Tag: Side Dishes

Capitalizing on New Menu Opportunities

Operators are driving sales by tapping into new dining possibilities with ready-to-use foods.

In today’s fiercely competitive restaurant industry, operators need any edge they can get. Hence the case for expanding into new dayparts and eating occasions to engage more customers, drive incremental sales and stand out in the marketplace.

“It is extremely important to capitalize on all possible areas of opportunity,” says Curtis Hawk, culinary development chef at Boar’s Head Brand.

Exploring new avenues

In recent years, dayparts have been blurring together and consumer expectations have been evolving. In this changing landscape, menu makers are finding new business avenues to explore.

For example, an operator may start serving weekend or weekday brunch, set up a mid-afternoon cocktail hour or late-night snack selection or introduce a small-plates menu for patrons who enjoy sampling global flavors. “Increasing sales during non-peak hours can have a big impact in the long run,” says Hawk.

Fortunately, operators can get a head start on developing new menus by using high-quality, convenient, cost-efficient, and pre-prepared foods for their restaurants that are ready to plug into recipes. “Now, more than ever, chefs are looking to reduce labor and streamline operations to make up for rising costs,” says Hawk. “Fully cooked, ready-to-use proteins can not only save labor but also increase consistency.”

More operators are switching to convenience formats for products, including fully pre-prepared food for their restaurant menus. In fact, 32% of operators stated that fully prepared products are more appealing, according to the Datassential 2022 One Table Report.

The Boar’s Head® line of premium delicatessen meats includes products that are made with whole-muscle cuts of turkey, chicken, ham and beef that are trimmed by hand, seasoned with spices from around the world and oven-roasted in some cases. Whole-muscle meats such as Boar’s Head Bold® Madrasala® Curry Chicken Breast and Bold Peppenero® Garlic Ham are ready to be sliced, diced, cubed, pulled, shredded or otherwise fashioned to fit virtually any recipe. All of these wholesale cooked meat options for menus can inspire culinary creativity and simplify menu development while easing labor concerns for kitchens that are busy and often understaffed.

“We have developed ways to shred Boar’s Head whole-muscle meats so chefs can produce high-quality ingredients for recipes in a fraction of the time,” says Hawk, citing examples such as spring rolls and street tacos.

That is far more cost-efficient than preparing meat and poultry from scratch—assuming you can find qualified individuals to do so. Hawk notes that although it is getting “slightly easier” to hire kitchen staff, “there has been a sharp decline of talent and skill. The lead line cook position, which can be the backbone of the restaurant, has become a tough position to fill.”

Banking on breakfast and brunch

“Breakfast has the highest profit margins of all the meal periods, and brunch is an opportunity to clear out some inventory with creative features,” says Hawk. He suggests the versatile Boar’s Head® All Natural* Chicken Sausage line, which includes flavors such as Honeycrisp Apple and Robust Italian, to elevate an omelet bar or a creative flatbread.

A prime way to make brunch stand out is to set up a Bloody Mary Bar with skewers of Boar’s Head® meats and cheeses—Naturally Smoked Bacon, Genoa Salami, Prosciutto di Parma, Traditional Pepperoni, Picante Provolone Cheese and Vermont Cheddar Cheese—as tasty, colorful garnishes.

“Weekend brunch is morphing into a seven-day affair,” says the 2022 Food and Beverage Report by Baum + Whiteman, a Brooklyn, New York-based restaurant consultancy. The consultants see breakfast and brunch popping up in novel ways, such as “an Irish bar pivots to breakfast” and “upscale brunch food is grafted onto dinner menus.”

With many people enjoying breakfast items made with foods associated with lunch and dinner, the door is wide open to use Boar’s Head® premium, menu-ready wholesale cooked meats, charcuterie and artisanal cheeses in creative menu applications.

Reaching out to snackers

Millions of consumers snack whenever the mood strikes—before, between and in lieu of meals. Snacking plays a variety of roles: a quick refueling stop, a moment of indulgence, a pleasant interlude in a busy day. Pre-prepared foods on a restaurant’s menu can make snack options easy to make at any hour.

“Consumers are looking to have flavor in all aspects of their day,” says Hawk. “They want items that taste good, make them feel like they are making healthy decisions and are reasonably priced.”

A distinctive snacking selection can be centered on a charcuterie board with slices of Boar’s Head® Italian Style Uncured Dry Sausage, Uncured Italian Salami and Chorizo Serrano. Or serve a platter of Bold PitCraft® Party Nachos, a melty medley featuring Bold PitCraft® Slow Smoked Turkey Breast combined with Bold® 3 Pepper Colby Jack® Cheese and zesty garnishes.

“And there is also a line of Boar’s Head® Dessert Hummus to take snacking to the next level of indulgence,” Hawk says, with flavors such Dark Chocolate and Apple Pie.

