Kitchen Concepts Series
More than just ham and Swiss... More than just “specials” by the pound... More than just signs and labels... More than just cooking equipment... More than just hot or cold displays... A well-organized prepared food deli concept integrates ALL of these components into a well thought out selection of products, a physical layout that ensures the proper flow of ingredients and staff, and an overall merchandising plan that enhances your fresh food offerings, your reputation, and your profits.
Here’s how…
Create the menu. Cold and hot sandwiches. Home style entrées and side dishes. Grab-and-go prepared foods with delivery and catering services. Any one of these ideas, or some combination of all of them, can provide the basic menu for a successful Deli Kitchen concept that increases deli traffic and profits. Here’s a look at possible menu components.
Sample menu:
Deli Salads
Deli Sandwiches
Potato/Pasta Salads Vegetable/Grain Salads Entrée Salads Roasted Chicken Salad Shrimp Salad Poached Salmon Caesar Salad
Traditional Bread Sandwiches Italian Hot Subs & “Melts” Hot Sandwiches Sloppy Joe Fried Fish Fillet Fried Chicken Patty
Hot Foods
Chilled Grab-n-Go
Soups, Poppers, & Onion Rings Meat Loaf & Mashed Potatoes Lasagne & Green Beans BBQ Ribs & Corn Casserole Fried Chicken & Home Fries Red Beans & Rice
Chicken Pot Pie Take-and-Bake Pizza Beef & Bean Enchiladas Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche Macaroni & Cheese Twice-Baked Potatoes
Make your space sell. The configuration of front line display and service cases must support the business that your menu is meant to generate. • Self-service is a must for any prepared foods concept. Effective packaging, signage, and display mean customers who know what they want can get it without waiting in line. Make sure you have self-serve cases for hot and chilled items.
chilled foods, when handled properly, are good for 3 to 4 days. • Hot cases sell more successfully when they are clean and well “dressed” with fresh and tastefully presented items.
• The right combination of hot and cold cases lets you serve customers who are hungry now as well as those who are planning meals for later. Chilled items also help reduce shrink, since hot foods have a shelf life of a mere 2 to 3 hours, while
• Cold cases sell more successfully when featured items are displayed in an attractive way. Entrées and mealoriented items arranged on garnished platters and bowls help complete the meal “picture” for consumers, encouraging sales.
• If department space is tight, consider locating a self-serve island merchandiser in another area of the store or near check out lanes to encourage impulse purchases. • Finishing, assembling and packaging items in view of the customer demonstrates how fresh your products are. Watching you “prepare” their sandwiches, salads, and entrées also reinforces other positive messages for customers, such as honesty and individual attention.
Let the floor plan flow. An important consideration in the floor plan for a prepared foods concept is to ensure food safety. The basic principles of ingredient flow in the floor plan shown should be adhered to regardless of the type or size of the operation. • Raw foods are handled in a different area than cooked and ready-to-eat foods. The flow goes one way, from raw ➔ to prep/cook ➔ to blast chill ➔ to storage or display. • Separate sinks for prepping raw chicken and for prepping vegetables, fruit, etc., are necessary to prevent cross contamination. • Because sandwich prep requires a lot of space, there is a separate area for slicing meats and cheeses and prepping other sandwich ingredients next to the “make up” table sandwich & green salad assembly station. • The entire department is located as close to the store entrance/exit as possible, with hot carry-out foods first in line and refrigerated choices further along the shopping route. • Equipment should be sized carefully to accommodate production goals without under or over buying. For example, the smaller ClimaPlus® LCS-6 combi on a larger MCS-1020 combi gives you more features with the LCS, while economizing on greater volume with the larger MCS. • Combination self-serve and fullserve merchandisers offer the greatest flexibility in a limited front line. Likewise, a self-serve refrigerated base can multiply the merchandising space for cold items in the same frontage.
