Pacific Prairie Restaurant News April 2017

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P A C I F I C / P R A I R I E April 2017 | Vol. 32 | No. 3

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Sticks and Stones helps build Grassroots Restaurant Group

By Bill Tremblay

Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152

SASKATOON — When chef Dale MacKay and Christopher Cho set out to open their third restaurant, they turned to Cho’s mother to help create the menu.

Sticks and Stones, which opens in mid-April at 226 2 Ave. South in Saskatoon, will feature Korean and Japanese cuisine. They recruited the help of Cho’s mother to ensure the restaurant serves genuine Korean kimchi.

“His mom is known around the church circuits for having the best kimchi,” MacKay said.

Cho’s parents, who are missionaries in Africa, visited Saskatoon to demonstrate traditional methods of preparing Korean cuisine. Together, they made about 2,000 pounds of Momma Cho’s Kimchi.

“We’re taking some of those ideas and adding a modern twist,” MacKay said. “It’s the best way. We want to take something you would have at someone’s home and elevate it.”

Alongside Korean dishes, the 70-seat, 2,000-square-foot restaurant will also feature numerous Japanese dishes.

“It’s not necessarily fusion. We’ll be doing Japanese and Korean food in the same location,” MacKay said.

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STRENGTH IN NUMBERS JOINING A GPO WILL LIKELY EQUAL SAVINGS

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FAMOSO OPENS ITS 30TH LOCATION

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CHOWLY DIGS INTO CANADA

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FAst Casual The segment continues to EVOLVE In Canada

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British Columbia bans mandatory high heels VANCOUVER — Employers are no longer allowed to require their employees to wear high heels in the workplace in British Columbia.

The provincial government has amended the existing footwear regulation of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. The amendment ensures workplace footwear is of a design, construction and material that allows the worker to safely perform their duties.

The new section of the regulation requires employers to consider all recognizable hazards when creating a footwear dress code.

“In some workplaces in our province, women are required to wear high heels on the job. Like most British Columbians, our government thinks this is wrong,” Premier Christy Clark said in a statement. “That is why we’re changing this regulation to stop this unsafe and discriminatory practice and adding an enforcement element by WorkSafeBC.” The issue of mandatory high heels in the workplace was raised on International Women’s Day when Green Party of British Columbia leader Andrew

Weaver introduced a Private Members’ bill that would ban gender specific footwear from the workplace.

The bill earned international media attention and support from all parties in the legislature.

To put that into perspective, a bill that would protect puppies, introduced around the same time as the footwear bill, garnered some negative feedback due to the way it was introduced.

“You know if a bill you introduced gets more support than a bill on puppies, you’re onto something,” Weaver said. “Clearly it struck a nerve.”

Despite widespread attention, Weaver’s bill died when the legislature adjourned in March for the upcoming May election. Instead, the current Liberal government was able to make changes to regulations rather than enforcing a ban though legislation.

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Harvey’s tweaks menu to help target growth CONCORD, Ont. – With a new design and new menu items under its belt, Harvey’s plans to open more than 20 units in 2017.

Billing itself as the “original fast casual,” Harvey’s is building on customized burgers with the addition of a build-a-bowl lineup. The new menu offering, introduced in March, starts with a base of salad, rice or fries. Customers can choose their protein, either chopped chicken or burger (original, Angus or veggie), and finish off their dish with a selection of toppings.

“This is a category for us to broaden our appeal,” said Harvey’s director of marketing Ally Tosello. “Our competition can’t replicate this, because they don’t have their own garnish counter.”

Customization is a key differentiator for

Harvey’s in what Tosello referred to as a “fragmented” QSR burger market. With health and wellness, as well as millennial diners in mind, customizable bowls are intended to drive new business and build on Harvey’s loyal customer base, she said.

“This is opportunity to attract a new user or bring our users back more often,” Tosello said.

Corporate chef Hans Sell worked in Cara’s corporate kitchen to launch the 32-ounce bowls, which added nine new toppings and required franchisees to purchase and make room for a rice cooker in their existing footprint.

Harvey’s vice-president of operations Randy Head said the brand rejuvenation began in 2013 with new garnish counters.

“Prior to that, Harvey’s was 50 years of

stainless steel bowls on a counter,” said Head.

“We recognized that times were changing and we needed to change with them, so we convinced the franchisees to invest.

“What that has done is allowed us a lot more opportunity to innovate than we had in the past; new food items and more options available to our guests.”

Last year, Harvey’s expanded its beverage lineup with smoothies, slushies and frozen lemonade.

“We always had a great milkshake program and this was kind of a complement,” Head said, adding the beverage category was one in which Harvey’s needed to improve. “It’s almost like table stakes now in QSR.” Harvey’s has about 270 units across Canada.

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While Ontario, Quebec and Alberta are its largest markets, the Cara-owned chain has stores in every province.

Cara has invested in many of its brands, such as Kelsey’s and East Side Mario’s, with new designs and Harvey’s is also getting the renovation treatment.

The chain recently introduced a new prototype at a standalone location in London, Ont. In addition to a new interior and exterior design, the kitchen received an upgrade with the addition of high-performance equipment.

There are 28 renovations planned for this year.

“We’re trying to conform to that look, trying to get as many franchisees on board, maybe even to do their renovation prior to when it was committed,” Head explained.

This year, new locations – some co-branded with Swiss Chalet – have already opened in Brampton, Timmins, Ont., Dieppe, N.B., and Gander, N.L. “This year, we’re going to have north of 20 openings. Depending on how things go, it could be as high as 30,” he said. “We’re definitely in growth mode; we have a lot of sites in the pipeline.”

One brewer’s trash is a brewing student’s nutrient rich treasure OLDS, Alta. — In his first week enrolled in Olds College’s Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Program, Alex Villeneuve saw opportunity in what’s normally considered a byproduct of beer.

While learning the brewing process, Villeneuve realized the spent grain, which is discarded after its carbohydrates are extracted during fermentation, maintained other nutritional value.

“I realized this is a high-value product,” Villeneuve said, who is now a second-year student in the program.

Although useless to brewers, the high fibre grain was an ideal substrate for mushrooms that typically grow on trees. He decided to test the viability of the grain as a medium for oyster mushrooms in his dorm room closet.

“We have these room checks every couple of months, essentially to make sure students aren’t growing mushrooms in their closet,” he recalled. “I had to label everything. I had to talk to RAs to make sure it was all right. It was very sketchy for a little while.”

After finding success in his dorm room closet, Villeneuve analyzed the nutrient content in his mushrooms and approached the Olds College Centre for Innovation. Through the centre, he was able to find funding and space to expand his mushroom farm.

By the end of 2015, he had incorporated Ceres Solutions as his parent company.

“This is a way to add value to something that’s negatively valued or just thrown away,” he said.

To grow the mushrooms, the spent grain is mixed with mycelium (the seed) and packed in vertical bags, somewhat resembling tree trunks. For every 1,000 pounds of grain, the system is able to harvest 250 to 300 pounds of mushrooms.

“My turn around time is about two weeks,” Villeneuve said, noting the technique supports oyster, lion’s mane and shitake mushrooms. “In the wild that can take up to two seasons. It’s a little more efficient than nature.”

After the grain is used for cultivating mushrooms, Villeneuve once again recycles the byproduct.

“I dry and pelletize it, and I’m working to get it approved as livestock feed,” he said. “Nobody else in Canada has done this, so far.”

Breweries usually have three options for the spent grain; trash it, give it to a farmer or hire a composting company to collect it, which costs up to $2,000 a month. So far, Villeneuve has recruited more than a dozen breweries to supply spent grain.

“Breweries in Calgary are happy to supply the grain,” he said.

“Some of them even want to pay for removal.”

As a former apprentice chef, Villeneuve was able to partner with contacts in foodservice to help market his harvest.

“We’ve been experimenting with recipes and determining the best way to serve them,” he said.

While his product is currently sold at farmers’ markets and restaurants, Villeneuve has partnered with a food distributor to grow his customer base.

