All Blog Posts Tagged 'richfoodproducts' (19)

Holiday Pre-Prep

The holidays are upon us, and New Years Eve is just around the corner. On such a busy restaurant day, it's essential to get as much done ahead of time as possible. Fortunately, On Top bagged whipped topping can help. Only On Top can be piped onto desserts before they're stored in the cooler -- or even the freezer -- for the big night. Try that with aerosol whipped topping and… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on December 23, 2008 at 10:21am — No Comments

Tempting Holiday Indulgences

Now that the holiday season is in full swing, lots of people are out on the town, shopping for gifts and meeting with friends. Granted, not as many holiday shoppers as in past years, but they're still out there. They're going to get hungry or thirsty at some point, and although they may not be as free with their spending as they used to be, there are still ways to tempt them into indulging a little more than they might otherwise by creating a sense of… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on December 9, 2008 at 1:02pm — No Comments

Pure Economics: Cans Lose

Now that it's officially official that we're in a recession, food service companies have even more reason to cut costs as the country collectively tightens its belts for the economic downturn.

One of the easiest ways to save money is to reduce waste. In times like these, you need to maximize yield on every food item in your refrigerator. Of course, that instantly puts aerosol whipped topping at a disadvantage. In… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on December 2, 2008 at 12:26pm — 1 Comment

Thanksgiving Prep Timesavers

According to the National Restaurant Association, one in 10 Americans (11 percent) celebrate Thanksgiving Day by dining in one of the nation's 935,000 restaurants, and more than half (53 percent) of consumers use restaurant-prepared takeout items for all or part of their Thanksgiving Day meals.

It's probably a little late to suggest ways to promote your restaurant or cafe for Thanksgiving; if… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on November 25, 2008 at 9:55am — No Comments

Cold Weather Brings Out the Hot Drinks

We're on the verge of the holiday season, and the chillier weather over much of the country means more customers are ordering hot beverages either as a warm-up before their meal or as an after-dinner treat.

Hot beverages can be a dangerous item in food service -- and not just because they might fall in someone's lap. As I've outlined so many times, aerosol whipped topping can't stand the heat, so it can quickly… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on November 20, 2008 at 9:15am — No Comments

Share Your Disappointment

Here on the blog and at ToppingTruth.com, we have been enumerating all the reasons why bagged is better than canned when it comes to whipped topping. It looks better, it lasts longer, and it's less wasteful in so many ways.

Now we want to hear from you. How has aerosol spray whipped topping let you down?

We want you to record a short video showing or describing a whipped topping aerosol fiasco you would like… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on November 18, 2008 at 10:10am — No Comments

Reducing Food Costs Through Portioning

In this second look at ways to squeeze more profit out of your menu during slow periods, we'll examine portion sizes and other ways to stretch that food budget.

Reducing portions is a quick and easy way to reduce food costs. One of the major burger chains recently announced they were switching from 2.2-ounce patties to 2.0-ounce patties. Chances are a customer wouldn't notice that small a change, but it'll add up to big savings quickly. It only takes five smaller burgers to save an… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on November 13, 2008 at 8:08am — No Comments

Precision Helps Keeps Food Costs Low

With the economy verging on recession and consumers everywhere reducing their dining out budget, restaurants, cafes and bars are looking everywhere for ways to squeeze a little more profit out of every item served. You might think On Top bagged whipped topping wouldn't offer much in the way of help in this arena, but there you'd be wrong. This week we're going to talk about how On Top can help reduce food costs in a… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on November 11, 2008 at 1:09pm — No Comments

Fewer Returns Means More Returns

Let me expand that headline a bit: Fewer returned orders means more return customers.

Returned orders are often an indicator of a job done poorly. (I say "often" because there are certainly plenty of occasions when it's entirely about the customer, not the food.) If you're doing your job right, you might get one or two plates sent back on a busy night. If you're seeing more returns than that, watch out – it could point to a much greater undercurrent of customer… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on October 28, 2008 at 8:50am — No Comments

Foam is a Ticking Time Bomb

Here's another scenario: It's a busy night at the restaurant. The dining room is full, the kitchen is at full speed, the servers are on top of their tables and everything is going smoothly – but you know that at any moment, something could go wrong and the whole rhythm will be thrown off.

