect one another’s tasks and roles first-hand.

8. Automate Employee Scheduling – Automating your schedule makes it more accessible, gives employees empowerment and reduces the burden on managers. Often, someone needs to swap, drop or pickup shifts. To tackle this, you might consider using a shift trade book or posting, where employees can self-manage these activities. This has the knock-on effect of allowing the manager to approve all changes in one place. This will save you employee labor hours and dissatisfaction, as well as your manager’s time building a schedule.

Source: Kristi Turner for FSR magazine