Category: Leisure

Together let’s serve up the right portion

Understanding consumer demand for British provenance and quality in the out-of-home market.

The Importance of Portion Control

Serving your customers the right food portions both on and off premise is vital for achieving a decent profit margin!

Portion control doesn’t necessarily mean giving less; as giving smaller than average portions may result in unhappy customers. Portion control simply means serving the right balance of food per dish consistently in order to satisfy customers but also achieve a healthy profit margin.

Key factors contribute to determining the amount of food to serve each portion. One of the key factors that contributes to determining the amount of food to serve each portion is the type of food offering, such as casual dining, pub restaurant, gastro pub or value dining. The quality of produce used will also dictate portion yields, for example, cheaper fry alternatives may shrink in size when cooked compared to McCain range fries.

How best to portion your fries

To help we have created the following chart to give operators rough guidelines on how best to portion their fries…

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Together let’s make menus work harder

Optimise your menu with expert insights to boost efficiency, profitability, and customer appeal.

Now is the time to make your menus work smarter and more efficiently. We understand that adapting and refining your menu can be a challenge, especially with evolving consumer preferences and operational demands. Many larger brands have the advantage of in-house experts to guide them through these shifts, but independent operators may not always have access to the same level of support.

That’s why we’re offering expert advice to help independent businesses stay ahead. With dining habits continuing to evolve, new McCain-commissioned insights from Egg Soldiers Food Consultants reveal how to re-engineer menus and streamline operations for maximum impact.

Egg Soldiers, a specialised strategic food consultancy, is led by industry experts with extensive experience in concept creation, menu development, and restaurant operations. They have worked with and helped shape industry leaders, from Leon Restaurants to Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck.

Egg Soldiers Food Consultants

 

“Planning and engineering your menu in a data-driven way and working well with your suppliers to maximise menu potential will be essential in these uncertain times. This is why we’ve partnered up with McCain Foodservice as industry leaders to share our knowledge and insight and ultimately help food businesses succeed”

Toph Ford, Co. Founder of Egg Soldiers

Menu Re-engineering

Where to start – menu analysis

Our industry has always adapted to shifts in society and advancements in the way we live, eat, and drink. As consumer habits continue to evolve, it’s essential to ensure your business remains forward-thinking and prepared for the future of hospitality.

Changes in consumer behaviour are shaping new dining trends—such as a growing interest in food provenance, an increased demand for convenience through contactless payments and delivery options, and a rise in staycations as people explore dining experiences closer to home. While these shifts bring new considerations, one thing remains constant: consumers still expect an enjoyable and memorable dining experience.

Taking a proactive approach to business planning will help you stay ahead. Simplifying operations through a well-structured, re-engineered menu—focused on high-margin, best-selling dishes—will be more important than ever in driving success.

Before you begin your menu re-engineering, ensure you understand your business’ data first – analysing your numbers will be vital in helping guide you on what to change and what to keep. Combining simple analysis with the expert knowledge you already have of your business will give you the best chance of making the right decisions.

Toph Ford & Stefan Cosser from Egg Soldiers have put together a quick-check analysis guide, and two simple tools to help you on this journey:

  • Which dishes are selling and which are not?
  • Look at both the sales numbers and cash profit from each dish
  • Which dishes are firm customer favourites and which ones might need some improving?
  • Which dishes or ingredients have high waste?
  • How many ingredients are only used in one dish?
  • Are there any operationally complex dishes i.e. heavy prep or ‘service killers’?

Dish scorecard 

A dish scorecard can help you get an objective view of dishes and create an action plan for each dish, and the final menu as a whole.

The general idea is to get a simple and clear understanding of the dishes that deserve your time and effort and those that don’t. Below is a guide to the questions you should be asking yourself. You can adjust these to suit your type of business and food offer.

This is your first step to knowing which dishes to keep on the menu, which ones to tweak or improve, and which dishes should be removed (plus whether these dishes need replacing or if you’re simply going to reduce the overall menu – we’ll give you more tips on this in the below tactics checklist).

2×2 Grid

A 2 x 2 grid is a simple way of plotting your dishes to find out how well they’re doing – it works alongside your scorecard to give you a fully informed visual idea of your menu performance.

You can change the axis to give you the answers you need – from quality to operational simplicity, to popularity, margin or sales. You could even create several 2 x 2 grids to help you build a great menu analysis model.

The important questions

Let’s tackle some of the common questions and decisions facing all hospitality businesses right now. We’ll then build on the solutions for these as part of our tips and tactics guide for re-engineering your menu.

Should you re-introduce your old menus?

