Food

Restaurants everywhere were making their operations more sustainable — and then the COVID pandemic struck. Takeout took over, resulting in an avalanche of individually wrapped plastic cutlery, straws and disposable containers. Concerns about single-use plastic and food waste were eclipsed by the fear of germs.

But waste-reduction efforts can’t be abandoned, advocates say; they just need to adapt. Prior to the pandemic, one-third of consumers were actively trying to reduce their consumption of single-use plastics, says Nell Fry, Sodexo’s senior manager of sustainability. The threat of pollution and climate change has only temporarily been eclipsed, she says; “As soon as we have this pandemic under control, there’s going to be this whiplash… ‘What are you doing about plastics? We want this done yesterday.’”

Safety and sustainability don’t have to be at odds. We’ll look at a few ways restaurants and other foodservice operators are maintaining their commitment to green operations while adapting to the realities of business during COVID-19.

Meet Bruno Serato of @caterinas_club, a #foodservicehero from Anaheim, California with a long history of service. 

Today, we are shining the spotlight on @chefrexhale for his work providing meals for those in need in St. Louis, Missouri.

This week's foodservice hero is Priscilla Nesbitt from Georgetown, Ontario. She is a member of the foodservice industry working as a Purchasing Director for Best Western Hotels.

[If she looks familiar, we featured her on our Instagram feed back in May -- but we felt we could highlight her again.]

This week we're highlighting a foodservice hero from Garden Grove, California. Bill Bracken is the Founder and Culinary Director of Bracken's Kitchen, a 501(c)(3) organization which has supported the community for several years by doing what it can to make sure children and families don't go hungry.

Today, we're revisiting the story of a foodservice hero from Portland, Maine. Her name is Natalie DiBenedetto, but she is more recognizable to locals as  Chef Figgy, the owner of Figgy's Takeout and Catering. One of her claims to fame, in addition to her amazing fried chicken, is winning episode 39 in Season 8 of Food Network's "Chopped" in 2018.

Reducing kitchen waste and keeping food budgets lean have always been big challenges for foodservice professionals. Now more than ever, it’s essential to do both.  

Supply chains are being disrupted. Customers’ behavior is becoming harder to predict. Nevertheless, chefs and operators carry on the heroic work of keeping people fed in restaurant, healthcare and institutional kitchens. Hamilton Beach Commercial is here to help. With the help of expert chefs, we’ve found effective strategies for getting the most out of every ingredient.

Some 54 percent of restaurant operators have temporarily switched to off-premises service only.  They face formidable challenges: marketing takeout and delivery options to customers, crafting new menus, and keeping food costs down and quality high, all while operating with a reduced staff.  

Here are tips from chefs and restaurant operators across the country, from fast casual to fine dining, on how to build a takeout and delivery business in challenging times. Hamilton Beach Commercial is here to help operators do more with less.

Continuing with our recap series, here are the top blog posts from the Food blog for 2019. These posts got the most views, regardless of when they were published.

Read on...and if you see content you like, be sure to join the HBC Community for regular updates, whether it's Beverage, Food, Hospitality or Recipes.

In a commercial kitchen, a stand mixer is a true utility player. It kneads. It stirs. It whips. And it beats. Best of all, it operates hands free, allowing kitchen staff to turn their attention to other tasks.  

Yet not every restaurant has one, because chefs and managers wonder if it’s worth investing the money and the kitchen space. That’s why we made the 8 quart/8 liter CPM800 stand mixer. It’s compact, so it saves counter space. It’s affordable and seriously durable, so you know it’ll be a worthwhile investment. And it can do more than you ever dreamed.