You invested in fresh, top-notch food. So why let it go bad?
Here’s a tip: Maintain your warmers and merchandisers to ensure you’re serving quality food. Sounds simple enough, right? Not always. In fact, there are a handful of key steps convenience stores should take to support a growing foodservice program, day-by-day, hour-by-hour. We caught up with Al Koep, research and development coordinator at Land Mark Products, for his top five tips.
Tip 1: Don’t Be Afraid of Waste
An easy first step in managing how much food to put in the warmer is to track sales for each product to see how much is selling and at what time of day. “You can forecast what to put out and during which daypart from there, but c-stores shouldn’t be afraid of a little waste,” says Koep.
Otherwise, c-stores run the risk of selling stale product to customers and ending repeat purchases. “When customers have a bad experience, they won’t go back and buy that product again,” he says. The price of a lost customer or sales far outweighs the price of reasonable food waste. Koep discourages discounting stale product for the same reasons above.
Also, when warmers and merchandisers are well-stocked, they have a more appealing appearance to customers. Case in point: No one wants to buy the last sandwich lying around, which can suggest it’s been there a while.
Luckily, many sandwiches and smaller food items come individually packaged, or packaged in smaller groups of product so c-stores can thaw or take out what they need as they need it. Some products will last up to a week once moved from the freezer to the refrigerator. Then warmers can be restocked quickly, or products can be heated up individually for the customer if supplies run low.
Tip 2: If It’s Past Its Prime, Toss It
Simply put, toss those stale items. Koep recommends looking at the manufacturer’s guidelines for hold times, but generally pizza should not be held for longer than one hour. Sandwiches and calzones should be tossed after four hours max, but should ideally sold through in two hours.
“We conduct regular shelf-life tests to note how long product can hold in a warmer before the quality degrades,” says Koep.
Some individually wrapped products come with a time stamp on the back of the packaging where staff can mark the time the product was placed in the warmer, even with five minute increments.
Otherwise, c-stores can follow the old FIFO (First In, First Out) rule and rotate product as new product goes in the case. Older items should be moved closest to where either the customer or staff will take the product out first.
“Don’t just put product in the warmer and leave it there until it’s sold,” says Koep. With a little extra attention, it’s easier to manage fresh product displays.
Koep recommends checking the time stamps or rotations every 10 minutes or so during busy mornings, and every half-hour or so during less peak day parts.
Tip 3: Keep It Clean, Folks
Cleanliness might be next to godliness, but in the c-store arena, it also means more sales. “No one is going to grab something out of a dirty case,” says Koep.
He recommends cleaning out the case at least once per shift, if not more during busier times, and even up to once per hour in the mornings. Wipe down glass to remove fingerprints, clean out crumbs and debris and make sure product is nicely positioned and organized.
Tip 4: Make It Hot
Maintaining the proper temperature of hot-held food is key, first and foremost because of food safety. But it can also help maintain the quality and freshness of food as it’s held.
“Some cases have temperature readings, but others don’t, in which case you can add your own thermometer,” Koep says. “Some c-stores will use a probe thermometer to temp the product individually, making sure it’s above the 140-degree mark when in the warmer, and then log the information.”
Logging temps can help c-stores know if their warmer is malfunctioning. “If you see the log with 140 and 145 temperatures, but then all of a sudden it drops to 120, you know you have a problem,” Koep says.
Tip 5: Put the Writing on the Wall
Aside from a clean, well-stocked case with good variety, extra signage throughout the interior and exterior of the store can help drive sales and flush out product as it’s replenished.
“Anything that draws your eye to the warmer or tells the customer what’s available will help sell through supply,” says Koep.
Consider banner signs for outside the store that drive customers inside after filling up their gas tanks. Running special deals and beverage bundles as well as placing photos of food items near coffee and beverage stations can also help drive customers to the display cases. And then, of course, signage around the warmer itself can alert customers to special pricing and deals.
This post is sponsored by Land Mark Products