Now We’re Cookin’

There is no doubt grocers’ cooking equipment needs have dramatically changed in the past few years. Going from basic deli offerings to restaurant-quality options has challenged even the best retailers to be creative, both in terms of utilizing the space they have and juggling personnel constraints.

Best practice retailers understand that tailored equipment solutions with an emphasis on energy efficiency, safety and simplicity give them the competitive edge they need to succeed in today’s marketplace.

“Retailers look for ways to enhance the quality and consistency of their food offerings on a daily basis,” says William Buck, national corporate chef for RATIONAL USA, based in Rolling Meadows, Ill. Equipment features such as push button control and flexibility, he adds, are essential for retailers to stay on trend. “In today’s competitive environment, you need the ability to adapt without having to reinvent,” he says.

At the same time, retailers are looking to equipment to help them overcome workplace challenges, including high employee turnover rates. Given the current retail environment, industry observers say it is critical that employees have easy to use equipment. “Employee turnover has long been an issue for retailers and today is no exception,” says Jenni Butler, director of product management and marketing for Globe Food Equipment Co., based in Dayton, Ohio. 

Retailers are also looking for durable, long-lasting equipment that is competitively priced. Butler says Globe has worked hard to maintain low parts replacement costs, and it does this by sourcing its parts from a multitude of places. “For us, it is all about having a lower cost of ownership or life cycle cost,” she says.

Changes in the way customers shop are directly impacting retailers’ equipment needs today, say observers, noting that the average shopper has a limited amount of time to spend in the store and is looking for healthy, convenient meal options for themselves and their families. “All of this is placing an increased demand on deli departments and requiring more productivity from cooking equipment,” says Tami Olson, national accounts-retail sales for Alto-Shaam, based in Menomonee Falls, Wis.

With increased demand comes the need to efficiently manage labor costs. This, notes Olson, explains why ovens with self-cleaning options are in hot demand. Ovens such as these maximize time because they can be used the majority of the day and the self-cleaning function can be set to run at night. 

“Additionally, we are beginning to see more heated merchandiser and display cases that are easy to operate with individual shelf temperature controls for ultimate flexibility,” says Olson, noting that lower operating costs are essential given these units often run up to 16 hours a day.

Meeting the real world needs of operators is one of the goals at Ovention. Jordan Robinson, marketing specialist for the Milwaukee-based company, says in today’s fast-paced food service world ovens can play a critical role in helping retailers meet the convenience and quality standards consumers have come to expect. Acknowledging the challenges high employee turnover brings, Robinson says having intuitive equipment is critical in today’s retail environment. 

Robinson says high turnover will continue to impact retail for years to come, noting that Millennials have been dubbed by some as the job-hopping generation. “Intuitive, flexible equipment addresses this issue and minimizes the necessity for foodservice workers to have previous experience,” she says.  

Dann Woellert, product manager for holding and combi ovens at Henny Penny, based in Eaton, Ohio, says during the past several years the grocery landscape has changed considerably. For one, he notes the emphasis on fresh-prepared meals that customers can take home has been a game changer. 

“The profits and growth coming from fresh-prepared meals have inspired retailers to reach out in a number of directions to increase this business,” says Woellert.

As has been the case for a few years, Woellert notes that consumers continue to look outside the home for timesaving, grab-and-go prepared meal options. With the need for menus to be more diverse, international flavors are being introduced and the resulting “exotic choices,” with Hispanic, Asian and Middle Eastern roots, says Woellert, have kept the interest in freshly prepared meals strong. For example, offerings such as sushi, curries and arepas are making their way onto the American deli scene, something Woellert sees as a long-term trend.

In addition, he and others expect that as interest in grab-and-go and meal kits rise and combine with consumers’ desire to eat healthier, retailers will continue to tweak menu offerings to include fresher, sustainably produced, made-from-scratch choices. Given this, it is likely that retailers will focus on adding more commercial food processors, juicers and mixers, and increase prep space in their foodservice areas, say observers.

Help is on the way

Officials at RATIONAL say their focus on one product line allows them to stand out in both customer service and their ovens’ cooking performance. RATIONAL has more than 100 chefs working on a daily basis to support customers. Buck says that offering this level of support allows RATIONAL to ensure its customers are getting the most out of their equipment and receiving their return on investment. “We are proud of having the most versatile and multifunctional cooking appliance within the industry and equally as proud of having the best customer care network established to date,” says Buck. 

Olson says Alto-Shaam bases its equipment innovation on three key tenants—labor, efficiency and food quality. “Whether current day or down the road, retailers are and will be focused on increasing grab-and-go sales, providing higher quality of food and saving on energy and labor costs,” she says.

The plug-and-play operation of Ovention’s compact ovens offers an easy addition to retailers’ equipment lineup for kosher, gluten-free or other specialized food products, says Robinson. Ovention’s Precision Impingement Technology utilizes hot air for a fast, high-quality cook without microwaves—allowing operators to control time, temperature and independent blower speeds for every item, she adds. 

