Blog
How Home Meal Kit Service Can Boost Your Restaurant’s Bottom Line
The Covid-19 pandemic inspired an unprecedented wave of innovation and creativity throughout the restaurant industry, as businesses struggled to stay afloat while reducing capacity limits and practicing social distancing. Now that the world is starting to open back up again, industry experts have been speculating about how many of these Covid-era innovations will stick around for the long haul. Home meal kits and grab-and-go options are two of the most popular trends of 2020, but will they continue to be viable in 2021 and beyond?
What is the Best Oil for Deep Frying?
Don’t toil over oil: Central Restaurant Product’s oil guide for deep frying. Featuring frequently asked questions about the different types of deep frying oil, and a handy guide for which oil is best for different types of food.
Outdoor Restaurant Furniture | Buying Guide
Add outdoor furniture to your restaurant and create a comfortable, functional space for your customers. We’ve created a guide on commercial outdoor furniture to help you create a perfect outdoor space.
Immersion Blender Uses in a Commercial Kitchen
A commercial immersion blender can easily blend large batches of food or liquid, allowing for quicker food prep. Because of its strong performance in the kitchen, chefs are incorporating stick blenders into their daily routine. There are many ways to use an immersion blender and several features that make it a unique tool for commercial use.
How to Create a Menu for Food-Sensitive Customers
Restaurants are adding menu items like vegan burgers, gluten free buns, tofu, and more to cater to diners with dietary restrictions. If you haven’t updated your menu recently to work in these trends, we’re here to help.
Top 5 Most Versatile Smallwares for Food Prep
Space and time can be limited in commercial kitchens. We list our top 5 favorite smallwares that serve multiple purposes.
10 Ways to Optimize Your Restaurant Delivery
With more restaurants turning to delivery services, we discuss how to optimize for short waits and fresh food.
Proper Coronavirus Cleaning Procedures for Restaurants
Proper cleaning practices are an essential part of preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Follow these guidelines in your establishment to limit to spread.
Repurpose Your School’s Equipment to Meet COVID-19 Challenges
Schools are preparing for reopening their doors in the fall under new regulations for COVID-19. Utilize existing equipment to enforce safe practices.
5 Juice Recipes to Add to Your Restaurant Menu
So, you’ve decided to start juicing in your restaurant. You’re not only going to want an excellent juicer, but some great recipes to try out on your customers. We’ve put together five easy, but unique, juice recipes to get you started with juicing. Customers will love these fresh creations, and you can branch out on these recipes to create more custom juices.
Duke Vendor Spotlight
Duke Manufacturing was founded in 1925 by M.P. Duke as the first manufacturer of the waterless hot well. Today, they produce over 4,500 different products in their state-of-the-art plant in Sedalia, Missouri with over 680,000 square feet.
Wabash Valley: Outdoor Furniture
Offering everything from tables and chairs to umbrellas and trash bins, give your patio seating an upgrade with Wabash Valley!
Cleaning and Disinfectant Procedures for COVID-19 in the K-12 Setting
Review how long the novel coronavirus lives on surfaces, how to properly sanitize, suggestions from the CDC, and more with a focus on the K-12 setting.
Office Star Vendor Spotlight
Office Star has been a leading commercial and residential furniture manufacturer since 1987, making it their mission to simplify the furniture procurement process with an assortment of stylish and comfortable solutions to make you, and your guests, feel relaxed and at ease at all times.
Why Your Restaurant Should Sell Meat by the Pound
Restaurants are no stranger to the economic downturn during this time, and as a response to the meat shortage, they are selling meat by the pound along with their takeout menu.
Keep High-Risk Students & Faculty Safe When Reopening Your School
The country is beginning to open in phases from medical offices and restaurants to schools and parks. Every industry is taking precautions to safely reopen to the public. This means that facilities are more focused than ever on the health and safety of their guests, including schools.
Why You Should Introduce Juicing to Your Restaurant
You’ve probably heard about juicing through social media, news articles, and celebrities. It’s making its mark as a healthy and delicious way to consume your daily produce. Many food establishments are getting on board with this trend from brunch restaurants to smoothie stands. We’re going to take you through the benefits of drinking juice for your customers as well as the benefits of selling juice in your business.
Maximizing Your Restaurant Space While Promoting Social Distancing
While you may be accepting and seating customers again, it will be crucial to set up your dining space to promote healthy distancing. We’ve compiled our ideas to help you maximize the number of guests you can serve while continuing to keep distance between customers.
4 Approaches To Pop-Up Success
Operating a pop-up is a great way to test the market and expand your reach. Just be sure to match your strategy to your goal.
Parchment Paper Vs. Wax Paper
Wax and parchment paper are not created equal in the commercial kitchen and have one major difference. We discuss the ways that you can and cannot use parchment and wax paper when cooking and preparing food.
Restaurant Best Practices for Dealing with the Coronavirus
COVID-19 is the latest coronavirus that’s currently spreading across the globe. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that commonly circulate among humans, causing mild illnesses such as the common cold.