Your customers will be excited to have their favourite dishes available again, but this initial excitement will only last so long. To keep both loyal and new customers engaged, it’s important to introduce something fresh and enticing. This doesn’t require a complete menu overhaul—just one or two new dishes can make a difference. Customers may be drawn in by these additions and still order their usual favourites, or they may return because of the buzz around your new offerings. That’s why industry leaders innovate regularly.

As you plan the next steps for your business, take advantage of the strong UK supply chain to support your menu development by sourcing new items from specialist experts. McCain Appetisers can help increase average order values with minimal complexity by offering innovative sides and add-ons. For example, our mustard-coated dill pickles or sweet and salty onion straws work brilliantly as bold-flavoured side dishes and also serve as flavourful burger toppers to enhance your menu.

How do you create more appealing dishes?

Now is the time to focus on great quality, recognisable dishes with your own added twist/touch. With disposable incomes under pressure, consumers will often hold off on big expenditures like holidays abroad, preferring to spend on smaller treats, such as a meal out, instead.

Introduce special ‘secret’ house sauces, dressings or seasonings that your customers can’t get anywhere else. You can also look at dishes that are difficult or time-consuming to make well at home, for example a slow-cooked piece of meat or a technique that is tricky to perfect such as an interesting dessert. These ideas will help you create a memorable and ownable experience.

How do you make dishes work harder?

Cross-utilising ingredients and components across various dishes is essential. Aim to use ingredients more than once across your menu. Increased usage means increased

volume and helps limit wastage. You could introduce ‘add-ons’ to extend 1 dish into 2 or 3, for example, topped fries, and ensure the toppings are components from elsewhere on your menu – this could be a cheese sauce or grated cheese blend, pulled meat or your signature sauces.

How do you create more profitable dishes and menus?

The simplest and quickest approach is to look at upsell opportunities – training your waiting staff to suggest side dishes that match the mains or asking guests if they’d like to add a component. This could be as simple as adding bacon to a burger or a sauce to a main course.

Make sure all your dish costs are up to date. Take any time you have now to review both your suppliers and ingredient pricing.

Do not drive quality out of dishes though – this can often be a knee-jerk reaction but it’s not a good long-term strategy and your customers will react if they feel the quality is slipping. Dishes must deliver your quality standard.

Tactics for success

Now that you have insights from your data and analysis tools, you can use them to guide your menu re-engineering journey. Our list of tactics and tips will help you focus on key areas to consider while keeping your main business goals in mind.

When re-engineering your menu, it’s important to be realistic—design your offerings around evolving consumer preferences and dining habits. Key factors to prioritise include:

  • Great quality – Ensure every dish meets high standards to keep customers coming back.
  • Value for money – Customers are more mindful of spending, so offer satisfying options at the right price point.
  • Consistency is key – Reliable quality and experience build trust and repeat business.

While some consumers may be more budget-conscious, they still seek enjoyable dining experiences and small indulgences, even during economic challenges. People are looking for ways to treat themselves, so making your menu feel exciting, accessible, and rewarding is essential.

Use our tactics and tips as a final checklist to help refine and optimise your menu for success.

Do some research

Before you start looking at your menu, make sure you do some simple research first.

  • Look at your local and competitive markets – Have competitors introduced new concepts or changed their menus? How can you adapt and stay ahead? Consider the dynamics of your local customer base, such as office workers, students, and shoppers—are they fully engaged in the area, or has footfall shifted? Identifying trends and gaps in the market will help shape your strategy.
  • Analyse popular venues and food brands – What dishes are performing well across successful restaurants and delivery platforms? Your menu should reflect what people actively want to eat. Now is the time to be strategic—avoid keeping underperforming dishes just because they’ve always been there. Review top-selling items from platforms like Deliveroo and JustEat to identify must-have menu additions.
  • Explore new revenue channels – Think beyond your current menu by considering alternative food styles, menu categories, or a dedicated delivery service. Diversifying your offerings can help future-proof your business and attract new customers.
  • Expand into new day-parts – If your business primarily operates at lunch and dinner, could you introduce a breakfast or brunch option? Test the waters with a simple weekend offering that utilises ingredients you already stock. If the demand is there, this could become a valuable revenue stream without adding significant operational complexity.

Reduce and refine your menu

Concentrate on your blockbuster dishes (what you’re known for, or want to be known for – remember that 80% of spend is often on 20% of the menu) and the dishes that are simple to prepare and serve, ideally by a single person in their own segregated workspace. A reduced menu, full of the most exciting, healthy-margin dishes is where you should start. Reducing your menu also has the added benefit of reducing your prep time and wastage.

Recognisable, comforting food

is likely to be what customers seek out first. The dishes that remind them of how things used to be and make them feel comforted and safe – comfort doesn’t mean boring though; think classic British to global street food options. From Mac n Cheese, to Fried Chicken, to Burgers & Fries, Slow-roasts and Chicken, Falafel or Halloumi Salads, all with your twists and signature touches to make them ownable to your menu.

