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3 Tips To Keep Your Customers Coming Back For More!

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With every ringing in of the new year, I’m asked to look into my crystal ball and make predictions about the restaurant industry and menu trends.  Most of the questions I’m asked relate to the most consumed animal protein in the world: chicken. In fact, it’s forecast that in 2022, Americans will consume more than 97 billion pounds of chicken. Not surprisingly, most of the questions that restaurant operators ask relate to how they can keep their customers coming back, clamoring for more chicken.  Three of the most common questions I’m asked about chicken are: “What should I add to my menu and why, and how will it impact my bottom line?”

Well, as with all predictions, there are no guarantees, but here’s what I believe is coming down the poultry pike in 2022.  Let’s start with the first question: “What should I add to my menu?”

Serve Up: Versatility

From tasty tenders and boneless nuggets to fried chicken sandwiches and crispy wings, chicken is perhaps the most versatile protein on menus today.  That versatility will play an even greater role in 2022 due to supply chain-generated shortages and spiking poultry prices. To help foodservice operators navigate through these challenging times, we’ve put together a series of free chicken guides filled with insights on how to serve up consistently legendary chicken every time, tips on raking in poultry profits, and much more.  Click here to download the first guide.

Embrace the Whole Bird

Surging restaurant demand and labor shortages mean operators are going to continue to pay more for premium cuts of chicken. In 2021, the price for chicken breasts more than doubled, and while the price for bone-in chicken wings saw more modest increases, in at least one quarter of 2021, bone-in chicken wing prices surged by more than 80 percent.  All of this translates into higher menu prices.  One way restaurant operators can hedge their bets, as it were, is to consider a whole-bird strategy.

What’s that? It’s buying more of the bird, including the thighs. So, instead of paying top dollar for just chicken breasts or wing pieces, operators who buy more parts of the chicken may realize a savings by negotiating with their suppliers.  It’s a cost-saving strategy that’s working for 10-location chain, Wing It On, which did just that and introduced “thigh wings” to its menu in 2021.

The Thighs Have It!

This less expensive, dark-meat cut of chicken is juicy, flavorful, and in my estimation, will be 2022’s chicken star.  Traditionally available at chicken-only chains, like KFCs and Church’s Chicken, as well as many independent, family-style restaurants, chicken thighs are now finding a prominent place on more quick-service restaurant (QSR) and fast casual menus.

Of course, seasoning, sauces and cooking method are all critical to whatever thigh item you add to your menu.  It’s a recipe that Wingstop, which owns more than 1,400 restaurants worldwide, believes is working.  In mid-2021, Wingstop launched its virtual restaurant brand, Thighstop, which features bone-in thighs and boneless thigh bites coated in one of its 11 flavored sauces.

In the coming months, I believe we’ll see even more restaurants adding chicken thighs to their menus and recent news headlines would seem to support that trend.  Are chicken thighs destined to become the new wings? Well, maybe (that’s a big maybe); click here for my take on it.

Serve Up: Innovation

“Why Innovation?’ ties into the second question restaurant operators often ask me.  2022 will present both challenges and opportunities for restaurant operators.  We’ve already discussed many of the challenges, but for those willing to embrace innovation, 2022 could be a game changer.  Let’s start with chicken on the menu.

Beginning in 2019 and continuing on through 2020 and 2021, we saw the escalation of the chicken sandwich wars.  It seemed there was no end in sight to the number of new chicken sandwiches and chicken biscuits appearing on breakfast, lunch and dinner menus at QSRs, fast casuals and casual-dining chains all vying to gain more market share. In the final analysis, while supply and demand contributed to higher prices for chicken breasts, the “war” has been a good thing in some respects. Restaurants, eager to cash in on this opportunity, upped their game in an effort to create the tastiest, most tantalizing chicken sandwich, and consumers rewarded their favorites at restaurants by eating them up, literally.

While I don’t see our love affair with chicken sandwiches and wings cooling anytime soon, the “war” may be over, or, at the very least, enjoying a temporary cease fire.

Plant-based Chicken Wars?

In addition to chicken sandwiches, many restaurant operators are adding less-expensive chicken-like, plant-based sandwiches, nuggets and buckets of fried “chicken” to their menus.

That’s right, buckets of fried faux chicken. In early January, Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC, announced that it will start selling buckets of plant-based fried “chicken” nuggets from Beyond Meat across the United States. Even though the company says it’s for a “limited time,” the Beyond Fried Chicken rollout speaks to the trend gaining increasing traction with consumers.

Other QSRs which have either added plant-based chicken to their menus or are testing it include Burger King, which is serving vegan chicken nuggets in the United Kingdom and testing its 8-piece Impossible nuggets at select restaurants in the U.S., Domino’s UK, which is selling vegan-chicken pizza, and Panda Express, which is selling Beyond the Original Organic Chicken for a limited time only at select locations.  To find out more about other brands focused on offering the “chicken” without the bird, click here.

