Roundtable: The evolution of equipment

As well as our annual education-themed get-together (see last issue), we also host less regular roundtable events, themed around a variety of issues as they rise to particular importance. The latest of these was held recently, on the morning of the Contract Catering Awards, on the topic of technology.

Sponsored by HOBART Service, it saw experts from across the world of contract catering (including one who would go on to claim an award later on that evening) coming together to share ideas and opinions on the issues that currently affect them with regard to equipment. There was an almost-even split between participants from operations and more chef-related roles, making for a great cross-section of contributions and a lively debate.

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Important issues
We kicked off by discussing a problem that has been dogging the industry for as long as anyone can care to remember. Before even Covid, it was often said that the staff shortages that came with Brexit could be countered by an acceleration in the adoption of more advanced technology. So has that prediction come to pass?

“A lot of that has been potentially slowed down due to the cost implications,” said Mark Ward of Grazing. “It's not as easy as just saying, ‘Let's get a load of brand-new equipment that's far more advanced’, because there's obviously a huge cost that comes with that. It's a balancing act. Most businesses can't just replace all of their equipment in one go. It's generally done over a five- to 10-year period.

“The industry has struggled a lot since Brexit, but this issue was brewing before that. It wasn't seen as being a very sociable, cool industry to be in. We certainly need more advances in technology in kitchens to assist with our skills shortages.”

He continued: “If you look at your typical combi oven, that can basically be another chef in your kitchen. It’s not replacing a chef, but you can walk away and leave it, and you can manage it from your phone from 20 miles away. That's a benefit for your business.”

“We've got skilled people within our businesses,” agreed Candice Webber of Bennett Hay. “It's more about enhancing their time at work and bringing in the new innovations that they're looking for. That's really what I'm seeing at the moment.

“I've had some of our clients come to us and say, ‘We want to go all electric in the kitchen, no gas’. We're seeing a lot more energy efficiencies, also around water consumption.

“You get this new piece of electrical induction equipment, but the staff aren’t as familiar with it. If you're going to completely strip the gas out of the kitchen, what is the new direction?”

The most experienced person to answer her questions was certainly Mark Whitmarsh from HOBART Service. “We have found recently that we've had a lot of problems where everything's gone fully electric, and then the loading of the building has been affected, and it has caused problems with equipment,” he revealed. “We've had to put extra measures in place to try and combat these challenges.

“We offer things like power optimisation, which you can add on to various parts of our equipment, but it comes back to the cost as well. You've got that balance between actually making it happen and whether the person wants to make the investment. There are loads of systems out there that I'm working with that can help restaurants, but it's definitely becoming a challenge. Overall, though, the key thing is to look after whatever equipment you’ve got properly in the first place – that’s the most important factor.”

The talk then turned to a subject that is never far away at our roundtable events – whatever the main theme. “The industry needs to talk about the fact that the consultants in the background, we often don't get any input before they actually start the kitchen build,” said Webber. “It is extremely infrequent that we have an opportunity to be able to get into the infrastructure and design the building with the client and the services in mind. It's the consultants, not necessarily the operators, who choose the build with the clients.”

“We see kitchens shoehorned into spaces that are not suitable for them as well,” replied David Steel of Houston & Hawkes. “They put in self-extracting ovens because they don't want to put in ventilation, but within two days of operating, it's like a sauna.

“Those self-ventilating pieces of kit generate a lot of heat, as do blast chillers and dishwashers. But a reluctance to install ventilation systems means they end up cramming them in, especially in the longer new builds.”

Whitmarsh revealed that this issue is sometimes leading to things to go full circle. “We're actually, in some cases, putting gas back in in order to combat this,” he said. “Where we've had issues with power optimisation, we've had to then look at going back to gas.

“It can also happen with something like a new high-speed electric grill. Also, if you buy an electric grill, you still don't get the same charring effect that you get with gas. So we are reverting back to it in some cases.”

How have we ended up in this situation, then, where the cart appears to be driving the horse? “The biggest factor has always been cost,” said Steel. “Often cheaper models are chosen, but they don't stand the test of time. There are many alternative suppliers, but they are not as good and they don't last as long.

“There are problems with a lot of simple things, like not installing blast chillers. Every kitchen should have one, it should be standard now. But it's just a way of saving money and saving space. They just don't want to give it the footprint, but there are 800, 900 people in the building. You can't cook for them without having a blast chiller.”

“Funnily enough, the first bit of kit they seem to have in the design is a HOBART floor standing mixer, but the rest of it, I don't think they necessarily understand the flow of the kitchen or the efficiencies between prep space, cook space and worktops in and around the stove,” said Ben Harman of BaxterStorey. “A lot this seems to get overlooked with some designers. When they get it right, it's actually a joy to work in, but unfortunately there are a lot that get it very, very wrong.”

Equipment ideals
The question is, then, with money –  and consultants – not a consideration, what would the perfect kitchen look like? First of all, you need to bear in mind the average consumer’s evolving tastes.

“Eating in the workplace has changed, hasn't it, so the equipment that is required has changed as well,” pointed out Emma Best. “The demand always used to be for things like a traditional roast dinner, but now it's all about much lighter choices and grazing, so the equipment need has changed with it.”

One attendee was able to offer a somewhat different perspective, having worked in the Middle East (relatively!) recently. “In Dubai, the rule is that you have to have 40% of space as the back-of-house,” relayed Ward. “For any new restaurant that's built, 40% of the footprint has to be allocated for back-of-house, which stops you from having these shoeboxes of kitchens that are unsafe for people to work in.

