Though the concept of cloud kitchens is on a rise due to the disruption of the traditional food business by tech food delivery service platforms in India such as Zomato, Swiggy, etc.
Commercial kitchens haven’t still lost their sheen. They, in fact, have turned out to be lot more significant as the number of orders through food delivery service app platforms has surged incredibly in recent times. The convergence of commercial kitchen space and technology has resulted in making commercial kitchen faster and efficient in terms of executing orders.
It goes without saying that major restaurants and hotel chains still bank on commercial kitchens, though however much outdated maybe, for cooking and distributing food. What will be a major shift here is their adopting commercial food technology and automation on a wider scale. This will be a disruption of the traditional modes of cooking that have been proved to be highly ineffective and time-consuming.
While automation technology can be treated as one major disruption factor, the other will be the use of commercial kitchen equipment for a range of applications including meat-preparation, pre-preparation, cooking, food processing, quick service, baking and dish and ware washing.
Each process would require a unique set of equipment and some processes would entail the use of one or more equipment. Still more, there’s a range of multi-purpose equipment that helps complete the intended function or task in usually half the time or even less taken by the traditional methods. Now then if you are a restaurant owner, you’ll need to complete and deliver online orders in record time so as to gain the reputation of customers online, as customers today have a sea of choices served in a platter. All it takes is a review or a star rating to either make or break the success of a restaurant in the highly competitive online space. And today as an increasing number of users take the social media route for venting out their satisfaction or frustration levels, commercial kitchens in hotels and restaurants have shifted gears towards adopting game-changing technology.
‘No food waste’ is a growing concept that we are socially bound and committed, but do the restaurants and hotels after it? “Yes,” says Minu Pauline, the owner of Kochi-based Pappadavada restaurant. She further adds, “Adopting automation and use of hi-tech commercial cooking equipment has reduced food wastage significantly. This is because everything out here in our hotel is fully monitored and carried out as per a robust and well-planned process; the margin for error is pretty much less. Food waste is a global issue, and hotels and restaurants can take the lead by simply adopting smart technology and using the right commercial kitchen equipment”.
Food hygiene is another issue that most restaurants and hotel chains need to grapple with. Today’s customers are more health-conscious than ever before. That is to say that Generation Y or millennial is becoming choosier in their approach towards showing loyalty to a particular hotel or restaurant brand than the previous generation or Gen X. And food hygiene and contamination can have its own say in the decision-making process. This can even turn out to be a major say as it is health-related leaving out little chances for errors. Today, most commercial kitchens come with quality high-grade Stainless Steel (or SS) material that is tested for hygiene and contamination. It is also the most preferred material for manufacturing commercial kitchen equipment and any other material would only be a ‘Hobson’s choice’. Not surprisingly, investing in a commercial kitchen is humungous and restaurants today don’t bat an eyelid when it comes to investing in SS-grade commercial kitchen machines. It pays rich dividends at the end of the day by preserving the health of their customers. Also, customers are willing to pay for anything that is health-related, and there is no tangible resistance coming into the way.
Next, comes the efficiency of the commercial kitchen space in general—and this is the biggest factor that restaurants and hotels look upon technology as their savior. Yet, the decision to deploy technology and use of the right commercial kitchen equipment is not always a cakewalk. This is because poor planning, foresight, and under-investment can affect the decision-making process. It isn’t always that restaurant owner searches for ways to bring new-fangled, intelligent approaches to the table. But those restaurants that have taken this route have ‘won’ the game already, standing tall in terms of economy, efficiency, and performance.
Also, the experience of the professional chef and staff in a commercial kitchen counts a lot, and there is little doubt that offering them a positive experience through practical, custom-built technology goes a long way in creating meaningful experiences for customers over the long haul.
To conclude it is apt to say that it is the order of the day that commercial kitchen should adopt novel technologies and the right equipment for day-to-day processes to come up thumps.