Is plant-based chicken right for your restaurant? My answer depends on your existing menu, customer feedback, and your vision. As always, at Henny Penny, we offer complimentary customized needs analyses to our customers, as well as our prospective customers. Any one of our 90+ global distributors would welcome hearing from you and learning more about your food service dreams. Just click here to locate your nearest Henny Penny distributor partner.

Faux Chicken:  To Fry, or Not to Fry

Most of the plant-based chicken products on menus today are fried. Just like with animal protein, vegan chicken must be fried to crispy perfection, but without burning, which can happen. For plant-based chicken, I recommend the Evolution Elite open fryer. It comes in electric or gas models and features 1 to 4 wells, which can “protect” plant-based chicken from cross contamination with oil used to fry animal protein in other vats. What’s more, the Evolution Elite uses 40% less oil than other comparable vats.

Test it; Try it out!

Thanks to the proliferation of ghost kitchens, restaurant operators can test new, innovative menu items and explore new markets without the hefty price tag typically associated with trialing new products.  If you think you’ve got a winning new product but aren’t sure whether it will be a hit with customers, simply add it to your ghost kitchen menu.  If sales go through the roof, you’ll know you’ve got a winner. If sales fall flat, just take it off the menu. That’s the great thing about ghost kitchens. They’re an ideal testing platform.

Elevate Your Flavors

Great food has always been synonymous with great-tasting flavors. In 2022, “different” is going to play a role in flavor experiences. Don’t be afraid to incorporate new flavors into your menu, whether that’s via a brine, an injectable sauce or marinade or new dipping sauce to help create an innovative culinary experience.  In terms of unique flavors for 2022, there are several international flavors making headlines, including Asian, Caribbean, Polynesian, Mediterranean-inspired flavors and more.

Lab-grown Meat

In 2022, alternative sources of protein will continue to gain momentum and interest among restaurant operators and consumers alike.  Although the USDA hasn’t approved the sale of lab-grown meat—also referred to as cultured meat—in the U.S., the regulatory agency appears to be heading in that direction as it’s considering how best to label meat and poultry cultivated from animal cells.  Cultured meat is already gaining traction with environmental groups who like the idea of slaughter-free meat cultivated from animal cells. What does the future hold for cultured meat? Well, it’s hard to say, but at the very least, it’s important that restaurant operators know it’s on the horizon.

Serve Up: Consistency

Finally, remember that no matter what you’re serving, consistency is king with customers. It’s also the answer to how everything we’ve already discussed will benefit your bottom line. Customers will keep coming back for more if you consistently keep delivering the same quality product every time.

The fry has got to be just right every time to ensure the chicken’s juicy inside, crispy outside, hot, and fresh. Here are my top picks for frying chicken consistently.

If you’re a smaller operation with a single restaurant or a few, I have two recommendations:

4-Head Pressure Fryer.

Although it’s a pressure fryer, it’s engineered to be versatile. That means you can open fry using the same unit. Just leave the lid open and select a different program.  It also comes with built-in Automatic Pressure Assist, which is exclusive to Henny Penny alone. Pressure Assist uses an external means of developing pressure for small product loads that otherwise would not build optimum pressure levels on their own.  So, if you just need to pressure fry one order of chicken for one customer, Pressure Assist allows you to do that instead of letting a full load of product go to waste. To learn more about all of the 4-head pressure fryer’s features, click here.

FlexFusion Platinum Series Combi Oven.

This versatile combination convection oven, steamer and grill has it all and does it all. It fits the bill no matter if you need to bake, braise, steam, sous vide or grill your chicken. The Combi Oven truly does offer the flexibility small restaurant operators need without taking up valuable kitchen space. Click here to find out more and check out various models.

If you’re a high-volume restaurant chain, my two recommendations would be the Velocity Series Pressure Fryer and our SmartHold Humidified Holding Cabinet.

Velocity Series Pressure Fryer.

This powerful machine can cook 8-heads of chicken in 25% less oil than other high-volume fryers, plus it replenishes oil automatically from an onboard reservoir, which means there’s no manual add-backs and fewer disposals. Best of all, because it filters automatically after every cook cycle, it extends the life of oil by nearly 4 times compared to other high-volume fryers. If that weren’t’ enough, because Henny Penny’s products are “engineered to last,” this fryer’s heavy-duty stainless steel fry pot comes with a 7-year warranty. Click here for more info and available models.

SmartHold Humidified Holding Cabinet.

