Survey: what's hot, what's not

Nation's Restaurant News, August 26, 1985

SURVEY: WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT

What is the most used and sought-after cooking equipment in the country's restaurant kitchens today? What most influences operators' equipment-purchasing decisions? Are kitchens getting smaller? How is energy being saved in the back-of-the-house?

Those are some of the issues examined in a new in-depth Nation's Restaurant News trade study. The results paint a statistical picture of what's hot and what's not in the industry and offer the reader a look at what other operators are doing in two primary areas, equipment and energy management.

The most preferred piece of cooking equipment today appears to be the convection oven. It is also the cooking equipment that is expected to be utilized most heavily in coming years, according to the survey. The study spanned a total of 162 different food-service operations across the country, both independent restaurants and fastfood, family restaurant and dinnerhouse chains.

Convection ovens are being used by 67% of all survey respondents. Not far behind on a preselected list of equipment were microwave ovens (used in 62% of all establishments), followed by ranges (61%), broilers (59%), baking ovens (51%) and roasting ovens (27%).

Other types of equipment found most frequently include: Manual fryers (60%), automatic fryers (35%), mixers (77%), food warmers (75%), dishwashers (74%), steam tables (70%), griddles (55%), toasters (53%), food processors (52%), steam jacketed kettles (42%), salamanders (36%), espresso-cappuccino machines (28%), ice cream makers (28%), rotisseries (9%), woks (8%) and pasta cookers (4%).

There is also one statistic that proves the growing popularity of cooking foods over mesquite and other woods: a full 10% of all respondents now use wood-burning grills.

The most frequently purchased type of oven in the past two years was, again, the convection oven: Seventeen per cent of respondents installed it in their kitchens. Next on the shopping list were microwaves (16%), ranges (11%), baking ovens and broilers (9% each) and roasting oven (2%).

Other types of equipment high on operators' purchasing lists in the past two years were reach-in refrigerators (bought by 22% of all respondents), freezers (20%), griddles (17%), manual fryers (15%), mixers (14%), steam jacketed kettles (10%), food processors (9%), ice cream makers (7%) and espresso-cappuccino machines (6%).

It is somewhat surprising that multiuse equipment, touted as the wave of the future in light of many operators' avowed attempts to get more use and productivity out of their kitchen space and equipment, is still a relatively uncommon sight. The likes of cutters-choppers, ovens-grills, slicers-dicers, convection steamers and multiuse prepping tables were found at only a few operations.

Restaurateurs today might be more cost-conscious in running their business, but they also know that cost alone should not be the determining factor when they choose a particular piece of equipment from among two or more manufacturers. In fact, only 59% of all respondents said cost was "extremely' or "very' important in their purchasing decisions. By far the most important factor (91%) was the equipment's impact on worker productivity. Other qualities or needs operators look for or consider are, on a descending "extremely/very important' scale: durability, ease of maintenance, space requirements, energy efficiency, supplier servicing, anticipated level of utilization, flexibility in accommodating menu changes, warranty terms and financing (see chart).

Meanwhile, a full one-fourth of all independent operators responding to the survey said they are planning to renovate their kitchens over the next two years. More than three-fourths of all chain operators said they would be renovating, too, or constructing new units in which some changes in current kitchen design are likely to be made. But if there is considerable renovation activity, the majority of kitchens (62%) are neither getting bigger nor smaller vis-a-vis the total space of their respective restaurants. Fifteen per cent of all respondents said they had increased kitchen space in the past two years, while 23% said they increased their back-of-the-house.

The most frequently cited reason (41%) for expanding kitchen space was menu expansion; 19% of all respondents cited greater customer traffic. Those who reduced their kitchens generally said they wanted to better utilize existing space.

Meanwhile, operators clearly like the merchandising appeal of display kitchens and similar front-of-the-house cooking modes. It is a trend that picked up steam only a couple of years ago, and today a full one-third of all nonfast-food operators have them; another 8% said they would be installing some type of display cooking within the next two years.

With the cost of energy taking an ever bigger bite out of a restaurant's overall income, it is not surprising to see that the vast majority of operators are using at least one conservation measure to reduct those costs.