A pending government grant will also allow him to increase his production to 250 to 500 pounds of mushrooms every other day.

“The grant will get me enough capital to invest in a very large facility,” Villeneuve said.

“Assuming I get that grant, I will be pursuing the mushroom operation for the foreseeable future.”

Oyster mushrooms.

April 2017 | 3

P A C I F I C / P R A I R I E

industry insight

Purchasing: you don’t have to do it alone or choice is right for your situation, invest the time to understand what is available and ensure any management and staff involved in ordering, are aware of these programs as well. It will likely be one of the best long-term ROIs you can get for a half hour of your time.

By Jason Cheskes

A

s an operator, it’s impossible not to be concerned about escalating costs.

Aside from the usual market forces, inflation, the weak dollar, and uncertainty relating to the new leadership approach south of the border, there is another major factor: consolidation.

When companies consolidate and get significantly larger, the pressure on their suppliers for better pricing can be dramatic. To remain profitable, suppliers need to make up lost margins, and they do so by increasing prices to those without purchasing clout, the independents and smaller entities.

How do you combat this? Often, the most effective way is joining a Group Purchasing Organization (GPO). They act as consolidators of purchasing volumes and can exert leverage on suppliers, which should translate into better buying arrangements for their members. In a sense, they act to negotiate better deals than most operators could ever do on their own (and provide rebates). Everyone has different skills, but many who take on the role of “purchaser” in their restaurants do not understand the complexity of purchasing well in a manner that can be sustained.

Additionally, not many would say they have plenty of extra time in their days, and yet the reality is, that time is required to understand a potential supplier and work with them effectively. Ask yourself: do you or your managers have the specific knowledge about the suppliers’ business models and all the skills required to negotiate each purchase you make effectively? Could that time be better used on generating business and running your operation?

Group purchasing in the foodservice industry is meant to address these issues and give you an advantage. Ideally, utilizing these established relationships should save money in several areas of your business, and in some

Common purchasing mistakes:

cases, even be advantageous for many large operating companies.

There are a host of reasons why restaurants may overpay even when aligned to these available programs. The most common reason is that the owner or manager doesn’t take the time to get to know the programs and vendors available to them, or that the group doesn’t really work well with their members to help them identify specific savings opportunities. Some operators just like to do their own shopping and make their own deals. Some believe they are better at buying than those arranging agreements for hundreds of operations, or may have had bad experiences with a brand or organization in the past and wrongly believes they are all be the same. There can also be a misconception that the relationship between supplier and operator will not be as strong if operating in conjunction with an established program.

There are a number of organizations in Canada that help operators. Understanding which fits your operation best and delivers the most return, and actively participating in whichever one you choose, is a competitive advantage.

While not every purchasing agreement

• Viewing vendors as adversaries to be “beaten.”

• Assuming all offerings are equal and focusing only on price.

• Expecting your distributor representative to give unbiased, and correct advice about working with a purchasing group.

• Believing you are getting the best price because of a longstanding relationship with a company.

• Being unaware of the procedures in place when dealing with a vendor to ensure they get the right answers (and pricing).

• Thinking, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

My advice?

• Talk to the people who are there to help you. You don’t need to follow their advice, but if you’re working with the right group, it will always be worth the time.

• Read all the materials sent to you and ask questions if you don’t understand elements.

• Manage your buying reputation. You may be surprised to hear it, but you likely have one and it undoubtedly affects how suppliers work with you.

Jason Cheskes has been both an operator and a vendor. He is president of Above The Line Solutions, a company working with operators and suppliers for improved business relationships and outcomes. Cheskes established and operates the Superior Lodging Endorsed Vendor Program (SLEVP) for more than 200 affiliated hotels, supports the British Columbia Hotel Association’s Benefit Program, and has several other clients he advises on procurement.

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Calgary eateries face new food waste regulations

By Kristen Smith CALGARY — As of Nov. 1, foodservice operations in Calgary will be required to separate food and yard waste from the garbage for diversion from landfills.

The bylaw is part of the city’s waste reduction strategy, which tackled paper and cardboard recycling for businesses and organizations in 2016 with a higher fee for commercial loads containing the items, which will be followed by a landfill ban next year.

The plan with organics will follow suit, first requiring businesses and organizations to provide recycling for employees and customers this November. A fee increase will be introduced on Oct. 1, 2018 for commercial loads containing food waste, and a landfill ban the following October.

Food and yard waste in landfills decomposes slowly, releasing methane gas and creating leachate, a liquid from garbage that must be managed and treated.

“Food and yard waste doesn’t break down in the landfill as many people think it does,” said Leanne Michie, a waste diversion specialist with the City of Calgary.

“It doesn’t break down into soil or compost when it’s buried, because there is an absence of oxygen.”

Michie said business owners or managers are responsible for creating an appropriate program to adhere to the new bylaw.

“We set it up, following years of engagement with stakeholders, to provide flexibility and choice to the businesses and organizations so they can find a service provider and a program and different types of bins that work best for them,” Michie said.

She noted there are four requirements: ensure food waste and yard waste is collected and stored separately from garbage and recyclables; arrange for material to be composted or another means of diversion; label collection containers clearly; and educated staff about the program.

In the City of Calgary, a 2014 waste composition study estimated that more than 40 per cent of garbage from the accommodation and foodservice sector is food waste.

“So there is a lot of opportunity for restaurants to divert the amount they’re throwing in the garbage and therefore reducing costs and space for those bins,” Michie said. “We’ve seen some successes already in Calgary from restaurants.”

She recommends restaurant operators speak with their current commercial collection company to discuss options and find the solution that works best for the business.

“There are so many private haulers within the city that

have a niche they work in and they really understand how much volume a restaurant might have or how to creatively set up the bins in the kitchen, they may even supply those bins,” Michie said. “People often think they are going to need a larger space to store this material, however, there is no extra volume being generated.”

She suggests a recycling ambassador or team in place to lead to program. As well, a restaurant can do an internal waste audit to determine what is being thrown away.

“So you have a basic understanding what you’re throwing away, what size bins you need, how frequent pick up you need,” she said. “Maybe you do it again in a year to see how successful your programs are — that can be a really valuable tool for businesses to reduce waste.”

Restaurants may be in the best position to come out costneutral or even save money under the new bylaw.

“Food waste is quite heavy and you often pay by weight when it comes to garbage, so by removing that from your garbage, your garbage costs will go down significantly,” Michie said.

High heel issue unknown outside of restaurant industry Continued from cover “This change will let employers know that the most critical part of an employee’s footwear is that it is safe. I expect employers to recognize this very clear signal that forcing someone to wear high heels at work is unacceptable,” Minister of Labour Shirley Bond said in a statement.

Weaver drafted the bill after reading an article on the subject in thetyee.ca.

“After I read it, I couldn’t believe this was still a thing; employers requiring employees to wear high heels,” Weaver said. “It’s well known long-term prolonged use of high heels can have serious implications.”

He added heels also create immediate safety concerns.

“If you’re walking around a floor, that perhaps has some oil on it, it’s not exactly safe,” Weaver said.

The original bill proposed no longer allowing any class of employment to require specific footwear based on gender.

“That means an employer could require everybody

to wear high heels, men and women,” Weaver said. “We all know if men wore high heels, they’d be on for about five minutes before they started getting thrown around the room.”

Weaver explained forced footwear is a problem in British Columbia’s bars and restaurants.

“I don’t want to out any individual chain, restaurant or bar, but there are places that required it,” he said. “It happens in other sectors as well. Restaurants and bars are particularly concerning because people are on their feet for an awful long time.”

Weaver added he believes the issue of high heels being forced upon employees has never been previously addressed, as many people don’t know it’s a requirement.

“Many young people start off with their first job in the restaurant industry, but they don’t stay there forever,” he said. “This is an issue many people have experienced, but they’re not still in the industry. So it’s not continually pressing on a daily basis.”

April 2017 | 5

Ricky’s urban concept goes solo

By Colleen Isherwood VANCOUVER — The Ricky’s Group of Family Style Restaurants has gone urban with Ricky’s Café.