SmartHold distinguishes itself by creating the perfect conditions for holding almost any food up to 200% longer than most holding cabinets. Its automatic humidity control maintains any humidity level between 10% and 90%, ensuring your chicken stays crispy, juicy, and fresh for hours at a time. Click here for all the features and available models. With today’s labor shortages, cooking in large batches and holding to serve can be a game changer for high-volume restaurants. You need a lot less people in the kitchen.

As I wrap up my predictions for chicken in 2022, I’d just like to add that the fact that poultry has now eclipsed pork as the number one protein consumed worldwide is proof positive that the future for chicken, in all its forms, is bright.

To help you on your way, be sure to sign up to receive the first in a series of three free chicken guides, filled with helpful tips from our chicken experts.

Finally, my hope for you, as restaurant operators, is to continue to utilize this versatile bird to consistently serve up innovative, unforgettably delicious chicken sandwiches, wings, nuggets, thighs, tenders and more every time!

Download Free Chicken Guide Here

Originally Posted By Chef Gregg, Corporate Executive Chef for Henny Penny

Ask the Experts: How Do You Expand Your Menu?

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If you’re looking to add chicken to the menu, there are two basic paths you can follow: Integrate chicken into your current food/store concept, or feature it as a special item, delivery-only, or even a virtual brand. That choice will guide your decisions on what products, equipment, accessories and supplies you will need to source.

Operations and process.

It doesn’t take a lot of space to have a safe and efficient chicken “program” generating profits all day long. In many cases, the only reconfigured space will be the raw prep and breading areas for chicken, which need to be separate to avoid cross contamination. Refrigeration should be reorganized to keep fresh chicken separate from other ingredients. Depending on your concept and volume, you may want to add a separate chicken-only refrigerator or freezer. As with your existing operations, raw product should flow directly from prep to cooking, holding and packing.

Where does it go, how does it flow?

Get very familiar with the equipment you plan to purchase. Be certain you have accounted for all dimensions and clearances. It is easy to overlook things like door swings. Don’t.

  • Raw ingredients and proteins should always flow from refrigeration to prep to cook to service.
  • When adding poultry to existing production, keep raw product prep and handling separate from other ingredient prep areas. Install additional hand wash and/or double sinks where possible.
  • If your new chicken menu will be mostly pick up or delivery, locate additional holding and packing near egress or delivery entrance.

Throughput matters.

The measure of the efficiency of your chicken program is throughput—how many servings in what amount of time.

  • A multi-bank open fryer increases throughput by letting you cook different chicken products at the same time.
  • Team combis—two cooking chambers stacked vertically and controlled separately— accomplish the same thing.
  • A holding cabinet also improves throughput by leveraging the production of any number of vats by letting you cook ahead of time.
  • If you plan to feature one main item—bone-in fried chicken or whole rotisserie birds, for example—go for capacity over flexibility. That means the largest pressure fryer you can find and/or one big combi oven with a roll-in cart.

When kitchen space is tight (always), you will also want to think in terms of capacity to footprint. Instead of adding a two-vat fryer in a different spot, you may want to rearrange things a little and replace your old single vat fryer with a three-vat fryer. You’ll save space and get that third vat’s worth of efficiency and oil savings. A combi oven can replace multiple pieces of equipment. A Team Combi doubles your capacity and versatility from the same floor space.  A half-size holding cabinet can fit under a counter.

Aside from optimizing your kitchen layout and processes, there is a lot more to implementing a profitable chicken program. As a foodservice operator, where do you begin?

Sourcing to Serving is a step-by-step planning guide from our chicken experts that will help you make key decisions about:

  1. Menu and operations
  2. Sourcing product and equipment
  3. Installation, start-up, maintenance
  4. After-sales service and support

Click here to download Sourcing to Serving for FREE and get 22 pages packed with everything you need to know about adding chicken to your menu.

Serve Up Endless Possibilities With Chicken!

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One big reason chicken is so popular is that there are so many ways to prepare it. Whole roasted… 8-piece fried… wings, tenders, thighs… and that’s just the bird. Breadings, seasonings and cooking methods can easily alter the flavor and texture of chicken into a wide range of menu items. The hardest part may be deciding what you want to offer!

Given this, it’s no surprise there are so many chicken-only chains. Some only offer one kind! Naturally, these kitchen operations are devoted to chicken, although the equipment used will differ depending on how many different types of chicken are on the menu. For retail delis, convenience stores and pizza places that want to add chicken, we take the same idea—a chicken focused program—and scale it to your space and existing operations. It’s important to think of it this way, because profitability and efficiency depend a great deal on using the right equipment, accessories and practices.

