Restaurant operators often face significant challenges in managing back-of-house operations, which can have a ripple effect throughout the business. Inefficient kitchen workflows, improper food preparation, and miscommunication among staff can lead to slow service, food waste, and ultimately lost revenue.
When processes aren’t streamlined, there is an increased likelihood of errors, such as over or under-prepping ingredients, which results in unsatisfied customers. Additionally, these inefficiencies waste valuable time and drive up operational costs, making it harder for restaurants to maintain profitability in a competitive industry. To address these challenges head-on, 52 percent of restaurant operators are investing in technology to enhance kitchen productivity this year, according to the National Restaurant Association.
honeygrow, a 53-location fast-casual chain specializing in healthy stir-frys, salads, and honeybars, is focusing on technology as it grows. John Paul Thomas, honeygrow vice president of operations services, was cautiously optimistic when introducing a new automation tool for fresh ingredient prep into his operations. However, after seeing the results of AI in his kitchens, he quickly decided to scale the tool across all locations.
“We were looking for an opportunity to improve the workflow for our managers, and PreciTaste’s Prep Assistant was our answer,” Thomas says. “Right away, the Prep Assistant took care of the manual prep tasks, increasing the productivity of the crew, allowing our managers to focus on the customer experience, and giving me insights into performance across stores.”
By using AI to generate precise prep forecasts, honeygrow is eliminating the guesswork and providing staff with accurate prep lists for each workday. The Prep Assistant uses AI to generate highly accurate demand forecasts based on various data, predicting the exact prep needed for the day. Menu items are broken down by ingredient and tasks are automatically generated. With a few clicks, a manager can assign tasks and crew members can go through their task list.
“Since implementing the Prep Assistant, we’ve reduced prep time by four to five hours per location per day,” Thomas notes.
The system’s ingredient optimization prioritizes freshness resulting in higher quality meals and more satisfied customers. The Prep Assistant also makes it possible for managers and operators to instantly access performance work amongst employees. “We now have instant visibility into who’s responsible for what task and how our crew is performing over time,” Ady Mendez, a honeygrow general manager says. “This has significantly increased accountability across the team and motivated them to work more efficiently.”
Perhaps one of the most impactful outcomes of the introduction of AI in honeygrow’s kitchens is the reduction of food waste. Accurate forecasting ensures teams prepare only what is needed, reducing waste and costs. “We’re no longer prepping too much, which was causing us to throw away food and have a lot of food waste,” Thomas says. honeygrow now saves ingredients and labor, translating to major cost savings.
Beyond the Prep Assistant, PreciTaste offers innovative solutions to automate every key kitchen task, including production planning, cooking, and grilling. Through its partnership with Intel and in using its technology, PreciTaste continues to advance back-of-house solutions leading to accelerated restaurant success. As labor costs and food waste continue to increase in the industry, the time is now for operators to bring their restaurant operations into the digital realm.
To learn more about PreciTaste visit their website.