Sponsored by Knouse Foodservice.
For foodservice operators, making the most of ingredients is essential to a healthy bottom line.
Whether that is accomplished through using an ingredient in several different dishes, across all dayparts, or by employing cost-effective items that conform to trends, versatility leads to more profit.
One example of this is Musselman’s new line of Apple Butter Fusions. Combining an apple butter base with other flavor profiles to create a product that can be used as a marinade, dipping sauce, condiment, or an ingredient, they take dishes from “every day to amazing,” food experts say.
“By blending the apple butter with on-trend flavors, Musselman’s has created sweet, savory, and spicy twists for any menu item,” says Andrea Tilis, Foodable Network Host.
Another way these products add versatility is found in the sheer number of flavors, which can help a restaurateur add variety to his or her menu without increasing back-of-house complexity. The flavors—Creamy Horseradish, Salted Caramel, Sriracha, Dijon Mustard, Asian, and Mango Habanero—each add a distinctly trendy element to dishes. For instance, Dijon Mustard Apple Butter Fusions added as a condiment for ham and Swiss sliders, not only gives a sweet kick to the ham, but tempers down the tang of the cheese. The Dijon Mustard flavor can be used to enhance breakfast tacos, or on a prime rib rub for dinner menus.
The Salted Caramel flavor is a great example of a versatile kitchen item that can be used across dayparts, too. For example, it adds a unique element to a chicken and waffle sandwich on a brunch menu, can be used in an apple pie milkshake for dessert, or as a dipping sauce for sweet potato fries. For restaurant owners and managers, this means adding trendy elements to food for pennies a serving while also consolidating inventory.
“From the operator standpoint, you’re getting an ingredient that when added to a dish, increases the value of that product,” said Todd Michael, Knouse Foods director of foodservice sales. “Take a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with the Mango Habanero Apple Butter Fusions, and you get that sweet and savory, hot flavor profile that is meeting the trends we’re seeing right now. And being able to have that trendy flavor increases the price of the item, but doesn’t necessarily increase your cost.”
Having trendy food items brings customers in the door, he says, and since apple butter is gluten free, fat free, high-fructose-syrup free, and contains no artificial flavors or colors, it’s an ingredient that adds to your profits while not altering the health consciousness of menu items.
From being a topping on turkey burger sliders to being an addition to barbeque sauce to serving as a marinade or dipping sauce for roast pork or roast beef, Apple Butter Fusions can be added to familiar items to create something unique and different.
“Adding Apple Butter Fusions to core menu items is an easy way to take staple items and differentiate them, while also finding one ingredient that can replace multiple,” Michael says. “It’s a win-win.”
By Liz Carey