The restaurant group recently opened the new concept in the SOLO District in Burnaby, B.C., and in Red Deer, Alta.

“It’s intended to be a newer, sleeker, more urbanized model,” said Frank Di Benedetto, president and CEO. “Think family style restaurant meets hipster, craft-style platform.”

In contrast to other Ricky’s restaurants — Ricky’s All Day Restaurants at 3,600 square feet and Ricky’s Country Restaurants at 4,500 square feet — the footprint for Ricky’s Café is smaller at between 2,800 and 3,000 square feet.

There are 88 Ricky’s Group restaurants across the country, mainly in Western Canada. Ricky’s Country Restaurants are the former ABC Country Restaurants, which Ricky’s bought in 2014.

With 90 to 100 seats, and a cost of $700,000 total turnkey including franchise fee, Di Benedetto said the Ricky’s Café concept should appeal to franchisees with the right location.

“Our strategy is to launch three, monitor the progress and tweak the concept,” Di Benedetto noted. “It’s an additional model for the Ricky’s Group. The price is more economical than Ricky’s All Day Grill, and with sales volumes of $1.3 to $1.5 million, I’m pretty confident there will be very good numbers for ROIC.”

The concept is suitable for hotels, Di Benedetto said, adding that 19 of their locations are part of lodging and hotel facilities.

The SOLO District in Burnaby is an ideal location for a Ricky’s Café. The retail/office/residential complex is anchored

by Whole Foods. There are 260,000 square feet of offices.

“But the real kicker,” according to Di Benedetto, “is that there are four residential towers with 55 floors each. Two have been completed, with Phase 3 coming in the next few years. We’re surrounded by a corporate corridor along the Lougheed [Highway] and Willingdon [Ave.], and there’s major retail and an industrial belt nearby.”

Ricky’s Café’s decor includes wood finishes, earth tones, exposed brick, butcher-block tables, an exposed ceiling and a semiopen kitchen.

In one corner, is a panini sandwich bar to cater to guests in a hurry.

“They wait about four minutes for a high quality sandwich — chicken pesto artichoke, caprese, wine-braised beef short ribs or big rib stackers, mushroom veggie Portobello or the old standby, the Italian deli sandwich — all custom made,” Di Benedetto said.

There’s also a home meal takeout menu, which includes global bowls, wine-braised beef short ribs with risotto, homestyle pierogies, spinach ricotta ravioli, big rib stackers and fish and chips.

The waiting area has comfortable seating and newspapers to read while waiting for a meal, Di Benedetto said.

“Guests can get home meal takeout without going through the regular full service process. As guests become familiar with the restaurant, they can call ahead and order comfort-style dinners that are ready in six to ten minutes.”

Behind the scenes, Di Benedetto noted there are two kitchen pass-throughs, one for table service and one for home meal takeout.“The sandwich bar and home meal takeout give Ricky’s Café an interesting twist,” he said. “It steps up the tempo in the restaurant; it’s more energized than the standard Ricky’s restaurant. And of course, Ricky’s Café has a full bar.”

A third Ricky’s Café is slated to open this fall in the Morgan Crossing/Grandview Central area of Surrey, B.C., another mixed-used development.

In addition, the company plans to open Ricky’s All Day Grills in Edmonton Gateway, Acheson (near Edmonton), Bonneville and Fort McMurray, Alta., as well as Hope and Parksville, B.C.

Famoso celebrates a decade in business with 30th location VANCOUVER — Famoso Inc. is celebrating its 10th anniversary by opening its 30th location and expanding upon a new format for the brand.

In May of 2007, Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria opened its first location in Edmonton.

“We had a tiny restaurant with a pallet of flour in our back room,” said company cofounder Justin Lussier.

“We just sort of got busier and busier as time went on.”

In February, the Vancouver-based brand opened its 30th location in Regina, in the Eastgate neighbourhood of the city. The location is the third Famoso to open in Regina in two years.

“We had a lot of success with the first Regina location, which is right downtown,” Lussier said. “We had a group want to open more locations, and we had some good real estate opportunities, so we decided to go the east end and north end of town.”

The latest location is branded Famoso Pizzeria + Bar, and features a new design that will be present in all Famoso franchised locations moving forward.

“These new restaurants have an island bar in the middle of the room with a lounge com-

6 | Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News

ponent with high seats, and a restaurant component with low seats,” Lussier explained. “It’s still a fairly small footprint at about 2,800 square feet.”

The original Famoso kitchens were equipped with a pizza oven and prep area. Under the new branding, the kitchen has expanded to include a six-burner stovetop and deep fryers. The new equipment lets Famoso expand its menu with wings, calamari, deep fried risotto balls and a pasta program.

“That’s just really added an extra dimension,” Lussier said. “We’re still in love with the pizza we do, that’s number 1, but we felt variety was important for the experience.”

To draw in a sports crowd and serve as a gathering place, the new design includes a central bar, numerous televisions and more beer taps to feature local beverages.

“With the craft beer scene, we have rotating taps at all of our stores, we’ll get a lot of local brewers in and keep them rotating,” Lussier said.

“It keeps it fun and interesting for guests and staff.”

The groundwork for Famoso was laid in Italy, while Lussier was backpacking through Europe with his wife.

“We went to Italy and obviously enjoyed eating the food there and we started trying pizzas from different cities,” he said. “In Naples, we were just blown away by how good the pizza was. We ate it everyday for a week. We realized it wasn’t something we had before.”

When he returned to Canada, Lussier began researching the Neapolitan style of pizza.

“We figured out it was something fairly new to be doing, authentic Naples-style pizza. There were only a few places doing it in North America,” he recalled.

Famoso’s fast casual approach to Neapolitan pizza began attracting interest from hopeful franchisees from across western Canada and Ontario.

“We had interest from people in opening

one, so we decided to go the franchise route,” Lussier said. “We just built, built, built, every year. We were growing by double digit percentage increases every year.”

While the Famoso brand is evolving, each location is still equipped with its signature customtiled, bell-shaped oven imported from Italy. The company also continues to import 00 flour and tomatoes from Italy.

The 31st location will open in Kelowna, B.C., in June. With a strong presence in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Lussier would like to see growth in Ontario and British Columbia.

However, he said growth is dependent on perspective franchisees.

“We don’t choose the markets before we choose who we partner with,” he said.

Restaurant Group created to oversee three properties Continued from cover “We’ll have a heavy focus on ramen and a large sushi program as well.”

MacKay, who was the first winner of Top Chef Canada, met Cho while working at Daniel Boulud’s Lumière in Vancouver. They opened their first Saskatoon restaurant, Ayden Kitchen & Bar, in 2013.

“We’ve always done a lot of Asian flavours at Ayden,” MacKay said. “We’ll definitely pull back on the Japanese and Korean side of things now.”

About a year and a half ago, they opened Little Grouse on the Prairie. With the opening of Sticks and Stones, MacKay and Cho have formed the Grassroots Restaurant Group as their parent company. Nathan Guggenheimer, who is also a partner in the restaurant group, will lead the kitchen at Sticks and Stones. He moves from his position of co-chef at Ayden Kitchen & Bar. “We’ve had some good growth,” MacKay said.

“As long as Saskatoon and visitors keep supporting us, we’ll keep doing new things.”

The decor of Sticks and Stones will match the menu, featuring sake barrels imported from Japan, and teak doorways separating each room.

As well, the ramen bowls were custom made for the restaurant using Saskatchewan clay.

“It has kind of a modern traditional look. It’s like you would see in an izakaya,” MacKay said.

“It’s going to feel like you’d be in Tokyo or Korea.”

The restaurant will aim to serve a late lunch to late dinner crowd, and stay open until 1 a.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends.

“It’s a little bit more casual than we’ve done in the past,” MacKay said.

For its beverage program, Sticks and Stones will feature several exclusive sake options as well as soju and Asian twists on classic cocktails.

