Potato-based profits – a great way to boost your business’ bottom line
When it comes to generating profit for your foodservice operation, the humble spud is up there among the most cost-effective of ingredients.
Hot chips – potato’s most popular iteration – are among the most profitable items on the menu, says David White, Executive Chef at Simplot Foodservice which is a leading supplier of chips under the Edgell brand. “It’s a product that’s highly desirable by your customers, there’s low input costs and minimal labour – all it takes is two to three minutes in the deep fryer and it’s ready to go. Plus it goes with almost anything and the cost to profit ratio is very good because customers will pay good money for good chips. So the word from chef White is to put as many chips on the menu as you can, because people will always buy them!
“Remember also that different cuts and styles of chips will provide different yield, so choose accordingly – if you’re looking for a budget meal, shoestring might be your best bet as they have the highest yield on the market. Whereas if you’re serving a steak you might want to load up the plate with beer battered chips – there’s so many options available that you have plenty of scope to pair the right chip with the right value offering and they’ll always be extremely profitable for you.”
“You have plenty of scope to pair the right chip with the right value offering and they’ll always be extremely profitable”
A staple of the menu
Chef Peter Wright echoes David’s words about the extensive range of chips available in today’s market.
“There’s so much choice – from beer battered to thick cuts like steak fries, right down to shoestring – but even if you’re using the stock standard frozen chip which is great value and something everybody loves, you can add value to it by creating your own seasoning or loading it up with toppings like chilli corn carne, sour cream, guacamole and all the rest,” he says.
“The Canadians have their poutine which is chips, gravy and cheese and the English have chips with gravy – both of these exemplify that chips are a terrific way to add value to a meal or a snack. You can sell a basic bowl of fries for $10, but with a few simple additions you can sell it for $15. There’s plenty of rubs and marinades you can sprinkle on fries to give them a different taste – even just paprika and salt will impart a distinctive appearance and flavour.
“When you consider how many times a week people dine out with a side of chips, you can see it’s a real stable of the menu. You can offer it with just about anything and it really is a very cheap cost of goods.”
“My recommendation would be to go with the bigger suppliers, because they can really guarantee consistency”
Peter also recommends using different styles and cuts of chips to go with different cuisine styles and presentations. “As a basic rule, the fatter the chip, the less oil it absorbs in the deep fryer. Frying oil costs money so it’s important to look at the overall costs. That said, there are certainly chips for all occasions. You might offer steak fries with a grill and a bowl of shoestring fries as a side. Some people have the perception that shoestring fries are a little more French, like pommes frittes, whereas the thicker chip is more English. But it’s always great to have a variety – from beer battered to seasoned to wedges, there’s plenty of choice out there. Even if you choose on cost and go for the cheapest chip, you’re still going to get a relatively quality product, although the consistency might be a little lacking. My recommendation would be to go with the bigger suppliers, because they can really guarantee consistency as they control all aspects of the supply chain from the potato farmers to the final product. It all depends on your pricepoints but a sale price of $12 to $14 for a bowl of loaded fries is not uncommon.”
A strong profit margin
Gary Johnson, National Executive Chef of ALH Group, says its hotels predominantly use a standard 100mm straight cut fry with a light coating. “That’s our go-to fry across about 95 per cent of the menu; we also use sweet potato fries because they have a connotation of healthy eating, and we tend to serve them with dipping sauces like Green Goddess. But we will use other fries as the occasion demands – for instance I recently did a beautiful roasted black sesame mayo with a seaweed salt, and we served it on crinkle cut fries because that cut delivers more crispiness on the outside. I sprinkled some ground up seaweed sheets with salt flakes over the top and it was just beautiful.
“We also sell loaded fries in some of our suburban pubs especially in the public bars – on the weekend the boys love to come in for a few jars and enjoy them loaded with melted cheese, chopped chives and chilli con carne. With winter coming up, those sorts of foods are great snack choices. A portion of chips might cost you 30 or 40c but by the time you’ve put a few toppings on it you’re selling it for $8 to $10 so it’s a strong profit margin.
“If you think of the fries as the hero of the dish, then the other toppings are designed to complement that”
“There’s another dish we do called Trio of Fries with potato wedges, sweet potato chips and our straight cut chips and we serve the three different fries with three different dips. We’ve found that’s very popular especially with the female market - we use guacamole, a tasty tomato salsa, sour cream with taco seasoning and some other flavoured salts as well, so you have a range of flavours coming through.
“If you think of the fries as the hero of the dish, then the other toppings are designed to complement that, and there are so many choices which you can use to expand the menu – a beautiful smoked salt with chipotle mayo is just one example of the types of flavour combos you can play around with.”
A great plate-filler
Chef Adam Moore describes potato products as not only a great plate-filler but food customers can get quite emotive about: “A plate of wedges with sour cream and chilli takes up a bit of real estate but it’s also something that people can’t get enough of. Everyone has their favourites and they all seem to be a bit of an expert on what they like!
“Just last month Melbourne held a Maximum Chips Night as part of the Food and Wine Festival – people paid $20 and could eat chips from 30 different vendors who were serving everything from shoestring, which won the popular vote, to loaded fries to chips on a stick. It does seem to be a staple product that people love.
“Potato doesn’t just come in chip form – you can use it in a hundred different ways”
“Having said that, potato doesn’t just come in chip form – you can use it in a hundred different ways from fondant mashed potato to mash to hasselbacks and people will love it. It’s got a great texture, it’s filling and it’s a permissible food – even when it’s fried in fat it seems to be considered a reasonably healthy option. Plus it’s a terrific meal component because it gives you a bit of height on the plate – you can load it up and stack schnitzels and other centre of plate items on top.
“In recent times we’ve seen a multitude of varieties coming into the market, from Kipfler to purple congo – There’s greater education and awareness now about different grades. We’re also seeing the introduction of more potato-based meals to the menu – like colcannon, which is an Irish recipe which mixes creamy mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage and is usually served with Irish stew. That’s a great favourite for St Patrick’s Day. We’re also seeing people making potato waffles in the waffle press and using them with barbecued meat or as a base to top with everything from fried chicken to coleslaw. There are plenty of ways to be innovative with potato and I think our foodservice professionals are really becoming more aware of just how widespread the applications are.”
