1. Chapter 4
Food Product Flow

2. Flow of Food Alternate paths that food and menu items may follow
Initiating with receiving & ending with service to the customer
Aimed at increasing productivity, decreasing cost, or strengthening control of operations
Changes occurring in food throughout all stages must be controlled to ensure quality & safety of finished products
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3. Flow of Food ©2004 Pearson Education, Inc.
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4. Types of Foodservices
Increasing labor costs & shortage of highly skilled employees
Using new forms of food with built-in convenience or labor-saving features
4 types of foodservice operations
Conventional or traditional
Ready prepared
Commissary
Assembly / serve
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5. Conventional Foodservice
Foods are purchased in various stages of preparation for individual operation
Production, distribution, & service are completed on same premises
Following production, foods are held hot or refrigerated to be served as soon as possible
Proportioned meats, baked goods, & fresh, canned, frozen, or preprocessed fruits and veggies
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6. Conventional Foodservice
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7. Conventional Foodservice
Menu items are prepared near to service time to assure quality
Hot-holding conditions affected by temperature, humidity, & length of holding time
Nutritional & sensory quality can be adversely affected
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8. Conventional Foodservice
May be distributed to adjacent or nearby serving area (cafeteria or dining room)
Hospitals or healthcare facilities – food served on trays
Centralized service – individual patient trays assembled in or close to production area
Decentralized service – distributed in bulk quantities for tray assembly close to patients’ rooms (galley in hospital wing)
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9. Ready Prepared Foodservice
Evolved because of increased labor costs & shortage of skilled personnel
Menu items produced & chilled or frozen until heated for service later
Produced for inventory & subsequent withdrawal
Readily available at any time for final assembly & heating for service
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10. Ready Prepared Foodservice
Center-of-the-plate
Menu items & hot veggies require 2 phases of heat processing in ready prepared foodservice
1st during production
2nd after storage
In some operations, reheated in bulk prior to assembly of customer meals
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11. Ready Prepared Foodservice
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12. Ready Prepared Foodservice
Cook-chill – partially cooked, rapidly chilled, held in chilled storage, & reheated just prior to service
Use remains limited throughout industry
Cook-freeze - partially cooked, rapidly frozen, held in freezer storage, & reheated just prior to service
Frozen from 2 weeks to 3 months
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13. Ready Prepared Foodservice
Sous vide – sealing raw, fresh food items in plastic pouches to allow chilled storage & then cooking in boiling water prior to service
Only licensed food processors can perform sous vide process
Improper handling can cause microbiological health hazards
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14. Ready Prepared Foodservice
Special recipe formulations needed because of changes during chilling or freezing of food
Development of off-flavors may be problem; controlled by
Substituting stable ingredients
Greater control of storage time, temperature, & packaging
Adding stabilizers
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15. Ready Prepared Foodservice
Challenges
Retention of microbiological, nutritional, & sensory qualities of food
Critical control points for cooling & reheating extremely important
If time & temperature standards not followed, discard product
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16. Ready Prepared Foodservice
Adopted to reduce labor expenditures & use staff more effectively
Production designed to meet future rather than immediate needs
Production personnel can be scheduled for regular hours (no early/late shifts)
Does not require as many highly skilled employees
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17. Commissary Foodservice
Centralized procurement & production facilities with distribution of prepared menu items to several remote areas for final preparation & service
Developed due to technological innovations & design of sophisticated foodservice equipment
Menu items delivered hot or cold/hold & served, some chill or freeze
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18. Commissary Foodservice
Foods purchased have little or no processing
Generally purchased in large quantities
Advantages:
Large-scale purchasing
Increased supplier competition & cooperation
Volume discounts
Operational advantages include centralized receiving, storage, & inventory control
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19. Commissary Foodservice
Equipment for preprocessing & production different from conventional foodservices
Large central units designed like food industry operations
Require major modifications of recipes & food preparation techniques
Menu items may be stored in bulk or in individual portions
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20. Commissary Foodservice
Packaging & storage challenging
Various packaging materials used
Such as individual pouches or disposable serving dishes
Specialized equipment required for packaging, storing, & distributing
Preserving microbiological, nutritional, & sensory qualities during holding and heating can be problem
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21. Commissary Foodservice
Adopted in operations in which service centers are remote from production unit
Reduce duplication of production, labor, & equipment
Space requirements can be minimized
High initial costs, purchase of transportation equipment, & operating costs are concerns in evaluating cost-effectiveness
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22. Commissary Foodservice
Especially suitable for unique situations
Long been used in schools
Many have combined with conventional foodservice
Large secondary schools serve as “base kitchens” – transport to elementary schools
School districts built large central commissaries in which food products prepared, chilled in bulk, then transported to schools throughout the district
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23. Commissary Foodservice
Advantages
Equipment & personnel operate at high efficiency rate during day with no idle periods
Often operates 8 hours a day, 5 days a week
With greater number of dependent service centers, operation may be extended to multiple shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Must have highly skilled personnel
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24. Assembly / Serve Foodservice
Purchased pre-prepared & require minimal cooking before service
Food products brought into operation with maximum degree of processing
Fresh, frozen, & dried items
Only storage, assembly, heating, & service functions commonly performed in these foodservices
Reduces labor and equipment costs
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25. Assembly / Serve Foodservice
3 market forms of foods predominantly used in these foodservice operations
Bulk – requires portioning before or after heating within foodservice operation
Proportioned – requires assembly & heating
Preplated – require only heating for distribution & service, most easily handled
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26. Assembly / Serve Foodservice
Patient trays are assembled & food items reheated in gallery before service
Eliminates need for central kitchen
Combination of foods is used, some requiring limited degree of processing & others requiring none
Partially prepared foods – often add other ingredients before heating or cooling
Completely processed foods may be enhanced to individualize (adding sauce to an entrée)
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27. Assembly / Serve Foodservice
Offers easy solution to labor & production problems
Readily available supply of highly processed, high-quality food products is a prerequisite for a successful assembly/serve operation
Special diet modifications can be problem
Another complaint – lack of individuality
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