Cutting Down on Labor Costs Without Sacrificing Safety or Food Quality

2 Min Read By Wade Winters

"Ask the Expert" features advice from Wade Winters, Vice President of Supply Chain for Consolidated Concepts Inc. Please send questions for this column to Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine Executive Editor Barbara Castiglia at bcastiglia@modernrestaurantmanagement.com.

Q: How can a restaurant operator cut down on labor costs without sacrificing safety or food quality?

A: Food costs have finally stabilized (with some exceptions such as chicken wings), which has been a blessing for the restaurant industry; however, labor costs continue to be a thorn in the side of restaurant operators.  New regulations and pressure to increase wages only means labor costs will continue to be a challenge.  So, what is a restaurant operator to do?

Many restaurants do most of the preparation and processing of their menu items from the raw commodity.  For example, a typical kitchen would have a team member take a chicken breast, trim the fat, cut the chicken into a specific size portions or…