Hiring Food Service and Reduce Costs?

Here’s How

Who doesn’t want to reduce operating costs, but hiring a food service company? Sounds expensive…or is it? Can reducing responsibility for your business or institution save money in the long run? It’s possible, but you’ll want a partner dedicated to both cost-effective solutions AND quality. That’s not easy to find. Here’s a few steps to help navigate the process.

1. Do Your Research

Start by looking for a food service provider who tailors savings to individual needs. You want them to assess your current expenses and propose cost cutting measures that don’t detract and maybe even increase the quality of your current service. For instance, fresh ground hamburger, home-baked buns and specialty menus such as vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options might be cost prohibitive on your current program, but at Epicurean Group, these are savings techniques incorporated into daily service programs.

2. Compare and Contrast: In-house vs. Contracted-out

Make a pro and con list of in-house v contract-out, and cost will always top the con side, unless we consider the bigger picture. Daily pressures on institutions and business leave little time for feeding and fueling your people. Outsourcing food service frees administration to concentrate on core competencies. Look for a provider willing to become part of your team, one who can move beyond lunch into programs and campaigns that support a happier, healthier, more productive workforce.

Cost of food and labor must also be compared. Contracting out has been shown to reduce food cost by 10% – 20%, so make sure that translates into lower prices and higher quality on your end. Also significant is labor cost. You should expect an outside service to provide better training and advancement programs than what could be achieved in house. This increases employee retention, advancement and long-term savings. And don’t forget worker’s compensation, since rates are calculated by work type, and manual jobs (food service) have higher rates than white collar jobs. Outsourcing eliminates this expense. Epicurean Group cuts rate costs further by requiring specialized safety programs for all food service employees.

3. Sweat the Small Stuff

An unexpected area for savings and quality, look for a provider who will go the extra mile. Food prep has become a lost art – many programs rely on pre-made everything. Epicurean Group approaches this differently. Instead of paying premiums for pre-cut, factory-processed meat, we train staff to use whole chickens, fish and beef cuts. Ten pounds of factory-made sausage can cost $50.00, but only $1.18 when made in-house. Grinding grass-fed chuck (and baking our own hamburger buns, another Epicurean Group specialty) means high-quality burgers can be offered on the All-You-Can-Eat menu. Money saved goes back into your program, compounding benefits for clients.

4. Look for Creative Solutions

Consumers want high-quality, deliciousness and there’s a growing concern for environmental farm practices and food sourcing. None of this comes cheap.

One solution Epicurean Group utilizes is the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen, a list of fruits and vegetables with the most and least pesticide residues. The list guides kitchens to spend money where it’s needed most. For instance, we buy Clean 15, non-organic, less expensive, often hard-skinned fruits (not easily penetrated by pesticides.) Think pineapples and avocados. The savings are reinvested into organic-only options for the Dirty Dozen, thinner-skinned foods like strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, nectarines, and grapes. With a minimum goal of 25% organic produce on Epicurean Group menus, the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen is an effective tool to advise, control, and inspire purchasing and cooking.

5. Food Waste Has Value Too

Food waste is money waste. Optimizing menu offerings, improving efficiency in food preparation, and reducing food waste are solutions, as are techniques like these:

Batch cooking or the system of staggering fire times (25% of meals at opening, 50% during lunch rush, final 25% as needed) cuts down on waste as unused portions get incorporated into other meals.

Data comparison tools can match overall sales to POS trends, so kitchens buy just enough – but not too much.

Reuse of food scraps. Most commercial kitchens use a package stock-base. Epicurean Group believes in turning leftover meat and fish into liquid gold. Our kitchens save 200+ chicken carcasses weekly from the landfill, transforming them into gallons of rich, umami-filled stock. The client gets a better price, plus deeply delicious soups, sauces and stews!

Pass it on. If we ever end up with too much food, Epicurean Group partners with social service programs such as Food Runners, St. Anthony’s, and Second Harvest Food Bank to repurpose meals for those in need.