“Welcome“, says master chef Thomas Wenger cheerfully. He welcomes us inside the newly established company restaurants at BHS Corrugated in Weiherhammer, in the Upper Palatinate district. The 44-year-old co-designed the two restaurants according to his own ideas. “News” on the ground floor for the employees and “Elements” for business customers and conference guests one floor above. His commercial kitchen is equipped with the latest SelfCookingCenter® and VarioCookingCenter® appliances, which are connected with the worldwide sites of the company through the digital platform ConnectedCooking.
At the helm of an international kitchen network with multiple locations, Mr Wenger is himself often surprised at the new possibilities offered by connectivity. Within seconds, he can cross the Atlantic digitally to give his colleagues in the USA culinary advice. And in the next moment, he can be dialing into his team in China. At the push of a button, he knows what is happening in and on the appliances at all locations. All that Mr Wenger needs for this is a smartphone.
If chefs from other countries are visiting, Mr Wenger invites them to his kitchen. They surprise customers in the restaurant by serving regional specialties that offer more variety. The guest chefs bring the appropriate cooking programs with them or they can simply download them from the RATIONAL database via ConnectedCooking. Once saved, the programs can be run on all appliances at the same time. “Thanks to new technology, I can guarantee our customers in all company restaurants around the world a wide variety of dishes at the same level of quality”, says Mr Wenger, “even if one of the chefs is absent for a while.”
From grilled salmon to curried sausage with chips, it is all on Mr Wenger´s menu. He attaches great importance to every customer finding the right dish on the menu, because it is not just the technical capabilities of his commercial kitchen that have changed but the expectations of his customers too. Today, it is not simply variety in the dishes that they desire, but also different dietary requirements, such as gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options. With the many possibilities opened up by a kitchen network, it is easier to meet all the different requirements of customers at the same time. Every dish is prepared perfectly hygienically, and full evidence of this is provided by the automatic HACCP documentation, which can be retrieved at any time in an easy-to-read format.
“Because we no langer have to do many time-consuming routine tasks, this has given us a lot of new freedom”, says Mr Wenger. At lunchtime, you can smell the aromas of Italian herbs. Many customers have preordered their meals from the App, stated their dietary restrictions, and have already reserved a table. Once the customer comes into the restaurant, the kitchen is automatically informed. Mr Wenger takes his mobile and scans new delicious recipes. RATIONAL creates room for what´s important: “We have more time to try out new ideas. And customers have more time to eat together, chat and come up with ideas.”