How to Achieve Consistent Menu Execution

Consistency in menu execution is key for c-store foodservice success. Here’s why it matters and how to ensure you’re hitting the mark.

Bruce Reinstein • Kinetic12 Consulting

C-stores looking to drive repeat business with their foodservice program should focus on consistent menu execution as their top priority.

Consistency outweighs quality when it comes to foodservice. As much as the consumer wants the best quality at the best price, if they can’t get it that way every time, they are more inclined to get it somewhere that meets their expectations consistently. Here are six steps to consistent execution.

1. Simplify the menu and reduce total SKUs. A great menu is not about variety. Variety usually results in great execution of core items and mediocre to poor execution of everything else. It’s an impossible task to be everything to everybody. Menus became bloated prior to the pandemic, and many companies simplified their menu offerings. Now, an appealing, simplified menu that allows for quality food and beverages almost 100% of the time is a winning formula. In conjunction with that, reducing the number of ingredients and avoiding single-use SKUs makes it much easier for foodservice staff to execute.

2. Make the kitchen and prep process easier and more efficient. Great productivity and efficiency in the kitchen will lead to more consistent execution of the end product. Most companies, in the past, focused on being either a scratch kitchen or one that ordered ready-to-use (RTU) products. Today’s foodservice is typically a hybrid. There is a place for both some scratch and some RTU, but the middle ground is ready-toinnovate products. They are speed scratch products, and the prep focus is about baking off or adding finishing touches to products that come in more consistent than if you did them on your own.

3. Create a culture of meeting or exceeding brand standards. Just getting the job done is not the answer for how you generate consistent execution. Great leaders develop a culture of doing things right. It doesn’t take any longer to meet or exceed customer expectations. It is all about the basics. If a product does not meet brand standards, it should not be served, and this holds true for every customer. Meeting or exceeding brand standards starts with making sure that the entire team knows what those standards are and takes pride in consistently executing.

4. Improve staff training and develop a team that is certified in multiple areas. A particular employee preparing food or beverages should have no bearing on whether the finished product meets consistent standards. The odds of having consistent execution go way up when there is a quality training program that is technology based as well as a certification program that encourages team members to be trained and competent at multiple stations. The goal is to have team members who are interchangeable. Customers’ expectations remain the same regardless of the day or time.

5. Identify ingredient subs that are readily available to avoid supply issues. Expecting the unexpected provides a path to maintaining foodservice consistency. Once an operator becomes reactive, they are forced to cut corners. A proactive approach is a winning formula to keeping consistent execution business as usual. Working closely with manufacturers and distributors to have approved subs for spec products avoids stock outs and ensures that brand standards are maintained at all times.

6. Understand consumers’ expectations and avoid being everything to everybody. Consumer expectations will vary considerably, and it is difficult to consistently execute if you don’t know what these expectations are. Having a social media platform as well as a loyalty program promotes an important dialogue between foodservice operators and their customers. It is not possible to be everything for everybody, which makes this consumer feedback so important. Building a menu that meets consumer expectations and can be consistently executed will result in loyal, repeat customers.