OPERATIONS
The top 10 foodservice ideas to steal from 2025 2025 was full of stealable ideas shared by operators in all the noncommercial segments. Here are our top favorites from the year to take back to your operation.
By Benita Gingerella
2 025 provided no shortage of smart, stealable ideas shared by operators in all the non- commercial segments. Here are 10 ideas to steal that were shared over the past year. Boba is not just for drinks anymore. Attendees of FoodService Director’s FSD Chefs Immersion at the University of Michigan this fall, participated in a culinary exchange where they got creative in the kitchen using products from the event’s sponsors. The Green Team which included Hamilton Goss, director of culinary innovation at Johns Hopkins University and Mick Rickerd, corporate executive chef at Corewell Health, decided to do a fun take on sushi and created a dessert sushi featuring a base of mango sticky rice topped with a drizzle of a gochujang and berry cocktail sauce and a brownie. Each roll was then finished with mango boba. 2. Keep diners happy by calling out specific farms you source from on your menu At Commonwealth Senior Living locations, the foodservice team makes sure to call out the specific local farms they use on its menus. Bob Raymond, Commonwealth’s vice president of procurement and dining services, says that the residents feel a sense of pride when they see farms from their own PHOTO CAPTIONS 1. Serve a fun spin on sushi
hometown get a shoutout. 3 . Purchase t-shirts or aprons to make your nutrition team stand out on social media During the School Nutrition Association’s Annual National Conference this summer in San Antonio, Austin Independent School District Food Service Marketing Specialist Lindsey Bradley shared a tip to make school nutrition teams stand out on social media. She said that uniforms are a great way to make your nutrition team look professional and put together online. If uniforms are too expensive, however, she shared that nutrition teams could also purchase matching shirts or even matching aprons to achieve the same ef- fect for less. 4. Mix local and commodity ingredients to keep costs in check Food costs continue to stay high for K-12 operators making it hard some- times to incorporate local ingredients. Il- linois Farm to School Network Program Manager Diane Chapeta recommends that school nutrition teams mix local items with commodity ingredients to offer local ingredients without breaking the bank. For example, a school nutrition oper- ator could combine local microgreens with commodity lettuce to create salads that are more cost-effective than relying on local greens alone. 5. Swap out tostada shells for nori when making tostadas This year’s National Restaurant Associ-
ation Show was full of stealable ideas for your menu. For example, over at the Avocados from Mexico’s booth, Chef Gene Kato, who is behind Japanese fine dining restaurant Momotaro in Chi- cago, was serving Tuna Tostadas with Avocado Sauce. Instead of using a tra- ditional tostada shell as the base of the dish, however, Chef Kato added his own twist by using nori. 6. Allow guests to customize their meals with a variety of sauces and spices Foodservice provider American Dining Creations (ADC) is putting the power into diners’ hands with its new flavor stations at its cafes which allow guests to customize their meals with hot sauces, local favorite condiments, housemade sauces and dips and spices in shakers. 7. Take menu inspiration from viral recipes on social media With so many Gen Z students craving the latest TikTok food trend, the dining team at Jones College in Ellisville, Mississippi introduced its Trending Tuesdays initiative earlier this year where each week, students could try a recipe that went viral on social media. Some of the recipes featured includ- ed, Baked Feta Pasta, Fried Boudin Balls, Flamin’ Hot Cheeto Mac & Cheese Bites and Fried Chicken Lollipops. 8. Use oyster mushrooms to make plant-based seafood Don’t forget to utilize plant roots and stems when preparing meals. Chef Dan Drees from Niagara University, in
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