Chapter 4

Food Product Flow

Flow of Food

Alternate paths that food and menu items may follow

Initiating with receiving & ending with service to the customer Aimed at increasing productivity, decreasing cost, or strengthening control of operations

Changes occurring in food throughout all stages must be controlled to ensure quality & safety of finished products
Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Flow of Food

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Types of Foodservices

Increasing labor costs & shortage of highly skilled employees

Using new forms of food with built-in convenience or labor-saving features

4 types of foodservice operations

Conventional or traditional Ready prepared Commissary Assembly / serve

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Conventional Foodservice

Foods are purchased in various stages of preparation for individual operation Production, distribution, & service are completed on same premises Following production, foods are held hot or refrigerated to be served as soon as possible Proportioned meats, baked goods, & fresh, canned, frozen, or preprocessed fruits and veggies
2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Conventional Foodservice

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Conventional Foodservice
Menu items are prepared near to service time to assure quality Hot-holding conditions affected by temperature, humidity, & length of holding time

Nutritional & sensory quality can be adversely affected

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Conventional Foodservice
May be distributed to adjacent or nearby serving area (cafeteria or dining room) Hospitals or healthcare facilities food served on trays

Centralized service individual patient trays assembled in or close to production area Decentralized service distributed in bulk quantities for tray assembly close to patients rooms (galley in hospital wing)

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Ready Prepared Foodservice

Evolved because of increased labor costs & shortage of skilled personnel Menu items produced & chilled or frozen until heated for service later Produced for inventory & subsequent withdrawal Readily available at any time for final assembly & heating for service

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Ready Prepared Foodservice

Center-of-the-plate

Menu items & hot veggies require 2 phases of heat processing in ready prepared foodservice
1st during production 2nd after storage

In some operations, reheated in bulk prior to assembly of customer meals

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Ready Prepared Foodservice

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Ready Prepared Foodservice

Cook-chill partially cooked, rapidly chilled, held in chilled storage, & reheated just prior to service

Use remains limited throughout industry

Cook-freeze - partially cooked, rapidly frozen, held in freezer storage, & reheated just prior to service

Frozen from 2 weeks to 3 months

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Ready Prepared Foodservice

Sous vide sealing raw, fresh food items in plastic pouches to allow chilled storage & then cooking in boiling water prior to service
Only licensed food processors can perform sous vide process Improper handling can cause microbiological health hazards

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Ready Prepared Foodservice

Special recipe formulations needed because of changes during chilling or freezing of food Development of off-flavors may be problem; controlled by

Substituting stable ingredients Greater control of storage time, temperature, & packaging Adding stabilizers

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Ready Prepared Foodservice

Challenges
Retention of microbiological, nutritional, & sensory qualities of food Critical control points for cooling & reheating extremely important

If time & temperature standards not followed, discard product

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Ready Prepared Foodservice

Adopted to reduce labor expenditures & use staff more effectively Production designed to meet future rather than immediate needs Production personnel can be scheduled for regular hours (no early/late shifts) Does not require as many highly skilled employees

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Commissary Foodservice
Centralized procurement & production facilities with distribution of prepared menu items to several remote areas for final preparation & service Developed due to technological innovations & design of sophisticated foodservice equipment Menu items delivered hot or cold/hold & served, some chill or freeze

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Commissary Foodservice

Foods purchased have little or no processing

Generally purchased in large quantities

Large-scale purchasing Increased supplier competition & cooperation Volume discounts

Advantages:

Operational advantages include centralized receiving, storage, & inventory control

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Commissary Foodservice
Equipment for preprocessing & production different from conventional foodservices Large central units designed like food industry operations Require major modifications of recipes & food preparation techniques Menu items may be stored in bulk or in individual portions

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Commissary Foodservice
Packaging & storage challenging Various packaging materials used

Such as individual pouches or disposable serving dishes

Specialized equipment required for packaging, storing, & distributing Preserving microbiological, nutritional, & sensory qualities during holding and heating can be problem

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Commissary Foodservice
Adopted in operations in which service centers are remote from production unit Reduce duplication of production, labor, & equipment Space requirements can be minimized High initial costs, purchase of transportation equipment, & operating costs are concerns in evaluating costeffectiveness

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Commissary Foodservice
Especially suitable for unique situations Long been used in schools

Many have combined with conventional foodservice Large secondary schools serve as base kitchens transport to elementary schools School districts built large central commissaries in which food products prepared, chilled in bulk, then transported to schools throughout the district

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Commissary Foodservice

Advantages

Equipment & personnel operate at high efficiency rate during day with no idle periods

Often operates 8 hours a day, 5 days a week

With greater number of dependent service centers, operation may be extended to multiple shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Must have highly skilled personnel

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Assembly / Serve Foodservice

Purchased pre-prepared & require minimal cooking before service Food products brought into operation with maximum degree of processing

Fresh, frozen, & dried items

Only storage, assembly, heating, & service functions commonly performed in these foodservices

Reduces labor and equipment costs

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Assembly / Serve Foodservice

3 market forms of foods predominantly used in these foodservice operations

Bulk requires portioning before or after heating within foodservice operation Proportioned requires assembly & heating Preplated require only heating for distribution & service, most easily handled

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

Assembly / Serve Foodservice

Patient trays are assembled & food items reheated in gallery before service

Eliminates need for central kitchen

Combination of foods is used, some requiring limited degree of processing & others requiring none

Partially prepared foods often add other ingredients before heating or cooling Completely processed foods may be enhanced to individualize (adding sauce to an entre)
Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Assembly / Serve Foodservice

Offers easy solution to labor & production problems Readily available supply of highly processed, high-quality food products is a prerequisite for a successful assembly/serve operation

Special diet modifications can be problem

Another complaint lack of individuality

Foodservice Organizations, 5th edition Spears & Gregoire

2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458