Value

Consumers are likely to become more aware of value and want to ensure they get the most bang for their buck. This does not mean your dishes need to be cheap or overly large portions. Value means that a dish delivers on the experience and quality promise for its price point. Quite often a restaurant’s most expensive dish is its most popular, as customers associate it solely with your menu and view it as great quality and therefore value. See ‘add-ons’ and ‘bundle deals’ below for a supporting value tool.

‘Add-ons’

Upselling! As highlighted in our Q&A, this is a great tool to drive sales and ATV, while keeping the operation simple – so worth a mention again. What easy-to- prepare, healthy-margin Sides, add-ons or bundle deals can you introduce? Starting with great-value main meal prices will drive your value-for-money message, the addition of add-ons will then put the extra spend in the hands of your customer. Use the McCain Menu Signatures Breaded Mozzarella Cheese Sticks as an add-on perfectly paired with tangy tomato dip.

Time to align with trends

Delivery is clearly the biggest trend right now. However, the trends consumers have been excited by over the last few years have not disappeared, so don’t forget them when planning your menus. Here are a few to consider:

  • The Experience – this is the heart of any great restaurant. Make sure your customers can experience the best of your brand, whether it’s online, on social media or in ordered food
  • Communication – talk to your customers through every channel available to you. Tell them what you’re doing and why
  • Plant-based – a category or even menu of its own, which will need both healthy and indulgent dish options
  • Free-from – give your customers choice, even if it’s only 1 or 2 dishes to start with. Think low and no carb, dairy free, gluten free. Either select dishes that naturally deliver this or let the expert suppliers like McCain take this hassle and worry away from you. They’ve done all of the testing and accreditation on your behalf, so you can serve free-from meals with confidence
  • Health & Wellness – include options on your menu, but ensure you balance with the comforting, indulgent treat dishes that your customers will crave

Time to align with more trends

  • Sharing – whether small plates or large dishes to share, sharing options give customers a quick and easy choice on the menu and allow you to plan your prep. Great for families and home delivery, and for bundle deals
  • Street food – take flavour and ingredient combination inspiration from the amazing street food markets we have across the UK
  • Freshness and flavour punch – think savoury, sweet, spicy, sour and pickled i.e. craveability. Use recipes from cuisines that relate easily to this such as SE Asian, Mexican, Modern Indian etc. Your street food research will give you great examples of this
  • Value – while thinking through the above points, ensure that all dishes deliver on value vs. price point

Think British

If there are any positives to take from the current crisis, it is certainly how our country has pulled together and the pride we have in our people (led by the wonderful key workers). We are also witnessing clear improvements in environmental damage, very much due to the lack of travel and transport of goods. This all points to an increase in the demand for locally grown produce, supporting our UK growers, farmers and manufacturers, while helping the environment and reducing carbon footprint. This is an opportunity to work with suppliers who source from British farms, and proudly tell your customers about it. McCain source and manufacture in the UK and with 250 British farms and a number of longstanding partnerships spanning three generations of farming families, they are committed to using British potatoes wherever possible. This will be more important to your guests and the planet than ever before.

Delivery

If delivery wasn’t already the future of hospitality, it certainly is now. It will be a vital source of revenue for most hospitality businesses in the here and now, but it will also help to future-proof your business – having a great delivery offer could help see you through these times. A great delivery menu will follow the same core tactics as your eat-in menu, but also requires careful additional planning. For example, travel quality is vital – only include dishes that will still be great after they’ve been on a scooter ride. This means robust ingredients that will not suffer from going limp or soft during the journey. If unavoidable, consider packing these items separately, away from the main hot component to avoid sweating. Use the specialist supply chain that is available to you; these suppliers have invested their skill and development time already to create menu items that are perfect for delivery. McCain SureCrisp have been specifically designed and tested to keep its crispness and quality through the delivery process. The game-changing clear-coat fry allows you to offer a consistently crispy fry across delivery, takeaway and in-restaurant. Stays crispier than uncoated fries up to 20 minutes in a closed delivery bag, allowing you to deliver further in non-contact delivery.

Lean on your suppliers

With a need to ideally reduce labour, look to utilise your suppliers’ skill-sets and your wholesalers’ knowledge of what is available to you. We’re all in this together, so you’ll be surprised how eager your supply base is to help you. Let our expert UK supply chain support you. Getting in touch with suppliers will also simply be a chance to check in on them and see if they’re good to go when you are.

McCain Foodservice Solutions pride themselves on developing expert products that help you overcome specific challenges like soggy delivery fries with the revolutionary SureCrisp range. The McCain Chef Solutions Simply wedges reduce preparation time in the kitchen with great-quality potatoes simply peeled, sliced into wedges and blanched ready for use as side of plate or as an ingredient.

