Culinary R&D The Process of Menu Item Design

1. Jeff Ware
March 23rd, 2014
Culinary R&D:
The Process of Menu Item Design

2. 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

3. • 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

4. • 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

5. • 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

6. You have to sell it to cook it!
OR
Do you have to cook it to sell it?
Research
Both ways are correct

7. • 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

8. • 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

9. • 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

10. • Your employees
– Host brainstorming sessions
– Iron Chef competitions
– 20% Time – Google Idea
• Freedom to create
Research
Where do you get ideas

11. 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

12. Development

13. Development

14. 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

15. Development

16. • 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

17. • 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

18. • 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

20. 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

21. Inventory Setup

22. 1. Batch
2. Recipe
3. Complete Recipe
4. Menu/Package
Understanding Recipe Construction

23. 1. Batch
2. Recipe
3. Complete Recipe
4. Menu/Package
Understanding Recipe Construction
Cooked Rice

24. 1. Batch
2. Recipe
3. Complete Recipe
4. Menu/Package
Understanding Recipe Construction
Sushi Roll

25. 1. Batch
2. Recipe
3. Complete Recipe
4. Menu/Package
Understanding Recipe Construction
Sushi Roll w/ Sauce

26. 1. Batch
2. Recipe
3. Complete Recipe
4. Menu/Package
Understanding Recipe Construction
Sushi Roll Assortment

27. • Tap Water
• Fryer Oil
• Packaging
• Skewer
• Garnish
• Loss
Include All Costs

28. • 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

29. • 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

30. Consistent
Increase

31. • 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

32. • Adjust or change ingredients
• Adjust yield and portion
• Better purchasing
Reduce Costs

33. Enforce Good Data Collection

35. Use
Photography
Enforce Good Data Collection

36. Enforce Good Data Collection

37. Enforce Good Data Collection

38. Enforce Good Data Collection

39. Enforce Good Data Collection

40. 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

41. Execution
We cooked it
NOW
We can sell it

42. 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

43. Execution

44. 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

45. To download a copy of this presentation, go to:
slideshare.net/CateringChicago
Jeff Ware
jware@CateringByMichaels.com | (847) 966-6555
Questions?