How to Open a Restaurant: Your Complete Guide
Many dream of opening their own restaurant. If you’re interested in making your dream a reality, we’re here to help with this definitvie guide to opening a restaurant, which explores restaurant concept development, seeking expert advice, writing a business plan, securing funding, site selection, operations and staffing up, and training and startup.
Food Safety 101: A Crash Course
Practicing proper food safety is hugely important to the success of your commercial foodservice. Improper techniques could lead to costly consequences like loss of customer trust and business reputation, negative exposure, decreased morale, lawsuits and legal fees, and more. This crash course is intended as an overview of common food safety precautions.
Restaurant Patio Ideas to Wow Your Customers
A well-designed outdoor dining space will add valuable seating and atmosphere to your business. This article will give you some ideas on decorating and furnishing your restaurant patio in order to maximize the environment and entice customers.
Channel Manufacturing Spotlight
Channel Manufacturing, Inc. is known for their durable food storage and material handling equipment. Their products are designed to make life easier in your commercial kitchen through storage and transportation solutions.
Choosing Your Meat Slicer (Printable)
Looking for a quick reference to help with buying a meat slicer? We created a printable PDF that lays out the most important features to consider when buying a commercial slicer.
Choosing Bakeware That’s Right for Your Bakery
The bakeware in your kitchen can make the difference between delicious and disaster. We’ve laid out everything for choosing the best bakeware.
How to Save Money When Building a Restaurant (And Where You Shouldn’t Cut Costs)
Some things are necessary and others can be bypassed. Hear from experts where to save money when building a restaurant.
Lessons Learned: Wisdom From a Real-Life Restaurant Startup
Lots of restaurants fail or don’t perform as expected. See what one owner learned in the process.
Sauté Pan Vs. Fry Pan| What’s the Difference?
Ever wonder how saute and frying pans differ? We’ve laid out their unique features and how they’re best used in a commercial kitchen.
Kitchen Conversions – Charts & How To Measure
Converting a favorite recipe to feed a large crowd? Lose your tablespoon measuring tool? Let’s review easy ways to convert recipes when cooking.
20 Essential Food Prep Supplies You Need
The food prep space in your kitchen is the epicenter of activity. You slice, mix, dice, and chop at this station, so you need the right tools to be efficient. Without enough or the right supplies, chefs can’t make the best food for your business. We created a checklist of the essential supplies you need for your food prep station.
Preschool and Early Childhood Classroom Furniture
Preschool and early childhood classrooms should be full of fun and learning. Creating a stimulating learning environment in a preschool classroom is essential for active minds. The furniture in an early childhood classroom provides a fun and safe place for young learners. We’ve written the essential buying guide for furnishing a preschool classroom – Including everything from tables and chairs to active play and toys.
39 Ways to Finance a New Restaurant
There are lots of ways to fund your dream of opening a restaurant, especially if you’re willing to think creatively. Loans are one option, of course, be they from financial institutions or private lenders. And there are many others, despite the high risk associated with opening a restaurant—and even with a poor credit rating in your history.
Customer Spotlight: Second Helpings Makes a Significant Impact
Second Helpings is a not-for-profit organization located in Indianapolis devoted to bettering their community by transforming lives and empowering others through food rescue, hunger relief, and job training. They’re a positive force making a significant impact. See how.
Classroom Furniture Ideas
The modern classroom is very different from even 20 years ago. It has tablets, dry-erase walls, and also couches. Not only do classes have these fun improvements, but they’re also getting students more involved and collaborative. It’s essential to buy the right kind of furniture for your classroom so learners can be set up for success in academics and relationships. We’ve written a guide on purchasing classroom furniture and flexible seating so that you can create a thriving learning environment.
Customer Spotlight – Fundae’s Ice Cream & Sweets
“We kept waiting for an ice cream shop to open up, and nothing opened, so finally, we were like, ‘let’s just try it,’ so that’s what we did,”
Vendor Spotlight: Carter-Hoffmann
With so many names in the industry, it can be difficult to discern what brands to trust in your kitchen. However, Carter-Hoffmann makes it easy to trust their holding and transporting equipment.
Custom Dinnerware by Homer Laughlin
Your dinnerware should help tell your story. Did you know that the average 18 to 34-year-old has approximately 500 followers on various social media platforms? And it seems like everyone is always snapping pics and posting their dishes – especially when serving presentation is prioritized. Posts by as few as ten people can generate thousands of impressions online. Make sure your logo is front and center with customized dinnerware by Homer Laughlin.
Take Cooking to the Next Level with Sous Vide
In the last few years, a cooking technique has been gaining popularity as it has been made accessible to not only commercial kitchens, but residential ones. This method relies on the ability to cook with pinpoint precision, resulting in perfectly cooked meat every time. The method we’re referring to, of course, is sous vide.