“You end up with a kitchen that is perfectly sized, so that 40% ‘rule’ really worked. But unfortunately, over here it typically goes that, if the customer can't see it, you spend the least amount of money on it.”

Webber also has recent experience of this kind, albeit from a little closer to home, as Bennett Hay has opened a new central production kitchen in Shoreditch, east London. Kingsland Kitchen represents a significant upsize on the caterer’s previous unit, providing more than 1,400 square feet of kitchen and production space.

“The first thing Zoe Watts, our MD, said was, ‘We won't be leaving the ovens on and open when we first walk into the kitchen to warm the place up’,” recalled Webber. “And that was the first thing she thought of because, you know, we're paying for the electricity.

“We're doing a lot more work around ESG [environmental, social and governance]. Part of that is about switching our items off when they're not in use, and just being more conscious about what we're using and how we're using it. For instance, could you use a container with the lid, as opposed to clingfilm? Do you really need to use that?

“You have to ask, essentially, do you really need to buy that? Because if it's available, people will just use it. There are a lot of different things you can look at.”

“I think that's the difference of you running your own operation, though,” said Steel. “A lot of client sites, they've got the light sensors, the extraction goes off at five o'clock. But often, those are the main energy-saving measures in place.”

On the ongoing imperative to go green, Harman summed up: “Shortly after Covid, most big caterers committed to being net zero by 2050. Therefore, it became a real focus for every business to try and lower their footprint via using equipment like the ovens that heat up in six minutes, so you just leave them on standby when you don't need them.”

The future
Moving to more specific technology types, there is inevitably scepticism when it comes to change of this kind. However, our panel were refreshingly open-minded, even when it came one of the biggest potential bogymen of our time.

“I love artificial intelligence [AI],” equivocated Ward. “A lot of people are afraid of it, but I actually think it's going to benefit a lot more people. We want our chefs in the kitchen, not sat at computers, and AI can assist them in taking away a lot of that time, getting them back on the floors.”

Equally openly, Webber continued: “I'm going to be really honest, I wouldn't mind a robot cooking my food if it came down to ordering it from a food delivery app. Because I've seen some of those places when we were looking for a dark kitchen, and I wouldn't feed that food to my worst enemy. I don't eat takeaways anyway, but that just sends shivers down my spine.

“If you had a robot in there, you know, with full health and safety, hygiene and automation protocols, I'd be much more confident about serving that than something made by uncontrolled human bad habits. It's really scary, to be honest, when you look at that.”

The ideal solution is to find a balance. Customers are currently caught between coveting convenience and enjoying the novelty factor, while simultaneously desiring that crucial interaction element.

“There have been surveys, where they've looked at the customer journey, and at certain points they are quite happy to have automation,” said Best. “However, at others they really do want that human touch.”

Looking to the future, talk then turned to how to best look after your kit. Indeed, after all that initial expense, it certainly should be a priority.

“Training is extremely important,” said Whitmarsh of HOBART Service. “Also, with certain products, you’ve got a greater severity of risk. I watch people with fryers, and all the oil is going down the back of the machine. I’ve often been in conversations where they try to suggest a range of equipment issues, and it’s really hard to get the message over to people to say, ‘Actually, it’s how you’re using it’.

“There’s a genuine drive to get the right information as quickly as possible to resolve operating usage issues, and making it easy to access is crucial. Good video content is definitely the way forward to improve operator education.”

Going one step further, Ward highlighted how AI can be used to alert operators and suppliers to incoming issues. “I'm not necessarily saying it should tell you which parts of, say, a dishwasher isn’t working,” he said. “However, if you look at, for instance, a Formula 1 car, the engineers know before it even gets to the pits what's wrong with it, because the computers are telling them. And then when it gets there, they make the decision as to what to do next. That's where, as an operator, we should be trying to use it to our advantage; not to replace human judgement, but more to enhance it.

“AI can read a 50,000-word document in minutes, whereas we could take a day to read all that. It’s about using it to save that time to allow us to do what we do best. That's where I think AI should be championed and used a lot more.”

As the conversation progressed, one last theme became clear. According to our panel, aftersales should never be an afterthought.

“People don’t always want to take responsibility for good training, but we are committed to making sure our engineers are highly trained and extremely knowledgeable,” said Whitmarsh. “We’ll happily help anybody who’s got our equipment, basically, because
we want it to do the best job.

“Part of our philosophy, which will be the same for many manufacturers, is about having a customer for life. I do find it extraordinary sometimes that, for example, if you bought a high-end car, you take it back to the same place to be maintained, to be serviced. But in this industry, it often doesn’t happen. Again, it comes back to looking after equipment properly to get the best out of it in the long term.”

“It's interesting, isn't it,” concluded Webber. “That's probably the biggest part to take away from today.”

The panel
BaxterStorey – Ben Harman
Bennett Hay – Candice Webber
Connect Catering – Wayne Sheehan
Eurest – Emma Best
Grazing – Mark Ward
HOBART Service – Mark Whitmarsh
Houston & Hawkes – David Steel

Retail reflections
Best of Eurest on micromarkets and mirrors...

With micromarkets, it’s all about keeping the space open and easy to use, while quietly supporting good habits. Small touches like mirrors improve visibility, without changing the trust‑based experience people value.

It’s a simple way to support smooth day‑to‑day running. The psychology also says that customers are less likely to be dishonest if they are facing themselves in a mirror.

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