Contents

 Start with superior products
 Adding homemade flavor
 Consistently delicious
 Creating variety
 Is speed scratch for you?

The term “speed scratch” was coined in the late 1980’s to describe a trend that had become common among foodservice operators. The concept of purchasing prepared or semi-prepared foods, adding a few fresh ingredients and developing a menu item that had a “made from scratch” look and taste was born.

Most consumers and foodservice operators have looked on “convenience foods” with disdain. Yet, as food manufacturing techniques have evolved and the quality of the products has improved, this attitude is disappearing.

The use of high-quality prepared products as a starting point enables you to offer more variety, while saving time and money. A little research with your suppliers can turn up a multitude of products that are suited to the speed scratch approach to food preparation.

There are some definite limitations as to what manufacturers can do in large facilities. For instance, they cannot perform some of the flavor-enhancing cooking procedures that can be done in foodservice kitchens.

Take basic marinara tomato sauce, for example. Almost every recipe starts with “sauté onions and garlic in olive oil.” This is virtually impossible to do in a large-scale manufacturing plant. However, in your kitchen, it's easy to take a prepared sauce and add sautéed onions and garlic to give it a homemade taste.

Likewise, making Caesar dressing from scratch requires time and many ingredients. But, purchasing a prepared dressing and adding a few strategic ingredients – olive oil, fresh garlic and fresh lemon juice – enables you to make your own unique tasting dressing in almost no time.

One of the great advantages of the speed scratch approach to food preparation is the consistency of the finished product. By starting with the same prepared products, you're assured of a consistent taste. In turn, that can provide consistency in the dishes you serve.

How can you add more choice to your menu, without overburdening your kitchen staff? Let’s use soup as an example. If you're making soup from scratch each day, it's all you can do to have one ready in time for service. Yet, speed scratch allows you to have two or three soups every day. You could easily serve a different soup for lunch and dinner with very little stress on the kitchen. The same principle can apply to salad dressings, sauces, dips, and sides.

While there may be a minimal cost increase by purchasing prepared products, you'll save in other areas such as labor, waste due to error, and decreased inventory levels.

As manufacturing facilities get more sophisticated, and food processing techniques give us better quality products, you can look to speed scratch as way to make your business more efficient and profitable.