“We have an old fashioned on the menu, but instead of bourbon we’re going to use Japanese whisky,” MacKay said.

“We’re not going crazy, we’re just giving them a little twist.”

Know the difference between defamation and a negative review TORONTO — In a world where customers are able to share their opinions with an unlimited online audience, restaurateurs should take proactive steps to ensure citizen reviews are addressed, particularly if they contain false information.

Lorne Honickman, a partner with Brauti Thorning Zibarras LPP in Toronto who specializes in defamation, explained online comments now dominate his area of expertise.

“Everybody’s a critic. They wake up in the morning and they’re going to be a food critic,” Honickman said.

Whether or not the new breed of critics post negative or positive reviews, there are ramifications for what they have to say. For example, a 2011 study of Yelp.com by Harvard Business School found a one-star rating increase translates into a five to nine per cent increase in rev-

enue.

“You’d be surprised how quickly it could damage a restaurant’s reputation. It could happen literally within 24 to 48 hours,” Honickman said. “Depending how many people go to the site, it could end the business.”

It is within a customer’s legal right to post a review explaining they didn’t enjoy the food, service or atmosphere.

“There’s nothing wrong with a customer saying they don’t like it, whether you agree with them or not,” he said. “This is life in 2017, and you’re going to have to deal with that. That’s the world we live in.”

However, if the review contains false information, it crosses the line into defamation.

If a customer explained their food was dry in a review, that’s their opinion and fair comment.

If they said they tried to send the dish back, but

staff refused, yet the interaction with staff never actually occurred, the review is defamatory.

“It speaks to the attitude of the restaurant and is almost more damaging than the fact the food was dry,” Honickman said.

The question of motive often arises in cases of defamatory reviews. Some customers may use the threat of posting negative critiques as a way of getting a free meal. Competitors may potentially also use reviews as a way to send clientele elsewhere.

“You talk to owners of hotels and restaurants, that get defamed online, they always suspect it’s their competitor,” Honickman said. “If someone hides behind a cloak of anonymity, we always wonder why.”

Businesses taking legal action on defamatory comments may seek compensation or have the review removed from where it was posted.

“Sometimes it doesn’t matter if it is taken down, it may be too late,” Honickman said.

“First and foremost, if there’s something defamatory, you want it down.”

Yet having a false review removed isn’t an easy task. Some websites refuse to take it down, while others offer the business owner an opportunity to respond.

“If you go on Yelp, for example, they have a whole process of the hoops you have to jump through if you want to allege something is defamatory,” he said.

Instead of going to the website, go to the defamatory post. Honickman recommends restaurateurs respond to the false review as soon as possible.

“We try to get a response on immediately.

Say it’s false and defamatory,” he said. “We try to mitigate the damages as quickly as we can.”

We Will Save You Money. info@foodbuy.ca | 1-800-465-2203

YouTube: Foodbuy Innovative Procurement April 2017 | 7

VOLUME TALKS In the face of tight margins, aligning your business with a group purchasing organization will help reduce costs by tapping into increased buying power.

By Jason Cheskes and Kristen Smith

A

s the cost of food increases, operators must eat the losses or hike menu prices to maintain their margins. However, if menu prices increase too much, diners will choose somewhere else to spend their food dollars.

Group purchasing organizations (GPOs) aim to give operators access to the same buying power as chains, which is only getting stronger as the industry experiences continued consolidation.

More consolidation leads to more amalgamated volume, bringing with it greater negotiating leverage for better pricing and additional incentives. At the same time, it puts pressure on the rest of the industry.

Restaurant chains continue to grow, noted Groupex Systems director of operations Troy Taylor.

“If you’re an independent guy, a dollar off wings or coffee is becoming more and more valuable as you get squeezed,” Taylor said.

Following in the footsteps of his restaurateur parents, Chris Kyriakopoulos has spent his life in the foodservice industry.

“It was because of the knowledge of the industry and the unfair market, that R.I.B.A. was started,” said Kyriakopoulos, who founded Restaurateurs Independent Buyer’s Association in 1997.

“It’s no secret that when you purchase in volume, you’re definitely going to get a better price than when you purchase individually,” he said.

Eric Sloan, president of New Brunswick-based UNIPCO, points to consolidation on the distribution side of the business as a factor stunting the independent operator’s ability to compete.

“With the consolidation of distribution in Canada, it’s created a very difficult marketplace for the independent operator to be unique in their menu offering and be able to keep their distributors fair in regards to their markups,” Sloan said. “That is why group purchasing has become so popular, because we’ve been able to level that playing field between national franchises and the independent operator.”

GPOs are intended to do more than save money on purchases and provide rebate cheques. Ideally, they will also save time spent managing the business so operators can focus on the guest.

If an organization specializing in procurement assists with purchasing, operators and chefs can focus on what they do best: delivering quality food, creative menus and customer experience, said Christopher Delaney, senior sales director at Foodbuy Canada.

“We want to alleviate them from worrying about the cost of food when they are losing people at the front door,” Delaney said.

“Any operator who is trying to go it alone and not partnering with a services or buying group, is really going to struggle with respect to sustainability and food cost.”

GPOs are varied, but the concept is the same. Manufacturers agree to provide incentives to the end user through the groups to help entice operators to use their products instead of other options. If the group effectively conveys and educates their members, and has done a good job in negotiating something of value, this should steer more business volume to the vendor’s products and brands.

8 | Pacific Prairie Restaurant News

The more members a GPO has, and the more who use the specific programs and manufacturers, the more clout the group has with the manufacturers to negotiate in the future. Essentially, by joining a GPO, operators are becoming part of a much larger entity that in most cases will be able to negotiate better than an independent.

Until recently, GPOs related to foodservice worked within specific segments, such as restaurants and banquet facilities, golf courses, hotels, health care and educational or correctional institutions.

Today, most have members in every type of foodservice operation imaginable.

Considerations when choosing a GPO Each company has manufacturer partners who give them discounted pricing and/or rebates. While in the past, most groups worked with only one or two of the largest distributors, acquisitions and market forces have resulted in expanded choices.

Distributors provide sales information to the GPOs so they can pursue rebates from manufacturers and then pass on a portion of those rebates to members based on their purchases.

One important consideration is whether the GPO you are considering works with your current distributor or one you may consider in the future. If not, you would need to change your distributor to benefit from being part of that GPO. To get the greatest impact from potential savings, the operator should keep an open mind when considering products and suppliers. Will serving one of the two carbonated beverage giants over the other affect business volumes? Some operators believe it will.

If operators are open to trying a different coffee, there are good options in the marketplace.

GPOs typically want members to align with their suppliers, but most do not insist upon it.

Having someone dedicated to your account who is willing to make suggestions, help identify alternatives and support you if you ever have challenges with a supplier or distributor, can make a big difference to the impact GPOs can have on your costs and the value they provide. It’s difficult to maximize savings, if the information on how to do so isn’t clear. Ideally operators should be able to know the impact of any single product alteration.

An operator’s level of engagement can affect the amount of time and attention you receive from the purchasing organization as well. Like any other relationship, operators will see increased attention and support the more they work with the GPO. While it is often impractical to put together reports on every item every month, operators should be able to sit with an assigned GPO representative once or twice a year to discuss top opportunities for saving money.

Operators are entitled to know what a specific product purchased generates in rebates.

Organizations should function not only as a price negotiator, but also be there to help resolve any concerns or challenges that may arise and ensure the support operators receive from suppliers

is greater than you would see as a standalone business.

Aside from the large GPOs mentioned, there are a number of others regional players such as Alliance Group Purchasing in Ontario and several run by provincial associations. There is even one just for pubs.

“I think it’s important for operators to keep an open mind and look [at options]. Margins are so tight, anything that they can do to help put more money into their till, they have to take a look at today,” Taylor said.

Types of Group Purchasing The three largest of the group purchasing organizations in Canada are owned by international contract catering companies. With operations in many countries around the globe Sodexo, based in France, operates Entegra (formerly Ontrak). Compass, based in the U.K., owns Foodbuy. Philidelphia-based Aramark operates QUASEP, a branch of Complete Purchasing Services.