Cross-utilisation is key

Making your ingredients and dishes work harder will be vital, and will help reduce waste also. Set yourself a target that an ingredient or dish component needs to be used in 2-3 dishes minimum, otherwise it doesn’t make the cut. How can you utilise your recognisable dishes more – take your Chicken Wings and create 2 sections (1 for dipping and 1 for tumbling) with your own house-made sauces, create premium topped versions of your Mac n Cheese, or breadcrumb it into nuggets and serve as a starter and side dish? Extend your fries into a selection of loaded options, using components from elsewhere on the menu, such as cheese sauce and cheese blends, house-made sauces and chilli beef brisket. Utilise that brisket chilli and create Chilli Beef Croquettes.

When serving recognisable dishes, it’s vital you then add your own personal touch or twist, to make it yours. This can be a simple sauce, garnish or house-made pickle.

Outsourced VS in-house made

Another opportunity to help you reduce labour costs. The skill and trick here is to source great pre-made base items from specialist suppliers and then add your own simple in-house touches to make it ownable to you. For example, sauces, garnishes, different ways of preparing and cooking etc. Make sure your recipes are special/secret and not something that can easily be made at home or found elsewhere.

Ingredient format

The easiest place to start is fresh vs. frozen. By using frozen items you can reduce wastage, as long as you can still deliver the quality. Select the best frozen food available, and balance this with freshly prepared ingredients across your menu. Let the expert suppliers take some of the prep pressure away. This will be another vital tool in helping you deliver consistent dishes.

Don’t forget the kids

With the increase in delivery likely to continue, families will be eating together more often. So remember to offer good children’s options, or food that is great for sharing with the family.

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Together let’s focus on the future of sides

Innovate your menu with exciting side dishes, textures, vibrant colours, and plant-based options to keep customers coming back.

Together let’s make the moment

The market continues to thrive on social dining experiences, with people prioritising connection and indulgence when eating out. As hybrid work remains the norm, social brunches, dinners, and weekend gatherings are becoming more popular than functional, work-related dining occasions.

At the same time, consumer preferences are evolving, with a growing appetite for fresh takes on classic favourites like fries and sides. This shift presents a perfect opportunity for operators to reimagine their menus with bold flavours, unique textures, and shareable options that enhance craveability and create memorable dining moments.

The power of Textures

As consumers seek multi-sensory dining experiences, texture is becoming a key factor in food enjoyment. From the satisfying crunch of crispy fries to the contrast of soft and crispy elements in a dish, texture adds depth and excitement to every bite.

Crispy foods remain a staple on menus, enhancing both flavour and presentation. McCain SureCrisp™ fries are designed for lasting crunch, while McCain Crispers’ deep-ridged V-shape offers the perfect base for bold seasonings and loaded toppings, making every dish more craveable and unique.

Why not try

NANNY BILL’S AGGY FRIES feature McCain Surecrisp™ seasoned with a mixture of herbs, spices and sea salt, a sprinkling of parmesan, a drizzle of garlic and herb sauce, and a dash of hot sauce topped with some spring onions for colour.

Plant Based

The continuing driver around plant-based foods has led to the creation of further innovation to celebrate vegetables.*

Chefs and creators are increasingly pairing exciting plant-based ingredients with favourite flavours. As of early 2025, approximately 12% of the UK population, or around 6.4 million people, follow a meat-free diet**. This trend is expected to continue, with an additional 15% of Brits planning to adopt a meat-free lifestyle within the year, potentially bringing the total to over 14 million by the end of 2025.

Consumers are seeking vegan versions of their favourite dishes that closely mimic the texture and experience of traditional products. McCain SureCrisp™ Traditional Thick Cut fries are the perfect pairing for dishes like this tofish and chips @unitydiner were serving up @thebigfeastival!

Vegan drenched fries are at festivals across the UK each summer with recipes such as Vegan Cheese & Wild Mushroom as an alternative dish to the ever-popular Poutine. The clear coating on the McCain SureCrisp™ range makes them perfect for topping as they stay crisp even when loaded.

Greener carbs are also set to be more popular and involve texture innovation. Rice and pasta made from cauliflower, peas and other plant-based proteins will be seen more and more throughout the years to come. McCain uses British potatoes grown by local farmers and so ensure their products have lower food miles compared to imported varieties.

2025 continues to see rapid growth in the food-tech arena, with lab-grown beef, seafood, and dairy becoming more widely available alongside plant-based meat and dairy alternatives. Advances in cellular agriculture and fermentation technology are driving innovation, offering more sustainable and scalable options for consumers seeking ethical and environmentally friendly food choices.

