PZ - September- - October 2019 by annexbusinessmedia

PONDERING THIRD-PARTY Third-party food delivery is a favourite with many customers, but is it right for your pizzeria?

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Volume 25 Issue 4 September/October 2019

PONDERING THIRD-PARTY Third-party food delivery is a favourite with many customers, but is it right for your pizzeria?

LOCAL GRAINS AND NOSE-TO-TAIL BUTCHERY Primal in Saskatoon takes sustainability to a whole ’nother level

19 18

ABOVE: Third-party delivery services are popular with customers, especially in big cities. But do they make sense for your pizzeria? See page 10.

CANADIAN PIZZA SUMMIT EVENT GUIDE Find out what’s happening at the Canadian Pizza Summit and Chef of the Year Competitions!

DEPARTMENTS 6

editor’s desk

pizza bites

the pizza chef

recipe

making dough

24 SHARING THE LOAD

ONLINE

Claire Sykes provides tips on how to delegate your way to success

SEASONAL LIMITED-TIME OFFERS MOTIVATE CUSTOMERS TO BUY Seasonal limited-time offers such as Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte or an autumn harvest pizza tap into a loyal base of buyers, suggests a news report by research company NPD Group. The report examines restaurant limited-time offers and finds that repeated offers, such as seasonal offers, tap into a base of loyal customers. Read more at canadianpizzamag.com.

CANADIAN PIZZA EXTRAS | Restaurant owners say Quebec needs more immigrants to fill jobs; Foodora union vote fate could rest on if couriers are employees …plus, the latest industry news and new products. canadianpizzamag.com

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Pizza 3

from the editor’s desk

Pizza for all seasons t’s pumpkin season! Whether it’s pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattés or pumpkin spice muffins, I love the change of season and the traditional foods associated with fall. In fact, I measure my year in apple pies and squash (fall); turkey, cranberry stuffing and Irish cream (winter); asparagus anything (spring); and strawberries, corn, blueberries and peaches (in that order) in summer. I am a sucker for those specials that happen like clockwork year from year to year. The anticipation motivates me and the repetition every year comforts me. So, like many other people, you may find me at a certain rotisserie chicken restaurant’s Festive Special in November or 2-Can-Dine special in January (a great way to bolster post-holiday sales but Friday nights are insane); and rolling up my rims in March to win a treat that, much like small lottery ticket wins, will keep me coming back for more. These tantalizing specials work. Even when we know we’re being manipulated, we can’t help but be drawn in. The ultimate example of seasonal offer success story has got to be Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte limited-time offer, which debuted in August 2014 and this year was available starting on Aug. 27. About one-quarter of buyers who bought a PSL at Starbucks in 2018 had purchased the coffee drink in 2017 and one-third of buyers in 2017 had bought the drink in 2016, according to a report from NPD Group that examines restaurant limited-time offers (LTOs). Year over year, they build brand awareness and work on customers’ subconscious cravings. Tradition and urgency motivate people, the report suggests. “A well-executed limited-time offer can boost sales and serve as a competitive edge for restaurant operators and help foodservice manufacturers test new products and concepts,” says David Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America.

September/October 2019, Vol. 25, No. 4 Editor Colleen Cross ccross@annexbusinessmedia.com 519-428-3471 ext. 261

With that in mind, here is a sampling of pizza calendar ideas: • January: New Year’s Eve pizza, Fuel-My-Workout Pizza • February: Groundhog Day, Valentine’s heart-shaped, dessert or twocan-share pizza, Super Bowl-sized pies, Family Day pizzas. • April: Pizza Rustica (Easter pizza), April Fool’s marketing (tricky but pays off when executed well). • May: May the Fourth (Star Wars celebration), a break for Mom with Mother’s Day (it’s KFC’s biggest single day for sales, why not yours). • July: Canada Day, the Olympics. • August: Too Hot to Cook. • October: Halloween Pizza, pizza and panzerotti featuring root vegetables. • December: Christmas pizza! “Christmas pizza” is a well-searched phrase on the internet so why not give customers something to get excited about? Don’t feel limited to ingredients and topping combinations – the shape, size and theme of a pizza can make it special as well. Any special occasion will work – local parades, solar eclipses, Royal visits. Be alert to ideas and let your customers be your guide. So, grab a calendar or subscribe to an email notification service such as National Day Calendar. Plot your own menu calendar, choose strategic dates and make time to experiment in the kitchen. Better yet, delegate this task to one of your team (see “Sharing the load” on page 24)! Best of the fall season to you. See you at the Summit! •

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Sales Manager Stephanie Jewell sjewell@annexbusinessmedia.com 705-826-2254 Account Coordinator Kathryn Nyenhuis knyenhuis@annexbusinessmedia.com 416-510-6753 Media Designer Curtis Martin Circulation Manager Anita Madden amadden@annexbusinessmedia.com 416-442-5600 ext 3596 Group Publisher, VP Sales Martin McAnulty mmcanulty@annexbusinessmedia.com COO Scott Jamieson sjamieson@annexbusinessmedia.com Mailing Address P.O. Box 530, 105 Donly Dr. S., Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT #40065710 Printed in Canada ISSN 1203-6838 Published five times per year (Jan/Feb, Apr/May, Jul/ Aug, Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec) by Annex Business Media Circulation email: lmalicdem@annexbusinessmedia.com Tel: 416-510-5187 • Fax: 416-510-6875 or 416442-2191 Mail: 111 Gordon Baker Rd., Suite 400, Toronto ON M2H 3R1 Subscription Rates Canada – 1 Year $ 26.50 (+ applicable tax) Best pricing (Can/USA/foreign) available online at www.canadianpizzamag.com Occasionally, Canadian Pizza Magazine will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above.

Annex Privacy Officer privacy@annexbusinessmedia.com • Tel: 800-6682374 No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. ©2019 Annex Publishing and Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. www.canadianpizzamag.com

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Maria’s Original Pizza in Brantford, Ont., reopens 2 years after fire T

he owners of Maria’s Pizza in Brantford, Ont., showed off their newly rebuilt pizzeria during a grand reopening that included special golden tickets for pizza throughout the day and a heartfelt thanks to their staff and the community that stood by them after fire destroyed the pizzeria two years ago. Family, friends, staff, and the tradespeople who helped rebuild the 50-year-old business came out to celebrate the restaurant’s reopening.

On hand to congratulate Maria’s owners Gino and Bobbie-Sue Risi on their return to the business scene were Brantford mayor Kevin Davis and several local council members, member of parliament for Brant County Phil McColeman, and a representative from the office of Will Bouma, member of provincial parliament for Brantford-Brant. Gino and Bobbie-Sue Risi have owned the pizzeria for five years. Maria’s Pizza was started by Gino’s parents, Maria and Virgilio Risi, in 1968.

