Denny’s, Bennigan’s, IHOP, Chili’s, Ruby Tuesday. These are just a handful of chains that have, in the last couple years, introduced new prototypes with dramatically smaller kitchens and even smaller dining area spaces. Essentially, there seems to have been a domino effect, with one chain after the next revealing more efficient design models that justify a generally smaller footprint.
With dramatic rises in gas, electricity and commodity prices, it’s no wonder operators have had to get more efficient to minimize the price increases that they would have to pass along to customers. Throw labor issues into that mix, and operators have an even greater need for efficiency on multiple levels.
“Construction costs have skyrocketed, and space has become so expensive, operators can only afford to have so much of it at the back of the house,” says John Cornyn, foodservice management consultant and co-partner of the Cornyn Fasano Group in Portland, Ore. “The challenge is trying to balance the back-of-the-house needs with what is necessary to succeed at the front of the house. In the case of fast-food chains, you need to have enough space so customers can comfortably queue up at the cash register. And, in many cases, you have to provide enough seating if you want them to stay.”
In August 2007, Denny’s shrunk its prototype 25 percent, from 5,200- to 4,000-square-feet, thanks to a more efficient kitchen in terms of ergonomics and equipment. Flat-top griddles with better heat recovery and more energy-efficient fryers helped in this regard.
Although Luby’s new prototype, introduced in the fall of 2007, stood at about the same size as its previous one (9,000-square-feet), the chain switched around its kitchen layout to create more production efficiency and save energy and labor costs, since they still needed a larger kitchen to meet customer volume. Around that time, Bennigan’s and Benihana achieved the same goal with their redesigned prototypes.
“If you’re not filling the chairs on a regular basis, then the resulting wasted space costs more to operate,” Cornyn says. “What many operators are trying to do is instead of creating a ’one-size-fits-all‘ model, many of them are sizing their units to the marketplace or market demand.”
Einstein Bros. Bagels, for example, introduced multiple prototype solutions in late 2007 in addition to their standard, 1,500-square-foot, dine-in solution in order to accommodate smaller spaces on college campuses and in airport terminals.
The question becomes, then, are foodservice kitchens shrinking? A number of conferences and workshops in the foodservice community have been devoted to this topic as it relates to rising construction and commodity costs. Here, FE&S revisits the topic by talking to one MAS consultant and a design consultant. But we also welcome and encourage your comments and feedback.
Gas Woes
“The big challenge is that you have vendors putting surcharges on delivery costs because of the rising price of gasoline,” Cornyn says. As a result, the “Catch 22” in this matter, is that to offset these price increases, many operators opt to have fewer deliveries. However, less deliveries lead to a greater need for more storage space in the kitchen to accommodate more product for longer periods of time, Cornyn says.
One way to deal with this is to develop more storage space as part of the building, but in an area that’s cheaper to construct such as a loading dock or in the basement, Cornyn says. Cornyn’s team did just that while working on a new, student union for a college. The amount the college originally budgeted for construction “didn’t come even close to what it ended up costing, and they were forced to make sacrifices by taking chunks of space away.”
Stainless-Steel Woes and Retherming
Problem No. 2: Stainless-steel costs have skyrocketed. As a result, many operators have resorted to preparing more food through central proprietors to cut back on the stainless-steel tables needed for prep work in their units’ kitchens, Cornyn says.
“What’s happening is a lot of restaurants are getting the bulk of their food supply from these off-site locations, and they have storage space that’s designed to basically accommodate one or a one-half day of inventory with the idea that they’ll be re-supplied quickly.”
According to John Egnor, design consultant and principal of JEM Associates in Pleasantville, N.J., this has led in part to more commercial and non-commercial operators, such as hospitals, opting to retherm, rather than cook from scratch, many food items. “More and more you see prepared items coming into the kitchens,” Egnor says. “Especially in the healthcare arena, more operators are retherming single-portion servings on an as-needed basis, so you don’t see all the preparation and heavy cooking equipment on-site now as much. For example, if you have a 500-bed hospital that requires a total kitchen area of 12,000-square-feet, and you switched to a meal replacement program with retherming, you could reduce that space to as little as 6,000- to 7,000-square-feet.”
A number of home-meal replacement companies, such as Home Bistro and Cuisine Solutions, have capitalized on this growing trend in the commercial foodservice arena, having already established popularity among consumers looking for quality meals without the need to cook or dine out. Whereas consumers may seek home-meal replacement options as a way to avoid the rising costs of dining out, which result from high gas prices and menu inflation, now commercial operators view prepared foods, such as chicken breasts or chopped vegetables or entire meals, as solutions to their rising commodity price woes, according to Egnor.
“I view pre-prepared food and retherming as a growing trend over the next 20 years,” he says. “It will be a trend not only because it saves labor, but it also saves on utility costs. If food preparation is getting done in bulk somewhere else for cheaper, that means major energy savings for that particular operator.”
In addition, purchasing prepared foods in bulk also creates consistent products through sous-vide and cook-chill technology that chains and non-commercial operators rely on, plus it cuts down on individual labor costs because of the lack of in-house preparation. Operators following this line of thought have swapped heavy ranges, food processors, steamers and maybe a fryer for more combi and larger-capacity ovens and other retherming tools.
“I view this will be a slow transition, especially among mom-and-pop-type restaurants, but in 10 to 20 years these economic issues might still be around and eventually you could see a restaurant using some rethermed items,” Egnor says.
Labor Concerns
That leads to the next challenge on the list: labor costs and concerns. It’s of no surprise to anyone in the foodservice industry that recruiting and retaining valuable labor tops the list of most operators’ concerns. And, training staff thoroughly also takes time, effort and money.
Proposed immigration laws that would require restaurants to pay workers minimum wages has also complicated issues. On one hand, restaurants may have trouble footing the added bill, but on the other hand, if they don’t, there’s more than a slight possibility those immigrating to this country will seek higher-paying construction jobs, rather than traditionally lower-paying restaurant jobs.
“We have such an issue with labor and one of the ways to reduce labor is to reduce the space,” Egnor says.
Final Thoughts
“The key here is the fact that there are so many factors going on economically, socially and politically that once upon a time in the foodservice industry, we didn’t have to worry about space issues,” Cornyn says. “Now, we have to worry about it.”
But there’s one positive thought for take-away here. With more pressure on consultants, designers and operators to reduce space in their kitchens, that’s forced manufacturers to build more efficient equipment, which saves operator costs and the earth. That’s a good thing, right?
The other positive thought for take-away here is that maybe the concerns about space will ultimately put pressure on operators, consultants and everyone in the foodservice game to improve their budgeting and planning-ahead skills. In doing so, regardless if the project faces fall-out from high construction and other costs, the operator still saves money when the business model and design are more thorough, efficient and accurate. Everyone wins, right? Or no? You decide.
(March 2008 - By Amelia Levin, Senior Associate Editor)