*Source: https://www.wgsn.com/fd/p/article/92048#page1 **Source: https://www.finder.com/uk/stats-facts/uk-diet-trends

The Power of Colour

“We eat with our eyes and so if it looks good, we expect it to taste good too,” observes Nathalie Pauleau, global product manager for natural colours at Givaudan. The mental bond created by food colour is very strong. Different colours have different connotations: “In 2020 blues and greens were very popular as they have strong connections with health, vitality, relaxation and wellbeing and have long been associated with nature” she explains.*

Psychology plays a key role in how consumers experience food, and colour is a powerful tool for creating emotional connections. In 2025, vibrant colours such as yellows and oranges continue to be popular, as they are associated with energy, warmth, and vitality. McCain’s Menu Signatures Sweet Potato Fries offer a visually striking and delicious side. Try topping them with Moroccan-spiced sour cream, fresh coriander, and tangy pomegranate for the ultimate colour splash that delights both the eyes and the taste buds.

McCain once teamed up with Fink who run a social enterprise street food business serving the most vibrant and sustainable street food whilst promoting positive mental wellbeing.

Check out their colourful take on a classic with Sumac-spiced Halloumi Fries with Harissa Tomato Houmous, Garlic Tahini Yogurt, Jalapeño Chimichurri, Chilli Sauce, Crumbled Feta and Pickled Red Onions.

With social media continuing to dominate the digital landscape, visually striking foods are more shareable than ever. In 2025, bold and vibrant colours play a key role in making dishes more ‘Instagrammable,’ driving engagement and sparking consumer interest. Eye-catching sides offer the perfect opportunity to experiment with colour, texture, and flavour—while also commanding a premium on menus.

Try Only Jerkin’s recipe of McCain Crispers tossed in a dry jerk seasoning with black beans, red onion, chilli mango aioli, coriander and chillies.

½ of the brain’s capacity is visual

We also know it is possible to change the flavour of food as you eat it, by altering its colour.

Charles Spence, an Oxford experimental psychologist who helped Heston Blumenthal develop his boundary-pushing menus, places vision in parallel with smell when it comes to distinguishing flavour.

“Half the brain capacity is visual which is why the colour of food can help determine whether a food is appetising and help define its flavour” – CHARLES SPENCE

This shows the importance of visually pleasing foods and how restaurants need to be brave and innovative to keep consumers interested and happy.

*Source: https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2021/04/01/How-food-colours-tap-into-consumer-mood-and-wider-trends

New Flavour Dimensions

Taste sensations are created by something called entropy; this is the measure of the number of possible arrangements atoms in a system can have. It is a measure of uncertainty and randomness. We experience entropy in the mouth when we eat. Food ends up in a state of disorder within the mouth as flavours make their way across the palate of the tongue.

It is predicted that chefs will use the science of entropy to rearrange food atoms within the mouth to produce new textures, flavours and even more from sweet to savoury within a few bites.*

The trend for entropy will continue to evolve in the area of umami and is due to become even more extreme and prevalent across menus over the coming years.

*Source: https://greenseedgroup.com/food-trends-2021/

Flavour Fixers

Sides are the perfect transporter of flavour, especially those with skin-on rugged textures that grip spice blends and seasonings. Discover a whole new world of flavour with our own expert flavourologists map exploring botanicals, flavours of the sea and botanical flavour combinations that will elevate your sides to the next level!

There is a need for multi-sensory experiences, and this had led to a raft of experimental dishes.*

Why not try

McCain mozzarella sticks topped with fondu and parmesan.

*Source: https://www.wgsn.com/fd/p/article/92048#page1

Wild & Wacky Trends

In 2025, the trend of “vehement foods” continues to push boundaries, turning dining into a multisensory experience. Experts predict a future where food becomes interactive—changing colours, textures, and even movement to evoke emotions and enhance flavour perception.

Dynamic dishes, such as Tom Kerridge’s hot pork scratchings that pop as they’re served or Da Fish Ting’s dehydrated tuna-topped fries with dancing tuna flakes, showcase how food can become a spectacle. As technology and creativity evolve, expect more immersive and visually captivating dining experiences to emerge.

This trend is set to further integrate social media platforms and immersive technologies, with apps allowing you to watch your chips dance on your fork, or a burger that evolves to the beat of music, or a dessert that changes color as you eat it, responding to temperature. Take a look at ‘Mirage’, a new app from City Social, which introduces the World’s First Augmented Reality Cocktail Menu, using VR to bring cocktails to life.

Vibrant, experiential foods are expected to rise in popularity, offering a visual spectacle for diners. As the demand for more “elevated experiences” continues to grow, dining is increasingly becoming a multi-sensory adventure.

Upcycled food is projected to continue growing as a prominent food trend, with a report from Future Market revealing that the upcycled food market is currently valued at $46.7 billion, with an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% over the next decade.

