FOODSERVICE
any core items due to unreliability.
Creativity in the Kitchen
“Keep working with vendor partners to review items and push them to help come up with ideas to complement your offering.”
One silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic is that c-stores repositioned themselves as strong competitors to quickservice restaurants, fast-casual outlets and other foodservice operators outside of the convenience channel.
During the planning process, operators should think beyond introducing a single new offering. “If you choose to add an item, have plans to use it beyond what you initially bring it in for,” she added.
However, to keep this momentum going, retailers can’t rest on their laurels; under current circumstances, menu innovation and new product introductions may have to be less of a priority as brands find ways to avoid the perception that their prepared food offering has stagnated.
“We refuse to accept complacency and stagnation as the end result of this [supply chain] situation,” Lucky expressed. “We use products in different ways and recipe engineer to adjust our mix.”
At Parker’s, this has meant giving focus to non-made-to-order offerings. “We have focused on expanding our graband-go options in our kitchens. Cold items such as salads, sandwiches and parfaits were first to expand. We are now working on expanding hot grab-and-go items,” Davis explained. Strong relationships with key suppliers aren’t just good for managing supply chain difficulties, but they are also vital for menu development. Suppliers serve as valuable partners in assessing what is both feasible and practical for c-store operators to execute.
Similarly, Dash In is focused on using the same ingredients that can be sourced reliably to make creative new variations of menu items.
As part of its goal to use the tools it has at hand creatively, Dash In embraced working within increased limitations and experimented with items already on the menu to come up with the “Stackadilla,” which features multiple quesadillas piled on top of each other. The Stackadilla’s ingredients are largely the same as a standard quesadilla, but its unique presentation makes it different enough to capture a great deal of consumer interest, Lucky pointed out. In fact, two varieties of the Stackadilla have become Dash In’s top sellers.
“You can lead by taking a food everyone is familiar with and make it unique with a special twist.” — Benjamin Lucky, Dash In
“Don’t stop with ideation,” Davis advised.
Dash In uses the same ingredients in different ways and engineers recipes to adjust its offers.
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