THE VALUE OF TURKEY DURING LEAN TIMES The lean economic times the foodservice industry is currently facing requires a careful evaluation of daily operational practices. Restaurateurs need to look for ways to trim costs, reduce waste and maintain a steady customer base in this environment of sharply higher commodity costs, soaring fuel prices and continued food price inflation. Meanwhile, restaurant guests are squeezing their own food budgets and when they do dine out, they look for value on menus. The National Turkey Federation (NTF) and National Restaurant Association (NRA) joined forces with other food industry groups in a plea to Congress to revisit the nation’s food-to-fuel policies, a key factor in this struggling economy. Meanwhile, the turkey industry offers pointers to assist chefs and restaurateurs in this current perfect storm for foodservice operations. NTF offers turkey menu presentations highlighting good values for the operator and customer: http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/recipes/value.html. Turkey has long been considered a staple for savvy foodservice managers. Chefs appreciate turkey’s low food cost as much as its consumer appeal and versatility.

Chef Michael Foley of Chicago, "Every single part of the bird, from the neck down can be used. This makes food costs drop because we prepare a variety of dishes including salad, sauté of turkey breast and braised legs. Turkey has little waste because the carcass can produce a soup, chowder or rich stock." Chef Joseph Worden of Wisconsin, "Turkey is a great bargain, including the pre-portioned cuts such as tenderloins." Chef Brandt Evans of Ohio, “Featuring turkey allows us to stay at a lower plate cost, which saves both the restaurant and customer's money. Turkey allows me to have a balanced food cost ratio throughout my menu. It helps offset the higher ticket items." Chef Susan Goss of Chicago, "We can actually sell turkey for more money than chicken because it is a little different and usually the portion is bigger."

MENU EVALUATION Assess the winners and losers on your current menu and streamline the menu of losers. Point-of-sale reports will define the most frequently sold items and those that are not as popular. Determine the most profitable and popular items. National surveys reveal turkey sandwiches are the number one protein for cold sandwiches in restaurants. Determine if turkey would be successful to add in other places on the menu such as soups and salads. Define menu items that can be better controlled through limited labor and portion controls. Are the majority of sandwiches sold during the busy lunch hour easy to assemble so that service is quick? Make turkey sandwiches a staple on your menu. Could your lunch business revenue increase if you sold more cold turkey focaccia sandwiches than hot grilled sandwiches during the limited lunch hour? Calculate multiple usages for ingredients. Ingredients should be utilized in at least two to three menu items. Roasted turkey breast may be used for entrée presentations, sandwiches/wraps and salads. Whole turkey has an even wider range by incorporating the dark meat in braised applications plus Southwestern cuisine, soups, stews and chili. MENU RENOVATION Offer turkey signature presentations that provide value to both your operation and your customers. Develop your own signature turkey burger or turkey sandwich, salad or chili to tap into the customer’s desire for healthier menu selections. Include combo meals by bundling or combining several items for a price slightly lower than the total of each individual selection. Combo meals have long been part of the quick-service sector, but the concept also has merit for fast-casual and white tablecloth restaurants. Customers could select an appetizer, entrée and dessert. The choice of appetizers might include mini turkey quesadillas, BBQ turkey wings or a side salad. Enticing entrée choices could feature a grilled turkey cutlet with fruit chutney, Italian turkey sausage with penne pasta or a char-grilled turkey burger. Fine tune your menu to take advantage of the areas of menu growth. Surveys indicate menu growth has occurred in the breakfast and snack meal occasions. Morning meal traffic has increased for several years, so hone your menu to offer some proven AM favorites: Turkey Sausage Breakfast Sandwich Smoked Turkey Apple Scramble Hearty Turkey Ham Breakfast Pizza Tap into the Small Plates, Tapas and Snack Menus hot trend by presenting smaller portions all day long. Offering smaller portions on value menus is a popular trend. Extend the menu at an affordable price with mini presentations – perfect for small plates, shareable appetizers, snack menus, the bar menu and take-out business. Fast-casual and quick-service operations across the industry are using snack menus to offer customers wider menu choices. If your house specialty is suitable, provide smaller portions on a tapas menu. Even feature several soups as shooters to give variety on a snack menu. Trendy menu offerings perfect for small plates include: Turkey Burger Sliders Turkey and Smoked Cheddar Croquettes with Smoked Tomato Sauce Basil Pita Pizza Smoking Dragon Wings Pavo Quesadilla with Fruit Chutney Smoked Turkey Picadillo Tostadas Asian Turkey and Shiitake Mushroom Pot Stickers in Coconut Lemon Grass Broth Design a value lunch menu with the addition of a Half and Half selection offering half a sandwich, cup of soup or small house side salad. The ever popular turkey sandwich combined with a seasonal side salad or cup of soup will provide a real value and fast service to lunch customers. Stretch the entrée portion by combining turkey with other ingredients. Popular ethnic fare includes a variety of