A 2021 study published in Food & Nutrition Sciences revealed that only 10% of consumers are familiar with upcycled food products, but the great news is that once educated about them, 80% say they would seek them out.*

Some great upcycled side-dish options include blended excess carrot and beetroot tops made into a delicious pesto to garnish roasted vegetables or banana peel bacon, where raw banana peels are marinated in a mixture of vegan Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, garlic and onion powder and then seared in a hot pan until crisp and dark.**

McCain are committed to being zero waste to landfill and 100% potato utilisation by 2030 with products such as their skin-on fries.***

“use of ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption, are procured and produced using verifiable supply chains, and have a positive impact on the environment”

*Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daphneewingchow/2021/05/31/upcycled-food-is-the-coolest-trend-you-probably-never-heard-of/?sh=59fa3a562f0a **Source: https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips-techniques/banana-peel-bacon ***Source: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:67d671d9-6b4a-41d3-b04b-4c06b08e59ba

Our Range

Like you, we’re passionate about bringing people together over food to create truly memorable moments. It’s our ambition to help keep customers coming back with exciting ideas, future trend predictions and product solutions that help you bring them to life on your menu. Here at McCain Foodservice Solutions we are dedicated to future innovation and sustainability.

Our potatoes are grown in Britain by our network of 250 farmers who work with us on using sustainable irrigation systems and renewable energy. Our unrivalled consumer insight when it comes to fries and sides helps us create ranges that your customers will love.

 

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Together let’s serve the perfect chip

Chips are the most stolen item—get them right! Read on for perfect cooking tips.

How to Serve the Perfect Chip

 

Step 1

Store off the floor and do not stack more than 3 cases on top of each other
Close case and store correctly in freezer, do not drop

Step 2

Heat oil to 175°
Always cook from frozen. Product should be -18° when received

Step 3

Fill basket away from the fryer
Product is lightly coated so this will reduce crumb in oil

Step 4

Fill half the basket
Warning: do not overfill

Step 5

Fry for 4-5mins
Shaking gently half way through

Step 6

Drain and serve
Or hold for a maximum of 10mins under lights

 

 

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Together let’s freeze for the future

Optimise freezer storage with safe practices, stock rotation, and efficient organisation.

The Importance of Freezer Storage

Fridges and freezers are both used to keep food and perishable goods fresher for longer, with freezers being designed for long-term storage of meats, prepared meals, and other ingredients. A commercial freezer is one of the most important appliances used in a professional kitchen, with freezers often storing hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds worth of stock.

In today’s fast-paced kitchen environments, adaptability is key. With increasing demand for efficiency and consistency in food prep, frozen food has become a staple in many commercial kitchens. That’s why it’s more important than ever for operators and kitchen staff to maximize the performance of their freezers. To support this, we’ve put together this guide packed with the ultimate freezer storage hacks. No matter the size, style, or contents of your commercial freezer, these top tips will help ensure you’re getting the most out of your storage space.

How to Store freezer food safely

Get the temperature right

Storing food at the right temperature is key to keeping it fresh and good for future cooking. As a legal guideline, frozen food should be kept at around -18°C. It is also important that you don’t overstock your fridges or freezers, as this can prevent proper circulation of air, causing hotspots where food may not be kept at desired temperatures and bacteria can grow. You should always monitor the temperatures of your storage areas, including fridges, freezers, cold rooms – you can do this by using a wall-mounted thermometer.

Storing meat

It is important to store your meat at the bottom of fridges, freezers or on the bottom shelves of storage racks in cold rooms. Storing meats at the top of shelves increases the risk of contamination as meat juices can easily drip down on other foods.

Ideally, where possible separate fridges and freezers should be used for storing raw meats and ready-to-eat foods to prevent any potential physical contamination. 

Rotate stock

Rotating stock is crucial in any kitchen. Using a first in, first out system ensures that food closest to its ‘use by date’ is used first to avoid food wastage. This simple, yet very effective storage method stops old food from being left at the back of shelves or in the bottom of freezers. It also aids in reducing your food waste, as kitchens should be using everything before it goes off and will know exactly what stock they have still to use until having to order more.

Keep food labelled

Labelling all stock as soon as it arrives with important information such as use-by dates is an inexpensive and efficient way to organise your food storage. Labelling will also aid with your stock rotation system and control of inventory. Food labels can also be used to separate potentially hazardous foods, such as allergens.

By storing your freezer food correctly, you can:

  • Reduce waste
  • Increase profits
  • Increase efficiency
  • Improve food hygiene
  • Utilise space

 

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The importance of chips, when dining out

Stay ahead of consumer desires with McCain—insights on what truly matters when dining out.