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza launches keto crust laze Fast-Fire’d Pizza, a quick-service chain specializing in artisanal pizza, recently launched keto and cauliflower crusts and a new line that reflects the company’s goal to be inclusive. The Keto Crust contains just six grams of net carbs, Blaze Pizza said in a news release. Both new crusts are gluten-free appeared on the menu on July 16 for an additional charge. The brand is also introducing a line of Life Mode Pizzas available only through Blaze Pizza’s mobile app and online. The new Life Mode Pizzas include: Keto Pizza (Keto Crust, spicy red sauce, mozzarella, ovalini mozzarella, bacon, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach); Protein Pizza (Keto Crust, red sauce, mozzarella, Italian meatballs, smoked ham, grilled chicken, black olives, green bell peppers, oregano); Vegan Pizza (Original dough, red sauce, vegan cheese, spicy vegan chorizo, mushrooms, red onions, green bell peppers, basil, olive oil drizzle); and Vegetarian Pizza (Cauliflower Crust, red sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, artichokes, kalamata olives, red onions, spinach).

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The current owners re-installed the Garland gas deck ovens they’ve had for 28 years in order to re-create the taste of their signature pizza. During Maria’s “soft” opening on June 2, they posted on Facebook they’d be selling 100 pizzas on a first come, first served basis. Due to high demand, they ended up selling more than 350 pies in one afternoon. Their marketing strategy this time was to sell “golden” tickets leading up to the official opening for a large half

Canadian for $10. The tickets instruct customers to come during specific time periods throughout the day.

the pizza chef

The after-hours cleaning crew Diana Cline

ne of my column readers asked whether an overnight cleaning service was worth the investment. Let’s review some options to clarify what type of service we could be looking at. First, there is the daily cleaning of your kitchens: walls wiped down; counters and make line cleaned, wiped and sanitized; walk-in cooler swept and mopped; equipment wiped clean; dishes washed, rinsed and sanitized; your three-compartment and all hand-wash sinks, taps and faucets scrubbed clean; and finally, your floors swept and mopped. When you clean the splashed sauce off of a wall or container the same day, it’s easier to clean than if you leave it there for a week. Second, there is the weekly cleaning of your kitchens: things like clearing off shelves, wiping them down, wiping down the items on the shelves, and then reorganizing the items neatly. Be sure to include the shelves in your walk-in cooler. This is where you inspect your highly used equipment and set aside anything needing repair. Throw out anything beyond repair. Next, there is the monthly cleaning: this is where you pull equipment away from walls to clean behind it. You inspect the equipment. Check that your fan blades aren’t gummed up full of debris. Check your compressor vents. Anything that has a buildup of dirt and debris should be thoroughly cleaned. Your equipment has to work twice as hard to pull air through filthy vents, and that can easily cause the compressor motor to overheat and burn out. That kind of a fix is a lot more expensive than cleaning dirty vents. It’s not just the cost of a cooler or a freezer, but also the downtime and the spoilage of the product inside. This cleaning list crosses over into some equipment maintenance, which if done properly will

save you a lot of money in the long run. Well-maintained equipment will outlast and outperform poorly maintained equipment every day of the week. Finally, there is your once- or twice-a-year cleaning schedule. This is typically a specialized service since it includes things like power washing your hood exhaust, and if you’re smart, a full servicing of your ovens and dough mixer. At least once a year a skilled technician should take apart, clean, lubricate and reassemble the components of your dough mixer and ovens. Those are primary pieces of equipment, and if they go down, the whole pizzeria shuts down too. This is also a good time to clean and inspect the gaskets on your refrigeration doors to keep your units operating at peak performance. That’s quite the extensive list. So, what’s it worth? Let’s do the math. How long and how many staff does it take to clean your kitchen on an average night? Is the after-hours cleaning crew an actual company with rates comparable to your in-house rates? Or is it a mixed bag of your crew members who are willing and able to come in to clean with extra attention to the details? Will they do restaurant kitchen cleaning as outlined above, or are they mainly an office space janitorial company? Are there some things they don’t do? Do you have a system for cleanup, or is it left willy-nilly, resulting in things having to be redone? Daily cleaning is something that should be handled in house by your staff. Staff members who clean and maintain a clean workplace take pride in the cleanliness of the pizzeria. Staff members who never wash dishes or sweep or mop aren’t terribly motivated to keep things clean and often will contribute to a greater mess. Weekly and monthly cleaning is also handled in store at my pizzeria. We’ve

found that staff members who help maintain equipment are also more likely to notice when a piece of equipment isn’t working properly. Staff members who don’t help clean and maintain equipment are typically oblivious to any problems and ignorant of solutions. A cooler that is warming up above 4 C may simply be unplugged or have blown a breaker, but team members who aren’t familiar with equipment may not see the signs and simply say “I thought it was a little warm” only after all the product inside has spoiled. The big part of this equation involves operations and your staff. Do you have one or two key staff members who seem to work the majority of closes and therefore handle an inordinate amount of the cleaning at close? Are they the ones asking for the overnight cleaning crew? If that’s the case, perhaps the best solution is to implement an “after-supper cleanup checklist” where the store is given a thorough cleanup after your supper rush. Sweep off those counters, wash all the dishes, organize the store and give the floor a good sweep. That way, all your staff on that shift pitch in to help clean up, and because no one gets to go home until the “after-supper cleanup checklist” is completed, everyone is motivated to get it done. Also, now your closing staff members won’t have to clean up after the entire shift – just the last few hours of it. • Diana Cline is a two-time Canadian Pizza magazine Chef of the Year, three-time winner of “Canada’s Best Pizza Chef” at international pizza competitions, a judge for international pizza culinary competitions in Las Vegas, Italy and France, and a partner with Diana’s Cucina & Lounge in Winnipeg. In addition to creating award-winning recipes, Diana is a consultant to other pizzeria owner/operators in menu development, creating systems to run a pizzeria on autopilot, along with marketing and positioning to help operators grow their business effectively and strategically. She is available for consulting on a limited basis. For more details, contact her at diana@dianascucinaandlounge.com

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Pizza 9

cover story

Pondering third-party Third-party delivery is a favourite with many urban customers, but is it right for your pizzeria? BY COLLEEN CROSS

ozens of third-party delivery services have been cropping up in the last few years – Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes, DoorDash and Foodora, to name just a few. These services, which give customers in larger towns and cities a one-stop online platform to mull over their meal options, have shown impressive growth over the last few years. Restaurant operators may be wondering whether or not to work with these services as they grow in popularity with customers. Should they ignore these services, handle delivery themselves (or not offer delivery), keep control of delivery quality and customer service and risk being invisible to diners who place orders through them? Or should they sign on with one or more services, pay the commission fees and give up some control of their delivery quality in the hopes of picking up new customers? Restaurants Canada’s Foodservice Facts 2019 reports that digital foodservice delivery made online and through apps and traditional phone orders totalled more than $4.3 billion in 2018, a 44 per cent increase over 2017. Delivery represents just six per cent of all foodservice spending. Yet it’s a hot-button topic these days for pizzeria operators, many of whom pride themselves on offering good, fast delivery. Why should restaurant operators pay attention to this delivery trend? “Third-party delivery is too big to ignore and certainly it’s here to stay,” says Chris Elliott, senior economist for Restaurants Canada, who spoke with Canadian Pizza in July. “With more people working at home and less time to go grocery shopping and prepare meals, the idea of third-party is fulfilling a need for convenience and speed. In particular for younger generations, it’s all

about that instant indulgence.” Elliott is not surprised there is great interest in third-party delivery among restaurants. “We’ve seen some spectacular growth in third-party sales, and in an industry where growth is so hard to come by, you can see where operators would want to grow their sales 30 to 40 per cent in this category as well. We did a survey of our members to get a sense of why they like third-party delivery or don’t like it and what they rate highly.” Operators who like using delivery services appreciate the ease of use for guests and the way it has expanded their customer reach, Elliott says. “A customer that’s on SkipTheDishes or on Uber Eats is not necessarily one of their normal customers,

