Food Service Management

DECEMBER 2018 | FUTUREOFBUSINESSANDTECH.COM

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Food Service Management

Paul Wahlberg talks about the balance restaurant owners face as chefs and entrepreneurs

BROWSE the ways the food industry is using technology to meet growing consumer demand

ONLINE discover what restaurant owners need to know to successfully manage their business

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Chef Michael Schulson on Cooking up a Career as a Restaurateur The celebrity chef offers his wisdom to those who are navigating the business world as chef-entrepreneurs.

You grew up on Long Island and then moved to Philadelphia. What was it that attracted you to cooking, and Japanese cuisine in particular?

Family has always been my biggest influence, especially my Nana. I loved watching her cook and I loved eating her cooking even more. She is the reason I knew I wanted to become a chef.

I spent a year in Japan working at the Four Seasons and Spago and experiencing the culture and cuisine. I learned that Japanese food is simple and very different from what we eat here. People think that adding Japanese ingredients makes the food Japanese. That is not the case. Creating Japanese food is not just about the ingredients, it’s about the technique.

What should new restaurateurs know as they go out on their own in the business? What common mistakes should they watch out for?

There is so much more that goes into owning a restaurant aside from cooking and managing the staff. There is an array of other items that you must be prepared to handle, such as: • Bookkeeping and accounting • Cash flow and distribution • Tax ramifications • Human resource issues The biggest thing I have seen from other operators is not understanding cash flow — your income does not all go towards your bottom line. Expenses need to be paid, money needs to be put aside for taxes and other ancillary items need to managed.

For anyone that is looking to go into the business, just know that it’s hard. The toughest part about being a restaurateur is the hours.

You don’t get to go home once the clock strikes 5 p.m. When it comes to restaurants, the service, design and food are constantly evolving and it’s extremely important to evolve with them.

In order to succeed in the business, you need to make sure you are in touch with what’s going on in the world culturally.

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Helping America’s Restaurateurs Do Business The U.S. Small Business Administration has the tools needed to bridge the gap for entrepreneurs, helping to ensure they are supported as they start and expand their businesses.

s a baker at Main Street Café in Claysville, PA, Lori Polan spent four years creating homemade desserts.

When Lori needed capital to purchase the business from her former employer, she turned to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Her recipe for success included meals made from scratch, a solid business plan and an SBAbacked microloan.

“I never thought of owning a business until the former owner wanted to sell. At that point, I knew I could handle running the café,” Lori explained. “I cook family meals for 15, so I’m used to the challenge.”

Lori is a great example of the growing number of entrepreneurs in rural America, and also a symbol of the many ways the SBA is working to empower small businesses as they start, grow and compete in the global marketplace. The

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Allen Gutierrez Associate Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Entrepreneurial Development

microloan program that Lori used provides small, short-term loans up to $50,000 to business owners through community-based, nonprofit microfinance institutions.

This can be a good option for startups and new small businesses that may not qualify for traditional bank loans.

Resources for growth Last year, the number of SBA loans

to small businesses increased significantly, with more than 5,000 loans made for more than $72 million, a record for the microloan program. The SBA also offers counseling and access to capital through 68 district offices, with nearly 1,300 locations in communities nationwide. You can connect with a volunteer mentor, a small business development center or a women’s business center for free business counseling, mentoring and training. The SBA’s Learning Center, an online resource, offers more than 60 free virtual courses on topics ranging from how to prepare a loan package, to price models for successful business.

No matter the type of business, the SBA can be an ally to help you confidently start, grow or expand.

We have the tools to help small business owners secure financing and sharpen their business management skills. Q

Publisher Jordan Zauderer, Jaclyn Truglia Business Developer Gretchen Pancak Managing Director Luciana Olson Designers Chris Espino, Tiffany Pryor, Lee Miller Copy Editor Juliana Burkhart Director of Sales Shannon Ruggiero Director of Business Development Jourdan Snyder Director of Product Faye Godfrey Lead Editor Mina Fanous Production Manager Josh Rosman Production & Social Media Coordinator Bria Mastroianni Cover Photo Stephanie C. Olsen Photography All photos are credited to Getty Images unless otherwise credited. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve USA Today.

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Chef Alex Atala’s Insights to Empower Restaurateurs The Brazilian chef, three-time author and restaurant owner offers his words of wisdom to aspiring businesspeople in the restaurant industry.

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Effective Equipment Design for Food Safety

What first drew you to cooking?