McCain has teamed up with professional research company, Toluna. Toluna conducts research all over the world to help household brands best understand their consumers. Their brief was to uncover what really makes diners happy when eating out (and the role of chips, of course) to better understand how this leads to positive dining experiences.

Using an online survey, the research collected data from over 700 UK respondents who had eaten out in the last 6 months. The fieldwork was carried out in February 2023.

Chips are important to customers

6 in 10 diners would be more disappointed if chips were missing from the menu than any other menu item.

Chips are the first food encounter

45% of people admitted to stealing a chip from someone else’s plate before their meal arrived (cheeky), and 54% said it’s always the first thing they try.

Chips are the first food encounter a diner has with a pub, bar or restaurant. The quality sets a precedent for the meal to come and ultimately leaves a lasting impression.

Not everyone will complain if the quality isn’t right; they just don’t come back…

In fact, our survey revealed that 44% of customers would not complain if they got a poor-quality meal, but 89% would be unlikely to return if their meal did not live up to their expectations. So don’t cut corners where it matters!

Did you know?

9 out of 10 diners said quality was more important than portion size (200-250g) when it comes to chips. Serving better-quality, optimum portions makes diners happier and leads to a more positive dining experience
55% of customers agree that the quality of the chips served is important to the overall enjoyment of their meal.

Chips really do matter

1 in 2 customers identified chips as a favourite food when eating out, ranking higher than any other menu item. With the potential for chips to make or break a meal out, McCain decided to build a model to deconstruct what the key factors are in the perfect chip when influencing a great dining experience.

Offering a WIDE RANGE of chips (from skin-on to triple-cooked) generated the most happiness for diners. This was closely followed by CRISPNESS and TASTE, which generated high levels of emotion when it came to the chip experiences.In essence, offer an array of size and style and get the crispness, taste and temperature right when serving a perfectly portioned side of chips, and you’re 89% of the way to total chip perfection.

Get them wrong at your peril! 32% of diners said they would leave a bad review after a terrible chip experience.

Here at McCain we only use the best-quality potatoes that deliver consistent, all-year- round flavour. Our Surecrisp™ range stays crispier and warmer than uncoated fries on plate1, and they stay crispier for longer than the nearest branded coated competitor.¹

In tests, consumers agree McCain SureCrisp™ is crispier and more enjoyable on plate when compared to an uncoated fry.²

  1. Source: Sensory testing for crispness, Sensory Dimensions – August 2018
  2. Source: Consumer preference testing, Blue Yonder – April 2019. Products tested was McCain 3/8 cut. Outcome may vary depending on climate

Range Appeal

Increasingly, range is becoming more important to diners as certain chip varieties have become synonymous with key mains.

Offering a good and varied range of chips contributed 37% TOWARDS HAPPINESS and positive review intention, making a significant contribution to offering the perfect chip experience. The McCain range allows you to serve the perfect chip with every dish, adding to the overall happiness of your customers and influencing their positive review.

Understanding Diner Experience

Of course, it’s no surprise that food quality is an extremely important factor when it comes to diner experience. In fact, our survey found that the quality of food served is the most important ingredient of an enjoyable meal out, with 73% of respondents saying it made the largest contribution in generating happiness and influencing positive reviews.

We used some clever maths (structural equation modelling) to discover how important each aspect of the dining experience was at driving overall happiness, and the subsequent impact each had on affecting an online review.

We drilled down into each of the four overarching areas to build a Happiness Model that can help operators better understand what areas of their business are directly impacting customer reviews.

Eating out Happiness Model

 

Quality is King

It’s no surprise that great food quality is THE most important happiness indicator in the mind of the customer. But it turns out size doesn’t matter as much as taste anyway!

Quality was nearly ten times as important as portion size. It’s all about the taste and variety, and that’s especially true when it comes to chips. 

Our research found that a whopping 93% of customers are more likely to treat themselves to higher-quality food, with 87% agreeing that it’s important their food is of a good quality as they don’t dine out regularly. 

And with 90% of customers now actively looking for outlets that serve good-quality food, this demonstrates an increasing demand for quality over quantity. A perfectly portioned side of delicious and crispy chips will deliver greater levels of happiness than a vast serving of average quality chips. This is a great way to reduce waste and make your diners even happier! 

Menu range was also a large contributing factor to the overall happiness index, with customers citing a variety of options as a key factor to their overall dining experience. 

But what does that actually mean?

Our research discovered a quarter of diners liked to see a range of different cuts of chips on the menu – from skinny skin-on fries to chunky triple-cooked chips. Menus need to offer enough choice to make guests happy and side orders and fries are a great way to add choice without complexity, and also allow for a level of personalisation which is very important when it comes to achieving customer satisfaction. 

