Food

Soups. Shakes. Sauces. Smoothies. Most chefs rely on their blenders to make a few, standard menu items. But a high-performance blender, like the EXPEDITOR Culinary Blender series from Hamilton Beach Commercial, can lend its talents in a few unexpected ways. We found seven recipes for blenders that might surprise you, from pizza crust to lemonade. Why not give them a whirl?

Customer loyalty programs aren’t just for big business. Any size company, from a small café to a regional chain, can employ a cost-effective digital loyalty program to encourage customers to keep coming back. A repeat customer spends 67 percent more on a single purchase than a new customer does, a Manta and BIA/Kelsey report found; and, as Entrepreneur notes, “they should be rewarded for this action, as retaining customers is less costly than acquiring new ones.”

But how can a company ensure its loyalty program investment will pay off? Hamilton Beach Commercial spoke with Jenny Beightol, Director of Words & Reputations for Belly. With more than 12,000 clients and 6 million members, Chicago-based Belly is the leading digital loyalty solution for businesses. Here are six strategies for making your digital loyalty program a success.

In April 2016, Tampa Bay Times food critic Laura Reiley rocked the culinary world with an investigation into restaurants’ local sourcing claims. In the piece, titled “Farm to Fable,” Reiley found that dozens of local restaurants — many of which she had lavishly praised in past reviews — were misleading customers about the provenance of food. “Florida quail” was from Wyoming. “Florida shrimp” came from India. Local Zellwood corn… wasn’t.  

It’s not that every restaurateur was actively practicing deception. Many said they had neglected to update the menu, or that they simply couldn’t source everything locally all the time. Seasons change, prices go up, farms go out of business, and it gets complicated.

Does everything really have to be local? And how can restaurants can prioritize farm-to-table sourcing while also managing costs?

Got a surly server? That’s all right; customers won’t care once they taste their food. That’s what many restaurateurs believe, anyway. Here’s the cold truth: great food can’t make up for less-than-stellar service. Customers complain more about personal service than food quality, Jay Baer found in his research for “Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers.”

“There seems to be an under-emphasis in employee training and employee skills in comparison to the emphasis on product quality,” Baer tells Nation’s Restaurant News.

How can restaurateurs fix this? Look to the best. Here are seven secrets of customer service all-stars. 

Even giants stumble. The past few years have brought huge shakeups in the foodservice industry, as fast-casual dining and technology innovations have dramatically altered customers’ expectations for eating out. As a result, big chains like Pizza Hut, Applebee’s and McDonald’s have had to change their game plans to regain the popularity they once took for granted.  

Here’s a look at what can smaller chains and independent operators can learn from the turnaround efforts of America’s biggest restaurant companies.

Imagine if every third customer to your restaurant ordered a meal, looked at the plate, then immediately threw it away.

That's pretty much what's happening. A whopping 25 to 40 percent of food that is grown, processed and transported in the United States will never be eaten. Around 80 billion pounds of food ended up in landfills last year, the Food Waste Reduction Alliance estimates, and 43 percent of that waste comes from restaurants and institutions.

Foodservice industry groups are working to reduce barriers to food recycling and donation efforts. But there's also a lot that individual restaurant companies can do. Here are six ideas for restaurant food waste management.

Freshëns was fast casual before fast casual was cool.

Founded in 1985 as a frozen-yogurt store, Freshëns found its niche serving health-conscious students on college campuses. Now, it's the largest yogurt and smoothie company in the nation. Hamilton Beach Commercial is proud to support its growth by providing high-performance blenders, drink mixers and more.  

How has Freshëns continued to capture the 18-24-year-old niche while staying true to its brand? We talked to Joe Sardina, Vice President of Operations, to find out.

 

FeedMore's Community Kitchen, located in Richmond, prepares more than 3,000 nutritious meals each weekday.

Stewed tomatoes. Macaroni. Stir-fried cabbage.

Haute cuisine it's not; but in the hands of Chef Amory James and his army of volunteers in hairnets, home-style recipes like these change lives. Every day, FeedMore's Community Kitchen in Richmond, Virginia, dishes out more than 3,000 healthy meals for the region's needy children, elderly and homebound clients. We asked Chef James for a few pro tips and took a look behind the scenes of this innovative nonprofit.

The chefs spoke. And we listened.

Chefs in kitchens around the world told us they needed an advanced culinary blender at their side. They needed a blender that was versatile enough to allow them precise control, but had enough power to handle all the fresh ingredients that are the mainstay of modern kitchens. Most importantly, they needed a blender that could unleash their creativity and help them to put their signature of flavor in every dish, no matter what the style of cuisine. We took note of everything they said — and we delivered.

We're not quite ready to trade our morning mug of coffee for a hot cup of bone broth, or our blueberry muffin for a gluten-free scone. But your customers might be.

The paleo diet has grown to become "one of the most influential dietary trends in the country, with as many as three million followers and a disproportionate cultural influence," reports Salon. And as many as one in five Americans include gluten-free foods in their diets, Gallup found.

Considering altering your menu so you can join the ranks of paleo restaurants or gluten-free restaurants? Here's a look at the dos and don'ts for restaurateurs.