Walk-In Refrigeration (Ingredients)
Hand Sink Dish Storage
Raw Prep Sink
Prep Dry Storage Raw Prep
Prep
Prep
Finished Refrig. Blast Chiller
Slicer
A
Sandwich Make Up
Warm
Combi Oven
B
C
Cooked Food Handling
Rotisserie E
Veg. Prep Sink
Press. Fryer D
Dump Open Table Fryer G F
J
H I
Refrigerated Case
Refrigerated Case on
Combination Hot Case Self-serve Full-serve
Self-serve Refrigerated Base
Store Entrance ➔
Floorplan key: A – Blast Chiller BCF-65 B – Warming Cabinet HHC-990 C – Combi Oven, stacked: LCS-6 over MCS 1020 D – Pressure Fryer PFG-500 E – Rotisserie SCR-16 F – Dump Table DT-221
G – Open Fryer OEA-321 H – Refrigerated Case CMC-6 I – Refrigerated Case CMC-7 on CBC-7 Merchandising Base J – Heated SS/FS Combination Merchandiser HMR-106
Consistency—not “creativity” Success over time depends on consistency. When training Deli Kitchen associates, discourage the kind of “creativity” that results in different looking and tasting foods from day to day. Here’s how to stick to the menu: • Use tested recipes that specify accurate weights and measures. • Take advantage of programmable equipment with “lock in” features. • Insist on ingredients that meet consistent specifications whether obtained from another department or an outside supplier. • Quiz associates frequently on products and prep techniques.
Merchandise your concept. Merchandising means promoting the sales of a product by all means available. Here are three general areas in which reasonable effort can have lasting impact on traffic, sales and customer loyalty.
Brand/Identity
Brand names don’t have to be recognized nationwide to work locally. Consumers tend to respond positively to familiar names as long as the name is associated with a positive product or service experience. Your own “Deli Kitchen” concept can benefit greatly from branding by giving whatever name you choose constant exposure to the market and by associating it with positive consumer experiences. Use the name and logo everywhere… on signs, packaging, menus, flyers, bag stuffers, as well as media advertising. Sample often, at every opportunity, to convince consumers of the taste and value of your branded product. Display Techniques
Branding is primarily a psychological merchandising technique. Display techniques take advantage of physical elements—lighting, color, texture, aroma, and sound. The choice of case styles (height, profile, glass style, base color) and décor (designer hot tiles with platters, crocks, and props or the traditional steam-table look, even printed product tags vs. write-on/wipe-off
tags) must be appropriate to the concept. In-store signage must operate at three levels: overhead sign(s) to direct the customer to the area, mid-level or counter/wall signage to communicate the menu and meal-building direction, and in-case signs to identify individual products and prices. Packaging
The job of packaging, beyond its functions of protecting and transporting prepared foods, is to display it in the most attractive manner possible. These days there is plenty of sophisticated packaging that looks good and performs well in both hot and chilled environments. Decide whether your packaging should be microwave or dual oven safe. Consider domed lids with antifog coating for hot display, or other features like handles, venting to retain crispness, or special provisions for applying labels. All of these attributes can contribute to the merchandising of hot or chilled packaged foods and to help make your Deli Kitchen concept a success.
Henny Penny Corporation P.O. Box 60 Eaton, OH 45320 +1 937 456.8400 +1 937 456.8402 Fax Toll free in USA 800 417.8417 800 417.8402 Fax www.hennypenny.com
©2002 Henny Penny Corporation, Eaton, OH 45320, Revised 4-02, Printed 4-02 Printed in USA
Equipment Packages Basic equipment package MCS/G-6 combi Open fryer SCR-6 six-spit rotisserie HMR combination full-serve/self-serve heated merchandiser Refrigerated case CMC-7 on CBC-7 merchandising base
Mid-level deli equipment package LCS-10 ClimaPlus® combi BCM-110 blast chiller/freezer Computron 7000® pressure fryer with built-in filtration SCR-8 rotisserie stacked on SCD-8 rotisserie display unit HHC-900 holding cabinet Refrigerated case CMC-7 on CBC-7 merchandising base HMR combination full-serve/self-serve heated merchandiser
Deluxe Deli Concept Equipment Package LCS-20 ClimaPlus® combi BCC-140 Blast chiller/freezer Computron 7000® pressure fryer with built-in filtration Auto lift open fryer Fryer dump station Hand breader/sifter SCR-8 rotisserie stacked on rotisserie display unit SmartHold TM
HHC-990 humidified
holding cabinet HMR full-serve heated merchandiser Self-serve island merchandiser Refrigerated case CMC-7 on CBC-7 merchandising base ©2002 Henny Penny Corporation
Henny Penny Corporation P.O. Box 60 Eaton, OH 45320 +1 937 456.8400 +1 937 456.8402 Fax Toll free in USA 800 417.8417 800 417.8402 Fax www.hennypenny.com