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so by being on Skip and Uber, it’s actually opened up another window of opportunity for them to reach an audience that they may not have been able to reach before.” “The flip side is that a lot of operators feel they are almost forced to be on it now,” he notes. “If you’re not on one of those apps, you’re basically invisible to a lot of customers, especially if you’re a new restaurant.” Delivery has changed over the years, Elliott says. “Before it used to be the domain of Chinese food and pizza, whereas now it’s every type of international cuisine you can think of and every major chain and a lot of independents. It has really been a challenge for some operators to try and compete with that because there is more selection now than ever.”

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cover story Operators have to figure out if third-party delivery services are right for their business and find the right way to use them, he says. WHAT TO CONSIDER What factors should you consider when thinking about working with third-party? “It comes down, overwhelmingly, to the cost,” Elliott says. “It’s those commission fees that can run anywhere from 30 to sometimes 35 per cent of the sales.” For restaurants who are charged rent or franchisee fees based on sales, he also cautions that increased delivery sales can give a misleading impression: “It looks like you’re making a lot in terms of incremental sales but at the same time there are all these incremental costs now that you’re getting. So it’s trying to find that right balance between providing that increase in sales and controlling the costs enough so that you’re not eroding your profit margins.” Is it profitable? Among quick-service restaurants, only 50 per cent said third-party delivery was slightly profitable and 21 per cent said it was not at all profitable, Elliott says, sharing data from a survey conducted by Restaurants Canada in April 2019 and appearing in its Q1 2019 Restaurant Outlook Survey. For table-service restaurants, 56 per cent said it was slightly profitable and 16 per cent said it was not at all profitable, he adds. Those remaining said third-party was either very profitable or moderately profitable, but some of those restaurants were early adopters and weren’t paying those 30 to 35 per cent commission fees, he points out. One of the other challenges for operators is that delivery may end up cannibalizing their on-premise business, Elliott says. “People are ordering the main dish and that’s it: they aren’t ordering the appetizers and alcohol that go with it.” PRICING AND MENU STRATEGIES Elliott says that, based on conversations he has had with operators, it seems to be fairly common practice for restaurants to mark up the price of a menu item when placing it on a third-party platform. “What we are seeing is, operators are increasing the price of the menu item on the third-party app versus what a customer would pay at the restaurant, in some cases charging at least

$2 more,” he says. “Customers are either unaware or agreeing to that as part of the convenience factor.” “Those are some of the ways operators are trying to manage some of those higher expenses – to raise the price of an item by $1 or 2 to try and defray some of that cost. . . . Sometimes the only way to deal with those costs and higher commission fees is to try and pass some of those costs on to customers.”

Trying third-party? PROS • Gain new customers • Increase incremental sales • Save money and time spent organizing in-house delivery • Extend your geographical reach CONS • Give up some control of customer service and quality of food at delivery • Give up some of the personal connection with customers • Risk taking away from your in-house business • Incur incremental costs such as labour

Some services seem to be allowing that flexibility. “Restaurants aren’t penalized for listing an item’s price higher on Uber Eats than in store, a spokesperson for the company told Canadian Pizza. SkipTheDishes offers some flexibility to restaurants it works with: “We work alongside our restaurant partners to develop menu offerings specifically for delivery,” says a spokesperson for the service. “Restaurant partners can include special menu pricing options, which may differ from in-store prices, up to a maximum of 10 per cent. If we become aware of any menu pricing that falls outside of those guidelines, our team will immediately reach out to that restaurant partner and work with them to correct the discrepancy.” Another strategy for operators is to limit their delivery menu, Elliott says. “They may choose to include only high-margin or very popular items on a delivery service app,” he says. “The concern is that you’re going to turn a profitable regular visiting customer

12 pizza SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

into a non-profitable regular delivery customer. And that’s just going to be a downward spiral in the end – not sustainable over the long term.” QUALITY CONTROL QUESTIONS Elliott brings up a challenge with third-party delivery that is especially relevant to pizzerias: quality control. “There’s still a learning opportunity for third-party delivery to step up the game in terms of providing that food quality. A four-by-four bag that would normally hold a hamburger and fries is not going to work here. “For delivery services, it’s about speed and convenience. For the operator, it’s more about the quality of the food, along with the speed and the convenience. That’s something both sides have to find a solution to.” WHO OWNS THE CUSTOMER? Another question is who owns the customer in the end? “If there is an issue with an order, how do you address it?” Elliott asks. A spokesperson for SkipTheDishes says: “Restaurant owners can contact customers until the order has left the restaurant. Restaurants can view insights specific to their restaurant, such as how often a customer has ordered from their location. Skip also shares insights with restaurant partners that can support their growth in the food delivery industry, like how to optimize their menu for delivery, how to build an online presence to create more visibility and how to utilize marketing strategies rooted in industry data. . . . Restaurants can also request that we connect with a customer on their behalf at any point.” A spokesperson for Uber Eats says: “Many of our restaurant partners use Restaurant Manager, our online portal that helps them to see their business results, customer comments, and payment statements. . . . Restaurants are able to contact customers directly about an order that was placed through the Uber Eats platform to ask follow-up questions, offer substitutions if something is out of stock or any other need to speak with the customer in regards to the order.” Issues may arise when a review is posted on an outside website. “The customer may be unhappy with a meal and decide to go on Yelp and give the restaurant a bad rat-

cover story ing, whereas the restaurant may not have had a chance to find a solution,” Elliott says. “All the issues and complaints will go directly to the third-party service and then they choose to either give a refund, re-issue the order or find a way to fix the problem.” SkipTheDishes has a customer support team available to help customers with orders before or after they are delivered. “Customers can use the Skip app or website to provide direct feedback to the restaurant on every order. External reviews of restaurants on third-party services don’t come to Skip, but if a restaurant brings an external review to our attention we’ll work together to address it.” Uber Eats says, “We will only inform restaurants about negative reviews, comments or ratings on the Uber Eats platform itself, not others.” There are a lot of growing pains, Elliott says. Getting information from third-party services about who your customers are is a way to maintain a connection with customers, he adds. “I think over time it will work itself out. But certainly right now quality control is still an issue.”

