Restaurants and high street food outlets across the UK are not the only businesses requiring the services of a food manufacturer. Hospitals, schools and the Army as well as food service providers must all consider their needs carefully before the selecting the provider that offers them a food manufacturing service that works for their business.
Team Quattro has put together a list of criteria to help point you in the right direction.
- Quality – There should be no compromise on taste. Your customers’ satisfaction should be the ultimate aim of any food manufacturer. Products should be made using the freshest, high quality ingredients by qualified and experienced chefs who understand food preparation, composition, texture and flavour.
- Convenience – Chefs in a food production company do the jobs that you or your staff may not have time to do in your own kitchen. Washing, preparing, peeling, chopping, pureeing, steaming and stewing fruit, veg, fish and meat can be time consuming and a strain on resources. Slow-cooking sauces requires hours of cooking and these are the jobs that the staff at a food manufacturing company can take off your hands, freeing you up to concentrate on other areas of your business.
- Reliability – Taste should always be second to none and customer care must be equally outstanding to ensure that a food manufacturer is offering a premium service. Communication is key and orders should arrive on time, with no room for error in ingredients or quantities. Particular care should be taken when selecting a manufacturer to cater for specialist needs such as religious or other dietary requirements, food intolerances or allergies.
- Cost – Value for money is a primary factor when selecting a food manufacturer but beware of compromising on quality in order to reduce costs. Offering high quality, bespoke products in a variety of packaging formats sounds like it should be expensive, but a reasonable manufacturer will include this service (within reason) within its standard pricing. This premium quality finished product should keep your customers coming back time and again for more, resulting in you having repeat business and a great reputation!
- Production methods – Traditional home style cooking processes result in delicious food and should be a factor when selecting your manufacturer. Modern time-saving machines often do not offer the same outstanding results as hand-cooking methods.
- Range – An extensive range is key to meeting the needs of your own customers. You should be able to cater for the healthier end of the market with dishes with restricted calorific values per serving, or for more indulgent customers with richer sauces and sweeter desserts. World foods, street foods, low-sugar meals, ready to use foods, as well as foods for specialist diets and allergies must be on the menu before you commit to using a food manufacturer.
- Experience – Food manufacturers create food products for professional chefs and must have extensive knowledge of the food manufacturing industry. With customers who are professional peers, there’s no room for error.
So what makes a food production company stand out from the competition? Do they customise their products for different customers? Do they offer a variety of packaging and delivery options? Is customer care a high priority? And most importantly, does their product taste outstanding? If you can tick all of the above boxes, you’ve probably found your ideal food manufacturer.
Bon Appetit!