Consultancy.
If you run a business that has a food service part of your offering, or you want to start that service, we can help with assessing and building your food offering to achieve the level that you want it to. In the past, we have consulted for several businesses. This includes the setting up of a food offering for a wine bar in Oxford. Assisting new owners of a pub with improving the current kitchen set up, new menus and training of staff. As part of work like this, we have created supplier lists offering locally produced ingredients, using techniques such as sous vide for serving hot food from a limited service area, how to manage food dates and ensure that the food is tracked and monitored, repurpose an old kitchen by redecorating, moving equipment to one area, laying a fully washable, durable floor in the kitchen, reorganising storage areas and training staff.
We offer a range of services and can build a specific bespoke service for your business.
Assessment.
If you are starting on a new food offering, you need to know what your kitchen should look like and how best to organise for food service. Staff need to be trained and aware of the many issues working in a kitchen, food hygiene, safety and good working practises. Even with an existing kitchen, there are things you can do to improve the working process, food hygiene and safety. Our assessment and reporting service will help you look at what you have and how to improve the setup, plus suggested changes and potential costs of any changes. We can also build a HACCP model, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, for your kitchen processes. This is a great way to model the flows in, and through your kitchen and where the critical points are for food hygiene and safety, plus developing good food handling practise.
The assessment involves a half day with you to understand what you are looking to do, time in the kitchen (if you have one) and time with the current staff to understand their view of the kitchen and how the processes work. We then will evaluate the findings and produce a report for you to make any decisions that you need to take.
Costs start from £600 for a basic assessment and review. A larger business may need more interviews and time in the kitchen. This we can work with you to cost this specific work.
Developing the food offer.
Developing the food offer or menu is a key part of the business. As is where to source ingredients for the menu. Using local knowledge and awareness of the range of suppliers available, we can help define the style of food that you want to offer and the recipes that you can use to achieve the goal of developing the menu. The aim of this service is to enable you to develop your supply chain with the suppliers you need and want, to build a menu that your kitchen team can work with and deliver. The process involved time spent with you and your kitchen team to identify the style of menu that you want and to suggest recipes that would add value to the menu. This involves a day of discovery, research, report writing and presenting to you and your team.
The cost for this service is £800, including the report and presentation.
Identify training requirements.
Given the challenges all hospitality businesses have faced since Covid and now the economic challenges, it is important to ensure that your staff have the training they need to work at the best levels possible and as team understand what the working kitchen model is and how to work within that model. We can with information from you and your team, understand your goals, develop a training plan and deliver it to your kitchen team. The skills range from food preparation, menu planning, styles of food, food hygiene practise and so on.
This may involve several days of delivery. We can work with you to manage stage payments and spread the cost of the project. Alternatively, we are happy to discuss a monthly subscription service which needs your budget needs and managed the time we are onsite to a day a month or whatever makes sense for you.
Cost per day is £200, which will include all elements of the agreed project.
Bespoke Services.
We can build bespoke services around any of the services offered. If you would like to discuss further please contact Paul, at iowcookeryshool@gmail.com
