Guide to Canned and Frozen Food

Decide on the canned and frozen products you will stock in your kitchen

There are literally thousands of canned and frozen foods from which to choose in stocking your commercial kitchen. Consider the recipes you use most, the type of menu you are offering and the changes you can make in the way you buy and use ingredients. Contact other restaurants in your area that have similar menus to ask about the quantities they order and what suppliers they recommend.

I recommend: SYSCO is one of the largest and most well-known marketers and distributors of both canned and frozen foods for restaurants and other food service businesses. SYSCO will deliver frozen food products like bread dough, scrambled eggs, fine quality vegetables and meats. They also distribute their own labels of canned and frozen foods, or those by top canned food brands like Campbells and frozen brands like Tyson. Foodservice.com offers canned and frozen food reports detailing what canned and frozen foods are selling best and which are not selling as quickly. You can also outline different areas of the country and the different canned and frozen foods sold across the US.

Find speciality canned and frozen food suppliers for ethnic or other special niche food businesses

You have decided to open an ethnic restaurant or a burger joint, some place that has a very specialized and limited menu. In a food business such as these, you will be making a lot of the same things -- refried beans and salsa in a Mexican eatery or burgers and fries in a burger joint. All these items can be found in wholesale quantities for volume specialty buying.

I recommend: Contact Goya Foods Inc. for everything you need in the way of Hispanic canned and frozen foods. Stock your Mexican, Cuban or other Latin-based eatery's shelves with canned beans of all varieties, and frozen meats to add or use as the base of your customers' favorite meals. Order meat for your burger joint from  American Foodservice Corporation. They tout their frozen burgers as "the best in burgers" and directs you to contact their head chefs through their Culinary Smart Center for assistance in procuring their Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) patties or bricks of ground beef. Giammanco & Sons carries a wide variety of wholesale frozen French fries including seasoned, homestyle, crinkle cut and shoestring.

Effectively track your inventory of canned and frozen foods to encourage better inventory management

Tracking your canned and frozen food inventory is important to prevent spoilage and shortages and to reinforce strategies to save money. You can save money by figuring out which items can be ordered in small quantities or not ordered at all and by ordering the most used items in larger quantities. While canned and frozen food doesn't have the quick spoilage issue of fresh foods, there are still expiration dates to consider as well as food that comes damaged or isn't stored properly.

I recommend: Food Software.com offers IPro Restaurant Inventory, Recipe & Menu Software designed to track food costs, inventory, recipes and ordering information. They also offer Optional Add-On Modules, like POS, for a complete software package for your food service business. Inventory Star also offers food tracking software and has a complete guide to calculating food costs to save you money and spoilage.