Two methods: Frying, and every other way in a combi oven

There are almost as many ways to cook chicken as there are to serve it—frying, roasting, grilling, smoking, boiling, sous vid, etc. Fortunately you won’t need a separate piece of cooking equipment for each method. In fact, you could do them all with a fryer and a combi oven. Keep in mind what we said about using the right equipment. Not all combis, for instance, are equipped with built-in smokers or the capability for low-temperature steaming. And not all fryers are built to cook bone-in fried chicken all day long.

The specifics of each equipment platform will largely be determined by what you want to serve and how much. That, in turn, may be influenced by your store concept, customer base and meal part. For example:

  • If pizza is the main event, you may want to serve chicken wings, tenders and nuggets as a protein choice or to capture families with young children.
  • A family restaurant may want to introduce a fried chicken dinner and a chicken sandwich for lunch.
  • Wings can happen just about anywhere—they travel well and can be cooked and served anywhere from snack portions to multiple dozens.
  • Whole rotisserie-style chickens roasted in a combi oven are a mainstay for grocery and retail foodservice.

Flavor profile

The flavor profile for chicken is determined mostly by the breading and seasoning, and partly by the method of preparation.

Keep in mind, a flavor profile covers taste and texture.

  • Big, flakey crispy chicken filet sandwiches are often double-dredged in medium spicy breading and cooked in an open fryer.
  • If you’re going to serve traditional southern-fried bone-in chicken in volume, you will want to do it in a pressure fryer. It’s faster, less greasy and the breaded texture is softer. We’ll learn more about the differences in fryers and techniques later.

Seasonings do the same thing as breading for chicken roasted or grilled in a combi oven. The initial burst of flavor comes from the surface—skin or skinless.

  • Seasonings can be used along with a dry-heat cooking stage to darken and crisp the skin for rotisserie style whole birds.
  • Smoking at lower cook temperatures imparts a distinctive flavor deeper into the product. Combis with built-in smokers make it easy to create signature smoked wings, smoked quarters, or shredded chicken for BBQ, salad and pizza toppings.
  • Low-temperature combi steaming, particularly the sous vide process, creates exceptionally moist and evenly cooked chicken that holds up well as an ingredient in soups, salads and sauces.

There is a lot more to implementing a profitable chicken program than deciding how to cook the birds. As a foodservice operator, where do you begin?

Sourcing to Serving is a step-by-step planning guide from our chicken experts that will help you make key decisions about:

  • Menu and operations
  • Sourcing product and equipment
  • Installation, start-up, maintenance
  • After-sales service and support

Click here to download Sourcing to Serving for free and get 22 pages packed with everything you need to know about adding chicken to your menu.

The Great Resignation: Keeping Your Kitchen Staff

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3 Tips from Restaurant Industry Experts

After two grueling years, COVID-19 restrictions on indoor dining are lifting and customers are celebrating by returning to their favorite eateries.  That’s great news for restaurant operators, right? Well, yes, but operators are now facing an altogether different challenge. While their customers are coming back, their employees are not, or at least not at pre-pandemic levels and certainly not at what operators say they need to run their restaurants. What’s happened?

It’s a byproduct of a nationwide movement that’s been dubbed the ‘Great Resignation’.  The mass exodus spiked in November 2021, when a record breaking 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs. And, in February 2022, another 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs.  Industries taking the great hit include Accommodation and Food Services, which saw almost 7 percent of America’s food and beverage workforce walk off the job, leaving nearly a million job vacancies and restaurant operators scrambling to recruit new hires.

Navigating the “Big Quit”

Many restaurant workers, who lost their jobs during COVID-19, have chosen to leave the industry all together.  No one knows that better than Chef Gregg Brickman, who’s now Corporate Executive Chef at Henny Penny, a global manufacturer of premium commercial food service equipment.

One study found that 30 percent of former restaurant employees have found office jobs, while another 17 percent are working in education.

“This is something the industry’s never seen before, but it’s been building up for a while. COVID was just the tipping point. People who had dedicated their lives to restaurants, me included, found themselves unemployed when the restaurants they were working for closed. So, out of necessity, they had to pivot, and many found other jobs that were more stable and paid better.”

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Chef Gregg Brickman

Corporate Executive Chef at Henny Penny

So, to say there’s a surge in demand for restaurant workers is an understatement. In fact, in a recent State of the Restaurant Industry report, half of restaurant operators surveyed expect recruiting and retaining workers to be their biggest challenge in 2022. In an effort to rebuild their teams, many employers are offering higher wages and improved benefits. Take McDonalds, for example, which responded to the labor shortage by hiking hourly wages for current employees by 10% and raising entry-level wages between $11 and $17 an hour.

In addition to more competitive wages and benefits, what else can restaurant operators do to recruit and, more importantly, retain staff?