surpass what we pay to Uber and Skip. So, I think that for a small business trying to build its delivery revenues, platforms such as these – which not only handle all the logistics for delivery and payment but also have the reach that they do to drive traffic and delivery orders to your store – are essential and an invaluable asset.” Raveenthan Thambirajah, owner of Za Café in Mississauga, signed up with Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes and DoorDash soon after opening his pizzeria last April. As a new operator, Thambirajah also sees the benefits of using third-party services as a replacement for direct delivery. “We don’t have the resources to do our own delivery,” he says. “All items on the store’s menu except gelato are available through the services and Za Café charges the same price as on its menu,” he adds. The two services he uses together bring in about 20 per cent of Za Café’s sales. And although he feels the commission rate of 30 per cent is too high, he likes that the services add to his sales, draw more customers and provide exposure for the restaurant.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO IN-HOUSE DELIVERY Rob Federici, owner of Ciao Roma in Woodbridge, Ont., hedges his bets by using two third-party apps. “We use Uber Eats as well as SkipTheDishes,” Federici says, adding that Ciao Roma charges the same price on the apps as they do in store and their entire menu is available on both apps. “I think using only one service cuts out a demographic as there are people who prefer using one app over the other,” he says. Third-party delivery sales make up five to six per cent of the pizzeria’s total sales. “When we started out, the sales through the apps were low,” Federici says, “but in 2018 they quadrupled, so it’s a matter of people just realizing that you are on them as well as people coming around to the idea of ordering through a platform.” Federici believes in-house delivery would not be practical. “Even though we are happy with the growth of our delivery sales I don’t think the orders for delivery could justify having our own in-house delivery person. The cost for that would far

‘A MATTER OF CONTROL’ Not every operator is a fan of using third-party services. Commenting on Facebook, Richard Ames, owner of Daddio’s Pizzeria in Grande Prairie, Alta., said he will not use third-party services due to the costs involved. Ames decided to stick with his own delivery service. One of those added costs is labour. “What they are not telling you is that, if you have to hire more staff, that is an extra cost. If some of your regular customers decide to use their service, you are losing 30 per cent on their order.” Angie Risi will not sign up with a third-party delivery service. Risi, the owner of Maria’s West Pizza Pasta Pastry in Brantford, Ont., has turned down third-party services who have approached her. For her it’s a matter of control. “I’m not giving up any control in my business,” Risi says. “Third-party delivery services take away a little bit of the control. I want to be the one responsible for my customers.” That includes knowing the drivers. “How can I fulfil my customers’ order when I don’t know the employees making

14 pizza SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

the delivery?” she asks. “And if the delivery is late, it reflects on me. I will give up some of that net profit to satisfy my customers. I can afford that luxury.” Risi describes Maria’s West as a “midrange” pizzeria that competes with quick-service and gourmet pizzerias and has healthy profit margins. “I feel bad for places that are just starting out and feel they can’t say no to the services,” she says. To pizzerias who have decided to join a third-party delivery platform, she suggests negotiating the initial sign-up fee, demanding food-handling certificates and not handing over your customer data. To those afraid of missing out on new customers, she suggests an alternative to third-party. “Get creative. Offer [new customers] a 10 per cent discount. Give them incentive to come to you.” “I’ve been doing this a long time. Maybe I’m a control freak,” she says with a laugh. “Stay in control. Do your best and the customers will come to you.” ‘WATCH YOUR MARGINS’ Is third-party delivery for you? “It really comes down to this: you have to watch your margins,” Restaurant Canada’s Elliott says. You may see the incremental sales but you have to offset those with all the additional costs – not only the obvious ones, like the commission fees, but also how much that is cannibalizing your on-premise business.” Elliott recommends not jumping into a service but being very cautious. “Know your numbers inside out and backwards so that, when you do take that leap of faith, you know what you’re going to be making off of this. …You do have a choice, but it has to be well thought out and cautious. “Manage it so you don’t impact the people who are coming to pick up your food, manage it so that it doesn’t affect your on-premise sales and manage your costs so that your high-margin items are the ones you’re doing the delivery for versus the low-margin items.” Elliott’s final piece of advice to those using outside services: “Talk with third-party delivery and work with them. They are partners in this. Ultimately everybody wants the same thing: to make sure the consumer has a positive experience.” •

feature

Local grains and nose-to-tail butchery Q-and-A with Chef Christie Peters BY JULIE FITZ-GERALD

Photos by Carey Shaw, courtesy Christie Peters and Kyle Michael

rimal Pasta in Saskatoon, Sask., exudes everything married chefs Christie Peters and Kyle Michael stand for: sustainability, environmentalism and mouthwatering, handmade food. Since opening its doors in 2014, this pasta house has gained a loyal following in one of Canada’s fastest growing cities. Peters sat down with Canadian Pizza to talk about life as a restaurateur in Saskatoon, a youthful city often heralded as the “Paris of the Prairies.”

How long have you and Kyle been cooking together? We’ve been cooking together for 16 years now. How did you meet? We met in Vancouver, where he’s from. I’m from Saskatoon, but I moved to Vancouver because I wanted to learn how to cook in bigger, city restaurants. We both worked at Rob Feenie’s restaurant and became really good friends, travelled around cooking in San Francisco, Amsterdam and Spain, and then I convinced him to move back to Saskatoon with me and open a restaurant. How has that experience of cooking around the world fed into Primal? I like the food to be representative of the place we’re in and the ingredients that surround us. Saskatchewan is known as the bread basket of the world, producing much of the world’s grain, wheat and heritage grains, so we thought it would be the perfect place to have a pasta restaurant. We’re using what’s growing around us.

Married chefs Christie Peters and Kyle Michael promote sustainability, environmentalism and handmade food through their restaurants, The Hollows and Primal.

You already own The Hollows, a highend restaurant that opened in 2011 serving seasonal dishes from locally sourced ingredients. What prompted you to open Primal in 2014? We wanted to expand and we felt it was time to do a second restaurant. You learn so much with the first restaurant, so the second one can be that much more streamlined and done much more efficiently. We wanted to do something different from our first concept, which was five-course tasting menus, so we decided to shift the focus at Primal to Italian food done with Saskatchewan ingredients. We had so many pasta ideas that we needed to do a pasta space.

How does the use of Saskatchewan heritage grains feed into the taste of the pasta? All of our pasta is made fresh, in house: we do handmade doughs and fresh pasta, and then we also have a pasta extruder that extrudes pasta. It just depends on the kind of grain you’re using. We use Red Fife wheat, which has more of a nutty flavour. And then we have our rye flour pasta that we do with braised, smoked beef tongue and housemade sauerkraut to complement the rye spaghetti; it’s a really big hit and has more of an earthy flavour. We use Saskatchewan-grown durum wheat in most of the other pastas. CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

18 pizza SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Pizza 19

WELCOME

Welcome to the Summit and Chef of the Year Competitions! New Mystery Ingredient Challenge!

hank you for joining us at the Canadian Pizza Summit and Chef of the Year Competitions! New this year, in addition to our Traditional and Open competitions, we have an exciting Mystery Ingredient Challenge! Read more about it in the pages of this event guide, and at canadianpizzashow.com. Our setting this year is our Platinum Sponsor Faema Canada’s sleek showroom in Toronto, home to the Faema Culinary Academy pizza, gelato and barista training. Also new this year: The Academy is run-

ning a Napoletana pizza-making course led by Chef Michael Bou-Younes and sponsored by Parmalat, makers of Galbani Professionale and other cheeses, the night before the Summit. The Academy runs a

variety of classes year round and have made this special class available to attendees who signed up early. There is something here for the whole team and it’s something special that you won’t find anywhere else – an atmosphere of learning and sharing experiences within the Canadian industry. Enjoy! We extend a special thank-you to our generous and active sponsors, exhibitors and judges for their participation, their enthusiasm, and above all, their support. You help make this show an event like no other with value for all attendees!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS Special thank you to our Platinum sponsor, Faema Canada & Moretti Forni Ovens for their generosity in hosting the event this year at their fabulous Toronto showroom!

