WORKING SMARTER: BACK-OF-HOUSE OPERATIONS
In foodservice, back-of-house operations are front and center when it comes to saving time and money. These products, processes, and technologies can help BOH staff maximize their time, manage food costs, and focus on critical tasks.
WORKING SMARTER:BACK-OF-HOUSE OPERATIONS
In foodservice, back-of-house operations are front and center when it comes to saving time and money. There are many products, processes, and technologies that can help back-of-house staff maximize their time, manage food costs, and focus on critical tasks.
INSIDE:
Accessible Automation
Speed-Scratch Creativity
Streamlined Kitchens
Speed and Combination Ovens
These days, when we think of improving efficiency in any field, automation springs to mind. That’s true when it comes to professional kitchens as well, with 70% of operators using some form of back-of-house automation.1 And 66% of operators feel that BOH automation is best at increasing service speed and accommodating more seatings.1Think AI, not robots. Automation is already used by many operators.
57% use a digitized POS system that sends orders to the kitchen.
13% use automated inventory management.
7% use automated ordering of key products from suppliers.1
Sources: 1. Datassential Restaurant Technology Keynote Report (2024)
Reducing waste.Prepared ingredients are long-lasting, which increases flexibility and decreases food waste. With food costs making up a quarter of overall operator expenses, the reduced risk of ingredients going bad can mean major savings.1
Combining prepared ingredients with food made from scratch reduces prep times and food waste. Speed-scratch can have a big impact on the bottom line, especially when also making the most of these efficient ingredients.
Fewer ingredients, more possibilities.Using ingredients across your menu and dayparts maximizes your inventory. And using prepared ingredients this way can dramatically reduce food prep times throughout the day!
Sources: 1. Datassential PULSE Industry Overview: Segment Detail (2024)
Speed-scratch cooking doesn’t come at the expense of taste. In fact, using prepared ingredients gives inventive chefs the chance to easily add flair to menus. For instance: using flavor concentrates to add zip to cocktails, or prepared sauces with scratch dishes like eggs Benedict or stir-fried noodles.1
Minor’s Ready-To-Use Sauces, like Minor’s Caribbean Style Sauce and Minor’s Teriyaki Sauce, bring global flair to menus and provide consistent quality in hot and cold applications, straight from dry storage.
Trio Low Sodium Brown Gravy Mix is a hearty and meaty gravy that delivers superior flavor: just open, pour, stir, and enjoy consistent taste for over 4 hours of steam table hold.
Sources: 1. Use Key Ingredients Across Dayparts, Nestlé Professional Solutions (2025)
Kitchen equipment is increasingly sophisticated. Smart technology delivers easier operation, energy savings, and increased efficiency. Connected equipment, self-sanitizing surfaces, and greater automation are just some of the innovations.1
Slicing ingredients and costs.Chipotle is rolling out automated produce slicers, and testing an automated makeline for bowls and salads, that can free up workers' time and improve operating margins.2
Automated prep work.New technology is taking on some repetitive kitchen tasks. For example, the Autocado cuts, cores, and peels 25 lbs. of avocados at once.1
Sources: 1. Nation’s Restaurant News (February 6, 2025) 2. Nation’s Restaurant News (October 30, 2024)
Sources: 1 Nation’s Restaurant News (February 6, 2025); 2. Nation’s Restaurant News (January 12, 2023); 3. Nation’s Restaurant News (August 23, 2023)
A new layout.Rearranging the kitchen puts multiple pieces of equipment within easy reach of workers. Popeyes recently changed its kitchens from a galley-type layout to a more compact arrangement to boost speed and efficiency.1
Less is more. Next-gen refrigerators are less bulky, require less maintenance, and are more energy efficient. Smart technology offers real-time monitoring and control. Many also use more eco-friendly coolants like CO2 and ammonia in place of hydrofluorcarbons.2
Faster builds, lower costs. Modular construction results in quicker builds and greater quality control. Chains like Taco Bell, Starbucks, and Smalls Sliders have even turned shipping containers into modular kitchens.3
Time is money, but so is space. An efficiently designed kitchen can help operators get the most out of their real estate while optimizing operations.
Speed and combination ovens cut cook times, deliver predictable results, and make excellent use of valuable kitchen space.
Sources: 1. Datassential BOH of the Future (2025)
Speed ovens are countertop dynamos. They use air impingement and microwave technologies to cut cooking times. Their smaller footprints make them ideal for operators and channels that need food cooked well, but quickly.
Combination ovens are generally larger, making them great for restaurants and large foodservice operations. They often use convection, steam, and a varying third heat source to deliver exceptional control and precise cooking.
Speed and combination ovens are the most popular items among operators who are considering adding BOH equipment in the next two years.1
Compact speed ovens are the superstars of fast-paced operations with controlled volume, like college foodservice and grab-and-go operations. 27% of on-site operators have added speed ovens in past two years.1
Crispy & quick.Speed ovens can deliver many different food textures fast. Take Hot Pockets Pizza Stix: they’re a crispy, hot, and effortlessly portable snack—and with a TurboChef speed oven, they fry or cook to perfection in as little as one minute.
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Solid innovation.Since 1991, TurboChef has been leading the way in speed cooking. It offers single and double batch models that provide excellent control over food prep. And their ventless technology—even on an 850°F pizza oven—makes them a breeze to install in most kitchens.2
Sources: 1. Datassential BOH of the Future (2025); 2. turbochef.com
As their name suggests, combination ovens combine several different technologies to deliver faster cooking times. Operators can balance between convection, microwave, impingement, steaming, and infrared technologies for different recipes.
Many (chef) hats.TurboChef’s new CIBO+ Rapid Cook Oven uses microwave, impinged air, and ContactBase technologies to deliver fast cook times with a compact footprint.1 Quality pizzas can take as little as 50 seconds!
Sources: 1. turbochef.com
Next-gen ovens are smart as well as fast. Operators can load recipes via the home screen—or even smartphone apps. When it’s time to cook, they simply select the recipe, press a button, wait for the oven to preheat, and then slide in the pans.
Appetite for apps.Many speed and combination ovens can be controlled via a smartphone. It’s connectivity that gives operators total control. It also enables quality control even during peak hours.
The complete package.Smart kitchen management programs like Rational’s ConnectedCooking let operators stay on top of busy kitchens. Besides handling cooking programs, it helps with software updates, asset management, and hygiene documentation.1
Sources: 1. rational-online.com
With the right mix of automation, creativity, streamlining, and technology adoption, you can boost back-of-house operations to control costs and wow diners.
Adopting automation
Using more speed-scratch
Smart technology
Speed & combination ovens