These companies can to do an analysis of how they could impact your business based on your current purchases if you provide them with velocity reports showing your purchasing habits.

Once you have this, you can quantify the impact joining would have.

Each offers a different approach to reporting, rebate payments and the support they deliver.

QUASEP Purchased by Aramark in 2013, QUASEP began in 1983 as a family business based in Ottawa. Now a branch of Complete Purchasing Services (CPS), QUASEP provides service to independent operators while CPS focuses on health care and senior living.

CPS has more than 6,000 customers across Canada. It works with both national and regional distributors and has more than 400 manufacturer relationships.

“Aramark has a long history with many manufacturers,” said Brian Emmerton, CPS vice-president and general manager. “Part of the value is we work with a lot of regional and national distributors, so we have a lot of choice for customers.”

While collective purchasing power and leverage is key to a successful GPO and member relationship, Emmerton noted technology and expert staff are also important.

“QUASEP is a little different than some of the purchasing organizations out there, because we have a full offering of programs and services to help the entire operation run — it’s not just about their food purchases,” he said.

QUASEP requires 30 days advance notice to end the member/GPO relationship and does not charge a fee to join, something that became more common with more competition in the GPO space.

“One of the first things new players coming into the marketplace started doing, was commoditizing the value by not charging for their services,” Emmerton said, noting Aramark had to follow suit.

Foodbuy Canada As both a division of Compass and its purchasing arm, Foodbuy’s has more than 70 employees focused entirely on procurement.

The company began supporting external clients, such as restaurants, hotels and golf clubs in 2008 and officially launched as a GPO in 2010.

“We’ve got a partner in this business from

every type of market segment you can think of,” said Delaney, noting this includes buying groups.

Foodbuy works with Sysco and Gordon Food Service, as well as a number of regional distributors to serve its more than 250 external partners, who represent more than 5,000 operators.

The GPO provides food cost savings through invoice savings and/or rebates. It doesn’t charge a fee and has a retention rate of more than 98 per cent.

“We deliver what we say we’re going to deliver, if not more, which allows us to retain customers, grow our business and send back money year over year; we call it a virtuous circle,” he said.

Delaney makes a distinction between buying groups, group purchasing organizations and procurement services companies.

“We believe we are more of a procurement services company because we actually provide a service to some buying groups in Canada that support their independent markets, whether it is the golf business, health care or independent restaurant business,” he said, noting The VGM Group and Silver Group Purchasing as examples.

With purchasing power of $1.6 billion, Foodbuy added more than $250 million in managed volume last year, representing growth of 33 per cent. It signed more than 120 new contracts in 2016 and is expecting double-digit growth again in 2017.

“We still consider ourselves a new business and growth is endless for now; we’re just getting started,” said Delaney.

Restaurateurs Independent Buyer’s Association (R.I.B.A.) R.I.B.A. Corporation is a privately-owned GPO formed by independent restaurant operators two decades ago.

The London, Ont., headquartered group currently represents about 1,600 units throughout the foodservice industry.

R.I.B.A. works with independent operators from restaurants and hotels to bowling alleys and bingo halls.

In 2014, a partnership with Foodbuy allowed R.I.B.A. to include the national GPO’s portfolio.

The arrangement kept R.I.B.A. independently-owned and operated, but extended

members’ benefits through a large secondary program.

“We became their arm for independent business,” Kyriakopoulos said. “The addition of our platinum program and partner really helps us grow even faster now and we’re anticipating another record year — 2016 was a great year for us. In 2017, we should see anywhere in the neighbourhood of 15 to 20 per cent growth.”

R.I.B.A. works with Gordon Food Service, Sysco, Findlay Foods, Flanagan Foodservice, Morton Foodservice, Stewart Foodservice and Summit Food Service (a division of Colabor).

“The philosophy behind R.I.B.A. is to give our members choice and flexibility,” Kyriakopoulos said.

“The theory behind that is very simple. As an independent myself, the one thing I didn’t want was to be tied down to one specific distributor and lose my leverage in negotiating pricing.

R.I.B.A. complements your pricing, it doesn’t take it over.”

He added transparency in rates and fees is essential for a good relationship.

“When R.I.B.A. quotes a rate, that’s what the member gets and that’s what the member is counting on,” he said.

“All of our fees are built-in and separate from the rates we quote, so our members can cross reference with their volumes and see that our statements are 100 per cent accurate.”

R.I.B.A.’s annual fee is $150, and Kyriakopoulos thinks it’s an important part of the GPO system.

“If you don’t have a fee, people take your service for granted and they do not support you.

When people see a fee, even through it’s minimal at $150, they feel obligated to use it and they feel more a part of the process,” he said.

Groupex Systems Groupex Systems is owned by Restaurants Canada and operates independently in nine provinces.

The organization was founded by a group of Edmonton restaurateurs more than 30 years ago. According to Taylor, Groupex is looking to establish a presence in Quebec.

With a single distributor partner, Gordon Food Service, Groupex combines the concepts of association membership and group purchasing.

“We try to negotiate on the power of our

membership to get operators a better value,” said Taylor.

He likens Groupex to a brokerage more than a buying group, noting it doesn’t have multiple vendors in the same categories.

For example, Groupex has only one major beverage company in its portfolio as opposed to both.

“We believe we have a working relationship with them that we’re growing together,” Taylor said.

He noted advantages extend beyond price to better service and equipment maintenance, where independents may not see as quick a response as a national chain.

“Being part of an organization, in my view, gives you more weight with the various manufacturers to get done what you need to get done,” Taylor said.

Groupex is included in an annual membership to Restaurants Canada, which also provides access to research and industry trends.

Funds earned from the program go towards Restaurants Canada to fulfill its lobbying and advocacy mandate.

When choosing a GPO to work with, Taylor noted it is important to consider the type and frequency of reporting being received.

“Groupex issues statements every month detailing exactly what they purchased, exactly what the rebate is and exactly where the dollars are going. If you’re not getting that from your guys, you’ve got to demand it,” he said.

UNIPCO A member-owned foodservice buying group, UNIPCO has more than 700 members in Eastern Canada.

“Our collective mission is to level the playing field, help independents improve their profitability and save them time by managing their business so they have more time to focus on their guests’ experience,” said Sloan.

An organization with national aspirations, UNIPCO has a 30-year history in Atlantic Canada and expanded into Quebec and Ontario within the last decade.

“Ontario is about the same size membership-wise as Atlantic Canada, where we started,” said Sloan.

“We have golf courses, bingo halls, seasonal takeouts and of course a lot of mom and pops that make up the portfolio of members.”

UNIPCO has relationships with about 140 manufacturers and service providers and works with broadline distributors in the provinces where it operates: ADL Foods in Prince Edward Island, Capital Foodservice in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, FJ Wadden & Sons in Newfoundland and Labrador, Colabor Food Distributor in Quebec and Flanagan Foodservice in Ontario.

“The beauty of our program is we have a cost-plus, a very aggressive cost-plus, based on our combined purchasing power,” Sloan said.

Joining the group requires an initial fee of $4,500, which can be paid with rebates earned.

“We’re a cooperative and we have a zero retained earnings policy. There are surpluses and bonuses that get relayed back to all our members as well,” Sloan said.

This year, UNIPCO plans to grow membership through more intentional marketing efforts than in the past.

“As we’ve grown our business, it’s been more word of mouth. From restaurateur to restaurateur, we’ve relied on word of mouth to grow our business,” he said.

April 2017 | 9

Technology

Avanti launches mobile order platform VANCOUVER — Avanti Commerce, the company behind Subway Restaurant’s entry into mobile ordering, has adapted its software for smaller foodservice operations.

The cloud-based platform aims to allow brands to accept mobile orders placed while a customer is en route to a foodservice establishment.