P H OTO: E L I Z

I went to Europe when I was 18 to live the dream of music. I painted houses to pay my bills, but to get a permanent visa I had to enroll in a school of some kind. I signed up for a cooking class at the Hospitality School of Namur in Belgium. In the beginning, it was quite frightening. I started out as an assistant, peeling potatoes and washing dishes. I couldn’t see myself as part of the synchronized machine of the kitchen, so I almost gave up. But when I first got to work with the food myself, the fish, the fresh vegetables and the truffles, that’s when I felt my dreams starting to take shape.

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When it came to cooking, was the dream to be a chef or did you know from the beginning that you wanted to be a restaurateur?

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If we ask 10 people what eating well means, they will give us 10 different answers. However, if we ask these same 10 people what bad eating means, there we will find a common understanding. I believe that people should act according to their personal ethics. Don’t buy or eat something you don’t agree with.

This generates a new demand, and the market adjusts to it.

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Beyond the highest quality of food and taste, what is the most vital thing to a restaurant?

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Orsi Dézsi Business Unit Manager of Food Equipment, Food Contact Material and New Services, National Sanitation Foundation International

What advice do you have for restaurateurs who want to set themselves apart?

Putting my uniform on every morning makes me realize that the possibilities on this road are endless, so never settle for what you have and always try to achieve more. But you must be humble. I’m never ashamed to ask another chef to teach me, and I am flattered when someone asks me to show them how to do something. Sharing knowledge is the best way to grow.

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The discovery of what I wanted to do came to me little by little. At first I just wanted to be able to cook delicious food, as all chefs wish to do. Year after year, achievement after achievement, the dream grew and changed.

The design of commercial food equipment makes a significant difference in the ease, efficiency and overall safety of restaurant operations.

he kitchen is the heart and soul of a restaurant establishment, where meals are crafted by talented chefs. Each element of a kitchen should ideally be designed to optimize workflow, ensuring every meal that is served is delicious and has been safely prepared. Comprehensive food-safety training with frequent coaching and refresher sessions should be developed, implemented and reinforced for employees to ensure a consistent food-safety culture across the entire restaurant. The FDA’s Model Food Code sets the standard for hygienic design, materials and performance

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requirements of food equipment to help prevent food-safety risks associated with inadequate equipment design.

Food service safety zones The equipment requirements set forth in these standards exist not as a blueprint for how equipment should be built, but rather as guidelines on how to incorporate hygienic design elements into the final product. It outlines food service equipment as having specific zones, each with their own set of requirements: “food zones” for direct food contact (cutting boards, the inside of pots

and pans); “splash zones” for areas likely to be soiled with food (soda fountain drains, handles of utensils); and “non-food zones” for other areas (table legs, casters). As expected, food zone requirements are more stringent than splash or non-food zone requirements, but all zones have to be cleanable.

Consider a food refrigerator. The inside has to meet food zone requirements because it’s intended to hold open, unpackaged foods. But the bottom is subject to non-food zone requirements, meaning the feet must be elevated enough to clean underneath. Clearly, design and function are critical in choosing the right piece of equipment for the cleanest, safest-possible kitchen environment.

Mitigating contamination risk The FDA categorizes foodborne-illness risk factors into four problematic areas: poor personal hygiene, contaminated equipment, improper holding temperature and inadequate cooking. Three of these have links to equipment. Not surprisingly, food contact surfaces that are not properly cleaned and sanitized can create a risk. Before equipment even reaches the kitchen, these surfaces should be designed to be free of pits, pinholes, cracks and crevices that are difficult to clean. Foods not kept at proper temperatures can also be a hazard.

Thermometers should be used every step of the way (preparation, storage and reheating) to check temperatures, and refrigerators and freezers should be capable of holding food at safe temperatures.

An optimized kitchen plan requires a holistic approach to food sanitation and safety, including equipment design. Certification for hygiene standards means the equipment is designed to be easily cleanable. Simply stated, design matters. Q

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Custom Product Development to Simplify Your Recipe and Make Your Food Stand Out

Chef and Restaurateur Paul Wahlberg on Building a Successful Business

Custom food-product development companies provide the resources to reduce recipe-development time down to just days, giving you a unique and delicious product.

Working together Food product development is part art and part science. It has to start with a good concept, which comes during ideation. Defining the flavor profile, key ingredients and the anticipated end product is a creative process. Then, food scientists step in to create the texture, taste and blend of ingredients that can withstand heat, cold and processing, and ensure that the finished product lands on target. They consider factors like how the product will be used, how long it will be stored and how it will be prepared for use in a recipe.

