[Soyfoods Symposium 1997 Home Page]

Soyfoods in the 21st Century Food Service Kitchen

By Anne Patterson, R.D.
President of Nutrition Advantage

Introduction

What does a sloppy joe sandwich served at Heartwise Express in Chicago, a Reuben sandwich at the Desert Greens Cafe in Tempe and mostacolli with marinara sauce at Drake University in Des Moines have in common? They are all very popular soyfood menu items being used in foodservice kitchens.

From the upscale restaurant, Jean George, in New York City, to the hustle and bustle of the kitchen of Squash Blossom Market in Memphis ­ soy is mainlining into an ever increasing variety of foodservice kitchens. Because we're spending close to half of our food dollar on foodservice food ­ a term that defines any and all food
not prepared in the home kitchen, the use of soyfoods in foodservice is increasingly important by those growing
and marketing soybeans. In turn, food services that use soyfoods can bring benefits to their establishments
and institutions.

I believe soyfoods will be an integral part of foodservice in the 21st century. The reason I say this is due to the mega trends affecting our society now and because of the chefs and directors in foodservice who area already attune to food trends. These chefs and directors are creatively meeting market demand by cooking with soyfoods.

You may be saying who has the time to think about mega trends let alone the curves of fast occurring food trends? The food industry, particularly the foodservice industry, which I am addressing today, is unlike other industries that are driven primarily by technology. Food, and consequently the foodservice kitchen, is predominately driven by sociology. It is consumer driven.

Mega trends develop from our sociological, economical and environmental circumstances of our society. Food trends occur in the industry because of those very attune to the mega trends who distill them down to food and then apply them creatively to their particular market.

Those foodservice kitchens using soyfoods successfully have some common threads. They are already attune to the mega trends, they are very good at listening to their customers, they empower their employees and they are creative in using soy in their particular situations. I will discuss some specific cases later in my presentation.

Mega Trends Embrace Soyfoods

I have chosen some significant trends which are having an impact in this century and will continue to affect foodservice well into the next century. I think you will be able to see why soy can easily be a part of these trends.

* Nourishing the psyche ­ people eat for more than just sustenance.
The importance of food we eat will intensify in the 21st century. Awareness of food additives, concerns about the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and demands to know where our food comes from will increase. Food safety, biotechnology and organic will be important aspects of the debate. There will be differing views on how our food is to be grown and processed. This will create strong but opposing markets for soy from the genetically modified to the organic/non genetically modified, segregated soybean made into foods. Soybeans are already being grown to meet very specific food industry demands in this country and for export.

* Global Tastes in a "Stop the World I Want to Get Off Attitude"
There will be a continual "globalization" of the dinner plate which will include man-made foods as well as new previously untapped foods from nature's bounty. The Asian and Hispanic influence will only grow bigger in the 21st century. But as people munch on their fusion cuisine from multi national origins, they will increasingly seek refuge from the hectic fast-paced world by not just "cocooning" but "burrowing" in their homes. Innovative foodservice kitchens will understand this and will make eating at home even easier. For those who have the energy to go out to a restaurant, according to Restaurants and Institutions magazine, they will seek dining where they know who is doing the cooking and they are known ­ in a warm and friendly home-like atmosphere. Soyfoods are being made to meet taste preferences, and for consumer convenience. For example, the soymilk industry looks for sophisticated means to diminish the beany flavor we in the Western world tend to dislike, but our friends in Asia prefer.

* Health and Nutrition
While the 1980s was the decade of calorie counting, the 1990s have been the fat counting decade. By the 2020s we will be phytochemical level counting. I'm already receiving phone calls about how much genistein, an important phytochemical found in the soybean, one should eat a day and what are the best soyfoods for the highest quantity of genistein. Food companies, which area already analyzing these for compounds, are already ahead of the curve.

The USDA Food Guide Pyramid is already being challenged by the Asian Food Pyramid, Mediteranean Food Pyramid and the Vegetarian Food Pyramid and futurists predict by the 2020s there will be a Global Food Pyramid. This will surely mean the use of more plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, plant protein sources.

Those who aren't necessarily vegetarian but who choose to vary their diets with dishes more plant based because of health professional recommendation or because they want the variety of having more food choices will steadily grow during the 21st century. The aging boomer, the infirmed aged, and the aging Generation Xer, and the Millennials ­ the first generation of children to be born in the 21st century will demand plant based foods, although in differing forms ­ from supplements to phytochemically filled energy bars to organically grown black soybeans without additives.