GOLD SPONSORS

PLATINUM SPONSOR

distributed by

Canada

BRONZE SPONSOR

#CanadianPizzaSummit_2019

20 pizza SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

COMPETITIONS New for 2019: Mystery Ingredient Challenge!

Do you enjoy being creative under pressure? Show us what pizza magic you can work using your skill, imagination and knowledge of flavours to incorporate specific ingredients into a signature pizza! Competitors will be given a list of ingredients ahead of the competition from which to choose plus one Mystery Ingredient that must be used! That’s the challenge! On competition day at the Canadian Pizza Summit, participating pizza makers will create a one-of-a-kind pizza using the ingredients provided by Canadian Pizza Summit and sponsors. Ingredients: Five competitors will be given a list of ingredients they can use by Oct. 1, three weeks before the competition on Oct. 21 at the Canadian Pizza Summit). These ingredients will be provided to competitors the day of the Mystery Ingredient Challenge (at the Canadian Pizza Summit). Mystery Ingredient: One special Mystery Ingredient will be revealed at the beginning of the Mystery Ingredient Challenge at the Summit on Oct. 21! Kitchen space: All competitors will prepare and bake their pizzas at the same time (simultaneously) in the kitchen using one of four ovens – gas deck, electric deck and high-temperature (domed) oven (oven specifications will be provided prior to the Summit). Chefs will provide their ideal temperature range (500-600 F, 600-700 F, 700-800 F or 800-900 F) and oven assignments will be determined by the chefs’ ideal temperature. Timing: Competitors will have 30 minutes to prepare and cook two identical pizzas – one to present to the judges and one to share with attendees!

WHO CAN COMPETE?

Open to owners and employees of Canadian food service operations who are 18 years of age and older. IMPORTANT: Those who have won first place in the last three years may not enter Chef of the Year. WHAT’S AT STAKE? • WINNER (TRADITIONAL, FINAL): $500 to spend in Las Vegas where you will have just won a free trip to compete in the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo 2020. Canadian Pizza magazine will be featuring you on the cover! And of course, an award to display proudly in your pizzeria. • WINNER (OPEN, FINAL): $500 to spend in Las Vegas where you will have just won a free trip to compete in the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo 2020. Canadian Pizza magazine will be featuring you on the cover! And of course, an award to display proudly in your pizzeria. • SECOND AND THIRD PLACES (TRADITIONAL DIVISION): An award to display proudly in your pizzeria. • SECOND AND THIRD PLACES (OPEN DIVISION): An award to display proudly in your pizzeria. • ALL COMPETITORS: A plaque to recognize your participation in the Chef of the Year Competitions.

WHAT’S AT STAKE? Canadian Pizza will be featuring you and your mystery pizza in the magazine! Your prize package will include a gift certificate for a course from Faema Culinary Academy and an award to display proudly in your pizzeria! All competitors will receive a plaque to recognize your participation in the Mystery Ingredient Challenge as well as ingredient prizes from our sponsors and exhibitors.

WHO WILL JUDGE THE PIZZAS? The judging panel will be made up of impartial culinary experts that may include chefs, food critics and pizzeria owners. The judges’ names and bios will be published in advance. Pizzas will be scored on the following criteria: • Crust (texture, flavour, appearance, crumb, etc.) • Toppings (do the flavours complement each other? Bland, strong, appetizing, correct preparation, etc.) • Creativity (innovation in ingredient preparation and use, wow factor). • How well does the Mystery Ingredient come through? *Applies to Mystery Ingredient Challenge only • Bake (not burnt, undercooked, etc.) • Presentation (visual appearance)

Chef of the Year

The Great Pizza Box Fold-Off

WHO CAN COMPETE? Open to owners and employees of Canadian foodservice operations who are 18 years of age and older.

Chef of the Year is back! Watch talented pizza chefs prepare their signature pizzas and vie for the chance to join past Chefs of the Year in the winners’ gallery! Sample their delicious and innovative pizzas! Choose the division you would like to compete in: Traditional or Open *Individual competitors must choose one division or the other.

Traditional: Competitors may enter a pizza using ingredients as follows. Competitors provide the dough, cheese/cheese blend and spices. They must use a red sauce. No more than two (2) of the following toppings may be added: pepperoni, sausage, bacon, ham, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, onions and olives. Please note that different varieties of these toppings will constitute only one (1) topping; for example, a blend of sausages or a blend of pepperonis is permissible. A drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil after baking is acceptable; no other drizzles are allowed. No fresh herbs or spices may be added after baking. These guidelines are loosely based on Traditional or Napoletana characteristics, and are intended to allow creativity. A competitor’s pizza will be disqualified if the judges decide it contains too many toppings or impermissible toppings. Open: Competitors may enter a pizza with any combination and number of toppings they choose. Crust may be traditional, or deep-dish. Imagination is your only limit.

Are you a fast folder? Let’s see how long it takes you to fold 10 large boxes. Register online ahead of the Summit to compete in the Fold-Off online at www.canadianpizzashow.com. Bring your boxes to the show! All competitors should be at the competition stage 10 minutes prior to the competition start time. The Great Pizza Box Fold-Off will be held at 3:30 p.m., immediately following the Open division competition. Get in on the fun! FOLD-OFF RULES 1. The Great Pizza Box Fold-Off is open to Canadian owners and employees of foodservice establishments 14 years and older. 2. The Canadian Pizza Show will supply the person with the stopwatch. 3. Competitors need to bring 10 large pizza boxes. 4. Competitors will compete one at a time. 5. The maximum number of entrants is 10. 6. Timed decisions are final. Photos are encouraged! Please share on social media: #CdnPizzaSummit_2019

FOR COMPLETE RULES, GO TO CANADIANPIZZASHOW.COM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Pizza 21

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS SUNDAY, OCT. 20

4:00 - 5:00 P.M.

Competitor orientation Competitors may attend a briefing session at Faema Canada on Sunday, Oct. 20, from 4-5 p.m. to familiarize themselves with the ovens and kitchen space. Chef Michael Bou-Younes of Faema Culinary Academy and Canadian Pizza editor Colleen Cross will be available to answer questions.

6:00 - 9:00 P.M.