The Little Things Matter – It’s Not Just About the Money

You’ve heard it said that while money matters, being appreciated and recognized do too, and maybe just as much. To attract workers, employers are offering incentives like higher wages, sign-on bonuses, flexible scheduling, and one New York City-based fast-casual restaurant, DIG, is offering its hourly employees something that’s virtually unheard of in the restaurant biz: a four-day workweek. It’s just another example of how the new “normal” for operators will be finding a way to balance the needs of workers with the needs of the restaurant.

Operators are also finding out that workers respond favorably to the little things …perks that make them feel valued and appreciated.

Show Employees You Care

HOA Brands—which is the franchisor of Hooters, the fast-casual brand, Hoots Wings, as well as three virtual brands—admits it’s facing the same challenges as the rest of the industry, but it’s fighting back with strategies aimed at prioritizing workers and making them feel valued. One incentive the company offers is a generous referral program.  Hourly and manager-level team members who recruit new workers receive a referral bonus.  “The key for us has been investing in our people and prioritizing what we can do to help them be successful every day,” said Tim Baum, Vice President of Company Store Operations, HOA Brands. “Take our training, for example. We not only make sure our associates feel confident in what they’re doing; we make sure they have the tools they need to do their job and succeed.”

Say “Bye, Bye” to Difficult, Dirty, & Dangerous

In the restaurant world, there are certainly tasks that could be classified as dirty, difficult and, at times, even dangerous. And, while higher wages and better benefits certainly play a role in hiring and retention, so does making the job as appealing and uncomplicated as possible.

Here are three things operators can do now to better position themselves in the competitive space.

#1: Embrace Easy-to-Operate Equipment

“The difficult, dirty or dangerous jobs are the ones nobody wants to do,” says Josh Frank, Director of Product Strategy at Henny Penny, which has consistently been at the forefront of developing equipment designed to solve some of the industry’s biggest challenges.  “With product development, we’re always focused on innovative equipment solutions that eliminate or greatly reduce the ‘3-D’ tasks.”

Frank says Henny Penny makes sure they’re always part of the solution; not the problem. “We can’t produce equipment that makes the problem worse. Our focus and commitment is to make equipment that’s easy to deal with from an end-user perspective, from an ownership perspective, and from a service perspective.”

Frank also points to Henny Penny’s pressure fryers, including the PFE500 and PFG600 4-head  standard pressure fryers and the Velocity Series 8-head fryers as ideal examples of easy-to-operate equipment.

“So, we have fryers today that will filter automatically after every cook cycle. We have fryers today that can filter at the press of button. We have fryers today that can automatically lift baskets in and out of the oil. And, all of those things reduce the amount of labor it takes to operate that piece of equipment.”

The Easier, The Better!

One of the dirtiest jobs in the industry that no one wants to be tasked with is scrubbing fryer vats.  As a value add for its customers, as well as any restaurant operator looking for a better solution, Henny Penny developed Prime Cleaner, which is a non-caustic degreaser specially formulated to remove tough zero-trans- fat oils, grease, even carbon scorching, all without harsh chemicals or heavy scrubbing.

“It’s kind of like Easy Off, but for a commercial fryer,” says Brickman, who’s scrubbed his fair share of fryer vats. He says that Prime Cleaner is a game changer. “It goes from having to scrub for 45 minutes to an hour, to not having to scrub the fryer at all. If you’ve ever had to do that job, you know how welcome an innovation like this is for kitchen employees.”

Want to see the magic of Prime Cleaner? Click here to read a case study highlighting how Lee’s Famous Recipe keeps their fryers in such immaculate shape. (And seriously, we mean immaculate. They even made a 21-year-old fryer look brand new!)

#2: Prioritize Turnkey Training

Another key to improving the employee experience is to simplify and streamline training. “From a training perspective, whether I’m a franchisee, general manager or store manager, I need to be focused on doing what I can to simplify my employees’ on-the-job experience,” said Pete Krause, Director of Training and Digital Assets, Henny Penny. “We don’t want to frustrate or make life any more complicated for employees than it needs to be, and with many pieces of our equipment, when you make a purchase, we provide startup training on site. So, we’re right there with you and your employees to make sure they understand how to use the equipment.”

But, it doesn’t stop there. Krause knows that turnover can be a challenge for restaurant operators, and that’s why he says Henny Penny has a multi-tiered training approach. In addition to on-site startup training, the company’s fryers and combi ovens come equipped with full-proof prompts built into the controls. “The prompts are going to walk you through step-by-step how to do different tasks.  Say, for example, you’re scrubbing a fryer vat using our Prime Cleaner. You don’t have to remember to add water or remember ‘this is when I need to add my cleaning solution.’ The controls automatically prompt you and then confirm every step is completed before you move on to the next step.”