In a challenging economy, developing new lines of business can be crucial to success. Pre-prepared foods for restaurant menus can open new doors for reducing costs and meeting consumer needs. For more ideas about capitalizing on new menu opportunities with flavorful Boar’s Head® products, visit https://www.boarsheadfoodservice.com.

*No artificial ingredients, minimally processed.

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Optimizing A Labor-Lean Kitchen

Operators turn to high-quality prepared foods to address labor challenges

Give credit to the restaurant operators who took all the pandemic’s punches and stayed on their feet. However, reaching full recovery requires managing persistent challenges, none more pressing than the labor shortage.

Roughly 50% of operators in the full-service, quick-service and fast-casual segments say recruiting and retaining employees will be their top challenge this year, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2022 State of the Restaurant Industry Report.

Now that dining rooms are abuzz with patrons again, hiring staff is more critical than ever. “Consumer demand for restaurant services has come back very rapidly,” says Caleb Taylor, culinary development chef at Boar’s Head. “And these consumers are returning with high expectations for menu innovation and unique presentation.”

Raising labor efficiency

Fortunately, there are proven ways for operators to get more for their labor dollars with menu design ideas for restaurant worker shortages. One is by increasing the use of versatile, convenient, high-quality prepared foods rather than spending time and effort on scratch cooking. Boar’s Head Brand offers a broad line of premium delicatessen meats, cheeses, charcuterie, hummus, spreads and condiments that can serve as labor-efficient springboards for culinary creativity.

All Boar’s Head® pre-cooked foods for restaurants are made with craftsmanship and ingredients of the highest quality. The Boar’s Head® premium deli meats line includes products that are made with whole-muscle cuts of turkey, chicken, ham and beef that are trimmed by hand, seasoned with top-caliber spices from around the world, and in some cases, oven roasted. Pre-cooked foods for restaurants are a huge step ahead of the laborious and time-consuming routine of cutting, seasoning and cooking meat and poultry in the kitchen.

Another menu design idea for restaurant worker shortages and a way to cut labor is to reduce the number of items on the menu and make recipes simpler to prepare. “In the past, a restaurant might have had two cooks preparing the meat portion of a dish,” says Taylor. “But now there are fewer steps in the process.” 

“Reducing our menus the way we did has made it a lot easier to run a restaurant,” says Rick Cardenas, president and chief operating officer of Darden Restaurants, in a Nation’s Restaurant News article about the labor crisis. “The managers spend a little less time on individual items and teaching people on these items that we didn’t produce very often.”

The Boar’s Head® advantage 

When he hosts visiting chefs at the company’s culinary lab, Taylor demonstrates the versatility and labor efficiency of Boar’s Head® premium whole-muscle deli meats, which are ready to be pulled, chopped, sliced, diced, shredded or otherwise fabricated to fit any recipe application.

For instance, take Boar’s Head Bold® Chipotle Chicken Breast, part of the Boar’s Head Bold® line of premium deli meats and cheeses with global flavor profiles. “You could get essentially the same results if you wanted to braise and pull chicken breasts on your own in the kitchen,” says Taylor. “But by using Boar’s Head®, look at the time and work I save and the flavor and consistency I get.”

There are innumerable ways to accelerate and enhance menu development with minimal labor outlay, using Boar’s Head pre-cooked foods for restaurants. Think of the multifaceted culinary explorations possible with Boar’s Head Bold® Peppenero® Garlic Ham. Crafted with a hand-coated spice blend of habanero chili peppers, garlic, ginger and green onion, it combines the robust flavors of Asia and Mexico in one ready-to-use product.

“Back when I was a hotel chef, if I had known the neat things you can do with Boar’s Head® meats, I would have used them when I had labor struggles,” says Taylor.

Innovative menu statements

Boar’s Head® Hummus features the same craftsmanship as the rest of the brand portfolio. It is made from chickpeas, steamed until fork tender, blended with premium ingredients ranging from roasted red peppers to kalamata olive tapenade to apples, and flavored with sea salt, olive oil, tahini and spices.

Serving Boar’s Head® Hummus as a dip is just the beginning of its versatility. It also shines as a sandwich spread, pasta sauce and pizza topping. What’s more, a sweet hummus variation such as Boar’s Head® Apple Pie Dessert Hummus can serve as a ready-made feature ingredient in treats like Apple Pie Hummus Cheesecake Bites.

Furthermore, hummus is an ideal platform for developing plant-based menu items, a growing trend among healthy eaters. “One of the most fun things we’ve done is mix our Boar’s Head® Hummus, which is made with very clean, high-quality premium ingredients, with simple additions like grains and vegetables to make patties for sliders,” says Taylor.

For more ideas about pre-cooked foods for restaurants, winning customers, and saving labor with flavorful Boar’s Head® products, visit https://boarsheadfoodservice.com. 

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