Balanced Food - offering a culinary led model for a new landscape
The aftermath of the pandemic is understandably setting many challenges for companies all across the land. Many companies are unsure as to which steps to take until they see just how the new landscape becomes clearer. They will be seeking to win back employees to return to the office, rebuild profits and ensure that their operations are as effective as can be. It is becoming increasing difficult to understand all the trends in play. Research suggests that most companies have around 50% of their employees now returning but only for 2-3 days a week. The expectation is still only that 70% will return by the end of the year.
It does ask the question as to how food service fits within the new business environment.
Food service companies are naturally feeling more bullish as things have improved but there is still a long journey ahead. There are challenges facing them all around; rising food costs, a lack of talent, increased demands on sustainability capability, in nutrition and with inconsistent numbers in buildings which makes planning difficult. The immediate forecast is that things will become more difficult before they become easier. It is asking questions of every operator.
Balanced Food though believe they possess some positive solutions. During the pandemic, they did not sit still. They have won business based on their own delivered in the model which sees freshly prepared products delivered into units. This solution has reduced clients’ costs whilst still maintaining a high quality of food. They also believe that there is strong evidence that companies are seeking a stronger culinary-led approach with more focus on units and less on Head Office structures.
“Over the years, most companies have built up their head office teams and their costs, “noted Mark McCann, co-founder. “ However, what really matters to clients is what actually happens on site. Food Service is about two things – great food and great service. It needs a strong on-site team committed to delivery. We have spent the last two years working on how best to ensure that this is what we deliver to our clients.
We have developed our own CPU capability and clients have seen costs reduced and quality, in their words, improve. It is one of the reasons that smaller players such as ourselves are able to compete with the larger players. We believe that we are able to compete with anyone on food quality and in how we service our units.”
“Of course, there is a need for support for our units,” adds Ian Summers, co-founder, “as clients are asking more about sustainability, pricing, provenance etc. but both our clients and managers want the team onsite empowered to deliver the best service and it is our role to support.”
“During the pandemic,” noted Mark, “We worked very hard on perfecting recipes, food styles and sourcing produce with the focus on maximising the quality of food which we deliver to our sites. We spent hours working on new recipes and creating great products which can be delivered into sites from our CPU. It has allowed us to break traditional boundaries and we are now proven to be able to operate in B&I, in hotels and cafes.Not many others possess the same confidence and ability to deliver successfully across all three markets.”
“Clients are going to be under the same pressures which we face,” commented Ian. “They don’t have the monies to invest but they need great food service as this will entice their teams back. Our model allows clients to reduce costs as they don’t need the same levels of staff on-site whilst keeping the food quality very strong. It is our culinary led approach which makes all the difference. That is who we are. We are chefs who are passionate about food and who want to serve clients with great food styles. We therefore focus our efforts on the sites and ensure that our role, and the CPUs, is to support them.”
It is a fair argument and there are many who do support Balanced’s perspective; that we are set to see a rise in culinary led operations which offer great quality at a good price. With all the challenges facing companies which also include rising energy costs along with the ones cited, there is a strong logic behind many wanting to focus on the basic pillars of what good food service is all about.