Rainbow America

Dividing lines between ethnic groups will be harder to draw and so will foodservice marketing. Thirty-six percent of kids today already come from "blended families." By 2000, 1 in 3 children will be an immigrant or of non-Caucasian descent. Look at the tremendous influence from Latin America and Asia already on our menus. The Chinese influence is huge in the culinary realm.

Some foodservice kitchens have already embraced the trends which will affect foodservice into the next century. I would like to share some perspectives from these kitchens.

Demographics of Desert Greens Cafe

Let's look into the kitchen of Desert Greens Cafe inside Gentle Strength Co-op. This co-op was formed in 1971 in Tempe, Arizona, as a buying club and added a foodservice in 1977. The co-op and restaurant are located in the heart of downtown Tempe half a mile away from Arizona State University in the heart of "blue collar" corporations. Their customer mix is of all ages and 70% of the patrons are from all types of eating preferences. Thirty percent of their customers are vegetarians. The initial eatery had vegetarian menu items like Hummus, and Baba Ganoush and Dolmas. Basically the menu intimidated the patrons to the point of "no purchase" because they were unfamiliar menu items to the average public.

Key Strategy to Maximizing Profit

The biggest challenge for executive chef, Matt Baer, is the lack of knowledge of soy products, which makes consumers weary about purchasing food prepared with tofu or other soy ingredients. When he came on board one and a half years ago he knew that many of the old menu items would have to go because they meant very little to the patrons.

Menu items were developed that patrons could relate to. Chef Matt calls these "soy reproductions" and one example is "Nate's Reuben" sandwich, named after a creative employee's recipe. The tempeh used in the sandwich is cheaper than corned beef and the rest of the sandwich is made with the same ingredients as a regular Reuben. Tofu Pizza uses crumbled, marinated, bake tofu. Tempeh Gumbo is another familiar item. They also use theme names to help sell their products. Since they are in the Southwest names indigenous to the area are used such as Tofu Rancheros and Saguaro Sesame Tofu, one of their hottest menu items. By using the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid) in producing soy items, this kitchen staff has succeeded in tripling the sales of their soyfood menu items.

This foodservice kitchen personnel believes you must make taste-tests available of new and potential menu foods to your consumer and present "special" plates daily which highlight your soy product.

Labor Controls

In order to control their labor and fully educate the employees, the Desert Greens Cafe has established learning tools for all staff. In the first 90 days of employment new employees are given a full spectrum of all soy products used. They learn exactly what soymilk, tofu, and tempeh are, as well as how they are processed and where they can be used. They learn about their unique nutritional attributes. They even have monthly quizzes for the employees and reward the most knowledgeable person with discount purchases from the co-op store. By training the employee on how to handle and cook with soy ingredients and what to expect, they eliminate food waste by failure. An example may be baking a muffin with soymilk. The dry mix may need to be altered to allow for the difference in viscosity of the soymilk. Another example may be explaining the reason they press 50% of the tofu they use. By doing this step, the tofu accepts flavors of the recipe better and it also holds up better during cooking. Chef Matt provides very specific soyfood recipes while explaining the whys.

Knowledge of the employees translates to helping the customer better understand soy which make them feel more comfortable in purchasing soyfood menu items.

Food Purchasing Concerns

The Desert Greens Cafehas high standards for soy quality purchases. The co-op, which is customer/member owned, only allows soy products that don't contain any artificial preservatives or enhancers. Quality is primarily based upon taste, texture and shelf life. In the past they found that some companies don't package their products well. For example, some tofu packed in plastic tubs with soft plastic covering did not hold up well in transportation and storage. Often times the cheaper products are products that are sub-standard, which may change the structure of the final product, possibly creating an undesirable effect.

One of the hardest things is finding purveyors. They rely on two large supply houses for their soy products, Mountain People and Nature's Best. They use over 100 pounds of tofu a week for their 60 seat restaurant but there have been times when chaos occurred in purchasing because Nature's Best didn't send them the product due to depletion in their inventory. It would be very rare for a meat purveyor not to ship 100 pounds of meat to a restaurant without forewarning and offering a back-up food item. Due to the lack of competition in the soyfood industry food distribution chain, only a few companies provide these products. Of course, it all has to do with demand for the soy products.

