Food

There’s something special about holiday food. Maybe it’s the power of nostalgia. Maybe it’s pride in your family’s traditions. Maybe it’s the time invested in making complex recipes. Or maybe it’s the fact that holiday food is just plain delicious.

Let’s dive into some global holiday food traditions. And if you run a restaurant, consider adding your own holiday dishes to the menu! Some customers love the chance to taste a special occasion meal they’ve never tried before—and others will just be glad they didn’t have to do the cooking (or the dishes).

Many small shops in the catering business got their start in the home, or in a shared commissary kitchen. First jobs were small parties for friends… and then the small jobs turned into bigger and bigger ones.

At a certain point in every catering company’s growth, it’s time to reassess your catering equipment. We’re not talking about chafing dishes and induction cooktops, but rather the commercial kitchen appliances that do the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

If you’re looking for ways to make your operations more efficient by increasing batch sizes, speeding prep time, and cutting food waste, Hamilton Beach Commercial equipment can make it happen.

Most menu optimization advice focuses on paring down your offerings to what’s most popular and most profitable. For example, a TURF (Total Unduplicated Reach and Frequency) analysis can identify the core essentials: that is, the shortest possible list of items needed to satisfy the vast majority of customers.

But you shouldn’t neglect the second step: expanding the menu to include innovative new dishes. These creative approaches can help you start thinking about how to shake things up — successfully — in the year to come.