Jeff Ware

March 23rd, 2014

Culinary R&D: The Process of Menu Item Design

Session Agenda • Research

– When & why do you develop new items

– Finding creativity, inspiration, and motivation

• Development – Why you need proper recipes

– Knowing & tracking your costs

– Understanding recipe construction & documentation

• Execution – Sales

– Moving from testing to production

– Staff Education

• Started with CBM at 14

• Electrical Engineering/ Computer Science Background

• Worked at CNN & theatres Learned other aspects of live events

• Fell in love with food thanks to this job

My Story

• Founded in 1980 as a hot dog stand

• Catering spun off into separate company in 1991

• Peak revenue of $17 Million

• 90 FT & 130 PT Employees

• 45% Full Service / 35% On Premise / 20% Delivery

CBM 101

• Largest event $1.3 million

• Focused on food quality above all else

• Poor facility design challenges efficiency

• Non Chicago address is a marketing struggle

CBM 101

You have to sell it to cook it!

OR

Do you have to cook it to sell it?

Research

Both ways are correct

• in·spi·ra·tion

• noun \ˌin(t)-spə-ˈrā-shən, -(ˌ)spi-\

• Something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create : a force or influence that inspires someone

• A person, place, experience, etc., that makes someone want to do or create something

• A good idea

Research

• Refreshing existing menus

• For a specific proposal or RFP

• Holiday/Ethnic/Thematic Events & Menus

• Keeping employees engaged

• Staying current with industry & trends

• Creating items to accommodate different price points

• Dietary restrictions & allergens

Research When & Why

• BEST – Adapting existing items

• Catersource, ICA, NACE, Industry/Peers

• Eating out, Travel, TV

• Internet, Social media

• Clients

• Cook books (still better than web)

Research Where do you get ideas

• Your employees

– Host brainstorming sessions

– Iron Chef competitions

– 20% Time – Google Idea

• Freedom to create

Research Where do you get ideas

Development

• Defining Specifications & Uses

• Initial testing, dog fooding, adaptation

• Why you need proper recipes

• Knowing & tracking your costs

• Understanding recipe construction

– Batch vs. recipe vs. complete recipe vs. menu/pkg

– Standards and consistency

Development

Development

Development

• Defining Specifications & Uses

• Initial testing, dog fooding, adaptation

• Why you need proper recipes

• Knowing & tracking your costs

• Understanding recipe construction

– Batch vs. recipe vs. complete recipe vs. menu/pkg

– Standards and consistency

Development

• 424 Vendors

• 3,421 Inventory Items

• 14,225 Recipes

– Largest known database in existence

• 3 FT Staff dedicated to managing the database

• 75,882 photos (432 GB)

Recipes @ CBM

• Consistency in your product

• Selling based on true costs

• Consistency in sales force pricing

• Keep profit margins where they need to be

• Smart purchasing decisions

• Historical data = forecasting trends

– Caterers are selling for the future

Why you need proper recipes

• Know your loss

• What is useable product

• Proper units of measure floz ≠ oz

Knowing & Tracking Your Costs

Loss from cleaning

Loss from cooking/reduction

‘Useable Product’ loss

Brisket – Start with 100# received 1. Lose 38% in cleaning – now 62# 2. Lose 39% in cooking – now 37.82# saleable 3. Lose 12% in scrap/trim from slicing

Units of Measure

OZ • Chicken • Mayo • Flour

Weight is always better than volume unless it is a liquid

Can use weight to confirm yield

FLOZ • Water • Vodka • Chopped Herbs

Inventory Setup

1. Batch

2. Recipe

3. Complete Recipe

4. Menu/Package

Understanding Recipe Construction

1. Batch 2. Recipe 3. Complete Recipe 4. Menu/Package

Understanding Recipe Construction Cooked Rice

1. Batch

2. Recipe 3. Complete Recipe 4. Menu/Package

Understanding Recipe Construction Sushi Roll

1. Batch 2. Recipe

3. Complete Recipe 4. Menu/Package

Understanding Recipe Construction Sushi Roll w/ Sauce

1. Batch 2. Recipe 3. Complete Recipe

4. Menu/Package

Understanding Recipe Construction Sushi Roll Assortment

• Tap Water

• Fryer Oil

• Packaging

• Skewer

• Garnish

• Loss

Include All Costs

• Food Cost

– 30% Labor

– 30% Overhead

– 30% (or less) Food Cost

– 10% to pay sales commission and profit

Any average food cost 20%-30% is ok

Chipotle is at 33.5%

Pricing Party

• Pastry @ 20% – So much additional labor – Passed apps also good at 20%

• Proteins can be up to 50% – What can your market bear

• Cheap items @ lower FC% (8%-16%) – Potatoes, rice, beans

• Anything bought & resold @ 50% • Packaging @ 50%

Pricing Party

Consistent Increase

• Database (designed for recipes) – BEST – Designed for this use – Instantly recalculate recipes – Relational data – Expensive start up cost

• Database (not designed for recipes) – OK – Relational Data – Lacks functionality – Takes a lot of time to setup

• Other – POOR – Low start up cost – Very expensive in the long run – Data is flat – not linked throughout

Ways to do it

• Adjust or change ingredients

• Adjust yield and portion

• Better purchasing

Reduce Costs

Enforce Good Data Collection

Use Photography

Enforce Good Data Collection

Enforce Good Data Collection

Enforce Good Data Collection

Enforce Good Data Collection

Enforce Good Data Collection

Check Accuracy

Ingredients + loss = yield

All costs included

Ingredients are logged properly

Ingredients listed in order of use

Method written so a person with no experience could do

Use standards – Medium Dice, Brunoise, etc

Execution

We cooked it

NOW

We can sell it

Execution • Sales

– Tasting

– Tools

• Moving from testing to production

– Training the station

– Adding to recipe book

– Supervision during 1st production

• Staff Education

– FOH/event staff

– Warehouse/packing staff

Execution

Execution • Sales

– Tasting

– Tools

• Moving from testing to production

– Training the station

– Adding to recipe book

– Supervision during 1st production

• Staff Education

– FOH/event staff

– Warehouse/packing staff

To download a copy of this presentation, go to: slideshare.net/CateringChicago

Jeff Ware

jware@CateringByMichaels.com | (847) 966-6555

Questions?