The labor crisis is an ongoing headache, challenging chefs and operators to complete even the most basic of tasks from day to day. The lack of talent and experience in the kitchen has many other hidden ramifications as well, including the inability to achieve consistency across a brand’s footprint.
“A lack of labor means chefs don’t have time to accurately measure out seasonings,” says Rajah Bhagani of Jayshree Spices & Seasonings. “It also means you have cooks who have little training, and they are trying to move as fast as possible because there are 12 tickets behind the one they are working on. This causes an issue as the bulk of the flavor diners are connecting with comes from the seasonings that are being added. If seasonings aren’t being added consistently across the board, it changes how that dish tastes from cook to cook, and store to store.”
Fortunately for chefs, Jayshree Spices & Seasoning has created a solution: Ready-made, custom seasoning blends that come in single-portion packages that can be easily added to a dish. This slideshow will examine why brands of all sizes are making the switch to Jayshree’s ready-made seasoning pouches.
Jayshree ready-made spice and seasoning blends cut back on labor in two different ways: No longer is it necessary to pre-mix spices in house, and cooks can seamlessly add the custom seasoning blend without spending time pinching spices out of different containers—unscrewing lids and screwing them back on—or guessing how much of each ingredient should be added. In other words, it speeds up the cooking process.
“Spice packs are so effective for what chefs are dealing with right now,” Bhagani says. “Instead of having someone measure out the salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic and onion—you don’t need to do all of that, we do it for you. All you need to do is fire up the veggies and meat, tear the pouch, pour the blend in, and move on. It’s much faster and easier for chefs to cook this way.”
The practice of using Jayshree’s ready-made packaging also helps keep spices fresh—no need to buy large, bottomless tubs of spice—and enhances brand consistency. It also means spices are never spoiling or going to waste which keeps food costs from spiraling out of control.
“One thing not enough people consider is how much spices lose their flavor and aroma when they are exposed to heat and other elements found in a kitchen,” Bhagani says. “A five-pound jug of seasoning in a busy kitchen sees quite a bit of light over its lifetime, which affects its color and potency.”
Many brands have been approaching Jayshree over the past several months to inquire about spice blends that are no longer in stock with rival suppliers as a result of a broken supply chain. Because it controls its own distribution and has robust, well-established relationships with product suppliers, Jayshree hasn’t had any of those issues. In fact, the company has been able to work with those restaurant brands to reverse engineer different spice blends and ensure menus do not have to be changed due to a lack of product.
“We have a ‘spice lab’ with 195 different spices and grinds,” Bhagani says. “We literally have 10 different varieties of black pepper with different grind sizes to help replicate any recipe you can imagine. And because we ship directly to our customers, we can create a blend on Monday and have it out to the field by Friday—there is no middleman. We do in five days what some spice companies take two months to accomplish.”
With turnover the biggest ongoing issue in the industry, it’s important to be able to onboard employees quickly. But it’s also important to protect different brand recipes—you never know if an employee will leave for a different job and take key information with them.
These things conspire to offer another reason why brands love the ready-made pouches, which can be made without the ingredients on the packaging.
“It’s so tough to train another line cook and three days down the road they don’t show up,” Bhagani says. “Brands are looking to find ways to have less and less training in order to get cooks up and running. With our spice packs, you can take any person and have them season virtually any dish to perfection, with just a tear of a bag—no recipe book needed.”
With over three decades in the industry, Jayshree Spices & Seasonings have built up an impressive portfolio of clients who enjoy working with the company for its all-encompassing innovation and support—not only does Jayshree offer custom blends, but they can also help operators develop LTOs based on their vast array of knowledge regarding trends and flavors.
“We are bigger than the smaller companies who don’t have the resources and distribution that we have, but we are smaller than the largest companies who don’t have that personal touch, or ability to do small batch custom blending” Bhagani says. “We bring the science to the art of making flavor, and we can help your brand make more consistent food.”
For more information on creating more consistent food, visit the Jayshree Spices & Seasonings website.