Tablecraft color-coded Grippy Cutting Boards. Photo courtesy of Tablecraft.

There are a lot of food and festivities that occur during the holidays and it’s helpful to be prepared in the kitchen and around your establishment.   Here’s a list of 10 essential items to help you avoid last minute scrambles and make the holidays a success!

Cutting Boards:  When we think of the holidays, one of the things that comes to mind is holiday parties and lots of food.  Whether you’re preparing a bigger meal for larger groups or serving up plenty of tasty appetizers, you’ll have a lot of chopping to do and cutting boards are a necessity.  A set of color coded cutting boards, like Tablecraft’s grippy cutting board kits, make it easy to keep vegetables and meats separated.

Chef Knife:  A good chef knife will go a long way year round.  During the holidays it’s a workhorse for big feasts and cooking for lots of people.  It will help you chop, slice, and dice just about anything you need it to and provide you with an easier cooking experience all around.

Portable Burners:  These are ideal for catering all those holiday parties and for cooking on site to make a more festive occasion.  Vollrath’s Mirage® induction ranges are a precise and durable option, with two different models to fit your needs.

Chafing Dishes:  From holiday feasts to catered events, these pans make serving large quantities of food a breeze.  Many prefer a stainless steel option since they are not only durable, but elegant as well.  They add both style and function to the room.

Mixing Bowls:  Mixing bowls are essential because they are needed for so many different things—for mixing up a side, a dressing, baked goods and much more.  Having a few stainless steel bowls in a few different sizes is great since they hold up well to the constant use.

Sheet Pans:  A necessity for baking plenty of holiday goods! The holidays just wouldn’t be the same without an assortment of treats and sheet pans will be your best friend when baking.  Make sure you have enough so that you can prep for the next round while others are in the oven.

Decorating Tips and Pastry Tubes:  Impress guests with beautiful presentations.  With all of the treats around the holidays, you’ll have plenty that will need to be filled, piped, and decorated.  August Thomsen/ Ateco offers great selection in size and style of pastry bags and tips to match your decorating plan.  Canvas pastry bags are great for thicker products in which more applied pressure is necessary to squeeze it out, since they are more durable.  Plastic coated works well with oily or warm products since the plastic acts as a barrier to stop it from soaking through.        

Photo courtesy of Libbey.

Candles:  Ambiance is important and the soft lighting of candles provides the warm and cozy feel of Christmas.  Candles are an inexpensive way to create an atmosphere that invites guests to stick around longer.

Champagne Flutes:  Everyone is in a celebratory mood during the holidays.  You’ll want to be passing out the champagne in these glasses to keep the toasts coming and the good times rolling.  Depending on the environment of your establishment, disposable flutes can be an easy option for these types of events.

Anti-icing Agent:  Don’t let the frightful weather stop business from coming through your doors.  If you’re in an area that gets snowy weather, making your entrance accessible and safe is essential.  Quest Specialty Liquefire is a non-toxic anti-icing agent that melts snow and ice and prevents it from bonding to surfaces.  It’s a great non-corrosive alternative to rock salt.

How many of these essentials are you stocked up on already?  What other items can you not make it through the holidays without?

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Holiday shoppers look for quick and convenient dining options while they are out and about.

The holidays are a unique time for food service—on one hand many people are busy spending time with friends and family at home.  On the other hand, many are also out and about more often than usual, shopping and participating in festive activities.  While restaurants and food service retailers will be directly affected by these types of consumer behaviors, how the holidays affect food service supply manufacturers and distributors is dependent on the end user too.  If consumers eat out more, then restaurants will need to plan and prepare more via their suppliers, and vice versa.  There are pros and cons for the food service industry during the holidays.  Consumers in general are busy.  For sit down restaurants this may lead to a decline in traffic, but for quick serve restaurants it may be an opportunity to provide busy shoppers with the ease and convenience they need while they are already out and about.  Without a purpose though, many are inclined to stay home, away from the crowds, and out of winter weather unless it’s necessary.

Holiday marketing promos help drive business.

That is only one side of the spectrum though.  As a way to celebrate the season it is also common to see an increase in both casual and lavish gatherings.  Think company parties, or people getting together with old friends who are in town for the holidays.  And more often than not, these gatherings end up being larger groups than on a day to day basis.  “A whopping 94 percent of all holiday diners indicated that their holiday dining parties consist of up to five other guests”, according to FSR Magazine’s survey results on holiday dining habits.  It is important for restaurants to stock up on supplies for these types of occasions or even rearrange temporarily to accommodate larger group sizes.  During the holidays and special occasions consumers are willing to shell out some extra money for the occasion—people are in a “treat yourself” mood.  Restaurants know this, but they still need to give customers a reason to dine at their establishment.  Holiday marketing programs can make a difference in driving customers through your door instead of through the neighbor’s.  Buy one, get one deals, holiday events, and even allowing reservations can all be deciding factors in choosing which place to dine at.  Knowing that consumers are willing to spend more, some establishments also create special holiday menus that include multi course meals or more lavish food items that merits a higher price point.  It’s a chance for seasonal items to shine as well.  FSR Magazine continues on to say, “Nearly half of the survey’s respondents said they will order a holiday-themed dish from a full-service restaurant one to two times from October to January, while four out of 10 indicated they will order a holiday-themed dish three or more times during the holiday season.”  This is a reason for suppliers to promote seasonal items as well, since dining establishments will need them for their specials. It’s a win-win situation since these are the things consumers want during this time of year, and it allows restaurants and suppliers to bring in more revenue.

Let’s not forget the retail end to food service either.  Gift cards are extremely popular for gift giving during the holidays and purchasing fresh baked cakes and pies to go is common as well.  If you are an establishment that offers to go meals, expect a potential increase in those orders, especially among families with children who want to keep their family well fed, but don’t have the time to cook themselves.

While the holidays can overall be an unpredictable time for food service establishments, if positioned correctly there is plenty of opportunity to relish the inflated spending habits of holiday consumers.  Just like in retail, planning ahead and understanding the wants of the average person this time of year can go a long way.  How are you anticipating the holidays will affect your business?

The post How Does the Holiday Season Affect the Food Service Industry? appeared first on Houston's Blog.