‘Night Before’ Napoletana Chef Michael will lead a Napoletana Pizza Class (class is full (preregistration); please contact the editor to join wait list). MONDAY, OCT. 21

8:30 A.M.

Summit registration opens

Front entrance, lobby, street level

8:30 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Coat check

Lobby, street level

8:30 A.M. - 3:00 P.M. Chefs/competitors’ optional ingredient storage

Kitchen, upper level

9:00 A.M.

Trade show opens Enjoy a pizza-specific trade show, a relaxed setting and lots of time for networking with experienced industry suppliers of ingredients, equipment and services. Exhibitors will share their industry know-how and demonstrate how their latest products and services can help you make more money – and give you more time to work on the big-picture goals for your pizzeria.

9:00 - 11:00 A.M.

Chef of the Year Traditional (Kitchen, upper level) Watch 12 talented pizza chefs prepare their signature pizzas and vie for the chance to join past Chefs of the Year in the winners’ gallery. Better yet and even more fun – enter yourself! The winner, our new Chef of the Year (Traditional), will receive a free trip to compete in the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo and $500 each to spend in Las Vegas!

11:00 - 11:15 A.M.

Greetings from Canadian Pizza magazine

Main lobby, upper level

11:15 A.M.

NEW THIS YEAR: Mystery Ingredient unveiled!

11:30 A.M. - 12:15 P.M.

Kitchen

Mystery Ingredient Challenge Kitchen, upper level Do you enjoy being creative under pressure? Show us what pizza magic you can work using your skill, imagination and knowledge of flavours to incorporate specific ingredients into a signature pizza! Competitors will be given a list of ingredients ahead of the

22 pizza SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

competition from which to choose PLUS one Mystery Ingredient that must be used! Game on! Your prize package will include a gift certificate for a course from Faema Culinary Academy!

12:00 NOON-1:00 P.M.

Buffet lunch Main lobby, upper level Enjoy a complimentary buffet lunch (coffee and hot beverages available), chat with the editor of Canadian Pizza magazine staff, listen to product talks and network with other pizzerias!

12:00 NOON

Pizza Trends in Canada: Interactive talk Main lobby, upper level Canadian Pizza editor Colleen Cross will highlight trends we’re seeing at Canadian pizzerias and invite comments from operators on what’s selling – and what customers are asking for.

12:30 P.M. - 1:00 P.M.

Product talks Main lobby, upper level Learn more about tools, products and services out there and how they can help ease your day-to-day challenges.

1:00 - 3:00 P.M.

Chef of the Year Open Kitchen Watch 12 talented pizza chefs prepare their signature pizzas and vie for the chance to join past Chefs of the Year in the winners’ gallery. Better yet and even more fun – enter yourself! The winner, our new Chef of the Year (Open), will receive a free trip to compete in the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo and $500 each to spend in Las Vegas!

3:00 - 3:30 P.M.

Great Pizza Box Fold-Off Main lobby, upper level Fast folders will compete by folding 10 large boxes (BYOB). The folder with the best time for will be deemed the winner and featured in Canadian Pizza magazine! Competitors should be on the trade show floor near the café counter 10 minutes prior to the competition start time.

3:45 P.M.

Chef of the Year Winners Announced! Main lobby, upper level Who is the fastest box folder? Who impressed judges most with their Mystery Ingredient pizza? Who are the new Chefs of the Year? There’s only one way to find out . . . JOIN US in the main lobby! Order of announcements: • Great Pizza Box Fold-Off • Mystery Ingredient Challenge • Traditional Division: Third place, Second place, Chef of the Year (Traditional) • Open Division: Third place, Second place, Chef of the Year (Open)

4:30 P.M.

Canadian Pizza Summit closes: See you next year!

EXHIBITORS AND SPONSORS PLATINUM SPONSOR Moretti Forni Canada/Faema Canada morettiforni.ca faema.ca

distributed by

Canada

GOLD SPONSORS

Parmalat Foodservice

parmalat-foodservice.ca/en

Ardent Mills ardentmills.ca

BRONZE SPONSOR

Stanislaus Food Products stanislaus.com

Uber Eats

ubereats.com

PIZZA BAG SPONSOR

LANYARD SPONSOR

MenuSano

Lallemand Inc.

menusano.com/menu-sano/

lallemand.com

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Pizza 23

feature

Sharing the load Delegate your way to success BY CLAIRE SYKES

hen you’re the only one on the ship, you have little choice but to take the helm in your own hands. But even with just one employee on board at your pizzeria, there will be times when you’ll need to rely on that person to help you keep powering your business forward. It’s called delegating. And successful pizzeria owners do it well. You’re effective at delegating when you give the right task to the person best suited to handle it. You also give him or her the proper resources – and authority – to do the job as well as possible. But delegating doesn’t stop there. Tell your employee what you expect from his or her performance, and then monitor that, followed by constructive feedback and motivating rewards. AVOID AVOIDING IT Anyone who runs a pizzeria knows you can’t do it all, yourself. And there’s always more to do. In general, more and more is required of you and your business as you face increasing competition – from other pizzerias, restaurants and grocery-store delis. Everything from planning next week’s employee work schedule to setting next year’s sales goals takes some kind of action. And as your pizzeria grows, so does your workload. How can you possibly fit everything in? Delegate! But wait. Maybe you think you don’t need to delegate. You’ve been fine all along handling everything yourself, right? You can do it! Well, you think you can. This assumption keeps many business owners from assigning tasks to their employees – even if it means overloading themselves with work that their employees are more than capable of doing.

Piloting your business gets easier when you keep in mind that other people are capable of performing many of the things you may think you should do all by yourself.

•

A GOOD THING Get over it! To break through your resistance, it helps to know the benefits of delegating: • You liberate yourself. Delegating well is vital in order to maintain control of

24 pizza SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

your pizzeria, and operate it effectively and professionally. When you delegate, you let go of the control you think you need to hang onto. You not only can get more done, but also you get the right things done. Too easily, business owners put off major, more complex projects because they’re too busy with the smaller tasks of keeping a business going. Smart pizzeria owners write up that to-do list and prioritize it, and then they take action by – you guessed it! – delegating. Why not let someone else file those invoices or make those vendor follow-up calls, so you can spend time attending to what’s most important for your pizzeria? You add value to your staff. When you reward staff with greater responsibilities, they’re more enthusiastic about working at your pizzeria. People also like to know they can be counted on, and trusted. Put your faith in them – and show it by delegating – and they’ll

•

feel more involved in your business. The more they actively participate in your pizza operation, the more they are prepared to take on those delegated tasks that further improve their skills. They also enjoy the greater variety in their workloads that comes with doing those tasks. And if you’re manager of your pizzeria, you prove to higher-ups that you can lead staff to accomplish even more than they already do. You improve your business. You motivate that employee when you reward him or her with greater responsibilities. With those comes the chance for them to enhance their experience working at your pizzeria, which only benefits your business. Who would want to work anywhere else? Valuable staff who stick around help contribute to your business’s long-term success. When you delegate to someone tasks that stretch his or her capabilities and boundaries, you help prepare this employee for the

