Implementing a More Cost-Effective Cooking Technique
As restaurants look to cut costs and streamline, Sous Vide offers a more cost-effective alternative. Sous Vide translates to “under vacuum” in French. It is a precision cooking technique wherein the food is vacuum-sealed in a bag and then cooked in a water bath for a prolonged period of time. The technique promises efficient cooking at extremely precise temperatures. Moreover, vacuum sealing ensures the food is not oxidized by the air around or in any way influenced by foreign forces. On top of that, with vacuum-sealing, all of the nutrients and flavours of the food are retained.
With this technique, there is less demand for the staff as they are not required to continuously supervise the cooking process. The lower energy consumption of Sous Vide devices makes them more energy-efficient and hence, cost-efficient. Furthermore, the vacuum sealing process causes less wastage of ingredients and restaurants can get more with less in terms of the taste-ingredients trade-off.
Restaurants like Bamboo Asia, a Bay Area based Asian eatery, are capitalizing on the advantages of Sous Vide. The restaurant is delivering Sous Vide meal kits to homes. They have used the concept to differentiate themselves from the competition. The idea of Sous Vide is constantly being marketed on their social media and their website showcases the advantages of Sous Vide in the context of hygiene. This is strategic considering that during COVID-19, hygiene is one of the primary concerns for customers. Hence, Bamboo Asia is tapping into the method to create a layer of trust with its customers while simultaneously benefitting from the technique in the backend.
Across the globe, there has been an increasing emphasis on good hygiene practices and rightly so. Sous Vide cooking is capable of pasteurizing food. Cooking over 130 degrees Fahrenheit and for a prolonged period (at least six hours) guarantees this. At the same time, fears about cooking with food plastics are misplaced because HDPE or High-Grade Polyethylene does not contain harmful additives like BPA or Phthalate. The only threat posed is that of storage; however, if stored in low temperatures in refrigerators with the same vacuum seal, recontamination can be prevented. Therefore, Sous Vide is, in fact, a more clean and hygienic process if followed responsibly.
Advantages of Shifting to Sous Vide
Preparation Before Service Time: Sous Vide allows you to prepare the food beforehand only to be cooked in the Sous Vide apparatus when orders are placed
Reduced Attention: Once placed in the water bath, the food does not require constant tending to
Energy Efficient: Sous Vide devices are more energy-efficient than traditional grills, stoves, etc
Better Taste: The vacuum seal prevents any loss of juices and flavors, thus, making for tastier products
Hygiene: High water temperatures and long cooking times pasteurize the food. Sous Vide products come with automatic warnings in the case that food is being cooked at lower more bacteria favorable temperatures
Strategy Implementation
All a small business owner needs to start cooking Sous Vide meals is an Immersion Circulator and some vacuum seals. The Immersion Circulator, which can easily be clipped on to any container, circulates and heats the water and ensures precise temperatures are maintained homogeneously throughout the container. Besides the Immersion Circulator, you can also purchase Sous Vide Water Ovens which are self-contained Sous Vide apparatuses. However, compared to immersion circulators, they fail to circulate the water and do not guarantee even temperature distribution.
Sous Vide is an easy technique to adopt with a low sunk cost (that of an immersion circulator) and helps reduce costs in the long run. Moreover, it is suited for the current milieu where creating a trusting relationship between the brand and the customer has become pivotal for small business success.
As a social impact initiative, Rem and Company also offers free consulting services and resources to small businesses and nonprofits impacted by COVID-19. Our pro-bono consulting teams provide small businesses with the opportunity to identify and prioritize issues facing their business, propose innovative strategies, and facilitate execution. If you are a small business or nonprofit in need of assistance, learn more about how we can help.