Whether you’re running a restaurant, a food truck, a catering company, a coffee shop, or a school cafeteria, you need to consider what you’ll need for every step of the process when you’re stocking your food and beverage establishment. You have to consider what is needed for food preparation, cooking, storage, and service to ensure everything runs smoothly. Each part of this process requires its own set of tools to get the job done. You know the obvious ones you’ll need (serving ware, cleaning supplies, trash bags). But what about the less-obvious ones?
Don’t let small oversights cost you big.
We’ve put together an easy checklist featuring many must-have food service supplies you might be overlooking, but are absolutely necessary to keep your staff operating safely and efficiently and your patrons happy and healthy. While this list is by no means comprehensive, it will help ensure you have the basics covered while also showing you’re considering your patrons’ needs beyond offering tasty food!
Disposable Gloves & Hair Nets
For health and hygiene purposes, it’s mandatory that any employees handling food wear disposable gloves. Hair nets are also important.
Disposable Plates & Bowls
It’s a given you will always need plates and bowls to serve your food, but have you considered that vast amount of waste that accumulates quickly in the food services industry? Think about choosing more environmentally friendly options made from more sustainable materials, like compostable plates and bowls.
Cup Sleeves & Lids
Serving hot beverages like coffee or tea? Make sure you have cup sleeves and lids so your patrons don’t burn their hands or spill their drinks when they grab their drink to go.
Cutlery & Utensils
As with plates and bowls, providing your customers with more eco-friendly cutlery goes a long way in reducing your carbon footprint and showing customers you care about being more sustainable in your business practices. Of course, not all food is eaten with a fork and knife. Sometimes only chopsticks will do the trick!
Condiments
It’s easy to forget about extras like condiments when considering what products you’ll need to stock for your food service business. But having them on hand is always, well, handy. From coffee stirrers to sweeteners, salt and pepper to ketchup and mustard packets, individual condiment packs should be part of your day-to-day supplies, especially if you serve any food to go. Not to mention they give people the option to sweeten or flavor their food exactly to their liking.
Food Trays
Whether you’re making your food to go or simply want alternatives to the traditional plastic food trays and containers that end up clogging up landfills, keep the sustainability trend going with eco-friendly food trays, containers, and lids.
Storage Solutions
If you are wrapping your food for display cases or for to-go orders, stay stocked up on food wrap storage solutions. You’ll especially want to keep stocked up on these in case customers want to bring home leftovers.
Serving pizza? Don’t forget the pizza boxes!
Napkin Dispensers and Towelettes
Napkins are an obvious staple, but do you also have napkin dispensers? If you have a food truck or coffee cart, you’ll need napkin dispensers to keep your napkins from flying away.
Serving messier foods like BBQ or foods you eat with your hands? Don’t forget about the pre-moistened towelettes!
Take-away Bags
T-sacks, bakery bags and paper grocery bags make it easy for patrons to grab their food and go with take-away bags.
Table Service
While some establishments use computers, some – like food trucks and cafes – still need to rely on the tried-and-true paper version to take customer orders and provide receipts. And let’s face it – sometimes technology fails us. It’s always good to have paper guest checks available, just in case!
Placemats
While these aren’t a necessity, paper placemats add a little touch of class to any establishment, not to mention they can make clearing tables easier and faster (always a win in restaurants with high turnover).
Things to Consider Before You Order
Commercial kitchens of any size understand that food quality, safety, and service speed are critical for operating successfully. With that in mind, before placing your order, it’s wise to consider the following:
- What types of dishes are you serving?
- What are your most popular dishes?
- What types of dishware do those popular plates require?
- How many people do you expect on your busiest days and times?
- What is your table turnover rate?
Knowing the answers to these types of questions will inform not only what you need, but also how much you need of each product to keep your team on track and your patrons satisfied with their experience.
At Metro Office, we’ve been serving the NYC Metro food services industry for decades and know how challenging and fast paced the industry is. That’s why we provide our customers with a wide range of must-have bulk quality restaurant supplies and convenient, easy ordering so you never have to worry about running out during that crucial breakfast rush, school lunch, or catered event.
Streamline your food service operations with Metro!