Interestingly the range of speciality meals (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free) showed almost no correlation with people’s happiness with the food. This can widely be explained by the fact that today customers expect to see these options available. It doesn’t make them any happier to see them, but take them away and happiness would certainly be impacted. 

McCain has a range of gluten-free chips that allow you to cater for everyone without the worry of listing a second fry. 

Discover the range. 

The Power of Reviews

The Happiness Model revealed the overall quality of the outlet foremost in customers’ minds (90%) when they consider the impact of where to dine. 

Although almost half of diners don’t regularly leave online reviews of their experience (49%), this doesn’t render online reviews obsolete. In fact, the study revealed 66% of diners would happily pay more if they were reassured by a pub, bar or restaurant’s excellent online reputation. This demonstrates that guests are happy to pay for quality and are actively looking for consistency when it comes to food quality.

 

82% of diners say they’ve left an online review, with around only 20% doing so frequently. This means there’s a hardcore set of reviewers out there controlling the agenda. Our research has identified these as the ‘organisers’ who punch above their weight when it comes to opinion forming. 

Review Platforms 

Diners across all ages predominantly check with TripAdvisor (38%) and/or Google Reviews (46%) before deciding where to eat. The over-55s prefer to check out the pub, bar or restaurant’s website, whereas the under-30s will access the outlet’s social feeds before forming an opinion and deciding where to spend their time and money. 

Unsurprisingly, younger diners are more likely to use image sharing and social media platforms like Instagram (45%) than people over 55 (21%). 

 

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Together let’s support Britain

Understanding consumer demand for British provenance and quality in the out-of-home market.

The Growing Importance of Provenance

Building confidence will be vital in persuading consumers to visit the out-of-home market. A McCain-commissioned CGA insight reveals how consumers will place increasing scrutiny over the pubs, bars, and restaurants they choose to visit, along with their menus. As a leading supplier of quality produce to the restaurant sector and a supporter of British farming, it’s our aim to help operators understand how quality and provenance can encourage customers to visit.

The quality and sourcing of ingredients has always been an integral consideration for consumers when choosing where to visit. Research shows 70% of consumers say sourcing of ingredients will remain important when deciding where to dine out.

In fact, 1 in 4 consumers expect pubs, bars, and restaurants to provide information about where food was grown or produced. Provenance is now a basic expectation for a quarter of customers when deciding where to go.

The new research indicates that environmental and sustainability concerns may take a back seat, with provenance information being the only factor that has increased in importance for consumers.

 

Consumer Expectations for Sourcing and Quality

44% of consumers said the sourcing of ingredients is now more important, and 53% of 18-34-year-olds said they base decisions on where to dine out on ethical considerations.

Local produce plays into an ethical mindset, with 25% of consumers rating “local produce” as very important. Not only is it desired, but a significant proportion of consumers would also be willing to pay more for local or British produce.

Which of the following, if any, would you pay more for when eating out?

Ethical Considerations and Local Produce

For consumers, local means within a close proximity of the outlet, although for 1 in 7, this means the same country. Consumers show a clear appetite for British produce more so now than ever before.

60% said they find “British produce” to be more appealing than in previous years. The appeal of British produce may stem from economic uncertainty, but it is certainly showing real resonance with consumers.

Why do you find British produce (ie. Ingredients and products) appealing? 

The Appeal of British Ingredients

Consumers have greater expectations for the venues they visit to offer British-grown produce.

32% of consumers said they have increased expectations for “British ingredients” from the venues they visit, and 61% said they are now more interested in knowing where their food and produce come from.

Keeping consumers informed will ensure the most frequent and lucrative visitors keep returning to the market they love.

In summary

  • Sourcing and provenance are predicted to become even more important to consumers in the out-of-home market.
  • Ethical considerations will remain a priority, and consumers will increase the scrutiny they place on pubs, bars, and restaurants when it comes to provenance over other ethical matters.
  • Local products are desired by those who dine out, further playing into ethical considerations.
  • British products on menus will appeal more to consumers and will influence their decisions about where to dine.

McCain’s Commitment to British Farming and Sustainability

We believe that good ethics is good business. These principles guide who we are, what we do, and how we achieve it. The result? Consistently good food, simply made.

We’re committed to quality from the very start of the supply chain. McCain has been operating in the UK for over 50 years and has invested over £100 million into the renewal of the Scarborough site. We work together with growers—some of whom have supplied McCain for three generations. We are the largest purchaser of British potatoes, priding ourselves on our strong relationship with UK agriculture.

McCain is committed to ‘giving back’ to communities. We actively support local schools and careers events, and we recently committed 1.4 million meals to FareShare, the UK’s largest food redistribution charity.

Alongside our suppliers, we’re also a leading supporter of the Red Tractor Assurance Scheme. Find out more about our close relationship with growers on our Meet the Farmers page.

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