Also aggressive cost comparisons are hard to do because of the lack of purveyors. However, this is beginning to change with increased competition. At this time Chef Matt believes it is better to pay for quality, as long as there is consistency. Price wise soy products are cheaper than their meat counterparts. They have found satisfactory tofu made by MoriNu tofu, Turtle Island and White Wave companies. Unfortunately, the cost of soymilk is still almost double the price of dairy milk. However, as more and more competition occurs in the soy beverage industry, the price of soymilk may become lower. Also some soy beverage companies are now making liquid soy beverage in standard gable cartons which reduces production costs and end price.

Equipment Needs

They have bought no special equipment in order to use soyfoods.

Customer Satisfaction

Three years ago their soy products were not selling to the general public. Vegetarians were their main purchasers of these products. Now because they offer different types of soy products prepared in ways familiar to the customer, their sales have tripled with the soy products. The Saghuraro Sesame Tofu is the most popular item loved by vegans and nonvegans because of its simplicity and flavor. They are constantly getting questions from customers for their recipes. This demand has created opportunities to provide cooking classes for the public.

The Desert Greens Cafe has kept their commitment to provide an all plant-based menu. Thus requiring them to use soy protein based menu items that provide versatility, nutritional attributes, and increase sales. It comes from the commitment from the executive chef which has transcribed to sales and profit.

Recipe Detail and Costs

Review of the recipe and cost card on your hand-out show two soy recipes from the Desert Greens Cafe. Production techniques are easy and costs are reasonable. The co-op has stricter buying policies for all products which makes their controls slightly different than other foodservice establishments. They do run a higher food cost, but they are able to control their costs to a minimum, therefore giving them similar profit margins as other establishments.

Our second case study is Hubbell Dining Services at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Arline Smith, registered dietitian and food service director, has been meeting the changing needs of Drake students for twenty five years. Her foodservice kitchen has been serving alternative dishes since 1988. This means she provides a regular animal protein entree as well as a vegetable protein based counterpart at lunch and dinner. She has always been very concerned in providing adequate plant protein not just providing a vegetarian side dish option. While many foodservices would just offer a tomato based marinara sauce over pasta, Arline believes her students need to get their money's worth and nutritional needs, so she offers tofu marinara sauce as the alternate food choice.

Nationwide, on any given day, nearly 15% of the nation's college students choose a vegetarian option in their dining halls. [NRA survey of 200 FS directors for nacufs, Dec. 1993]

Maximizing Profit in Marketing

Arline, like Chef Matt, provide well-recognized soy-based menu items, such as the tofu marinara sauce over pasta. She also offers tacos and burritos using the soy crumbles, the pre-cooked, pre-browned soy protein. Soy protein burgers are an alternative to hamburgers. Marketing signs to label and advertise her menu choices and nutritional content are displayed throughout the cafeteria line.

Arline believes the keys to success in using soy is taste and freshness (they use the small batch cooking method). She is also attune to the changing ethnic mix of the student diners over the last ten years and this is reflected in the menu.

Labor Concerns

Arline offers a tofu stir-fry at one station as an equal weight menu option along with chicken vegetable stir-fry. By using aspetically packaged firm tofu made by MoriNu they have an easy to use consistent quality tofu, that requires no refrigeration or freezer storage and reduces concerns about food safety. They also use Worthington Foods Morning Star Garden Vege Patties and ADM/Green Giant Harvest Burgers for Recipes, pre-browned all-vegetable protein crumbles, which contain 0 grams fat and 3 grams fiber per 1/2 cup portion.

When I asked her how she got employees into the plant based mind set, she said they have several copies of the famous Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks available for their employees to reference. They also use small batch cooking for most of their soy based recipes ­ usually for 12­25 servings to provide quality taste over a two hour serving time for meals. This effort results in high satisfaction by the students which comes back to the employee in the form of job satisfaction.

There is a climate of employee empowerment created in which the production supervisor and cooks do their own "cooking school." Employees share ideas, demonstrate new products and provide recipe ideas to each other versus a Foodservice Director saying, "This is what I want you to do".

Food Purchasing Concerns and Costs

Using their typical distribution chain has provided opportunities to have ready access to tofu, soy protein crumble-type products, soy based vegetable burgers with no problems. No special equipment is needed and, as you can see by the following recipe detail and cost hand-out, preparation techniques are easy and the cost is reasonable.

Conclusion

In conclusion there are some key elements to introducing and successfully using soyfoods in
foodservice kitchens: