Automation Nation: A Guide to Selecting Labor-Saving Equipment

Automation Nation

Foodservice consultants detail how to save on labor costs with the latest equipment

By Howard Riell

For foodservice establishments dealing with labor issues and seeking to improve overall operations, the right pieces of kitchen equipment can provide some valuable solutions.

Indeed, equipment that eases the need for handson labor can play an important role in an operation’s success at a time when employees are hard to find, expensive to train and often difficult to retain. Still other units can strengthen product consistency and help maintain all-important temperatures.

“It’s an exciting time in the foodservice industry,” says Khaled Halabi , FCSI, director of design, Northeast/Central region for CiniLittle International, Inc., based in Germantown, Maryland. “Consumer preferences for consistent and high-quality food, the desire for wellness within the foodservice environment, the need to tighten the budget in this world of increasing inflation and costs, and of course the diminishing foodservice workforce, have made it necessary for equipment and technology to join forces, so to speak, to bring imaginative yet efficient ideas to market.”

Three critical areas where equipment can provide the most effective assistance, according to industry veterans, are in labor savings, product consistency and temperature controls.

LABOR SAVINGS

ACF Chef Frank Turchan, CEC (above), campus executive chef at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, points to “pizza robots to build pizzas readyto-cook.” He also favors robots used to cook fries or

manage the fryers based on the product being cooked. Chef Dan Follese, founder and chef of Food Trend Translator based in Tallahassee, Florida, recommends kitchen tools “that offer safety to a lesserskilled kitchen employee, like a mandolin that keeps your fingers safe.” He also feels that some of the most innovative items are combi ovens and ventless rapidcook ovens.

For Karen Malody, FCSI, principal of Culinary Options, LLC, in Portland, Oregon, “It seems like old news to stress the impact that combi ovens can have on a kitchen … but I will say it anyway. Whether cooking on low heat all night, precooking burgers and chicken breasts for a quick grill finish at the point of order or baking eggs in advance for quick assembly of breakfast sandwiches, these ovens are quintessential multitaskers.”

Halabi advises chefs looking to make equipment upgrades in order to save on labor cost that it is important to consider both long- and short-term cost/benefit ratios. “There are definitely a lot of ways to save on labor costs that don’t necessarily mean ripping out your existing equipment and purchasing the newest and the best out there,” he says. “Is the newest and best what your operation needs? Will you be able to weather a potential hit on your bottom line as you incur the expense of new equipment (and) training on that equipment? How far out will it be before you achieve a savings on labor costs?”

One operational resource that can be easily implemented, Halabi continues, is POS software to manage staffing levels for weekly rosters. “This

will help identify potential labor-reducing areas and allow you to make necessary adjustments to your labor force.”

MAINTAINING CONSISTENCY

According to Halabi, consistency of product and the subsequent reduction in ingredient waste are crucial elements for today’s kitchens. “Any way you can ensure that product is consistent time after time is a win for everyone from operator to patron, and even trims food costs and wastage that ultimately affect the bottom line.”

Programmable vending allows for minimal waste and virtually no discrepancy in portion or allotment of ingredients needed for the end product, says Halabi. “In fact, pouring nozzles for alcohol, super-automatic espresso machines and beer-tap-pouring systems all work in much the same way, as do recipe-measuring scales and recipe-connected scales.” Quantity control allows for consistency and reduced waste, he adds. “Combi ovens, pizzabots and robots all help with consistency, as well.”

Chef Turchan recommends an oven with a cloud system “where I can program equipment and control from a single laptop,” he says. “Then we can program recipes into the units, and the staff have to load and press a button for the proper cooking temp and color.”

A new pizza dough stretcher that precisely emulates hand-stretched skins, Malody explains, can allow a pizzeria to produce “perfect” pies without requiring the skill and time of hand-stretching. “I am also a great believer in double-sided — sometimes called clamshell — grills. These amazing pieces of equipment produce consistent, perfect results in a fraction of the time required on flat-top or char grills.”

TEMPERATURE CONTROL

When it comes to controlling temperatures, Chef Follese says there are “a lot of advances in this category, with temperature and timing sensors built into containers (and) apps that set reminders.”

Managing cold storage temperatures has been made easier with the introduction of connected kitchens inputting information into logs accessible online through software portals, Halabi points out.

“Instead of writing down walk-in temps as time intervals on a clipboard in the kitchen, you now have

From top: Chef Dan Follese, founder and chef of Food Trend Translator based in Tallahassee, Florida. Bottom: Karen Malody, FCSI, principal of Culinary Options, LLC, in Portland, Oregon.

access to historical data going back months on the temperatures of all units that are cooling from walkin boxes to merchandisers in the front of house,” he explains. “Some units have control mechanisms to mitigate a rise in temperature by locking the operation of the unit.”

The bottom line, then, all but presents itself: In the right hands, and given a bit of a budget and some savvy management, innovative equipment can come close to serving as a panacea for many contemporary kitchen woes.