Content sponsored by: Alto-Shaam
Grab-and-go kiosks have become staples across all segments of the foodservice industry, as customers are seeking convenient, fresh meals.
Brett Freifeld, corporate executive chef at Alto-Shaam, provides insightful trends and inspiring tips for operators who are considering a grab-and-go program.
Q. Why are customers gravitating towards grab-and-go meals?
Brett Freifeld: Customers are looking for healthy, fresh and quick dining solutions. Many factors play into this. Grab-and-go programs are a one-stop shop for customers with time constraints and fluctuating schedules. Today, people are very busy with work. Many parents do not have much time to prepare, cook and clean up each night. For me personally, I travel a lot for work, and if I am called away on business with a refrigerator full of groceries, all of that food will expire by the time I return. Grab-and-go items provide convenience, while helping people reduce their food waste.
Q. How do you see grab-and-go as a profitable solution for operators with small spaces?
Brett Freifeld: A grab-and-go menu allows foodservice providers to increase their profits without needing a brick and mortar expansion of their kitchen or dining space, which is the most expensive part of growth. Traditional restaurants and other hospitality industries are limited by their dining space—their profits depend on their table quantity and the turnover of seated customers. Grab-and-go menus compliment all segments of the foodservice industry, and they can be added as a secondary revenue source at a grocery store or restaurant or a primary revenue source for operations such as convenience stores and food trucks.
Q. What is needed to support a grab-and-go foodservice program?
Brett Freifeld: First, a foodservice provider will need some sort of packaging and labeling program. Some grab-and-go items are non-immediate food items, so you are required to label the ingredients. Marketing your grab-and-go menu is also very important to increase customer awareness and interest.
You also definitely need some sort of equipment to keep the food hot and fresh for pick up. Alto-Shaam offers Heated Shelf Merchandisers and Cook & Hold ovens with Halo Heat® technology, which both provide longer shelf lives with gentle and radiant heat that prevents shrinkage and moisture loss.
Q. What types of grab-and-go items are popular?
Brett Freifeld: The grab-and-go offerings out there are very diverse. Pre-made sandwiches and soup programs are very popular, as well as sushi. Meal kits and ready-to-bake items are also trending. Chain grocery stores are hearing more and more that their customers don't mind cooking so much as the preparation. With grab-and-go meal kits, customers are able to bring portioned ingredients or prepared meals home and control when they want to cook it. They no longer have to worry about the pizza getting cold if their family is running late.
Another popular grab-and-go item is rotisserie chicken. After a long day of working followed by grocery shopping, customers are looking for something hot, fresh and healthy to bring home. If you're a retail grocery chain, selling chicken with an attractive rotisserie oven is a must to meet this customer need.
Q. How has equipment technology changed the face of grab-and-go?
Brett Freifeld: Automation is key. It's important to be able to adjust to trends quickly. A single-use piece of equipment that is not programmable or versatile will be outdated sooner rather than later. Also, energy conservation should be considered, as this equipment will be operated all day.
With small spaces, footprints are important in addition to the equipment's appearance. Ventless units are becoming more popular, along with equipment that has the ability to cook multiple items simultaneously, such as our Vector® H Series Multi-Cook Oven. More people are moving away from microwaves, with higher food quality expectations.
Whether you're producing large or small quantities of food, Alto-Shaam offers a range of grab-and-go solutions for any foodservice operation. I would suggest attending A Taste of Alto-Shaam near you to learn more about our wide variety of equipment that will help get your grab-and-go program off the ground and offer a quick return on investment.
