TJ Garrish, CEC, Executive Chef of L’Hirondelle Club of Ruxton, is elevating lower-cost ingredients to deliver high-value, creative menus for members.
Anybody else dealing with increases in product cost like me? Over the past year, we’ve seen a steady increase in prices throughout the market from seafood and meat to produce and supplies. These shortages can make hitting food costs goals difficult.
Pricing increases are a result of limited supplies, higher feed costs, and increased demand. The USDA predicts increases in beef to land somewhere between 3 and 4 percent, while pork will rise 4 to 5 percent, and poultry will rise 2.5 to 3.5 percent.
Low supply coupled with high demand is throwing the markets into a tailspin. We can increase our menu prices to offset price increases but that comes at the price of our membership. If we increase our cost on our menus, what does that do to member perception? Will members grow accustomed to the price increases? It’s a delicate balance pleasing our membership while keeping menu prices competitive and maintaining food cost goals.
The rise in prices is not the only challenge. We are also struggling to obtain a consistent product. We build our menus around ingredients which we cost to maintain a certain percentage, but if my purveyor has a shortage of a product, and they must substitute that could offset the food cost percentage. These substitutes may have a negative effect on food costs because the product could be significantly higher. This year I have purchased triple the amount of frozen or dry goods at a time to combat the supply interruptions we have been seeing. Even with me purchasing this way, it has still been difficult to source the same product on the next order.
I have always tried to leverage underutilized ingredients to not only stay on trend but because it’s cost-efficient. Today that strategy takes on a whole new meaning.
I have begun to get even more frugal with center-of-the-plate items. I have begun to use tenderloin tail which is a byproduct of our meat purveyor cutting portioned 6 oz. filets. I pay $6.99/lb. for the tails in which I cut into long slices and coat with leek ash and meat glue together to form a mosaic of tenderloin. We are turning a less expensive product into a normal filet. The look is amazing and we can do any number of preparations.
Pigs head is another inexpensive ingredient I have utilized to make fromage de tete as well as crispy pig’s ears. I was told this would never sell to our membership, but the first night I ran it as a special we sold out.
The moral of the story is this: we have to get creative to maintain low-price points and hit those food cost goals. I have tried to have as little product waste as possible, utilizing everything to provide value. We bring in halibut for an entrée and use the scrapes to make a halibut sandwich.
Product utilization is a key to being successful and meeting member’s expectations. There are millions of ways to transform underutilized ingredients into a fantastic treat. All we have to do is try.