Margin enhancing tips

Including more fresh produce on menus can significantly help to ensure healthy margins together with a healthy offering. 

Fresh produce helps to add colour, flavour and interest to dishes in a cost effective manner. Increasing the produce element of a dish can help to make the plate look fuller without increasing the size of more expensive components such as protein.   

Potato power

Bulk up stews, casseroles and soups with potatoes

Add washed salad potatoes to your salads

Use a potato topping instead of pastry on pies

Offer a range of potato options as part of your carvery such as mashed, roast and boiled

Feature baking potatoes with a range of fillings as a lunch offering

Left over boiled potatoes can be made in to a quick, tasty homemade potato salad

Left over mashed potato can be transformed in to potato cakes

Glorious garnishing
Add a selection of mixed salad leaves to starters for a polished finish which helps small portions look more generous. 

Berries such as blueberries, strawberries and raspberries can dramatically enhance the appearance of plain desserts. A price saver cheesecake can be made to look glamorous with a scattering of bright, juicy berries.  

Feature celery, apples and grapes on your cheeseboard.  

Super sandwiches
Although reducing protein may save money, the result can often be flat, lacklustre sandwiches. Simply add a mix of lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes to instantly create volume. 

A chunky coleslaw mix created with grated carrot and roughly chopped white cabbage combined with mayonnaise is ideal to serve alongside your sandwiches. 

Price Saver Switch
Pauleys offers a range of price saver produce; these products offer the same flavour and portion control but with slight variances in colours, shape and size. Look out for the symbol in the List. 

Seasonality statements
Wherever possible, Pauleys buys British produce and makes it easy to identify with Union Jack symbols in the List. Planning your menus around the seasons means you can feature statements such as ‘fresh British seasonal vegetables’ to attract customers and help increase footfall. 

Be prepared
Prepared produce may appear more expensive than its unprepared counterparts, but can sometimes be much more cost effective. We offer a comprehensive range of prepared produce to reduce labour costs, waste and storage requirements in your kitchen.   

Love your leftovers
Don’t throw away produce that you think may be slightly over-ripe; turn it in to soups and smoothies and feature on your specials board. 

Storage & handling tips

Simple changes to handling and storage practices are key to maximising the freshness of your produce and avoiding waste. Here is a selection of our storage and handling tips:

Brilliant bananas
Keep your bananas at room temperature to avoid discolouration. Black spots indicate high sugar levels which is a result of the natural ripening process. Bananas absorb and produce high levels of ethylene, always store bananas separately from other produce.

Fresh preparation
Produce requires careful handling, the less it is handled the better it keeps.  Try to reduce handling until you are ready to prepare the produce. 

Perfect potatoes
Don’t expose potatoes to extremes of cold or light conditions. For the best results store in darkness and do not refrigerate. Prepared potatoes should be refrigerated. When a pack of prepared potatoes has been opened, they should be placed in cool water until you are ready to cook, this reduces the risk of discolouration through oxidisation.  

Packaging protection
Pauleys produce is supplied in packaging designed to protect your produce. We recommend products are kept in packaging until ready to use. Lettuces for example should be kept in their bags in the fridge to prevent dehydration. 

Beware the ethylene
Ethylene is a natural gas produced by fruit and vegetables and acts as a ripener. 

Produce that produces ethylene includes: apples, bananas, pears, melons, peaches, plums, mushrooms, tomatoes and avocados. 

Produce that is sensitive to ethylene includes: brassicas, carrots, cucumbers, peas, peppers, stone fruit, bananas and potatoes.

It is essential not to store ethylene sensitive products alongside high ethylene producers. 

Careful chilling
Don’t store produce at the back of the refrigerator, exposure to frosty blasts of air can damage the produce.

Pong prevention
Onions and garlic can tinge other produce with their odour. Avoid storing onions and garlic next to pears, apples, celery, grapes and mushrooms.  Keep prepared onions wrapped.