“You’re on the train on your way to your favourite coffee shop, you can place your order a few minutes ahead and when you get there, you don’t have to wait in line either to place an order or to make payment,” said Jason Strashek, Avanti founder and CEO. “We’re focused in that area, to ensure that the order gets down to the restaurant and that it’s fulfilled in an extremely timely manner.”

Prior to mobile apps, Strashek was part of a venture capitalbacked company, Elaho Wireless (later called Ontain Corporation), which was exploring opportunities for mobile commerce in

the early 2000s.

“Customers loved it. The problem was it was touchtone phone based and orders had to be sent down to the restaurant over a dial-up connection, which has its own reliability issues,” he said, adding the concept was premature given the infrastructure available.

In 2010, after spending time consulting in payment and point of sale, Strashek saw the pieces falling together.

“I said now is the time to really start putting the gas on a large-scale mobile commerce platform that allows a franchised brand to become a single brand,” he said. “You unify the brand so it’s represented to the customer as one brand.”

With Subway Restaurants, Avanti started with catering orders. This laid the groundwork to move from accepting orders of large platters with a couple days lead time to allowing customers to order a few sandwiches for quick pick up.

“When Subway said, ‘We really need mobile ordering,” they already had it,” Strashek explained.

In late 2016, Subway acquired the source code for its platform licensed for use within its own brand — and brought part of the Avanti team in house. This allowed Strashek to further invest in Avanti and make it available to others.

“What was very clear was the amount of customized work for Subway, was not applicable to the vast majority of other merchants,” he said. “We knew that we had to keep the platform very agnostic, and we’re really glad that we did.”

The Vancouver-based company spent about half a year building store onboarding and menu management tools. Now, it is being tested in the market.

“We’re kind of in a great position, because we’ve already proven it,” said Strashek. “While we’ve got that great experience, we can now make it available to everybody else.”

Chowly moves into Canada CHICAGO — When Chowly co-founder Brian Duncan saw the manual work that goes into accepting third-party orders, he was inspired to create a solution.

The former restaurant consultant assumed third-party online ordering solutions (TOOS) were integrated with a restaurant’s point of sale (POS). While on a food tour with a large chain in the United States, Duncan was surprised to learn that orders were manually input into the POS. “I asked, ‘If I could find a solution, would you be interested?’

She said, ‘Of course,” he said. “A couple of buddies of mine, who are my business partners, created this platform and we got our first client.”

According to Duncan, Chowly now processes more than 10,000 orders a day from TOOS platforms, such as Just Eat, Skip the Dishes and Uber Eats.

Following a recent seed funding round last year, Chowly is bringing the Chicago-based company across the border into its first international market.

It’s first Canadian client, Edmonton-based Pizza Love, launched in early April.

Duncan said Canada was a natural next step for the company, since POS systems are similar to those in the United States. In addition, there are number of restaurant and third-party delivery brands who operate on both sides of the border.

The problem, said Duncan, is there are so many players in both POS and TOOS, they can’t all work together on integration.

“Now the POS systems and the ordering solutions can simply

1 0 | Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News

From left: Brian Duncan, Sterling Douglass, Justin McNally and Joe Lawton. have the business relationship, while we’ll do all the grunt work … of integrating all the orders, updating menus, all that good stuff,” he said.

In Canada, Chowly’s POS partners include MICROS Systems, Revel Solutions, SpeedLine Soultions and Montreal-based Lightspeed. The company plans to add between three and five POS systems per quarter.

Since the application programming interface is plugged in at the restaurant, Duncan said working with the online ordering

system allows added features, but isn’t necessary for Chowly to catch the order.

“With our system, it goes directly in, no matter where it is coming from, and it all looks the same to the kitchen staff,” he said.

“Most restaurants have between two and five third-party ordering systems they are using,” said Duncan, adding one in six orders are input incorrectly. “The software doesn’t get tired, doesn’t make mistakes.”

Beverage News

New Zealand brewmaster helps bring craft beer to Saskatchewan YORKTON, Sask. — The opening of Back Forty Brewing marks a Uturn in business for Corey Geddes.

Geddes, who operates a fencing company in Yorkton, Sask., decided to open the city’s first microbrewery when space became available in his building on Darlington Street West.

“These are two avenues that probably never met, but I’ve always been interested in beer and beer making,” Geddes said, noting he dabbled in home brewing before opening the brewery.

“We were looking for something new and exciting.”

To brew Back Forty’s eight varieties of beer, Geddes purchased a SmartBrew system, which is automated to monitor and control the brewing procedure.

“It’s a complicated process, but it’s simplified by the computer system,” Geddes said. “I’m always looking for good technology.”

New Zealand-based Brian Watson, an award winning brewmaster

and international beer judge, creates wort for the SmartBrew system.

Watson also serves as brewmaster for Back Forty.

“We’ll look at some recipes and he’ll tell me how to do it,” Geddes said. “When it’s down or if there’s a problem, he’s online. He can see what I’m doing here, so we know exactly what’s going on. It’s all measured and calculated.”

Watson has also helped guide the brewery as it introduces the city to craft beer.

“That’s the benefit of having someone that’s been around the world tasting beers,” Geddes said.

As Yorkton’s first microbrewery, Back Forty decided to introduce lighter beers than what’s common in more established craft beer markets.

“It’s new and we’re the only ones.

We didn’t want to scare people away with high hopped up beer,” Geddes said. “It’s been a long time coming and there are craft beer drinkers in Yorkton.”

Back Forty’s first products have been sent to a small number of bars and restaurants in the city.

“We’re getting feedback on what’s selling and what’s not,” he explained.

“We wanted to walk before we ran. We’re making sure the beer’s tasting good, it’s flowing well and the carbonation is correct.”

Back Forty’s German pilsner and American Lager are emerging as the

HQ Wine + Spirits launches in B.C. VANCOUVER — Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP) has launched a beverage sales agency to represent its own labels as well as international wineries with similar viticulture practices.

Owned by Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie, HQ Wine + Spirits sells OCP’s Haywire and Narrative wines and products from Coolshanagh Vineyard in Naramata, B.C. In addition, HQ added labels from Italy (Poggiotondo) and Chile (Pedro Parra y Familia) for the launch of the agency.

Crush Pad took control of its distribution about three years ago and developed an internal team to build its sales and marketing efforts.

“Our own wine production grows steadily each year, and we have received very strong support from the trade and media in British Columbia for our Haywire and Narrative wines,” Coletta said.

“It felt like the right time to expand, and we want to work with likeminded wine producers with exciting projects.”

The two additional imported wineries were

selected because both have been involved with OCP operations over the years, Pedro Parra as viticulture specialist and Poggiotondo owner Alberto Antonini as winemaking consultant.

“We thought the timing was right to bring a couple of longtime friends and associates in as our very first clients to our little portfolio,” said Rebecca McKinney, director of sales and marketing.

“The common ground is that we’re all family operators with a passion for preserving the land and wines that really tell the story of the place where they’re grown.”

David Scholefield will be responsible for portfolio and wine selection.

HQ Wine + Spirits is focusing on retail and foodservice sectors for its newly established portfolio.

“For us, hospitality is the channel where we really built our brands. It’s a channel that’s very near and dear to us,” said McKinney. “We felt like this would be a great opportunity to have two other producers from two different countries.”

brewery’s flagship beverages.

“The American lager; that one has really taken off,” Geddes said.

At the brewery, beer flights are offered allowing customers to try a spectrum of craft beer, from lager to porter.

“We’re moving a lot of growlers.

It’s a little bit surprising,” Geddes said.

While the brewery also offers a

small selection of snack food, Geddes is working with local restaurants to develop beer pairings.

Back Forty is once again able to draw on Watson’s expertise to match the right flavours.

“We’re trying to find beer that matches with local food favourites,” Geddes said. ‘It’s great to get into bars, but we also want to focus on restaurants.”

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APEXCONTRACTING.NET April 2017 | 1 1

The Evolution of

Fast Casual

Fewer staff members in a smaller space allow restaurant operators to provide a higher quality meal at a lower price.

By Bill Tremblay

W

hile attending the French Culinary Institute in New York City, chef Shahir Massoud discovered Roman cuisine.

