Entegra IN FOCUS - Issue #1, Sep 2022

IN FOCUS trends and insights with a focus on savings

Gluten-free options for every need

Best bread for grab ‘n go Menu inspiration

Publisher note

Jeff Porterfield

SVP Client Services and Chief Customer Officer

Welcome to In Focus Entegra’s new guide to category trends and insights. In this publication, we’ll take a data-driven approach to uncovering categories and products you can leverage to enhance your savings while elevating your customers’ experience.

With each issue centered on one specific category, you can expect a showcase of the top products and trends that satisfy customers and improve margins. Developed in partnership with our culinary experts at the Entegra Performance Kitchen, In Focus is just one more way Entegra is here to serve and advise your business and help bring hospitality to life.

FPO

Chef John Csukor Head of Culinary Entegra, North America

Chef has lived the space between culinary and marketing for over 35 years. Now with Entegra, client and supplier challenges are his focus and he solves them through creativity, execution and excellence through the capabilities of the EPK and our suppliers’ products.

“Never stop short of deliciousness.”

John Csukor

Culinary note

The ever-changing landscape of food ingredients can seem dizzying — but it also gives us the opportunity to shine.

At Entegra, we regularly analyze our contracted products to ensure compatibility with all segments. We’ll share our findings through this important communication: In Focus.

This issue focuses on baked goods — a category that’s often overlooked, but has tremendous potential for optimization. The items in this issue reflect the critical role that culinary insight plays in supporting consumer taste and business profitability.

With Entegra, variety and quality are never hard to find. We always do our homework to ensure your menu and customers get the variety they deserve.

GLUTENFREE

Four tips for offering gluten-free items

The popularity and demand for gluten-free foods is only continuing to increase. While you already provide foods that nourish and satisfy your customers, delivering glutenfree options that support their wellness is simpler than you think.

Follow these four tips when deciding what to menu for this category:

1. Provide an option for each day part You don’t need to store an excess of gluten-free offerings. Find ways to use a bread item or wrap across your menu.

2. Consider storage

Gluten-free items are often made with a blend of alternate grains and even legumes which, in some cases, can be stored frozen.

3. Communicate your menu

Make a point to let your consumers know you have alternatives for their consideration.

4. Prioritize health safety

Also communicate that you have “gluten-sensitive” offerings. Without specific certifications, it is very difficult to ensure a completely gluten-free scenario.

The best breads for grab ‘n go, explained

We’ve all watched in amazement as the grab ‘n go category has seen a tremendous lift across so many operations. The resilience of foodservice in the U.S. shows it will remain a key category for business growth and profitability.

When selecting products, be sure to consider how breads vary in their consistency — and how they perform when held with other ingredients in packaging. It pays to do a little R&D, testing your sandwiches in the packaging, time and temperature you typically use.

Also keep in mind chilled breads require a few moments of toasting or warming prior to assembling sandwiches. This process allows starch molecules to realign, boosting overall acceptability and appeal to your customers.

Softer fillings like composed salads and delicate vegetables need softer breads such as croissants, or even naan.

Firmer fillings, including whole-muscle or sliced meats and cheeses, are best paired with more robust breads with a great chew, like artisan sliced breads.

Moist and small particulate fillings pair well with larger tortillas and wraps. Be sure to reconstitute these breads with a quick blast of moist heat to improve performance and avoid cracking.

Learn more about how Entegra can help you with your own grab ‘n go program!

One suggestion when selecting a bread for grab ‘n go is to work from the inside out of your sandwich, starting with the filling.

How to cross day parts with versatile products

Croissants

While croissants are mostly consumed for breakfast in France, they are versatile in their combination of sweetyet-relatively neutral flavors and delicate-yet-sturdy enough structures for robust fillings. Follow Chicago’s lead with a hearty Italian beef and cheddar cheese croissant sandwich, or go more delicate with a light, crisp croissant BLT. Touch the dinner hour with a croissant bread pudding drizzled with a Chambord and black raspberry compote.

Waffles

Consider the waffle: In Belgium, they are seldom eaten before noon and are considered an afternoon snack. In the U.S., eaters tend to focus more waffles’ shape than substance, providing room for creativity. Try potato-, cauliflower- or sourdough-based waffles for a savory flavor, or experiment with egg-bound shredded potatoes or natural yeast roll dough prepared in a waffle press — all dishes that can play well across dayparts.

