As the summer travel season begins, we will start to see occupancy rates rise at hotels throughout the U.S., putting a strain on hotel kitchens and culinary staff. Cuisine Solutions, the global sous vide manufacturer, has become a pivotal cornerstone of many hotel groups’ success strategies, allowing them to keep their food and beverage programs consistent while providing labor pressure relief and accounting for any supply chain disruptions.
Sous vide, which means “under vacuum” in French, is a cooking method pioneered by Dr. Bruno Goussault, the France-born Chief Scientist of Cuisine Solutions. Ingredients are placed in a food-grade plastic pouch, vacuum-sealed, and then cooked in a water bath at a constant time and temperature until the product is fully cooked to its ideal state. The result is excellent flavor, texture, and nutritional content that surpasses what is possible using traditional cooking methods.
“Our product lineup adds real value to the hotel kitchen, said Sonia Kap, National Food Service Director at Cuisine Solutions. “Since we cook at precise temperatures and times in food-grade pouches, Cuisine Solutions products’ safety and consistency allows the customer to create a seamless process in their kitchens, while saving on food and labor costs and cutting waste.
Four-years post-CVOID-19, labor scarcity continues to challenge the hospitality industry. Utilizing prepared sous vide products can aid by cutting prep time significantly and decrease the number of staff needed in the kitchen. “One of the challenges in our industry is a shortage of staff, and our products offer a tool that allows the chef to maintain the banquet and event intake with less back of house staff,” Kap said. “This way, they can shift the focus from prep in the kitchen to creative finishing and plating and the guest experience overall. It’s a real tool in a hotel chain’s culinary arsenal because food and beverage operations are able to run at a high volume and they can really maximize those revenue streams.”
While the disruptions in operations are unavoidable, these challenges need not affect the quality of the hotel guest experience. While there are other sous vide food manufacturers, the Virginia-based Cuisine Solutions is the largest and considered the best by top hospitality brands—The Ritz-Carlton, Hilton, and Marriott among them. The company’s leadership in the industry is due in no small part to its chef-led innovation and high-touch client service. The backbone of the company’s work is its chief scientist, Dr. Bruno Goussault, who pioneered the method in France in 1971.
“Chefs should treat this product as an ingredient because looking at it from that point of view creates endless possibilities,” said Kap. “I’m in sales at Cuisine Solutions, but my training and passion is as a trained chef. I love to advise clients on creating authentic and diverse menus that take advantage of all our products have to offer, and that surprise and delight guests.”
With prepared sous vide products—namely proteins—hotel food and beverage staff can create scalability, waste reduction and cost consistency, providing the time for chefs to focus on the guest. They can feel confident about the menu they are putting forward, knowing that they have the right tools to deliver a seamless dining experience, every time, no matter the situation.
“We grow real partnerships with our customers, “ said Kap. “We act as an extension of their team to develop creative culinary solutions with an eye to the business imperatives.”
About Cuisine Solutions: Led by an international team of award-winning chefs, Cuisine Solutions is the world’s leading manufacturer of sous vide products — the innovative, precise-cooking technique the company pioneered, perfected, and popularized decades ago. Headquartered in Sterling, Virginia, Cuisine Solutions services more than 30,000 restaurants and 6,000 retailers, as well as major airlines and hotels. For more information, visit www.cuisinesolutions.com.