Massoud was on a path to becoming a chartered accountant, but decided to change direction in pursuit of career in culinary arts.

“One of the first great kitchens I worked in was Mario Batali’s Lupa,” Massoud said. “I really fell in love with authentic Italian food there.”

After returning home to Canada, Massoud worked in several kitchens. When the time came to open his own restaurant, his focus returned to Italian cuisine.

“I always came back to the idea of doing these beautiful dishes I fell in love with and try to replicate them and scale them,” Massoud said.

To deliver quality Roman food without a fine dining price, Massoud created the fast casual restaurant concept Levetto. The first location opened in Vaughan, Ont., in 2013 with a 20-item menu of various pastas and pizza.

“You can have a scratch made, amazing spaghetti pomodoro for $9, but you’ve got to play by a different set of rules,” Massoud said.

As he created the concept, Massoud recalls friends asking why he wanted to enter the crowded pizza and pasta market.

“I want to do it better, at a price point no one else is doing,” he said.

To achieve a lower ticket, Levetto restaurants require a footprint of about 1,200 to 1,300 square feet. As well, staying true to the fast casual service model, customers place their order at a counter, rather than with front of house staff.

“I have a small footprint, a small staff and no table cloths,” Massoud said. “There’s three pillars we stick too: authentic Roman, fast casual price and high quality.”

He explained the fast casual format makes sense for consumers demanding quality at a lower price.

1 2 | Pacific Prairie Restaurant News

“I do think in today’s day and age, we can and we should look to meet guests’ standards at their desired price point,” Massoud said. “Industry wide, we’re seeing shifts in that direction anyway.”

For Levetto, the format is working. Since its introduction to the market in 2013, the restaurant has grown to include seven locations throughout southern Ontario.

“It’s been a busy three and a half years,” he said.

A global success Fast casual success isn’t limited to Levetto or Ontario. In 2015, the fast casual segment recorded sales growth of 11.4 per cent, almost doubling the growth rate of any other segment, according to Technomic.

Sarah Monnette, vice-president of research and insights at Technomic, explained fast casual restaurants are hitting on key consumer trends, like fresh, high quality ingredients and menu transparency.

“Fast casual chains have seen stand up growth across the globe,” Monnette said. “Global demand for fresh ingredients and customization; that’s going to continue to be seen across the globe. That’s what’s fueling the growth of fast casual.”

She added quick service restaurants are also stepping up to the fast casual plate.

“They’re revamping their concepts and ingredients as well, to kind of have that QSR-plus type model,” Monnette said.

Moving to a new format About six years ago, Nando’s began migrating from quick service restaurant to fast casual format. With 42 locations in Canada, and seven to 10 new restaurants opening each year, the South Africa-based company is renovating its existing locations and building the fast casual format.

“We’re opening up the kitchens and taking down menu boards where we can,” said Ron Cecillon, president of Nando’s Canada. “It makes it more consistent with full service, without

waiters and waitresses.”

For Cecillon, the advantage of moving to fast casual is a higher quality menu with lower operating costs.

“We can do great quality with few staff. … As labour just gets more expensive, you have to be as flexible as possible,” he said.

“You don’t need people anchored in specific positions. Everybody is cross-trained to do a little of everything.”

With less staff, the guest is responsible for some of the tasks usually handled by staff in a full service restaurant, like placing an order or filling beverages.

“The guest controls their dining experience. When they’re ready to order, they order,” Cecillon said. “You can get up and leave whenever you want, you don’t have to flag someone down.”

Having control of the flow of the meal also fits in with customer trends, he added.

“People are in a hurry today, much more than they were 10 or 15 years ago. They’re not looking for that 60- to 90-minute dining experience,” Cecillon said. “Millennials love convenience they love to get in and out, and they love the ability to get it on demand when they want it.”

At Nando’s, the open kitchen is a key component to fast casual success.

“It’s that theatre of watching the food being prepared for the customer,” he said.

Keep it simple Cecillon points out a common theme within fast casual restaurants: a tight menu.

“Five Guys does burgers. We do chicken and it’s all we do. Part of the success is that tight menu,” he said. “We’re not ashamed to not offer a bunch of items.”

With peri-peri chicken as a recurring protein at Nando’s, repetition in the kitchen lets back of house staff master the menu preparation, which in turn improves quality and consistency.

“Our kitchen staff are cooking the same menu items all the

Panzanella salad, Levetto

Famoso Mac & Cheese

Nandos

time,” Cecillon said. “So they get very proficient at it, versus trying to learn a 100-plus item menu.”

errors in communication between the guest and back of house, saves on wages and will help a business stand out from the crowd.

“The initial cost for iPads might be high. In the long run, you’re going to save money compared to wages. It’s imperative to have an open mind,” Sabev said.

matter what, the guests wanted to sit down and have full table service.”

Cecillon noted there are always “growing pains” when introducing consumers to a new method of business.

“Some guests hate it, to be completely honest. They just don’t get it,” Cecillon said.

He explained training staff to educate guests who are new to the format is key to success with fast casual.

“As more and more brands, new and old, start to develop the fast casual model, I think it will be widely accepted,” Cecillon said. “You can get in and out, get great quality and a great environment as well.”

Segments within the segment Cecillon also noted fast casual is splitting into segments within the segment.

“It will develop similar to what happened in full service, this notion of upscale casual,” he said. “I foresee a segment within a segment continuing to develop.”

He explained fast casual eateries like Chipotle or Five Guys differ from Nando’s or Famoso, despite falling into the same category. For example, Nando’s, Famoso and Levetto all have alcoholic beverage menus.

“You’re seeing more focus on design and more focus on freshness,” he said. “Customization is a big part of it as well.”

The importance of social Vassil Sabev, founder of Toronto-based Blue Seal bar and restaurant consulting, ties the rise of fast casual to the rise of social media.

“The rise of fast casual dining is synonymous with social media,” Sabev said. “Look at your Burger’s Priests and Holy Chucks, they’re able to showcase their menus via Instagram and social media. It’s led to their success.”

Regardless of dining format, social media must be integrated, Sabev said, noting most restaurants should have a network of between 5,000 and 6,000 on Instagram alone.

“It’s an excellent way to reach all of your customers,” He said.

“It’s absolutely crucial to any business to have a heavy social media presence, especially the fast causal format.”

To build a significant following, Sabev recommends tying the social media launch to the opening of the restaurant. As well, invite Instagram influencers who specialize in restaurant food photography to try out the menu.

“It would be imperative to establish a launch with a few of these online personalities,” he said. “You might have to spend some money, but it’s better to spend and make money in the future. In our experience it translates to better numbers.”

The future of fast casual New technology available to restaurateurs will spur fast casual interest and growth, according to Sabev.

“We still believe this format is in its infancy stages,” he said.

With a rise in options for automating the hospitality industry, like mobile ordering or interactive dining tables, technology is being geared towards the fast casual format.

“Keep your options open and don’t be scared to take a chance on new technology,” Sabev said.

For example, placing an order via a tablet helps eliminate

Upsell without alcohol Many fast casual restaurants in Canada do not serve alcoholic beverages. While this saves time and money by eliminating the need for a liquor license, it also eliminates an opportunity to upsell.

“This is a blessing and a curse,” Sabev said. “Alcoholic drinks have a high profit margin.”

For fast casual restaurants, homemade, non-alcoholic beverages fit well in the segment, and help recoup the upsell opportunity.

“A lot of people are health conscious when it comes to pop or soda,” Sabev said. “This is a trend we’ve been noticing the last couple of years.”

Instead of carbonated beverages, Sabev recommends a house made ice tea, for example.

“It’s an excellent way to thicken your revenue stream,” he said. “Your overhead for these drinks is next to nothing.”

It’s not for everybody When Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria opened its first location in Edmonton in 2007, the restaurant operated as a hybrid of fast casual and full service. Guests were seated, where they could peruse the menu. When ready, they would place their order at the bar.

