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

Flow of Food ©2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ready Prepared Foodservice ©2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

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 ©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

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

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

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

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

Commissary Foodservice Foods purchased have little or no processing Generally purchased in large quantities Advantages: Large-scale purchasing Increased supplier competition & cooperation Volume discounts Operational advantages include centralized receiving, storage, & inventory control ©2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

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

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

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 cost-effectiveness ©2004 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

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

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 ©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 ©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

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