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feature ARE YOU SOMEONE WHO DODGES DELEGATING? ASK YOURSELF THESE 10 QUESTIONS: • Do you believe you, yourself, can tackle most jobs better than anyone else? • Do you have difficulty trusting your staff to take on the task? • Do you think it will take longer to explain how to do the job at hand than it would to just do it yourself? • Do you have difficulty getting along with those employees whom you would delegate work to? • Do you fail to organize tasks well enough to pass them on to others? • Did you have a negative experience with delegating in the past? • Do you fear you’ll be outshone by the person to whom you would delegate the work? • Do you fear the delegated task won’t be accomplished correctly, completely or on time, reflecting poorly on you? • Do you believe your staff is so overworked that only you can take on the task? • Do you believe that no one else would know how to do the job? If you answered yes to even one of these questions, then you have at least some difficulty delegating.

next level of employment at your business. So, hand over some of those budget-related details to your math-savvy sales clerk, and in six months he or she could be your bookkeeper. GET BUSY AND DELEGATE No doubt, there are many advantages for you and your staff when you delegate effectively. Now, let’s look at just how you can do that: • Know what you can and can’t delegate. Being sure with yourself about which duties you can dole out to someone on staff is the first step to getting those tasks done. Of course, there always will be certain tasks that only you can – and should – do, such as those related to strategic planning, personnel, finances or legal issues, among others. You can, however, delegate clerical duties, minor decisions, scheduling tasks, things employees are expected to do when you’re not in your pizzeria, and anything that develops someone’s skills to prepare the person for a promotion. • Know the task. Think the job through. Know the specific results you want. It’s not enough to ask that employee, for example, “Can you please follow up with customers and collect feedback about how much they enjoyed their pizza?” You also need to know: How many customers should your employee call or email? What questions should he or she ask? How would you like him or her to document the answers? When you consider all facets of the task, and what you want from it, you can convey it all to the employee without confusion. • Choose the right person for the job. Don’t hand out tasks randomly to just anyone. Consider the overall skill sets of each of your employees, as well as their degrees of confidence, motivation and availability, before you assign the task. You want the person best suited for the project. For instance, think about whether you need someone who’s creative or who works quickly, or both, then select the appropriate employee. You don’t want to deal with hurt feelings and mix-ups if you have to reassign the task. • Explain the task, clearly, whether the job at hand is to prep ingredients or decorate a holiday-window display. The employee can’t read your mind, so make yourself clear. Imagine how the person might need to understand the task. Is there a certain sequence to it? Are there other people your employee might need to consult with? Is there any research the person needs to do to prepare for the task? Any new skill to learn? Write out everything you need done, so there’s no miscommunication. • Provide the right resources. Make sure you give that employee what he or she needs to do the job. You wouldn’t hand someone a filthy rag and expect the person to wipe that countertop shiny-clean. So also make sure you also give him or her whatever it takes to do the job well. This includes letting your employee know whom they can turn to for assistance, or where and how they can find the resources to figure it out on their own. • Give the person authority to carry out the job. As owner or manager of your pizzeria, you are ultimately responsible for how your business looks and how efficiently it runs, to assure its success and that customers keep coming back. To help you reach your goals, be sure the employee understands exactly what he or she has the permission and leeway to do, and is accountable for.

26 pizza SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

•

Monitor progress of the task. Before the task’s designated deadline, check in with your employee to make sure things are going smoothly – but don’t hover or micromanage. These check-ins are simply opportunities to iron out any confusion or make needed changes. It’s important to encourage open communication with your staff, so they feel free to come to you with questions or concerns. Evaluate the employee’s performance. After he or she has completed the task, sit down with the person and talk about it. In what ways was she successful? Where does he need to improve? Praise the person for a job well done, or at least for trying their best. Offer constructive criticism and encouragement. And ask for feedback. What did he learn? What did she find most challenging? Meanwhile, accept that your employee may do the task differently than you would, but just as well – or hey, even better.

GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK Piloting your business gets easier when you keep in mind that other people are indeed capable of performing many of the things you may think you should do all by yourself. Why weigh yourself down when you can free yourself up? Turn over any jobs that you yourself don’t need to take on, and see how much more productive both you and your staff can be. Delegating is most efficient when it becomes a routine part of your job in managing and operating your pizzeria. And when you delegate tasks to all your staff, you help build teamwork. That’s because everyone is working together toward bettering themselves and your business. • Claire Sykes is a freelance writer in Portland, Ore. Her how-to business-management articles appear in dozens of retail trade publications from Canada and the U.S. She also covers other areas of business, along with health and bioscience, philanthropy and the arts. Visit sykeswrites.com.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Pizza 27

feature

Local grains and nose-to-tail butchery CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18

I imagine you have strong connections with local farmers, based on your use of local grains. Can you tell me about that farm-to-table relationship? We basically have a couple of farmers that we get whole grains from and then The Night Oven bakery in town has two stones to mill grain with, so they grind up the grains that we use for our pastas. Their mill is called Two Stones Mill. Can you describe whole animal butchery and what it means for the dishes you create at Primal? We only get in whole animals, so we do whole pigs, lamb, elk and cow. We butcher it down and use a lot of the prime cuts at The Hollows where we do the fine dining and then [at Primal] we use a lot of the braised bits in pasta fillings. We also make salumi for our housemade charcuterie. We use every single part of the animal; nothing goes to waste. It’s a really great way for us to use a little bit less meat because we can stretch it more in the pastas. Even the bones we make stock out of and then make that into au jus that we can toss with the noodles. Any unusable fat from the animals that we can’t use for cooking we turn into a liquid hand soap for

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the restaurant in an old pioneer way, using lye and essential oils. Any scraps from the plates or food waste created during prep is composted, so we’re a very low waste restaurant. What’s your most popular dish at Primal? I’d say it’s our beef heart bolognaise. We have our signature bolognaise sauce made with ground beef hearts – a cut of meat that wouldn’t normally be used as often – so it’s very sustainable and very nutrient-rich. When we slice our prosciutto we have some trim left over so we grind that into our bolognaise sauce as well, and any trim or ends left over from charcuterie boards and in-house salumi. We also grind vegetable stems that normally wouldn’t get used – so things like fennel stems, which give the bolognaise a really great fennel flavour. What do you recommend all customers try at least once when they visit Primal? Our fried bread. It’s a take on bannock, but it’s an Italian version. It’s basically like a fried pizza dough, but it’s a little round, fried bun. Customers just love it because it’s fresh-fried to order, so it puffs up and is just a really delicious bread that’s covered in corn meal and has a bit of roasted garlic and chilies inside and then we dip it in balsamic and olive oil.

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The chefs use Saskatchewan-grown durum wheat in many of their pastas.