#3: Trust Tech, BUT Remember: Employees are Still #1

Another consequence of COVID-19 and the subsequent labor shortage is the rapid-fire demand for automated food service equipment. “COVID and mass layoffs really lit a match and accelerated the pace of change everywhere, but especially in the restaurant industry, where we’re seeing significant staffing challenges. It’s like hyper-speed how quickly things are moving and changing,” says Frank.

One significant change that customers may notice, especially in quick-service restaurants (QSRs), is the integration of robotics, which are doing everything from flipping burgers and making tortilla chips, to baking pizzas and serving diners.

Some of Henny Penny’s customers, including some well-known global restaurant chains, are already using the company’s fryers in conjunction with robotic arms. Frank says while robotics is the future, and while Henny Penny certainly welcomes conversations with customers and robotics companies about integration, a lot is still being done on the equipment level that’s helping (and going to continue to help) operators.

“At Henny Penny, we are innovators. It’s in our DNA. Throughout our history, we’ve developed a reputation for solving some of the industry biggest challenges. 65 years ago, when we were founded, it was to help address a throughput problem at a small kitchen in Eaton, Ohio. Ever since then, our company has been solving the challenges that our customers and prospective customers face.”

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Josh Frank

Director of Product Strategy at Henny Penny

The labor challenges that the industry is facing today are something Frank says have been on Henny Penny’s radar for quite some time. He says that’s why the innovative equipment Henny Penny engineers isn’t just designed to last, it’s also designed to reduce the amount of labor it takes to operate that piece of equipment.

Looking ahead, bots or ‘autonomous kitchen assistants’, as they’re called, will likely only continue to become more commonplace in the industry, but most everyone agrees they aren’t replacing workers; they’re helping with specific tasks.

Relating to the overall customer experience in the restaurant industry, Chef Brickman says while robots are here to stay, in the hospitality space, they’ll never replace the human touch, which ranks right up there with great tasting food.

“You’re always going to need workers to ensure quality and consistency, but most importantly, a robot can’t care. They lack the personal touch that diners experience when they walk into their favorite restaurant and are greeted with a warm smile or personal ‘hello’ from a server who remembers them. That’s the personal touch you get with people, and that can’t be replaced.”

– Chef Gregg Brickman

3 Ways Restaurants Are Fighting Inflation

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How commercial fryers are helping maximize your kitchens performance.

There’s no question about it. Food prices are soaring. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the food index shot up by more than 10 percent in May, making it the largest increase in 40 years.

If there’s a silver lining for restaurant operators, it’s that while menu prices at restaurants and fast-food locations increased 7.4 percent compared to last year, grocery prices rose nearly 12 percent annually, far outpacing the increase at restaurants. It’s a small advantage, but one restaurant operators welcome as they actively explore ways to minimize the impact inflation is having on their business and diners’ wallets.

It’s been said that necessity is the mother of invention. And restaurants from fine dining, fast casual, and quick service establishments are serving up innovation and cost-cutting measures ranging from slimming down menus and adjusting portion sizes to debuting new value deals and modifying product composition, a practice also known as “menu engineering.”

Harness Your Kitchen’s Workhorse: The Deep Fryer

The commercial fryer is one of the most expensive pieces of commercial kitchen equipment, so it’s no surprise the profit margin associated with fried food products is likewise high.  How high? According to a new report on the commercial fryer market in the U.S., fried foods bring in an average profit margin of 75 percent. Globally, the deep fryer market is expected to surpass $612 million by 2026.

In tough economic times, having the right fryer is important too, especially when you consider that some low-oil volume fryers can deliver up to $5,000 in annual oil savings when compared to other fryers.

If properly maintained and operated, your deep fryer can deliver direct savings associated with using less oil, lower energy costs, and greater throughput, as well as indirect savings associated with ongoing staff training, automatic oil filtration, and routine cleaning, all of which play a vital role in food quality.

So, what can you do to maximize the profit associated with your commercial fryer? We spoke with some leading experts in the restaurant industry, as well as food service operators and asked them to identify their ‘Top 3’ tips. Here’s what they had to say.

 1. Maximize Your Fryer’s Throughput

Your commercial deep fryer may be your most versatile piece of restaurant equipment. Depending on your menu, you may currently use it to fry baskets of crispy French fries and crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the inside chicken. Considering the profit margin associated with fried foods, you may want to explore your options and do more with your fryer.

Consider Catering

Shelley Swartztrauber is the owner of Rob’s Restaurant & Catering in Brookville, Ohio. In business since 1976, Shelley’s customers are loyal and faithfully frequent the restaurant seven days a week, ordering up any number of homemade daily specials or lining up for the restaurant’s always popular buffet.

During the pandemic, like other restaurants, Swartztrauber had to close for a few months. When she was able to reopen, though not for in-person dining, she made a purchase decision that helped keep the restaurant afloat and expand her catering business.

