Pubs, bars, cafés restaurants, hotels and other hospitality outlets are facing a new landscape as the United Kingdom and other countries gradually emerge from the coronavirus pandemic-forced lockdown measures and move forward. With changes being implemented both at the front of house and behind the scenes, foodservice personnel will be working in new and different ways to accommodate safety measures to guard against the further spread of Covid-19.
Using quality, pre-prepared frozen products in the kitchen could very much help many venues to maintain a food offering with minimal resource.
“It’s very much the norm to use some frozen pre-prepared products in professional kitchens now,” said Gordon Lauder, managing director of Northamptonshire, England-based Central Foods (pictured above). “Caterers recognize the benefits of frozen food. It’s easy to use, fewer staff are needed for preparation and serving, it can help with cost control and reduces waste.
“There’s a huge range of premium quality products to choose from and now, as we move into a new way of working, it may be the ideal time to explore and discover just what’s out there and how beneficial frozen food can be in any catering operation.”
Central Foods, a well known frozen food distributor in the UK, is highlighting five reasons why using frozen pre-prepared items could be the key to successfully opening up professional catering operations after lockdown.
- Supports social distancing. Some operators will need to reduce the number of kitchen personnel per shift to allow safe social distancing. With fewer staff members and potentially less expertise in the back of the house, good quality pre-prepared products could be a bonus.
- Speeds up service. Pre-prepared products are quicker to serve, allowing a more efficient turnover of tables and potentially increasing the number of covers serviced.
- Keeps a firm grip on costs. Operators will be understandably keen to tightly manage expenses when first reopening, and frozen pre-prepared options are ideal, as portions can be precisely controlled.
- Reinforces trust with accreditation. Use suppliers with recognized health and safety and hygiene accreditation for reassurance and peace of mind, for both yourself and your customers. A recent survey by The NPD Group revealed that a significant proportion of consumers were planning to return to hospitality outlets, but that trust was an important issue. The research firm found that almost two thirds of people (64%) said they would only choose places that they trust. Anything that can be done to reassure customers about the quality and origins of the food served will help encourage them back for more.
- Caters for demand. It may be difficult to predict customer numbers as we move forward into a so-called “new normal,” and this could be a challenge for operators. Having frozen food in stock will ensure that operators can always cater for demand and avoid wasting food and ingredients unnecessarily. Make sure to have a range of frozen free-from items to keep customers with dietary requirements happy and to avoid being caught out by unexpected requests.
“Frozen food products can play a really important role as we learn to negotiate a new landscape in the hospitality sector,” said Gordon. “For some outlets, using frozen food could mean the difference between maintaining a food offering and being forced to suspend it, so I would urge operators to take a look at the superb range of frozen pre-prepared items that are available for the foodservice sector.”