What’s the next step for Primal? Pizza is what we’re thinking. It would be something similar to our fried bread, but we’re still developing it. It’ll have to be good no matter what it is because we’re very picky about that. The pizza oven we’ve picked up is vintage. It’s very old, very used. It came out of an old hotel and we wanted to refurbish it. Part of our sustainability program is that we think they don’t build things like they used to, so we end up refurbishing a lot of the older equipment, saving it from the dump and making it new again. This oven’s an electric and gas combined; it’s very weird and probably dates back to the 1960s. If you could sum up the restaurant scene in Saskatoon using three words, what would they be? Community. Local. Young. •

28 pizza SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 PZ_Uber Eats_SeptOct19_CSA.indd 1

2019-09-09 9:37 AM

recipe

Beef Heart Bolognese

INGREDIENTS • 1 beef heart ground • • Prosciutto trim (left over • from the end of the • prosciutto leg) • • Fennel stems, chopped • 2 carrots, cut in pieces • 4 garlic cloves • 1 large, diced onion • 4 tbsp of tomato paste • 4 L canned whole tomatoes (crush them up with your hands)

By Christie Peters and Kyle Michael

500 ml of heavy cream Olive oil Salt, to taste Pepper, to taste

Beef heart bolognaise sauce, a favourite dish at Primal in Saskatoon, is made with ground beef hearts. “When we slice our prosciutto we have some trim left over so we grind that into our bolognaise sauce as well, and any trim or ends left over from charcuterie boards and in-house salumi,” says chef Christie Peters. “We also grind vegetable stems that normally wouldn’t get used – so things like fennel stems, which give the bolognaise a really great fennel flavour.”

TIPS • Put the beef heart and prosciutto trim through a meat grinder. • Using a grinder, grind fennel stems, carrots and garlic cloves into a separate bowl. • Brown meat in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. • Add in vegetables and sauté until tender. • Add 4 tbsp of tomato paste. • Add crushed tomatoes to the sauce. • Let simmer one hour on low, stirring often. • Season to taste with salt. • Add 500 ml of heavy cream before serving.

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Annex - About the Pizza .........................................................................................27 Ardent Mills ULC ........................................................................................................2 Ardent Mills ULC ......................................................................................................31 Faema Company (Canada) Ltd. / Euro-Milan Inc....................................................32 Finica Food Specialties Ltd. ....................................................................................25 Middleby Marshall....................................................................................................11 Olymel ......................................................................................................................15 Parmalat Canada .....................................................................................................13 Pizza Sumit .........................................................................................................16,17 Reiser / Robert Reiser & Co. .....................................................................................7 Ricco Food Distributor .............................................................................................27 Springer’s Meats Inc. ...............................................................................................27 Stanislaus Food Products ......................................................................................4,5 Thunderbird Food Machinery Inc. ...........................................................................25 Uber Eats .................................................................................................................28 Use these advertiser contact numbers to find out more about a product advertised in this issue or to place an order. This index is provided as a service. Canadian Pizza Magazine is not liable for errors or omissions.

MANUFACTURER SPECIALIZING IN : Pizza Dough Balls, Focaccia's, Par-Baked Crusts, Panouzzo Breads, Sliders, Sheeted Dough, Fully Topped Pizzas/ Focaccia's, in a variety of flavors and formulations, Custom Formulations, Proprietary Formulations, Copacking. Certified BRC Facility. Winner of 2012 Candian Grand Prix Award for Innovation. Call for details!

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Pizza 29

making dough with Diane

Diane Chiasson

Six quick ways to cut costs and increase revenue

ood cost is one of the biggest operating expenses in running a pizzeria. Ingredients are often perishable, and wholesale food costs have increased considerably in recent years. You must also look beyond ingredients to cut costs. There are dozens of small changes that can save your pizzeria money every year. These minor changes will have a major impact on your profit margin.

your costs without a realistic budget. Your monthly earnings will depend on how effectively your pizzeria is run. Preparing a budget will serve as a road map to building a successful business. You should know where every dollar of your budget goes. You must map out a realistic budget and estimate how much money your pizzeria will need on a monthly basis to stay afloat.

1. SHARE WITH YOUR EMPLOYEES When new team members enter your business, it’s important you first share with them all the facts, including the cost of your food, as well as what these new cost-effective changes are, and how much money they will save your pizzeria business. Your staff should understand everything about reducing waste, seeing potential problems, improving efficiency and understanding overall profitability. It’s also important to acknowledge and reward your employees for helping you meet your goals.

4. MANAGE YOUR INVENTORY Ordering too much food is another common habit for many pizzerias and often they have more food on their shelves than they really need. These bad habits will lead to food spoilage and waste, and will prevent you from cutting your pizzeria costs. Controlling the portions of each pizzeria item is an excellent way to reduce waste. Checking your inventory on a regular basis will give you a good idea of how and at what rate your food is being used or wasted. Track your inventory either at the beginning or at the end of each day. Try to evaluate and optimize your inventory levels product by product, and be creative by using the same ingredients across your pizzeria. A lot of food is thrown away past its expiration date. Train your staff using the FIFO method (First In, First Out). Label food with its expiration date so that the oldest ingredients are in front to be used first. Take inventory daily to reduce the chance of employee theft and food waste.

2. CUT COSTS IN THE KITCHEN Cutting costs starts in the kitchen. Food waste is often the leading cost in pizzerias as cooks tend to overprepare. Buy only what you need. If you consistently prepare too much food, then your waste and food costs will go up. Prepare a daily kitchen prep list that will help you and your staff determine how much prep to do every day. It will also tell them how many ingredients they should have on hand. This list will help your kitchen staff plan and control food production. 3. CRUNCH YOUR NUMBERS AND SET A MONTHLY BUDGET As they say, you can’t improve what you can’t measure. You cannot start cutting

5. RUN THE FOOD COSTS ON EVERY MENU ITEM AND RECIPE Take a long, hard look at your menu. Set up a menu and recipe master inventory cost template on a spreadsheet to help you prepare an accurate costing for all of your menu items and recipes. Using your

30 pizza SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

spreadsheet inventory will help you calculate the cost of every menu item and every recipe for comparison with the selling price of each menu item. You should also run a few reports through your POS system to track the sale of each menu item in order to identify the worst sellers. This will give you an immediate opportunity to replace them with some more popular items. Closely examine which items are the most often ordered and how much they cost you to make after taking into account your profit margins. 6. USE RECIPE CARDS As you know, making the perfect pizza requires a lot of ingredients. Ratios are important to achieving the desired result. It’s also important to measure the ingredients properly, and as such, I highly recommend getting a professional digital kitchen scale. The right amount of flour, liquid and fat will make or break a pizza crust, or any other baked product. A great method for ensuring consistency is to follow a recipe accurately when cooking, and you should definitely have recipe cards at each station. Each recipe card should contain a list of the ingredients and portions for each menu item. The most important thing in any foodservice business is consistency, and the only way to get consistency year round, is to create well-written and accurate recipes with detailed methods and good photos. • Diane Chiasson, FCSI, president of Chiasson Consultants Inc., has been helping foodservice, hospitality and retail operators increase sales for over 30 years by providing innovative and revenue-increasing food service and retail merchandising programs, interior design, branding, menu engineering, marketing and promotional campaigns. Contact her at 416-926-1338, toll-free at 1-888-926-6655 or chiasson@chiassonconsultants.com, or visit chiassonconsultants.com

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