Improving efficiency at the expense of quality is one of the mistakes made in the restaurant industry that affects long term success. The recent article in FSR “Are We Witnessing the Death of Casual Dining?” was not a big surprise to many. When quality is downgraded year after year and replaced with “so called” efficiency improvements to make it faster, cheaper & easier (but very rarely better) everyone loses. The customer, the company and the industry.
Over the last 20 years many casual dining chains have opted to use more frozen prepared food items on their menus. The lack of quality in the “heat and serve” options hasn’t gone unnoticed by the customers. The savings gained on increased efficiency didn’t out weigh the loss in revenue caused by customers looking for more and better quality products elsewhere.
Garbage In. Garbage Out.
An old saying that still rings true, Garbage in, garbage out. Consumers want quality and flavor and aren’t easily fooled. If your customers don’t feel they are receiving the quality they are paying for, they will spend their money elsewhere.
You still need to evaluate costs and look for ways to eliminate costs that are not adding value but try to understand how it will affect the customers quality experience. Many times it’s the small quality upgrades that can make a meal an experience.
Small Simple Changes can Yield Big Results.
Simple changes like using real butter, clean ingredients without a lot of chemicals, not using heavily treated seafood, using food service grade ingredients that aren’t available in grocery stores, and finding ways to prepare back of the house to add that fresh made taste. How does this relate to Panko bread crumbs? Simple, not all Panko is the same!
Using an Authentic Panko might seem small, but it can have a big impact on quality and flavor. An authentic Japanese Panko has a light and airy sliver shape and is very different than standard Panko which is dense, hard and round. Most standard Panko is used by large manufacturer to make frozen prepared products so when you use it back of the house your scratch made items look and taste like it was pre-made frozen. Using an authentic Japanese Panko will give your menu items a light, crispy texture with a less oily taste and a beautiful plate presentation. If you are like many chefs you think all Panko is the same but take the 10 minutes to learn what Authentic Panko is and it will be worth your time.
You might be thinking customers aren’t complaining so all is good. But ask yourself do you get complements on your Panko coated items? Don’t settle for OK menu items when for close to the same price you can have great menu items that build loyalty.
Take the Panko Challenge.
We invite all professional chefs and food distributors to try a free sample of our Authentic Japanese Panko. Replace your current bread crumbs with Upper Crust Enterprises Authentic Japanese Panko bread crumbs and win big with your customers.
We guarantee our Japanese bread crumbs will:
- Taste lighter and crisper than competition
- Stay crispy longer than competition
- Provide a better yield than standard bread crumbs.
Experience first hand what an authentic Japanese Panko is and how it will affect your menu. Did we mention our Authentic Panko crumbs are certified GMO free, all natural, Kosher and Halal certified?
Upper Crust Enterprise’s Panko is not available in grocery stores and is only distributed to restaurants and professional chefs. Primarily our authentic Japanese Panko and tempura products are distributed to Japanese restaurants worldwide, however, because of the versatility and superior quality, we are distributing to a more diverse group of restaurants.
