NCCO International Whether your kitchen consists of two burners and a counter top that doubles as your dinner table or you’ve got a sprawling setup complete with a Sub-Zero fridge and Viking range, you can always increase time, space, and efficiency. As a restaurant owner or manager, your to-do list can get pretty overwhelming, but you know that every detail affects your bottom line. By tightening restaurant efficiency, you can strengthen profits, reduce waste, improve reputability, and gain higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. There may be no way to create more hours in the day, but there are specific things you can do to create a more efficient kitchen. Here are a few tips to help with efficiency in your kitchen.
Communication:
It sounds cliche, but communication is key in pretty much every aspect of life; business settings are no different. It can be tough for supervisors and employees to navigate the delicate balance it takes to communicate effectively. Promoting a work culture of open communication will not only encourage your employees to talk freely about their concerns or successes, but it will also boost morale.
Clear Work Space:
It’s important to create a clear and designated work space for each person in the kitchen to prevent people from bumping into each other. When there are several people all working within on space it can get a little jammed up. If everyone has a specified work space it will help with confusion and safety risks. The key is to make sure that the food stays safe and not contaminated and that staff are not all trying to use the same space and equipment at the same time. Cross-contamination of food is a serious concern for guests with food allergies.
Food Prep is Paramount:
If you have inefficiency with food prep you’re setting the entire day up for chaos and disorganization. Not having a clean, well-stocked kitchen at the start of a shift can really set back your chefs. Even simple things like knives that need to be sharpened could slow things down. Organizing prepped ingredients in plastic stackable containers is helpful, but take it one step further and label the finished product along with the date. Using a food labeling system is the perfect way to ensure efficiency and organization in a kitchen. It’ll save you time, money, and is important for the safety of your customers. Food prep is probably the easiest way to streamline your kitchen’s efficiency and proper labeling is the best way to prep for food prep.