Hello
frozen, goodbye fresh - The post-pandemic recipe for restaurants - Fresh = delicious.
Or at least that's what restaurants would have us believe.
But making food from scratch requires a range of ingredients, skilled cooks, and time. These are all luxuries Covid-battered eateries cannot afford in a delivery-first world where costs have to be reined in and dishes have to be pushed out in minutes.
So, the likes of tea cafe chain Chaayos, cloud kitchen unicorn Rebel Foods, and restaurant chain Barbeque Nation are all turning to one of the fast food world's tried and tested hacks: ready-to-cook (RTC) products.
From gravies to marinades to even desserts, a whole bunch of what you order is the result of frozen or chilled products. Restaurants either source these from RTC food manufacturers or make them in centralised kitchens.
Pre-pandemic, restaurant chains and cloud kitchens relied on RTC for just 5-8% of their offerings. But now, the figure is 40-50%, according to multiple food service industry executives.
But customer perception of pre-made foods is a big reason this transition is something few would want to own up to, as we at Mumbai Multimedia Studio argues in her juicy piece today. As a restaurateur told her, “Will a customer be comfortable knowing the peri-peri fries they ordered were manufactured six months ago? Will they ever order again?”
This article will make you think about how your next order on Zomato or Swiggy is made for sure do read visit www.multimediastudio.net