AS THE FOODSERVICE SECTOR continues to reshape itself due to the restrictions and changes in consumer behaviour wrought by lockdown, the contactless environment seems set to emerge as a new way of doing business. With dine-in numbers still impacted by social distancing, and the need to keep both employees and customers safe, anything that minimises personal contact is currently seen as a good thing – and that’s likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

Already we’ve seen the move to disposable menus along with the return of QR codes as a widespread option which customers can scan to view your menu on their phone; individually wrapped and portioned cutlery and condiment containers; and regular sanitizing of surfaces between service of each customer group, as mandated by government health requirements.

The likely next step is widespread embracing of mobile digital apps designed to make it easier for customers to order and pay, along with mobile tableside delivery systems. Anecdotal reports from pizza and pasta business operators we’ve spoken with is already painting a consistent picture of digital orders on the rise, making up for the shortfall in dine-in due to the four square metre rule.

Here’s what the new normal of the contactless dining environment is likely to look like:

• Your customers will view your menu, order their meal and pay directly from their phones, with no interaction with service staff, and no exchanging or swiping of credit cards or paper receipts

• Digital order platforms which provide this functionality will be integrated within your own POS system, making it easy to apply customer loyalty points or rewards programs to each order. This will also make it easier for your business to build up your own database of customers, including their meal preferences and spending habits – an invaluable tool for marketing

• The most popular of these cutting edge digital solutions will be those which can be seamlessly integrated within your business’ digital branding and marketing presence. That is, online order platforms and payment solutions which can be branded with your logo and corporate image and function as an add-on to your website or social media page. The aim is for customers to feel that they don’t have to ‘leave’ your digital space to place their order on a third party platform

• Mobile tableside ordering delivered through a mobile device such as an iPad or tablet, will complement phone-based ordering, so customers who don’t feel comfortable ordering by phone (such as those of the older demographic, for whom the screen size may be too small) can likewise give their orders without interacting with service staff or handing over credit cards

• Kerbside delivery – which we’ve seen introduced in recent months due to the need to restrict customer numbers waiting in-store to pick up orders – may become a new regular option, with customers ordering and paying in advance, then waiting in their cars for their food to be brought out to them. SMS updates via push notifications makes it relatively simple to let customers know when their meal is ready – they can then respond with a description of their car, its licence plate number and where they’re parked. The growth of this option will also cut down the costs associated with delivery drivers.

LOCALLY SOURCED
With supply chains affected by border closures, foodservice professionals are increasingly looking closer to their own backyard for fresh, quality produce – and local suppliers are reaping the benefits.

Trending
Pizza ovens: The latest generation equipment & features

WITH RISING RENTS driving a move to smaller and smaller kitchens, ventless electric pizza ovens are an innovative solution which can be installed in small footprint environments. A catalytic converter inside the oven removes grease, carbon and particulates from the interior air path, alleviating the need for mechanical extraction so your oven doesn’t require a canopy hood. And given the cost of today’s hoods, that can result in quite a big savings in initial outlay – along with ongoing maintenance and cleaning costs.

Another major trend is faster cook times to increase throughput and thereby boost your sales per hour. Oven manufacturers are utilising design innovations to make this a reality, as Doug Scully of major oven supplier Turbochef explains: “In a traditional conveyor oven you have a series of impingement ‘fingers’ across the bottom and top and how you configure them determines how the pizza cooks. With pizza, you need a lot of bottom heat to get the base crispy, and not too much at the top to prevent burning it. So the traditional approach was to space out the top fingers so they cook the pizza top at the beginning, rest in the middle and finish it at the end – while the base cooks all the way along. What we’ve done is put full impingement plates both top and bottom but have two fans which run separate impingent air systems at top and bottom. Essentially we control the top and bottom air flow independently so we can have the air hotter at the bottom than the top. This means we don’t burn the top of the pizza, while compressing the cook time – so a 12 inch pizza can be cooked in around three minutes, whereas it would be six minutes in a traditional conveyor oven.”

Idle mode is a further innovative feature in the latest generation ovens which can cut down your energy use – one of the biggest costs for most foodservice businesses. Suppose you’ve finished your last pizza order during the service period, but you don’t want to shut your oven off entirely in case you get a last-minute order. Idle mode allows you to minimise the oven belt and fan speed while maintaining heat in the burner box. The oven uses around 30 per cent less energy, resulting in a significant cost savings – but if you need to reactivate it at short notice due to a last-minute order, you just hit the idle mode button again and the fan returns to full speed while the belt resumes its original setting. The oven’s heat has been maintained, so you’re ready to start baking again without delay.

Perfect Solutions
Recipe Inspirations - Where to find them

WE ALL KNOW there are certain customer expectations you have to cater for on the pizza menu. Old favourites like traditional margherita, pepperoni, ham and pineapple, Supreme and Meat Lovers pizzas always seem to be big sellers. 

At the same time, pizza is continually evolving with the times so it’s important to keep innovating and try to make your menu stand out from the crowd.

One of the best ways to find inspiration for your new pizza creations is to look to the flavours and food matches of other cuisine styles. Pizza is such a versatile food that as long as you get the balance of toppings correct – so that no one flavour overpowers the other – there’s almost no limit to what you can serve.

So look at what’s trending on other menus, and then see how you can adapt that into a pizza. A good example is burgers – they’ve been trending high in foodservice for the past several years. I recently created a Cheese Burger Pizza – with a sesame seed base in place of the bun, spread with tomato ketchup in place of traditional tomato sugo. As it’s inspired by a cheese burger, Perfect Italiano Mozzarella was obviously a key ingredient, and then I made little savoury mince balls and laid them on top, along with a ricotta mustard. The flavour was amazing – it actually tasted like a cheese burger!

You can take the same approach with the flavours and ingredients of any cuisine style – such as a Chicken Tikka Pizza, inspired by Indian cuisine.

In these cases, the key proteins remain the same as your traditional choices of ham, chicken and beef – you just need to ask yourself how you can impart the flavours of other regional cuisines? And the answer obviously is in using the spices, sauces and garnishes common to those dishes. Look at which flavours and styles will be a good match and create something distinctively different to your standard pizza fare.

Another way of creating a point of difference is to experiment with different ingredients for your pizza base. I recently created a beetroot pizza base with rice flour, chickpea and beetroot – it’s brightly colourful and looks great topped with blue cheese and a fresh apple salad, ingredients which are traditional accompaniments to beetroot.

Pushing the boundaries of your recipes like this not only keeps you stimulated and creative, it also gives your customers something they can’t buy anywhere else – so as long as they like it, they’ll keep coming back!

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