ingredients combined with proteins. Your food costs and the customer’s perceived value will be enhanced when turkey entrées are stretched with rice, pasta and/or vegetables. Customers are attuned to healthier fare and combining protein with healthy and more affordable ingredients is beneficial to everyone. Italian and Mediterranean fare combines turkey with lentils, pasta and vegetables. Turkey Osso Buco Style with Cannellini Beans Wild Mushroom Turkey Marsala Asian and Thai cuisine are complemented with vegetables, rice and noodles. Stir-Fry Gingered Turkey Turkey Cutlets with Cilantro Peanut Pesto and Noodles Latin and Caribbean cookery stretches protein portions with beans, rice and colorful salsas. Turkey Tenderloins with Black Bean and Corn Salsa Turkey Picadillo Several of the most popular NTF foodservice recipes are also good examples of stretching the protein: Creamy Turkey Soup Donna Chriszt's Roasted Turkey Reuben Smoked Turkey Ratatouille Melt NRA reports braising has returned to the forefront as a popular preparation technique. Creative braised turkey entrées that stretch the entrée portion include: Pavo Pavo Pavo Turkey Bouillabaisse Add weekly or monthly specials to your menu that will retain the fickle customer’s interest and keep them coming back. The versatility of turkey adapts well with many flavors and preparation techniques and is an easy protein to feature as a special. Join the monthly turkey recipe E-mail club to get ideas for menu specials: http://www.eatturkey.com/contact/contact1.cgi. MENU DESIGN Enhance menu descriptions utilizing savory details about the recipe and all of the accompaniments. Include details about each item so the customer will perceive greater value. Keep it simple with providing key menu headers to define separate menu sections. Design the menu so dinner guests can quickly make a decision. Calculate the correct menu placement with suitable pricing. Take advantage of state and national restaurant association resources for keys to menu placement. In general, with a single page menu, the high-profit margin offerings should be highlighted in the center. With a two-page menu, place these same presentations in the center of the second page. Profitable items could be highlighted with stars or placed within boxes. Menu design experts caution about lining up all the prices in a straight column. They advise using a slightly smaller font for pricing and adding it at the end of each menu description. PURCHASING POINTERS Purveyors typically provide marketing support services, product information, guidelines for preparation, recipe ideas, plus menuing and merchandising suggestions. Take advantage of vendor specials and ask your sales rep about promotions. Compare price quotations and delivery schedules from at least two purveyors. Consider joining a purchasing group. This practice has worked well for institutional buyers and might be considered for other foodservice segments during these inflationary times. Visit http://www.eatturkey.com/about/list.html for a list of turkey processors. FABRICATION OF WHOLE TURKEYS Whole turkeys offer a great opportunity for savings due to the variety of menu applications for both light and dark meat. Here’s a valuable tool with detailed instructions on the fabrication of whole turkeys: http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/manual/FabricationFinal.pdf. Turkey breasts provide an endless supply of delicious and healthy entrées when sliced into cutlets, steaks, chops, tenderloins, medallions and scaloppini. Turkey thighs, legs and wings offer versatility and economy. Thighs yield a depth of flavor to traditional favorites such as cacciatore and osso buco. Thighs and legs may be skinned and cut into boneless pieces for chili, stews and soups. Turkey legs may be smoked. Turkey wings may be introduced on the appetizer menu as a fun and bountiful presentation of popular Buffalo wings. Dark turkey meat is also perfect for making your own signature sausages. With a rising focus on healthy diets, diners are eager to try homemade turkey sausages that have full flavor yet lower fat content. Consider making your own signature healthy turkey sausages with whole turkey parts. Several chefs shared their specialty appetizer and entrée sausage recipes with NTF. Chef Martin's Turkey Sausage with Citrus Salsa Orecchiette Pasta with Calabrian Spiced Crumbled Turkey Sausage Grilled Italian Turkey Sausage The turkey carcass and giblets could be used for preparing turkey soups and stocks. In addition to trimming food costs with rich homemade stock, the flavorful stock may be the base for signature soups such as French Onion. The carcass of smoked turkey has its own rewards when used for broth to enhance Southwestern cuisine soups and stews. Recipes for all of these menu ideas may be found in the NTF database: http://www.eatturkey.com/recipe/recipe_search.cgi/1. The yield of cooked whole turkey and turkey products can be easily determined at the following link in the NTF Foodservice Manual: http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/manual/purch6.html. STEP-UP FOOD COSTS CONTROLS Develop standardized recipes for all menu items. This is the first step for controlling and measuring food costs. Recipes should define the exact amounts to be used along with preparation techniques plus plating and portioning procedures and sizes. Standardized recipes define the potential profit for each menu presentation. In these economic times, it would be wise to adjust the portions to satisfy value-oriented customers but tweak portions to normal servings. The NTF offers a database of more than 900 standardized foodservice recipes: http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/recipes.html. Develop