The 4-head pressure fryer it a purchase decision Swartztrauber said was one of her best, and one she’s never regretted.

“We bought a 4-head pressure fryer, manufactured by Henny Penny, which we used to fry up buckets of chicken for our customers who would order online or over the phone and pick up their orders curbside. It truly sustained us during the pandemic and kept our customers happy. And, when we were able to open our doors and restart our catering business, it’s truly been our kitchen’s superstar, frying between 900 and 1,000 pounds of chicken a week.”

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Shelley Swartztrauber

Owner; Rob’s Restaurant and Catering

Or, An Online-only Restaurant

Introducing a virtual brand, operating out of your existing restaurant’s kitchen, is another way to expand and capitalize on your fryer’s throughput.

HOA Brands, which is the franchisor of Hooters, as well as the fast-casual brand Hoots Wings, knows all about the profit potential associated with opening virtual restaurants. It has three, including Hootie’s Chicken Tenders, Hootie’s Burger Bar, and Hootie’s Bait and Tackle.

“Everybody has the ability to do a virtual concept […] just think through what you have on your menu and how you can make yourself stand out without creating a lot of complexity for your store. That’s the first step.”

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Marc Butler

Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, HOA Brands

Last, but not Least…Leasing

If the prospect of opening a virtual restaurant or catering business just isn’t for you, allowing your restaurant’s kitchen to be leased out by a reputable home-based food business or food truck operator during off hours is another way to generate a supplemental revenue stream for your restaurant

2. Prioritize Your Fryer’s Profit-producing Potential

While fried chicken isn’t going away anytime soon, you could increase your restaurant’s operating profit by adding more affordable vegetable entrees, appetizers, and side dishes to your menu. And, they don’t have to be boring, just ask Chef Gregg Brickman, our own Corporate Executive Chef.

“More and more restaurants are serving up vegetable dishes like buffalo cauliflower, bang-bang cauliflower, spicy edamame, fried pickles, fried loaded tots, crispy eggplant fries, honey sriracha brussel sprouts, sweet potato fritters and more to their diners who are eating them up, quite literally.”

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Chef Gregg Brickman

Henny Penny’s Corporate Executive Chef

What’s more, Brickman says some of the best chefs in the world at the most renowned restaurants are featuring more vegetable-based and plant-based dishes as their “showstoppers.” One of those is celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.

In a recent interview with Yahoo! Finance, Puck conceded that while inflation has forced him to raise some menu prices, especially for his famous steaks, he’s now offering diners more affordable vegetable-centric entrees that taste great.

“Yes, if you want a really good piece of meat, it’s very expensive, but we can give you a good meal without having that meat,”

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Wolfgang Puck

Celebrity Chef and Restaurateur

3. Optimize Your Fryer’s Performance

Finally, if you want your fryer to take care of you and your business, you’ve got to take care of it. And that starts with proper maintenance.

If your deep fryer is your commercial kitchen’s workhorse, a breakdown could translate into thousands of dollars in lost revenue. In addition to quarterly and annual preventative maintenance, routine cleaning is a must and it starts with keeping your fryer’s vats as clean as possible and that’s easier with the right products, equipment and training.  Henny Penny has easy-to-understand operations manuals and videos for each of its fryers.

“For example, with the Evolution Elite Fryer, when you need to clean the fryer’s vats, the display on the unit is going to step you through the process with simple prompts. You don’t have to worry because the control prompts will remind you of the order and step you through the process until the scrub vat process is complete. It’s just that easy,”

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Peter Krause

Director of Training and Digital Assets at Henny Penny

In between cleanings, to help keep your frying oil cleaner longer, consider adding an oil-life extender product like Henny Penny’s Prime Filter Powder, which is designed to make your filtered oil that much cleaner, translating in to fewer change outs, longer oil life, and more money in your wallet.

Finally, as a restaurant operator, while you can’t control the economy, inflation, or whether a recession is on the horizon, you can maximize your fryer’s throughput, prioritize your fryer’s profit-producing potential, and optimize your fryer’s performance. And that’s something that could amount to a lot in the long run.

Originally Posted on HennyPenny.com

3 Ways Our Henny Penny Fryers Maintain Food Quality

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It’s no surprise that many operators struggle with how to maintain food quality in a restaurant. A lot of it comes down to your fryer oil!

In the restaurant industry, we call a 35 lb. container of bulk cooking oil a “jug-in-box” or “JIB” for short. Not surprisingly, just like everything else restaurants are paying more for these days, JIBs have increased in price too. How much? Depending on what type of cooking oil you purchase, a JIB will now run you as much as four times what you paid in 2019. So, today you’ll pay between $40 and $100 for a JIB of cooking oil and that’s wholesale pricing.

