Meet expectations with menu innovation

Realize better profits with product cross-utilization and proper pricing.

Amid all the challenges facing restaurant operators, menu innovation remains a key ingredient to success. It’s a matter of doing more with less.

For restaurants, a downsized labour force has downsized menus. Supply-chain struggles have manufacturers in a bind, often unable to develop new products as they try to keep core products in the pipeline. Then there’s inflation.

What’s an operator to do? Get back to basics—focus on ingredients that define the restaurant’s brand. It requires a lens of product cross-utilization, menu smarts and operational efficiency, according to Gordon Food Service® experts.

Balancing innovation

Customers are dining out more and have increasing expectations. Buying a different cut of beef for each dish is a tall order. With a smaller kitchen staff and inconsistent product availability, you’re inviting stress, Calgary-based Culinary Specialist Darren Lexa said. He recommends a hard look at batch cooking and cross-utilization.

Consider the convenience of batch-cooked short ribs. It’s a star in the centre of the plate, but it’s right at home elsewhere:

• Add seasonings and use it for tacos.
• Shred it into a nacho plate.
• Stir it into a ragout and serve over pasta.
• Cut it into chunks, deep-fry and create a barbecue burnt ends appetizer.
• Put it on a biscuit with a fried egg as a brunch item.

“Cooking short ribs in bulk might require three or four hours of labour when you’re not open, but it will reduce the volume on the line so you can execute service easier,” Lexa said.

Cover all bases

Innovative cross-utilization doesn’t stop with proteins. Simple mixtures can create signature flavours, Customer Marketing Manager Art Tigera explains. Add blackening spice to ranch dressing for a blackened ranch condiment. Combine ranch dressing and hot sauce for a buffalo ranch dip. “These can take your appetizers up a notch without adding new products.”

Don’t overlook the bar, says Culinary Specialist Bill Pilgrim. A can of wild cherry topping mixed with a little bourbon makes a wonderful sauce for a chocolate torte. Those same cherries can be used to create a shrub for a non-alcoholic offering or for your signature Old-Fashioned. Add a bit of olive oil and vinegar to create a cherry vinaigrette for a marinade or salad dressing.

Speed-scratch also is a player. Pilgrim suggests these ideas:

• Signature salsa. Start with fire-roasted salsa verde, then blend cilantro, jalapeños, green onions and fresh lime juice.
• Trendy elote. Start with frozen corn and jalapeño blend, combine with mayo, butter, top with crema and a sprig of cilantro.
• Seafood sauce. Start with lobster bisque, add cream and egg yolks, then whip until creamy and serve as lobster veloute.

Price for profitability

A big mistake operators make is overlooking how plate costs affect profits. With rising food and labour costs, simply increasing menu prices may not protect profit margins.

“You can’t make money unless you know where you’re losing money,” Tigera said. “Before you go through menu innovations, you really have to understand where your costs are.”

One way to start is by analyzing the 10 or 15 top-selling menu items, Culinary Specialist Adam Walkover suggests. Price adjustments on those items will impact the bottom line the fastest. After the first 15 items, cost out five more each week to cover the entire menu. Recipe Manager can help make sense of the numbers.

Innovative dishes run through a pricing formula alone won’t always deliver the most profit. Pilgrim recommends putting the dish in front of your team and asking what they would pay.

“They might tell you it’s a $19 dish in your market, where the food-cost formula might price it at $11 or $12,” Pilgrim said. “Using the perceived value can capture more profit on an item that’s pretty easy to make.”