Though a well-conceived menu is key to a launching a foodservice program, it takes the right tools to make it successful.
By Marilyn Odesser-Torpey, Associate Editor
With only enough space for a warming box, two of the convenience stores at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) were very limited as to the number and types of meal and hot snack foods they could offer.
Then about a year ago, they added roller grills and opened up a whole new world of food items they could cook and sell.
“We scoured other c-stores to see what they were doing in foodservice and the roller grill provided a solution to our space problem,” said Patrick Joyce, CSULB’s foodservice manager. “Now the stores usually have up to eight different food items, including hot dogs, tornados, mozzarella sticks and egg rolls, on their grills. It’s all new to us, but we have the freedom to try different items to find out which ones appeal most to our customers.”
Ashland, Ky.-based Clark’s Pump-N-Shop buys a lot of roller grills. The c-store chain’s stores all have at least one large grill and some stock a second, smaller one for keeping up with customer demand. Roller grills are only one investment that Clark’s has been making recently, said Brian Unrue, director of operations, especially since Clark’s plans to open three new stores this year and another three next year.
Unrue explained that the first thing purchased for new stores that have the full-service Clark’s Café concept in them is a countertop convection oven. In one store, the company is currently testing a larger convection oven that can cook more items at the same time.
Unrue explained that the stores will not be scaling up too much, however.
“When we first got into grab and go, we offered 31 of everything and it was overkill,” Unrue said. Three years ago, we pared that number down to 12 of our top SKUs, including grill items.”
DOING DUE DILIGENCE
Many retailers tend to jump into foodservice before doing some basic math that can predict whether a program will succeed or fail, said veteran convenience store food consultant Dean Dirks.
“With gasoline and cigarette margins shrinking, a number of retailers are looking to foodservice as a silver bullet to generate more traffic in their stores,” Dirks said. “But, before any equipment purchases are even considered, you have to know how many customers walk through your doors on any given day to support your foodservice concept. It’s important to realize that even a highly-recognizable sub sandwich franchise will not draw more traffic to your stores.”
Only after attention to the numbers of a profit and loss calculation including food costs, labor hours scheduled and other costs, should equipment become part of the equation.
“Not costing out the menu is a major area where many people trip themselves up,” Dirks said.
Once the menu is determined, retailers should look for equipment that can handle more than one function if possible even if it means tweaking the menu to fit.
A turbo oven, for example, has multiple functions.
Work out labor, utilities, equipment (including depreciation) and other costs over five years to calculate your rate of return and find out if the financial investment is a good use of capital, Dirks said. He also emphasized the need to find out how much equipment will cost to install. One client did not realize that the electricity needs of some new equipment did not match his store’s system and had to rewire the entire store.
Clark’s, which operates 64 stores in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Florida, knows what equipment works best for its foodservice offering and does not hesitate to invest to ensure that it is done right.
In addition to hot and cold grab and go, some of the stores feature Krispy Krunchy Chicken. In those stores chicken is a major part of the foodservice mix.
Last year, Clark’s put in a self-contained chicken fryer that has an oil filtering system inside. The fryer automatically filters the oil after so many batches of product are cooked, which reduces labor.
“The new fryer is another piece of equipment we don’t have to clean and, because the oil is constantly being filtered it goes further,” Unrue said.
The new fryers are computerized with six separate LED timers to accommodate different products.
To promote its foodservice offering, Clark’s began installing LED TV menu boards last year. The boards alert shoppers to prices, new items and featured items. As far as appearance and upkeep, the LED boards are head and shoulders above the old cardboard ones, he said.
“They have a crisp modern look, last forever and don’t require any climbing on ladders to change the message,” Unrue said. “They even make it possible for me to update the message from my office.”
But bells and whistles are the not main selling point for Unrue. He researches the service record of the manufacturer before the company buys any piece of equipment.
“I’m looking for dependability, durability and longevity,” Unrue said. “And does the manufacturer resolve any service issues quickly.”
MULTI-USE USES
Indianola, Miss.-based Double Quick convenience store chain, which has been in the foodservice business for 40 years, has been purchasing a lot of foodservice equipment recently.
Over the past year and a half, the convenience store, which has 55 locations in the Delta region of Mississippi and Arkansas, has purchased equipment for newly-acquired stores in Arkansas as well as existing Double Quick stores in other areas that are being remodeled.
A Church’s Chicken and Krystal franchisee, Double Quick depends on its fryers for much of its foodservice preparation. Like Clark’s Pump- N-Shop’s Unrue, Rick Beuning, Double Quick’s vice president of foodservice operations, is impressed with the latest iteration of computerized fryers.
“You can prepare two different items, say fries in one basket and wings in the other, that require two different settings at the same time,” Beuning said.
In some stores, Double Quick has introduced a proprietary foodservice concept called Hot ‘n Crispy that includes its own chicken, plus other “southern soul foods” including fried pork chops, catfish, shrimp, fried potato logs, corn dogs and okra. Hot holding-and-merchandising cases keep these foods at the correct serving temperatures.
The cases also hold non-fried items, such as mac and cheese and an assortment of vegetables.
Beuning said that the cases are dependable, easy to service and long lasting.
Ovens were also added to bake chicken. To keep the chicken and fish breading batter cold, Double Quick purchased a special cart with temperature-controlled tubs.
“With our equipment, we can handle just about any type of food that comes along,” Beuning said. “We could even expand our line if we wanted to, but right now we have a good balance.”