Ovention’s countertop ovens feature an intuitive touchscreen interface, USB menu loading capability, patented laborsaving features and more. The automatic loading and unloading feature unloads food from the oven cavity upon completion of each cook cycle. “This enables operators to focus their attention on other tasks and still have the food cooked to perfection,” she says. “Patrons continue to enjoy the same product quality time after time.”

Henny Penny’s FlexFusion line of combi ovens was created to help retailers looking to expand their menu with the productivity and consistency they need to cook a wide variety of menu items. “With the flexibility of our combi, retailers can add more menu items and even cook some menu items together without the worry of flavor transfer,” says Woellert.

Henny Penny makes programming a key focal point in its equipment. “Bringing consistency into food production, to an area that can be quite chaotic is critical today,” says Woellert. “Whether you are working on the brand-new Space$aver combi with hood or our legacy PFE-500 Pressure Fryer, our equipment has built-in controls to help an operator program his or her day.

“The demands on equipment have never been greater,” Woellert adds. “With rising employment costs, the need for equipment to perform more varied functions in less time and without much human involvement is key.”  

Safety is key

As demand for prepared foods swells, the need to deal with the high-risk job of managing fryer oil safely and efficiently comes into play.

Jim English, director of national accounts for Restaurant Technologies, based in Minneapolis, says as sales of prepared foods skyrocket within grocery, having a deli operation that functions as efficiently as any commercial kitchen is critical if retailers hope to meet the demands of today’s consumers. He adds that within a grocery setting the deli is often located far from the back dock, which makes disposing of hot oil waste a challenge. Taking the oil down store aisles is not optimal, nor is having deli employees perform the heavy task.

“Manually managing fryer oil is the last thing grocery operators need their deli employees worrying about and their customers being exposed to,’ says English. Restaurant Technologies has designed the Total Oil Management System, an automated oil handling process that addresses these concerns. 

The company has also recently partnered with several key retailers—including Price Chopper—to find safer alternatives for oil disposal. As Price Chopper set out to convert several of its locations into Market 32, it sought out technology solutions to optimize operations and elevate food quality. It was then that company officials realized they needed a better understanding of its cooking oil usage and discovered they were using more oil than necessary. 

Through their partnership with Restaurant Technologies, officials at Price Chopper expect to reduce oil usage by 10 percent in approximately 100 of its stores.

Next up

Alto-Shaam introduced several new products at the NAFEM show in February, including its Heated Shelf Merchandisers. Company officials say the merchandisers provide precise, even heating for the highest quality food and lowest cost of ownership. Operators can boost impulse sales with replaceable, customizable branding available through Alto-Shaam’s third-party supplier.

Another new item, Alto-Shaam’s Self-Cleaning Rotisserie Oven, was designed to save labor. In addition to hands-free cleaning options, the rotisserie oven features automatic grease collection, a touchscreen control and seven browning levels.

Alto-Shaam also introduced the Vector Multi-Cook Oven. The oven allows operators to simultaneously cook a variety of menu items with no flavor transfer. Described as four ovens in one, the Vector Multi-Cook offers control temperature, fan speed and time in each oven chamber. It also features Structured Air Technology for unmatched evenness in batch cooking, all in a 21-inch footprint, say company officials. 

Earlier this year, RATIONAL released its ConnectedCooking. Company officials say that ConnectedCooking offers its customers convenience, inspiration and security. From any smart phone, tablet or PC (iOS or Android), customers can communicate with and/or receive information from their SelfCookingCenter units. Users connect to equipment via the cloud and can see what is being cooked at any given time. In addition, users can remotely modify or update cooking programs as well as monitor HACCP information. Notifications can also be set up for service or maintenance needs with ConnectedCooking. 

“The ability to monitor what is going on in your kitchen from any location and make sure everything is running optimally and securely is a great advantage for staying on top of your kitchen’s demands at peak production times,” says Buck. 

Given retailers’ turnover concerns, Globe has introduced the S-Series slicers featuring its Clear Text graphic user interface, which enables operators to select operational requirements quickly and easily, while also eliminating the need to learn and understand specific error codes.

Globe’s patent-pending indexing system and a uniquely designed carriage holds products better for cleaner, more consistent cuts and improves yield, say company officials, adding that its one-piece, open design makes cleaning and sanitizing easy. Butler says the goal was to develop a slicer with premium features that would provide lasting value at a low total cost of ownership.

Officials at Ovention say retailers can expect to see a new cooking technology added to its lineup later this year. Calling it a first-of-its-kind integration of air and infrared, Robinson says that the air improves moisture retention and taste, while the infrared elements sear, caramelize and provide a unique artisan finish. 

“Working in unison, both of these cooking technologies bring a unique set of advantages not yet seen before,” says Robinson. The new product line will be available in a variety of footprints, including Ovention’s smallest to date. 

Henny Penny has recently introduced a Space$aver Plus combi with hood so retailers can add combi cooking productivity without having to expand their current hood space or add new hood space.

As for the future, Woellert says to expect features such as smoking capabilities to become more important in combi offerings. Wireless features, he adds, will likely become more commonplace as well.