Baguettes

Crisp and not too chewy, the baguette is a sophisticated yet approachable bread that can impact all dayparts, across areas of transport and commerce. Once lightly crisped, the baguette is highly versatile: For breakfast, try a thinly sliced tartine slathered simply with butter and fruit jam. For lunch, serve it with ham, boiled egg and mustard or goat cheese, tomato and arugula. With their durability and easy-to-handle diameters, baguettes make for great all-day sandwiches and international fare such as a Vietnamese banh mi, New Orleans po’ boy, as well as a Spanish bocadillo — smaller, flavorful sandwiches loaded with charcuterie and bloomy ripe cheese.

Step up your menu — and your business’s performance — with these products from Entegra. We’ve handpicked the most delicious and convenient selections to keep customers coming back for more.

Get inspired: TOP BREAD TRENDS

Breads are the very foundation of menus in America, across all dayparts. As of Q1 2022, they’re menued by 85% of foodservice operators. And while most mentions of bread are attached to sandwiches, other important areas to consider are appetizers and even side dishes.

Consider these trending approaches to using bread across your menu:

Daypart definitions are no longer rigid. Feel free to cross over and have fun for example, with a savory bread pudding entrée.

Use specialty breads as a low-cost center-of-the-plate highlight, such as with a fattoush, panzanella or naan salad.

Greatly reduce food costs by reducing 50% of the chicken in a compound salad like the ones listed above, and replacing it with a delicious crisp and seasoned specialty bread.

Bring excitement to a traditional sandwich with a signature international bread highlighting a trend, such as a za’atar-seasoned crisp toasted pita used for a sliced chicken shawarma club sandwich.

Use a substantial slice of garlic-buttered, perfectly toasted sourdough as a base for a slightly reduced portion of butter-basted, flaky barramundi. More sustainable and lower in cost, a smaller portion size is easily forgotten when the delicious base elevates the primary protein.

With a collective 12.1% menu mention growth by operators tracked since January 2021, bread is well beyond an accompaniment. Given its low cost to plate, it is worthy of serious consideration when accentuating today’s menus. Try using bread to cut costs, add recognizable offerings, as well as elevate excitement and the crave factor on your menu today.

spotlight

ASPIRE BAKERIES

Q&A with Jon Davis

Innovation Leader

trends are

seeing in

and

space?

Service models have changed significantly: Sandwich carriers are more relevant

portability is key. Consumers want authentic products made with healthy, wholesome ingredients. And then there’s supply availability

meaning products are stocked in

manufacturers have the capacity to combat material/ingredient

and labor challenges to produce

How is Aspire Bakeries keeping up with the latest trends?

Our La Brea Bakery artisan bread portfolio has always been certified nonGMO, with no artificial ingredients or preservatives. It’s also now certified vegan. We additionally offer gluten-free sliced artisan sandwich bread.

And to meet the demand for ingredients that work harder for our operators, we’ve added an all-natural enzyme to some of our most popular sandwich carriers. It extends ambient shelf life for up to four days without any compromise to quality a game-changer for artisan breads.

What products do you offer that taste and feel like they’re made from scratch, but are ready to serve?

All La Brea Bakery breads are delivered to the operator fully baked, delivering artisan quality without the need for a bake shop or breadmaker. If they choose to, operators can flash our breads in the oven for a darker, crispier crust.

How do your solutions help operators keep costs low?

With our products, there’s no waste. You simply pull the exact quantities you need from the freezer, rather than buying from a local bakery and hoping you sell it all.

What Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives does Aspire Bakeries uphold?

focus includes

key areas:

practices,

and workplace,

and community engagement. A few highlights:

and

to

100%

RICH

solutions do you provide to help operators address consumer demands for

and

What top trend are you seeing in the breads, rolls and croissants space?

Lately, our focus has been on providing solutions for labor constraints that do not compromise on quality.

How does Rich Products keep up with the latest trends?

We partner with industry research and data partners to understand trends and unmet needs within the category. Those insights can then help drive innovation or product positioning. You’ll see some of those results in our labor-saving, plant-based and highquality parbaked artisan breads and rolls.

We also offer a comprehensive portfolio of parbaked breads and rolls that can be thawed and served directly — or quickly refreshed to capitalize on freshness and aroma.

What solutions do you provide to help operators address issues like labor shortages, or keeping costs low?

Our dedicated culinary team can help with in-person training, as well as recipe offerings. We also provide easy online tutorials and recipes. Some of my favorite products are rosemary sea salt batard, sourdough artisan boule and proof and bake southern homestyle roll dough.

Q&A

“

Can ready-to-serve options match the taste and feel of from-scratch products?

We just launched our breakthrough no-proof bread and roll dough offerings that thaw under refrigeration, then go directly into the oven. There’s no proofing or extra labor, so you can bake dough on demand.