Sure enough, one of the guests at Table 8 has sent back his steak – something about it being too pink!? – and the grill station falls just a hair behind. This delays Table 5's order, which means the… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on October 23, 2008 at 12:37pm — No Comments

Going Green: Every Little Bit Helps

Spray can whipped topping isn't just a bad choice for the kitchen – it's a bad choice for the environment, too.

That's because although they no longer contain ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), canned whipped topping often utilizes nitrous oxide (N2O) as an aerosol propellant.… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on October 21, 2008 at 9:04am — No Comments

The Dairy Issue

Picture this: You're behind the counter at the espresso bar, and it's a fairly quiet morning. Someone orders a mocha, which you take care in making, topping it with a generous spray of dairy whipped topping. Just as you hand the customer her drink, the lunch rush starts early, and you find yourself slammed for two and a half hours straight. Finally things cool down, and you can start cleaning up. You turn around and there's the can of dairy whipped topping, still sitting out right on the… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on October 16, 2008 at 9:29am — No Comments

Disappointing Yields

One of the biggest problems with aerosol whipped topping is low yields per can. Aerosol cans are an inexact and inefficient delivery system.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "The most common type of aerosol container consists of a shell, a valve, a “dip tube” that extends from the valve to the liquid product, and a liquefied-gas propellant under pressure. The liquid product is generally mixed with the… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on October 14, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

Whipping Up a Feast for the Eyes

People eat with their eyes first, which means the way food looks matters as much as how it tastes. So as a food service professional, your job is to make sure what you serve looks its best when it arrives to the customer.

That's not so easy when you're dealing with aerosol whipped topping. It's just not up to the task.

Imagine a customer has ordered an Irish coffee… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on October 9, 2008 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Ditching the Can

With aerosol whipped topping, you have a single dispensing option: the spray can. And as I've described numerous times here on this blog, spray cans may be convenient in some ways, but there are a whole lot of reasons why they're less convenient in others.

With On Top bagged whipped topping, you've got options. The first is to simply squeezing it by hand like a piping bag. This is technique gives you much finer… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on October 7, 2008 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Spray Can Safety, Part 2

Ever notice the fine print on the side of a whipped topping can?

WARNING: Contents Under Pressure. Do Not Expose to Temperatures Above 120° F. Do Not Puncture Or Incinerate Can. Keep Out of The Reach of Children. Choking Hazard, Cap Contains Small Parts.

I've already explained why all that pressure isn't such a good thing for your desserts and hot beverages. Now let's… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on September 30, 2008 at 8:27am — No Comments

Spray Can Safety, Part 1

Aerosol whipped toppings are a potential liability in your kitchen. And once again, it's the can's fault.

Imagine this scenario: It's the height of the dinner rush, and the kitchen is hopping. Table 13 has ordered dessert, and one of the line cooks is pulled off his job breaking down chickens to quickly plate a couple desserts. He rinses his hands, then grabs the spray whipped topping and finishes a couple slices of brownie, places them in the pass and goes back to his chickens –… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on September 23, 2008 at 9:31am — 1 Comment

A Question of Foam

How often do your customers send back a dessert or hot beverage because the whipped topping on top has collapsed, melted or otherwise no longer looks appetizing? In some restaurants it's a major problem, and nine times out of ten, it comes down to the delivery vehicle: aerosol cans. That "light and airy" consistency may appeal to some folks (who might never have had true whipped topping, so they don't know better), but that airy-ness is actually a bad thing.

To explain… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on September 18, 2008 at 8:58am — No Comments

Recycling is in the Bag

In this age of dwindling natural resources and rapidly filling landfills, recycling is more important than ever. Restaurants, bars and caterers are among those on the forefront, since the food industry is a major producer of recyclable waste. So, how can you can make a difference?

Switching to bagged whipped topping instead of cans is an easy way to improve your establishment's recycling habits. It may seem… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on September 16, 2008 at 9:24am — No Comments