Industry standards Product development must meet stringent regulatory requirements, including FDA and USDA. But it must also live up to consumer expectations for taste. Additionally, custom food products must be practical for use in the applications and quantities that restaurants require. A good development process will utilize the highest quality ingredients and stateof-the-art manufacturing practices to produce the end product.

By customizing the food production process, food scientists and chefs can take ideas from concept to table and scale up all in one space.

This can substantially reduce the time required for commercialization. With the capabilities of a great development center, industrial and food service chefs get a great final product, unique to their business, that consumers will love.

Laura J. Guthrie, Senior Director, Business Growth Strategist, JMH Premium

PHOTO: STEPHANIE C. OLSEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Food product development is never easy, but it can be fun. Custom product-development companies use state-of-the-art technologies to simplify the process. By working collaboratively, we can not only reduce development time and complexity in your recipe, but can also reduce labor for your product manufacturing.

The Wahlberg siblings know all about the balancing act of owning a restaurant. efore his starring role on the hit A&E show “Wahlburgers” and owning the restaurant chain of the same name, Paul Wahlberg simply set off to become a chef with a love of food that would help satisfy eaters’ taste buds. “The speed, activity, sense of completion, and making food that people enjoy” is what drew him in to the restaurant industry.

The fifth of nine Wahlberg siblings, including actor Mark Wahlberg, Paul Wahlberg has opened 26 locations of Wahlburgers with Mark and their sibling Donnie Wahlberg, who also star in the TV series. The show puts their sibling dynamics on display as they strive to expand the chain. Their mother, Alma Wahlberg, makes appearances as well.

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Owning a restaurant may seem glamorous, but Wahlberg emphasizes it comes with a set of challenges, including putting out more fires than you may expect. He says as a new restaurateur, you need to “know your world, know your customer and make friends [because] your friends always come back to support the restaurant.”

Experimentation is also crucial when starting out in the restaurant business, says Wahlberg, who emphasized the importance of channeling your own passion while meeting the customers where they are. “Do what you love, find out what sells and be open to learning,” he says. Taking a well-rounded approach to the business is also crucial. He adds, “Every team member has something to contribute.

Listen to the customer and the staff — you work for them.”

Being a leader and listening to your team can be a balancing act, but it’s one that’s well worth the effort, Wahlberg says. You must “allow the team to build its identity within the restaurant’s framework,” he notes. Humility plays into this as well. You have to “learn how much and how little you really know.

When all else fails, follow Wahlberg’s advice to prioritize the wishes and desires of your clientele.

Their happiness is what matters most, he says, and every choice you make in the kitchen and restaurant should serve that need. “The customer will feel it the second they come through the door,” he says. Q Melinda Carter

MEDIAPLANET | 7

The Future of the Restaurant Industry Lee Leet is the CEO and founder of QSR Automations. He shares some insight on how technology is changing the restaurant industry, and what we can expect for the future.

How is tech changing the restaurant industry?

Technology in the restaurant industry continues to demonstrate that restaurant operators and customers have options and alternatives for crafting the dining experience.

Convenient, efficient service that generates more profit isn’t an esoteric concept for an operator. They have so many ways to reach and serve their customers efficiently. Customers know this too — if a restaurant isn’t catering to their specific needs, like online ordering or delivery, they’ll find one that is.

What do you see in the future for restaurants?

Generally, I see a move toward “smarter” restaurants as a whole. With so many powerful restaurant technologies available, operators need to make sure that each one integrates with the others. These integrations are what’s going to enable restaurants to offer the best service to their guests and create more revenue streams like off-premise dining and delivery.

What is one of the biggest challenges for restaurant owners?

A big challenge right now is choosing the right technology.

There are plenty of solutions available to restaurant owners that all claim to make their jobs easier. Knowing which ones

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have the features they need can be overwhelming. Furthermore, operators don’t want to invest in a new restaurant technology system that they’ll be ditching a year or two down the road. Finding that “protected” investment, one that’s going to grow with them and their operation, can be a challenge.

How is a spike in off-premise orders (takeout and delivery) impacting restaurants?

I think it’s causing a lot of restaurants to consider technology that they wouldn’t have in the past. It’s a whole new way to invigorate interest in their products and serve more guests. Off-premise dining isn’t likely to die off any time soon. If your restaurant doesn’t offer an off-premise option, guests will find one that does. All restaurants need to embrace that reality if they want to succeed. Q

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