Janes Says Newsletter Issue 4: Autumn 2010 Contents: Nourish Profi ts Easy à la Minute Asian Soup Product Spotlight Food Service Trend Spotting Industry Snapshot Market Watch News: Nourish Profits with Hearty, Healthy Beef Beef is a must on Canadian menus and Janes fully cooked, 4 kg seasoned beef strips (11510) make offering beef s great taste more convenient than ever before. Janes beef strips are randomly sized so that they look hand cut; however, by choosing Janes fully cooked, seasoned beef strips operators can avoid the expensive hand labour of slicing and browning meat for their mis en place each day. Moreover, our beef strips come in a 2 x 2 kg package so that cooks can use what they need today and keep the rest fresh, ready and waiting for tomorrow s service. Like our fully cooked chicken strips (11501) Janes fi rst foodservice beef strips are tender, moist and delicious on their own; but they re also suitable as a quality protein choice for making traditionally fl avourful fajitas, stir fries or soups like the one below. Easy à la Minute Asian Soup This simple soup (pictured left) is a great appetizer option for all kinds of foodservice outlets. 1 st 1 st Place Place Menu Maker!
12 cups sodium-reduced beef broth 3 L 2 tbsp minced fresh ginger 30 ml 4 cups Janes Beef MealMakers Carved Beef Strips 1 L 4 cups Asian-style steamed mixed vegetables 1 L 12 frozen vegetable dumplings or pot-stickers 12 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander or parsley 125 ml Lime wedges and Thai sweet chili sauce 1. Bring the broth and ginger to a boil. Add beef, vegetables and dumplings. Cook for 5 minutes or until beef and vegetables are heated through. Stir in the coriander. Serve with lime wedges and Thai sweet chili sauce on the side. Makes 8 appetizer servings. Tip: For the best results, make new batches as needed throughout service. Looking for more ways to beef up your menu? Why not try one of these sizzling hot, on trend menu ideas that you can make more easily and profitably with Janes fully cooked beef strips: Wraps Korean Tacos Pasta Omlettes Risotto Toss Janes beef strips with chunks of aged Cheddar cheese and lettuce; roll up in a large wheat flour tortilla for a steak house-style wrap. Serve with steak sauce on the side. Brush warm wheat flour tortillas with hoisin sauce. Pile on warm beef strips. Toss cilantro leaves with chopped lettuce and bean sprouts. Drizzle with Asian sesame dressing and pile on top of meat. Create a quick and easy stroganoff by tossing hot, fresh egg noodles with warm beef strips, sautéed oyster mushrooms and just enough sour cream to coat the noodles evenly. Add a handful of chopped, fresh parsley and toss to combine. Serve with steamed green and yellow beans. For a new take on steak and eggs, sauté onions and green peppers on the flat top. Add beef strips and toss until heated through. Spread evenly over one side of an almost fully cooked omelet. Sprinkle with aged cheddar before folding the eggs over the filling. Serve with Texas toast and homefries. Prepare roasted cubes of squash and caramelized onions accented with thyme before making risotto. When adding the last addition of broth to the rice, stir in beef strips, squash and onions. Garnish the top of the bowl with crumbled Stilton or a Canadian smoked blue cheese such as Blue Haze. Not keen on blue cheese? True aged smoked Gouda instead.
Foodservice Trend Spotting: Better to be Safe than Sorry By Chef Dana McCauley It s no secret that it s tough to run a profitable foodservice business in Canada these days. With the HST making many patrons cheque shy in B.C. and Ontario and the economy just generally less robust than it was a few years ago, labour cost pressures are forcing many operators to stack their kitchen rosters with less experienced prep cooks. Despite the operating cost savings derived, entry level cooks may not have the food safety vigilance and training that more experienced (but also more expensive) staff bring. That s a big worry for many restaurant managers. Consider that a recent study found that 77% of Canadians were either very or somewhat concerned with the safety of the food they eat. That number is up substantially from 2007 when only 66% had the same concern. Obviously restaurateurs need to take steps to reassure the increasingly concerned Canadian public that dining out is a safe choice. One solution available to independent operators and chain buyers is to purchase fully cooked ingredients that offer a bevy of benefits including substantial reductions in the chance of spreading harmful organisms in the kitchen. Good choices include: Plain Janes unbreaded chicken nuggets (12891) dusted, fully cooked wings (60002) cooked white meat Sandwich Grillers portions (40452) cooked, seasoned Beef MealMakers (11510) cooked, carved Chicken MealMakers (11501) Need more information about the products, recipe ideas or articles in this newsletter? Contact: Shawn Davies, VP Foodservice shawn.davies@janesfamilyfoods.com (416) 673-7145
Industry Snapshot By Direct Link Just how much momentum does the precooked chicken trend have in the Canadian foodservice sector? The answer: Plenty! Pre-cooked chicken is gaining ground on raw with 11 additional share points in the past 3 years Pre-cooked became the top choice for operators in Q1 2010 (52 Weeks ending March) Pre-cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast and julienne/fajita products are the leading transition item as operators switch from buying raw to pre-cooked products Direct Link specializes in analyzing the Canadian Foodservice market. For more information visit their website.