“Quite a few people were confused by that slight difference of having to sit and then go order,” said Famoso founder Justin Lussier. “It’s just ingrained in people’s mentalities in North America; you either line up and order or you sit down and get served. We were asking them to do something in the middle.”

Famoso decided to equip servers with iPads to take orders at the table.

“It saves time, and keeps the orders accurate,” Lussier said.

“The orders go right to the kitchen. You don’t have to wait until the server gets back to the point of sale system to do it.”

Lussier explained the switch has allowed Famoso to maximize its potential by expanding its menu and bar program.

“That has been a good switch,” Lussier said. “It’s kind of like a new world. We’re not this place in between full service and fast casual.”

At Levetto, fast casual is a success at the majority of its locations, especially in Toronto. However, in Waterloo, Ont., customers didn’t take to the service format.

“In any one we open there’s a growth process. You automatically think ‘where’s the server’?” Massoud said. “In Waterloo, no

Chef Shahir Massoud, Levetto

April 2017 | 1 3

Products

NRA announces 2017 Kitchen Innovations Awards CHICAGO — The National Restaurants Association has announced the recipients of the Kitchen Innovations (KI) Awards, in advance of its annual trade show in May. The awards aim to honour forward-thinking equipment and technologies that increase efficiencies and productivity in restaurant kitchens.

Each recipient and their product will be showcased in the interactive Kitchen Innovations Pavilion at the 2017 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, May 2023 in Chicago. The 2017 KI Award recipients reflect the trends and topics most important to foodservice operators today. The 18 selected innovations address operator concerns from labour, energy and water efficiency to food safety, sanitation, cross-functionality and space-saving.

New software and new materials continue to make new solutions possible.

The 2017 Kitchen Innovations Award recipients are: Alto-Shaam by Appliance Innovation: Vector Multi-Cook Oven The ventless Vector Multi-Cook oven offers up to four independently controlled cook chambers. Advanced “Structured Air Technology” takes evenness and speed to a new level. Each chamber gets its own 10-speed fan and multistage programming.

Antunes: Dual Zone Egg Station Great for all-day breakfast flexibility, the Dual Zone Egg Station’s unique split cover divides the grill surface into two independent cooking zones for quick on-demand eggs. Cook on one zone or two, larger or smaller batches, depending on demand. The two-channel timer allows operators to time each zone separately.

Blendtec: Nitro Blending System What if you could blend a drink in the same cup it’s served in? Just lock the individual disposable cup into place, and go. The system not only assures portion control, but it also reduces handling, improves sanitation and saves labour — not to mention rinse and wash water.

Ecolab: STEALTH LED Fly Light Leaping into the next gen of insect light

1 4 | Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News

traps, the STEALTH LED uses LED technology to achieve industry-leading effectiveness while slashing energy consumption and eliminating the need for a high-voltage ballast and fluorescent bulbs. The compact, discreet design makes placement easier for both front and back of house, and the LED bulbs are shatterproof to help protect food safety.

Garland: XPress Grill Garland’s Xpress Grill takes energy and temperature management to the next level with a controller that automatically adapts to either 208V or 240V. PID software continuously modulates power to maintain set point, unlike conventional on/off cycling. Cooking lanes are independently controlled, separated with grooves under the grill plate to prevent heat migration.

Each lane can be set at a different temperature or even turned off when not needed.

Hobart: CLeN Conveyor Warewasher with Drain Water Energy Recovery With waste heat recovery critical in warewashing, Hobart has found that drain-water energy recovery solves multiple challenges at once.

Not only is waste heat recovered to preheat incoming water, but with drain water temperatures reduced, the need for tempering water also is greatly reduced, saving significant water consumption.

MEIKO: M-iClean UM With GiO Module Finally, an undercounter hot-water sanitizing glasswasher that boasts an integrated reverse-osmosis filtration system. The reverse osmosis system removes the water impurities that cause spotting, eliminating the need for hand polishing. ENERGY STAR listed, the model uses 0.61 gallons/rack. An illuminated door handle glows blue for ready, green for washing and red for messages.

Merco: MercoMax Visual Holding Cabinet The MercoMax offers a new answer to the age-old challenge of visual quick service restaurant style hot holding with a combination of radiant heat beneath the shelves and forced-air convection from fans above each holding zone.

A bright seven-inch touchscreen display, visible from across the kitchen, shows what’s being held and its status.

Middleby CTX: WOW 2 Grilling System The Wow 2 Grilling System is a Middleby-CTX infrared conveyor oven broiling at 1,000°F. It also has an advanced controller that saves enough energy to the heating elements that it only requires a 30-amp breaker rather than the typical 50-60-amp unit. Special pans and high-temp alloys provide the grilled effect.

Panasonic: Met-ALL Induction System Until now, induction cooking in North America operated at a frequency that worked only with ferrous pans. No more. Panasonic’s Met-ALL works with any kind of pan, whether iron, steel, copper, or aluminum, automatically sensing the metal and adjusting accordingly.

QuiQsilver: Roll-O-Matic Silverware Rolling Machine The Roll-O-Matic silverware/utensil and napkin rolling machine brings automated rolling within reach of casual dining, cruise ships, hotels and more. The machine neatly rolls and bands all kinds of flatware, even chopsticks, UV sanitized, at the rate of 500 sets per hour.

RATIONAL USA: SelfCookingCenter XS Model 6 2/3 With the XS Model 6 2/3, RATIONAL manages to get all of the advanced features of its full-size SelfCookingCenter combis into a package that’s about 60 per cent smaller. At 21¾ inches deep, 25¾ inches wide, and 22¼ inches high, this is the only combi this compact that offers its own steam generator.

Royal Range of California: RHEF-45 High Efficiency Fryer High efficiency fryers are mainly expensive models with bells and whistles. Royal changes that with the RHEF-45, a 14-inch, 45-pound model that delivers high efficiency in a straightforward package. The RHEF-45 offers three in-shot burners, total 99k Btu, with a flue temp of 370°F, 62.6 per cent efficiency and 70.6 pounds/hour production capacity.

Southbend: TruVapor Want the versatility of a combi’s convectionsteam-combi modes, but want it straightforward and up front on the cookline? The TruVapor delivers with a low profile that fits into the line and serves as a base for a rangetop or griddle. A steam generator provides plenty of power.

Standex Refrigerated Solutions Group (Nor-Lake and Master-Bilt) Keg Management System Standex’s KMS is an integrated walk-in keg box solution that addresses injury risks inherent with employees lifting a 160-pound keg. The KMS features a suspended track and electric hoist system, with cantilevered shelving, that moves kegs anywhere within the walk in. A digital scale helps inventory partial kegs.

Turbo Coil: Dual Zone Mega Top Prep Table Turbo Coil uses two of its patented compact evaporator coils, one for the pan section and one for the storage section, and seals off both sections, making each completely independent.

A single master controller sets both temperatures and runs both coils. The result is better temperature control and reduced energy usage.

TurboChef: DoubleBatch The ventless Double Batch oven uses two independently-controlled high-speed cooking cavities to maximize throughput while requiring minimal space and energy consumption. The cavities are controlled by a split-screen, Wi-Fi connected capacitive touch controller, which allows the user to intuitively and quickly control either cavity simultaneously. Air impingement technology and an oscillating rack make for rapid, even cooking.

Vulcan: VC5G Gas Convection Oven Nobody likes hard-to-clean oven door windows. Enter Vulcan’s VC5G Gas Convection Oven with fully removable, dishwasher-safe doors. Just lift them off and put them in the dishwasher or a three-compartment sink. Another big plus —one of the best convection oven cooking efficiency scores in ENERGY STAR testing.

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RIGHT PART, RIGHT TIME, EVERY TIME. ® We know you have a job to do - keeping the kitchen up and running so your customers are happy. With Canada’s largest on the ground inventory of 100% Genuine OEM parts and industry leading parts experts, you can be confident Heritage will get it right the first time.

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When replacing a burner in a gas appliance, it’s also a good idea to replace th e orifice to ensure adequate ga s flow and heat output.