Increasing costs associated with fry oil and inflation in general are important reasons to make sure you’re prioritizing keeping your commercial fryer in tiptop condition.  Doing so will not only ensure you continue to dish up quality menu items that delight your customers, but it will also help manage costs and prioritize profits.

To help, I’ve identified three tips that will keep your commercial deep fryer operating in peak condition.

1. Resist the Temptation to Cut Corners

With cooking oil prices spiking, some operators may be tempted to keep their fry oil longer than they should. They may rationalize, asking themselves, “What’s another day or two, or even a week going to hurt?” Well, that’s a bad idea and for a few reasons.

Not only will your food not taste as good, oftentimes taking on a burnt flavor and smell, reusing old oil can open the door to bacterial buildup and well, that’s not good for your customers’ health or your restaurant’s reputation. But, there’s a solution.

Filter, Filter, Filter

Routine filtering of your vats is the single most important thing you can do to ensure the quality, taste, and consistency of your food. That means the first person that you serve gets the same great tasting meal as the last person you serve.

Some commercial fryers are equipped with built-in oil filtration systems, like Henny Penny’s, which come standard on every open and pressure fryer. Not only does the automatic system reduce the manual effort associated with filtering, but it extends oil life, translating into thousands of dollars in annual savings.

How often you should be filtering is dependent on what you’re frying, how much you’re frying, and how old your oil is. This free Filter Frequency Calculator will help you determine the ideal filtration frequency for your restaurant.

Because time is money in the restaurant business, when you’re filtering your vats, you’re not frying product in them. Luckily, some fryers on the market like the Evolution Elite allow for filtering by individual vats, so you can filter one vat while frying in others.  And, because it’s a low-volume oil fryer, it filters completely in less than 4 minutes, so you’re able to get back to frying even faster.

2. Clean Up Your Act (or, at least your fryer’s)

I don’t need to list all the reasons and benefits associated with routinely cleaning your commercial fryer, but I can tell you what could happen if you don’t. I read a news article recently about a restaurant fire and the investigation determined the fire started in a deep fryer-vent due to lack of cleaning of the commercial cooking equipment.

No operator expects this will happen at their restaurant and it likely won’t if they adhere to a daily cleaning regimen and a deep cleaning schedule every few weeks.

Commercial Fryer Cleaners – Choose Wisely

When it comes to choosing a commercial fryer cleaner, it’s important to remember they’re not all equal. No one knows that better than Bill Sparks, VP of Operations and Franchise Sales for Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken who agreed to ask his franchise owners to test Henny Penny’s Prime Cleaner against their current product.

The side-by-side tests were planned for one month, but within a week, Bill said he started getting feedback from owners, commenting that the difference was like night and day.  Sparks said the following:

“Our owners have 21-year-old fry pots looking like they’re brand new. Plus, they’re saving time on each clean-out, since you don’t need to neutralize with a vinegar solution.”

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Bill Sparks

VP of Operations and Franchise Sales

You can learn more about the franchise’s experience and plans to equip every new store with Henny Penny fryers by clicking here.

3. Work Smarter. Not Harder

Another way your commercial fryer can help maintain food quality is by ensuring recipe consistency.  The digital age we live in comes with advantages and one of those is some commercial fryers are now equipped with advanced controls that allow operators to choose from a selection of preprogrammed recipes or simply program in their own recipes.

In my job, I spend a lot of time working with restaurant brands, getting their programs just right for their proprietary processes. With Henny Penny fryers, we have the ability to change cooking perimeters.

For example, a restaurant might have a recipe program that starts at 330 degrees and for the second stage, the temperature goes down to 320 degrees, and then, up to 340 degrees. What they’re doing is creating a product that you can only get from them. They’re creating a texture and taste at the end of the cooking cycle that nobody else can copy or repeat.

Want some tips on how to refine your frying program? This free download includes the top five frying mistakes and what you can do about them.

Your Fryer’s Best Friend – A Heated Holding Cabinet

Finally, want to know the “secret” to keeping your food fry-fresh for hours after it leaves the fryer?  Using a heated holding cabinet in conjunction with your fryer can extend food life without sacrificing quality. Think about it.

Whenever you’re using your fryer by itself, you have to wait 10 to 12 minutes before you can place more chicken in there. But if you’re taking that same chicken and cooking it ahead of time for 6 minutes and then putting it in the heated holding cabinet at 185 degrees with 15 percent humidity, you’re able to hold that product for 2 hours!

Then all you have to do is flash it inside the fryer for a minute or minute and a half, and you’ll have a product that’s crispy on the inside yet juicier on the inside because it wasn’t cooked in the fryer for 10-12 minutes.

Originally posted by Chef Gregg from www.HennyPenny.com