Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - March/April 2022 - 35

rocky@rockdrecipes.com
The foodservice industry has historically been
one of challenges that many operators cannot
overcome. Small profit margins, unpredictable
traffic, and reliance on many moving targets
such as food cost, ingredient availability, and
labor retention are just a few of the encounters
that operators faced in the " old normal "
foodservice environment. These concerns have
only escalated since the start of the pandemic
that we still find ourselves in. With all the
intricacies that envelop our industry today in
the " new normal, " we must continue to evolve,
adapt, and grow into what will ultimately
mean the difference between success and
failure of our operations.
Since early 2020, operators have seen supply
concerns including product shortages,
extended lead times on typically stocked items,
and even discontinued items due to production
companies pivoting to more streamlined
processes. The result, as we've experienced over
the past two years, has been a CPI (Consumer
Price Index) increase of 7.0 percent, according
to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in an
environment that has only seen an increase
over 4.0 percent one time in the last 20 years
(2021). In an industry like ours, how do we
handle such trials and still survive?
PRODUCT VERSATIL I TY TO
THE RESCUE
One tried and true answer to this increasing
concern is product versatility. The concept
is simple in theory; an operator will utilize
versatile products across multiple menu
items, meal occasions, recipes, and programs,
thus reducing overall inventory, waste, and
labor values. Most of our kitchens have
limited storage space already, and even less
refrigeration and freezer storage. This means
we must be ready and able to utilize stock in a
timely manner.
Let's look at one universally accepted versatile
ingredient: chicken. Chicken is an ingredient
on nearly all menus within the continental
United States. From 1997 to 2021, chicken
(overall) saw an inflation rate of 2.13 percent
per year on average, indicating significant
increase. Basically, chicken that cost $2.38 in
1997 would cost $3.94 in 2021. Compared to
the overall inflation rate of 2.21 percent during
this same period, chicken was much more
manageable than many other ingredients.
Looking at this one ingredient, how do we use
its versatility in our kitchens to maximize its
potential? Here are a few ideas:
1. Pastas and bakes. Chicken can easily be
added or replaced as an ingredient in many
popular and well-accepted pastas and baked
dishes.
2. Handhelds. Think about wraps, flatbreads,
and sandwiches. Chicken is one ingredient
that can easily be applied to many handheld
recipes-both hot and cold.
3. Breakfast. Yes, that's right...breakfast! It's
always been a wonder to me that we assume
eggs as a part of breakfast, but not chicken. I
want to thank our good friend " Chicken and
Waffles " for breaking this stigma.
4. Center of the plate. Obviously we can utilize
chicken in many 'center of the plate' dishes.
Even more versatile is the ability to use
other, less conventional parts of the chicken
as center of the plate items. Think about
utilizing bone-in cuts of dark meat instead of
always relying on the white meat breast for
your dish's focal point.
5. Other thoughts. Invest in training your staff
to break down (butcher) whole chicken. This
way you get access to its ultimate versatility.
You will be able to utilize the meat either
boneless or bone-in, and then have the carcass
to create flavorful stocks for your sauces and
soups. This is versatility at its best!
I know that it's easy for a chef to see the
versatility of a universally-accepted ingredient
like chicken. However, there are a plethora of
Continued on page 36
NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE | March-April 2022
35
Rocky Dunnam,
CEC, CCA, WCEC,
CDM, CFPP is the
Area Support
Director at Forefront
Healthcare-Texas in
Amarillo, Texas. He is
a member of ANFP's
Editorial Advisory
Board.
Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - March/April 2022

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