As the retail foodservice industry continues to face labor challenges, savvily managed establishments have been looking for ways to help their staffs do more with less – and are turning to innovations like automation to lend a helping hand.
After all, the process of finding and retaining reliable, skilled people is becoming increasingly difficult, with increased competition for a more limited pool of these workers, as some have left the industry permanently, while others have temporarily left to look for more stable work. Costs for talent have skyrocketed, and this is at the same time the industry is faced with other economic hardships, like food and supply shortages, not to mention inflation. For these reasons and others, staffs are smaller than in years past. But, foodservice workers have more than ever to get done – including needing time to provide the exceptional experiences today’s vocal customers demand as foot traffic returns in earnest.
That’s why one way that many establishments are addressing this challenge is by turning to automation. This can take the form of advanced self-service ordering kiosks, touch screens capable of offering customized experience while reducing the need for some front-of-house staff, freeing up the rest for other duties, like customer service. It also includes increasingly advanced self-checkout technologies, along with other tried-and-true techniques that have only gotten more evolved, like robotic cookers that can more skillfully than ever help with tasks like frying and grilling.
Innovations capable of partially automating laborious but necessary work don’t come only in the form of machine- and computer-based technology. In fact, one critical industry task that’s particularly challenging to get right, for humans and especially for machines, is the cleaning of surfaces – especially to the standard required by food code. However, that’s not to say there is no way to streamline this job, even with a strapped team. PURELL ® Foodservice Surface Spray and Wipes are a recent innovations that rival all others in their ability to boost performance.
These all-in-one, one-step cleaning and sanitizing products are specifically designed for the foodservice industry and create a number of labor efficiencies. With them, staff can kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria on surfaces, including norovirus, E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, and the COVID-19 virus. Since there’s no PPE required, and no harsh chemicals are present in these already formulated products, using them is as simple as spraying or wiping, no rinse required. That ease of use, coupled with fast kill times, results in saving time that can be put toward elevating the guest experience, not unlike the prior-mentioned automations.
Retail foodservice establishments must adapt to continue to perform and satisfy visitors without the backing of a robust staff. Luckily, ways of applying innovative automations and creating helpful efficiencies exist, making it possible to not only overcome even the toughest of labor challenges but excel and thrive.