purchase specifications that describe the exact descriptions of the products needed in terms of trade/common name, federal grade, class, form, unit of purchase (pounds, case, etc.), processing, amount, appearance, delivery temperature, packaging and shipping. Specs are the basis of wise purchasing. Specifications should be geared for each operation with consideration of preparation equipment and available storage. Share copies of the specs with your suppliers plus the employees who receive the goods. Everyone should know the exact products required. The NTF Foodservice Manual offers detailed purchase specs for turkey products at the following Web link: http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/manual/prod1.html. Insist on Portion Control. Standardize the entire menu with defined portions. Have portion control utensils (scales, ladles, scoops and serving spoons) in the prep areas plus at each station on the line. Portion control is more likely to be consistent if pre-meal prep tasks include portioning of menu offerings, such as sliced turkey for sandwiches and pre-cut turkey medallions. Management should frequently spot check to ensure portions are consistent for maintaining projected food costs. Portion control may also be maintained by purchasing pre-cut turkey items including turkey cutlets, steaks, tenderloins, medallions, burgers, sausages, strips and cubes. Turkey processors offer a wide variety of specialty pre-cooked and portioned products for each foodservice segment. Check with your supplier for a comprehensive list of these value-added turkey products: http://www.eatturkey.com/about/list.html. Control receiving and storage with suitable procedures and security systems. The daily receiving of goods is such an important part of the total operation. Use purchase specs and order forms to ensure you receive the requested and ordered supplies. To prevent spoilage and wasted money, be sure all refrigerated and frozen foods are immediately placed in coolers and freezers. Maintain correct storage temperatures of this critical equipment and ask employees to routinely verify the temperatures fall within the food safety ranges. (Maintain the refrigerator temperature between 40ºF to 33ºF and the freezer temperature at 0ºF or below.) Read some helpful tips about receiving and storage of turkey at the following link: http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/manual/store1.html. Included in this task, is the decision of how much inventory your operation requires and the development of a parstock (amount of inventory needed between deliveries). Large inventories can damage the targeted food costs with higher carrying costs or spoilage. If these economic times have resulted in fewer dining guests or a change of their dining choices, adjust your inventory accordingly. Minimize waste and reduce food costs. Controlling waste is a top priority so take a hard look at old practices that might have misused food and electricity. Be sure food is used within its safe shelf life period. Any food that goes down the garbage disposal is really money down the drain. Be sure all foods are dated and make certain all staff follows the First In First Out or FIFO policy. Read some helpful tips about storage of turkey at the following link: http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/manual/store4.html. Instead of thawing turkey under water, plan ahead and transfer the turkey to the refrigerator for thawing. Follow the simple rule of allowing 24 hours thaw time for each 4-1/2 pounds of whole turkey: http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/manual/store2.html. Plan utilization of leftover cooked turkey. Cooked turkey has a shelf life of three to four days, so cook or freeze any leftover turkey within that time frame. Search the NTF database for clever ideas to incorporate "cooked" turkey into daily menu specials: http://www.eatturkey.com/recipe/recipe_search.cgi/1. BE DEDICATED TO CUSTOMER SERVICE This is the time for management and servers to show an appreciation to customers who walk through the front door. While cash-strapped customers are eagerly seeking value menus, they also desire hospitable service. There is no doubt maintaining and growing customer visits in the current economy takes commitment to customer service. Meet with the service staff before each shift to remind them they are part of the hospitability business and need to foster positive customer interactions. With the struggle to compete for each customer’s business, extra hospitality and warmth just might be the reason guests return to your restaurant. Building guest loyalty and gaining repeat business is critical in this environment. Consider offering a loyalty program for repeat guests such as a Totally Turkey Lunch Club – after the customer has purchased 10 turkey items, the next turkey item is on-the-house. Provide server training classes to bolster sales. To increase the check average, servers must be well trained, motivated and experts on the menu offerings. Set realistic goals for servers. Encourage servers to increase the check average by 10 percent. Demonstrate the goal can be achieved by selling a few table appetizers throughout the shift. Encourage team/shift effort and post the sales for each team to add some friendly competition. Offer incentives by rewarding the best servers with the busier shifts and a cash bonus. Finding ways to streamline the rising costs of your own operation, while continuing to satisfy your customers, are not easy tasks. Offering healthy turkey menu selections based on popularity and profits can be part of the solution. Turkey can be part of the resolution during this difficult economic environment.