Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1037828
Summer 2018 17 Restaurant operators in today's market are forced to balance two competing trends. On one side, the shortage of labor, rising wages and high turnover make it difficult to keep kitchens fully staffed. On the other, diners are demanding more customization in their meals. "They want it at any time in almost any place, and they want it the way they want it," says Alan Peppel, president and CEO of cutlery and commercial products manu- facturer Dexter-Russell. As restaurants and other foodservice provid- ers look for technologies such as automation to solve their labor challenges, they can get further away from providing the unique dishes that con- sumers want. To bridge those opposing forces, restaurants need tools that allow cooks to work more efficiently while still providing the flexibility to tweak dishes to a diner's preferences. Dexter-Russell is bridging those competing demands by working with restaurant operators and chefs to design knives and other products that speed up preparation or are better suited for specialty dishes. "We're finding people are more concerned about yield and productivity than ever," Peppel says. "We also get asked to help create, design, or manufacture more specific items for them that are task and product specific." With 2,400 different items in its catalog, Dexter- Russell can help kitchens meet that customization challenge. Unlike competitors that treat knives as only a portion of their portfolio, knives, cutlery, and product solutions are Dexter-Russell's busi- ness, granting it a higher level of expertise in the market. As specialists, it aims to create knives that enhance the work of chefs and cooks. "We truly think of our product as a tool for professionals to use," Peppel says. Expert Designers When developing new products, Dexter-Russell taps into its 200-year-old heritage as one of the first manufacturers of cutlery in North America. "We have quite the storied past in manufacturing products in the United States," Peppel says. The company's origins date back to 1818 when Henry Harrington established The Harrington Cutlery Company in Massachusetts, which eventually became known for the Dexter brand of fine kitch- en and table cutlery. ALAN PEPPEL Dexter-Russell "In the online world, the commercial and the home-enthusiast are starting to blend. Many of our dealers and distributors take advantage of that." By Tim O'Connor, Associate Editor tim@feda.com