In a hospitality industry facing systemic change nowhere is the pressure more acute than in the heat of the kitchen.

A tight labour market, cost of living crisis and staff shortages have left many restaurants with a stark choice: plough more time and expense into papering the cracks or deploy a radical rethink of the modern food offering and how the on-site team delivers it. Perhaps not surprisingly, many are doing the latter – partnering with providers of ready-to implement menus and virtual food brands– in a bid to control costs, maximise diner spend and better utilise kitchen space. It can be a compelling recipe – amid a soaring rise in staff vacancies – ranging from 10% for head chefs to 21% for production chefs according to data from UK Hospitality. Menus are tailored to suit existing ingredients, labour and processes and chime with local demographics, the food arrives partially prepped requiring simple execution and as such, leaner and cheaper kitchen teams. “It’s given us a consistent offering with stable food costs while reducing the need for as many chefs – saving a round a third in labour costs,” reveals the co-founder of hotel asset management business, London Rock Partners, Clare Anna, who has been working with one such provider, Lean Kitchen Network (LKN) since 2013. “The food comes into [...]