Part 1 of a new series on food service teams and systems:

“My role is helping with clarity and clear expectations for both staff and general manager.”

For a general manager, the deli department can be like your kidneys. You’re aware they’re there, you understand what they do, you know they’re important, but you mostly don’t think about them unless something goes horribly wrong.

Columinate consultant Dana Tomlin specializes in supporting deli departments and making sure general managers have the knowledge and confidence to oversee successful programs and systems long-term. Learning the complexities, language, rhythms, and pitfalls within your deli can make a huge difference in performance and consistency. Deli departments need to put out product in abundance and quality that meets customer expectations across staffing changes, daily chaos, and product availability.

“There is so much you can’t control in a deli—how much you sell in a day, who shows up—so you have to have systems that allow you to wrap your hands around what you can control,” explains Tomlin.

Restaurateur to kitchen manager to food service consultant

Kitchens are a second home for Tomlin, but her growth with cooperatives was less chaotic and more linear. After owning her own restaurant, she relocated to Austin and started as a cook at Wheatsville Food Co-op. She became the store’s first kitchen manager and then expanded her scope to oversee deli, bakery, cheese and meat, and produce sections.

When Tomlin was at Wheatsville, “I went through three renovations, one that was really large, and then a second store opening. I was an integral part of the planning process, meeting with general contractors and inspectors and consultants to plan all the details. I opened the bakehouse and supplied the two stores with all the bread they used in the deli, plus baked goods that were baked off in-store or went straight to the shelf. To do this, I also oversaw the van that moved product two times a day and the systems that went along with that.”

Tomlin eventually served as an interim general manager for Wheatsville, which helped give her the unique perspective of someone with a prepared foods background who also knows the responsibilities and time demands on the general manager (GM). GMs rely on systems, and Tomlin has integrated that idea into her consulting work.

“Delis are not as scary as folks want you to think they are! They are complicated, that is true. When I work with people, I call this controlling the chaos. Systems have ways to validate that they are happening and happening well. I can teach that to GMs. Systems can’t make the chaos disappear, but they can decrease chaos.”

When Tomlin begins a deli consultation, she takes a very hands-on approach to understanding the current conditions. She tries to get an understanding from the GM and other managers what are the areas of focus. “My first couple of days onsite are about introducing myself to staff and asking a lot of questions. I look at materials inside and outside of the deli, such as training or checklists, walk-ins and storage areas, and production plans. I watch customer flow, staff pacing, and service in order to get an idea of how things are moving.”

Looking and listening for trends that can be easily adjusted by production or service changes can make for easy wins. If the turkey wraps are constantly out at 5 pm, increase the par levels. If the mango salad is always shrunk, try roasted smoked pepper salsa for a change of pace.

Data and trends are also key to the evaluation stage, said Tomlin. “I also talk to the HR, marketing, and finance managers. I start to report week-over-week sales as soon as I can, so we can start tracking improvements.”

Unlike a traditional deli department consultant who is there to work with the deli only, Tomlin knows that helping the GM understand systems and success metrics is key to turnaround in any deli.  Sometimes that can include cutting through the typical feedback a GM would receive from their kitchen or bakery and helping them learn what to look for.

River Valley Market: systems improvements

Tomlin has an ongoing consultation with River Valley Co-op in western Massachusetts that began with her typical six-week onsite evaluation period and led to major changes that have benefited the co-op in the long term.

“I was brought in to help with training, but quickly realized that the two stores didn’t have enough systems to train on. We implemented checklists for all shifts, including shift leads and managers. I made prep lists for all stations, with planograms for workstations with pars levels. I created planograms for all service cases that change each season. We worked on seasonal and stock menus, costing out procedures, clarity on roles, and alignment for both locations with products, pricing, and margin reviews.”

Working with Tomlin led River Valley management to understand the value in having a person in position to oversee and plan their prepared foods for both locations and keep systems in place.  River Valley hired Matt Sunderland as its first director of food services to do this work—especially the need to keep seasonal recipe planning and department strategies ahead of the curve. Sunderland and Tomlin still meet weekly to help project manage and work on seasonal menus in order to maintain the successes of building systems. Staffing in delis has been especially difficult since the pandemic, with some positions unfilled or filled by people who were used to working at a restaurant now working in a grocery store for the first time.

The relationship between a GM and the senior-most person in their deli department is key for success. Clear systems and metrics designed by Tomlin can show a GM which areas of a deli to look for further information or improvements, and which are working well.  Prioritization will benefit everyone in the long run.

“I assess the systems and then report to the GM. We talk about pivoting and what worked or didn’t and why. I give the GM clarity about where I believe things are at. Ultimately, people need to be held responsible if the store wants improvement or changes made that weren’t happening already. My role is helping with clarity and clear expectations for both staff and GM.”

The chaos of a kitchen creates beauty every day in the products that co-op customers love. Making sure that chaos can be understood and held accountable to systems and metrics is the goal of consulting engagement. “Checklists help with clear expectations for accountability; you can be sure as a GM that all your staff get the same info. You can be sure that all staff are being treated fairly. This is also good for managing burnout of your high performers; it can make sure that they are not taking the brunt of the workload.”

The deli is a vital organ for any co-op, and making sure it’s operating as expected should be a top priority.  Knowing what to look for and when things are off-base can make the difference between a department that exists and one that thrives.

Part 2: What to look for in evaluating the food service department