Employing Minors in the Kitchen: Know the Laws
Minors will often work in foodservice as part time or full-time work during school breaks. You might wonder what restaurant labor laws apply to you as a business owner and your employees. Like all businesses, the foodservice industry must abide by the Fair Labor Standards Act when employing all people, especially minors. While you are permitted to employ minors in your restaurant, you must make exceptions in the types and hours of work that you give people under the age of 18.
The Complete Buying Guide to True T-Series Reach-In Refrigerators and Freezers
The T-Series is True Refrigeration's signature, award winning, best-in-class reach-in refrigerators and freezers. These upright cabinets are designed with enduring quality to protect your long-term investment. True has three standard model variations to choose from:...
Customer Spotlight: Mallow Run Winery
It doesn’t get any better than sharing experiences with close friends over a good bottle of wine. That’s exactly what Indiana winery Mallow Run seeks to do. We sat down with their Marketing Coordinator Sarah Shadday to learn more about their mission and wine making process.
Vendor Spotlight: True Refrigeration
In foodservice, there are a select few brands that are known throughout the industry simply by name. When it comes to commercial refrigeration, one name comes to mind - True. For over 70 years, True Refrigeration has been steadfast in its mission: "To provide a wide...
Guest Post: Effective Ways Restaurants Can Reduce Waste and Recycle
This Guest Post from Erich Lawson, blog writer for Compactor Management Company, outlines easy ways to reduce waste and enhance recycling efforts.
Selecting Your Equipment Dealer
Price is only one factor to consider when choosing a commercial equipment dealer. Other considerations include reach, ease of ordering, and follow through post-purchase.
Having a Plan: The Importance of Planned Maintenance
Planned maintenance is not the same thing as preventive maintenance. It’s important to schedule regular service to best maintain your commercial equipment, instead of just reacting when something goes down.
Staying on Budget When Opening a Restaurant
There aren’t many people who can get a blank check to open a restaurant. And while it takes discipline to live within a budget, there are ways to work within its limits that won’t compromise your vision.
Lessons Learned: Equipment Solutions for School Budgets
Few budgets are tighter than those of K-12 schools. For these operators, once they start working with Central Restaurant Products, many quickly discover why it’s smart to make Central Restaurant Products (CRP) their primary source for foodservice equipment purchases.
Food Safety 101: Common Food Allergies and Preventing Cross-Contact
Did you know that the FDA has identified more than 160 food items that can cause an allergic reaction. Of these, eight account for 90 percent of all reactions in the U.S. That’s why it’s important to know which to watch out for and how to take proper action to protect your guests.
How to Find the Best Meat Knife for You
It’s confusing to pick out a meat knife for your commercial kitchen. There are several types of meat knives that all have different uses. We’re here to take out the hassle in buying professional knives for cutting, preparing, and carving meats.
These Kitchen Tips and Tricks Will Save You Time
You could always use more time in your day. That’s especially true when you’re running a commercial kitchen or bakery. We’ve collected some tips and hacks on how to improve your efficiency and save time during food preparation and cooking.
How Service Can Make (Or Break) Your Restaurant
With today’s fast-paced environment, your customers are expecting quick and polite service. Everybody is busy, and the longer that your customers wait for service, the less likely they are to continue waiting.
Need for Speed: Fast Cook Ovens
As consumers’ lifestyles continue to accelerate, they increasingly demand food in seconds rather than minutes — can they help?
Rising Labor Costs: 10 Tips to Balance Expenses & Productivity
Minimum wages are rising, and as the economy adds jobs good help is getting harder to find.
Employee Turnover in the Food Service Industry Today
As the world continues to digitize and consumer expectations shift, restaurants face new challenges. It is no longer enough to offer good food. Restaurants instead must familiarize themselves with the evolving digital economy and provide unique experiences, especially if they wish to attract the highly sought-after millennial demographic.
Trend Alert: The Future of Warewashing
Every two years, the biggest show in commercial foodservice takes place. NAFEM – the National Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers – presents a unique opportunity for commercial distributors and manufacturing partners to come together to experience firsthand...
Fry Pan Seasoning using Flaxseed Oil with Vollrath’s Chef Rich
Fry pans find a home in every kitchen operation from restaurants to cafeterias. Raw iron pans typically need to be adequately seasoned before cooking with them; otherwise, food can stick and, the pans can rust. Over the years there have been numerous methods used...
To Lease or Not to Lease?
Leasing is a convenient and flexible option used by businesses and residential consumers alike to acquire new, high-involvement purchase items like cars, homes, furniture, electronics, appliances, etc. The flexibility of leasing assists restaurants and other commercial foodservice establishments in several ways.
Guest Post: 4 Steps to Keep Pesky Pests Away from Commercial Kitchens
Kitchen pests are an operator’s worst nightmare. Not only can they result in health code demerits, but it can lead to a loss of business and reputation. A kitchen meets all the criteria for pests to thrive so learn how to prevent infestation.