Product Spotlight: Keeping Abreast of the Market We ve done it! Our product development team has created a line of 100% consistently sized, fully cooked, whole muscle chicken breasts that fulfill all your high quality, white meat needs. The Janes fully cooked line up now includes 68 g (11456), 90 g (11444) and 113 g (11457) moist, delicious, char-marked chicken breasts to suit a variety of menu occasions. Although we re proud of all of these proucts, at less than $1 per portion, Janes new whole muscle 68 g fully cooked chicken breasts are generating excitement because they re the perfect size for lunch menus. Each portion has 20% meat protein and a firm, juicy texture. Here s how our chefs have been serving them at Janes HQ: Au Gratin: Blend some prepared bread stuffing with shredded Cheddar and sautéed apples. Place a spoonful of this mixture on top of a piece of Janes fully cooked chicken and top with another portion, char marks up. Sprinkle with a little more of the stuffing mixture. Refrigerate for up to 5 hours. As ordered, bake each stack for a few minutes until the cheese melts and chicken is heated through. Serve with a side salad or steamed veggies for a substantial entrée at lunch or dinner. Upside down Pear and Gorgonzola Chicken Salad: Place a warm, fully cooked Janes chicken breastportion in the middle of a serving plate. Toss bitter lettuces such as frisee or baby arugula with balsamic or lemon vinaigrette. Using tongs, arrange a pile of greens on top of the chicken. Garnish with thinly sliced pears and crumbled gorgonzola cheese. Coarsely chop some candied pecans and sprinkle around the white space on the plate for a fine dining-style presentation. Spa Chicken Salad: Cut a cantaloupe into four wedges. Remove and discard seeds. Place each wedge on a serving plate. Combine halved seedless grapes, light mayonnaise, thinly sliced basil and mint in a mixing bowl. Add lemon juice to taste. Toss to combine and spoon over cantaloupe wedges. Slice cold portions of Janes 68 g chicken breasts into two by cutting crosswise. Prop the chicken up against the salad and garnish with a sprig of mint or basil.
Market Watch: Boneless Wings take Flight Until 18 months ago, the term boneless wings was relatively unknown; however, since then this novel chicken cut has helped restaurateurs from Whitehorse to Key West satisfy the seemingly insatiable consumer demand for chicken wings. Interestingly, in the process operators are also giving consumers a healthier choice, too! At Janes, our boneless wings -- called Janes Ultimate Boneless Bites -- are cut from skinless, snow white chicken breasts which means they re lower fat than traditional wings. Likewise, consumers and operators get better value when they choose Janes Ultimate Boneless Bites since the price includes 100% edible product instead of the high proportion of bones in actual wings. What does the future hold for the boneless wing category? Unlike regular wings that are limited in supply, we see tremendous growth potential and price stability for boneless wings, notes Shawn Davies, VP Foodservice at Janes Family Foods. Because we get several boneless wing portions from each chicken breast, the supply is much more abundant than for wings which, of course, are limited to two per bird. Janes commodity analyst Lucky Bilkhu adds that with wing supply well below normal, the wings market should prove interesting this fall. The typical seasonal increase in wing prices will likely start early this year and prices should be strong going into 2011. The market strength of wings will also help alternative finger foods -- such as boneless wings, chicken tenders and drumsticks - to gain market strength, too. Given these insights, it s evident that Janes Ultimate Boneless Bites will be entering the market at the perfect time to help operators please patrons with wing experiences that feed bottom line profits, too. Contact us: 1-800-56-JANES (1-800-565-2637) or e-mail newsletter@janesfamilyfoods.com Visit us: www.janesfoodservice.com or www.janesfamilyfoods.com Copyright 2000-2010. Janes Family Foods.