Simplot Foods | Blog | Covid-19 Resources

BrandsView our brands and innovative product line-up.
Ready-to-Eat Vegetables & FruitSimplot Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Vegetables make prepping salads, grab-n-go items and meal kits a breeze—just thaw and serve
Simplot Maple City® Waffle-Flavored PotatoesNow serve chicken & waffles to customers on the go! New Simplot Maple City® Waffle Flavored Waffle Fries are the first and only waffle fries that taste like waffles. Learn More ›

Recipes

Wholesome Breakfast Veggie Bowl ›If you have customers looking for healthy, portable breakfast options, this is the one! Packed with ancient grains, roasted sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, avocado, arugula and a poached egg—this bowl really satisfies.
Carne Asada Fries Taco ›You read that right, we put the fries right in the taco. Every bite has the perfect combination of carne asada, crispy fries, creamy guacamole, pico, and melted queso. Prepare to make a lot of these; they are going to be popular!
Fall/Winter Trend Feast®See what's hot in foodservice and what you need to stay on trend.Download Now ›

Customers

The Ultimate Fry GuideWe can help you select the right fries, implement the best pricing and profit strategies, create must-have signature fries, and more. It's all in The Ultimate Fry Guide. And it's free.
The Ultimate Guide to Delivery & TakeoutTips and advice to succeed with off-premise customersDownload ›

Resources

Nutrition FinderDiscover Simplot products that match your operation's nutritional requirements.Find products ›
Fry FinderFind the fries that meet your customers' demands and your operating needs.Find your perfect fries ›

Category Covid-19 Resources

How to Meet the Pent-up Demand for Catering with Limited Staff

Catered events are coming back in a big way. But the increased demand brings with it some new challenges. We have some ideas to help you manage unnecessary labor and waste without sacrificing quality.

3/1/2023

UPDATE: Why the Restaurant Supply Chain Crisis Isn't Going Away Anytime Soon

For restaurants, the challenges spawned by the pandemic just keep coming. They are facing a historic labor shortage, rising food costs, and concurrent supply chain disruptions. Is there an end in sight?

11/4/2021

16 More Things You Can Do to Overcome the Restaurant Labor Shortage

Restaurants have always had relatively high turnover, but the stresses brought on by COVID-19 have made hiring employees even more challenging. So given these historic headwinds, how can you attract—and keep—the people you need to operate?

10/14/2021

How Restaurants Can Adapt to a Smaller Workforce

Keeping and finding workers is likely your top challenge right now, and it doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon. Here we offer some ideas and resources to help you adapt to a smaller pool of workers.

8/26/2021

How the Global Supply Chain Crisis Affects You and Why

Even as diners return to restaurants in the U.S., a perfect storm of supply chain issues has led to unwelcome new challenges for operators: product shortages and hefty freight charges.

7/7/2021

Fries Drove Traffic During the Pandemic: Learn How to Capitalize on the Trend

More than half of U.S. adults have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and many are beginning to venture out to their favorite restaurants. How can you draw in more of the diners you need to rebuild after the pandemic? Two words: french fries.

5/19/2021

9 Tips for Dealing with the Restaurant Labor Shortage

A nationwide labor shortage is making it difficult to staff up for the busy spring and summer seasons. How can you overcome the labor shortage and entice people to work for you? We have some tips.

4/27/2021

Re-Opening in the Time of COVID: Guidelines for Operating Safely

After a year of navigating constantly changing mandates, a restaurant industry coalition has compiled its first nationally accepted safe dining guidelines for operators. The goal is to educate both diners and food service workers with informative signage inside restaurants, as well as step-by-step protocols to keep everyone safe.

4/27/2021

How to Prepare Your Restaurant for a Successful Mother's Day 2021

With the end of the pandemic in sight, Americans will be turning to restaurants to make mom's day special. Check out our helpful tips.

4/21/2021

How to Make Outdoor Dining Perform Beyond the Pandemic

When cities began to lift the initial restrictions on restaurants last summer and fall, outdoor dining became a lifeline for struggling operators. As winter weather settled in, owners got creative with solutions to make eating out in the cold a warm, inviting experience. Now with spring in sight, will the popularity of outdoor dining melt with the higher temperatures?

3/9/2021

Iconic Seattle Restaurant 86's Soggy Delivery Fries

COVID-19 hit the entire country hard in 2020, but it hit the Seattle area first. When lockdown orders went into effect on March 15th, one of the city's most beloved restaurants, 13 Coins, pivoted to takeout and delivery service.

2/9/2021

5 Predictions from Operators About the Industry After COVID

It's been almost a year since the coronavirus pandemic swept through the U.S. and restaurant operators have had to adjust to fast-changing regulations and customer preferences. There's no doubt that the changes made during COVID will carry on into the future, even once the country goes back to "normal."

1/28/2021

The Second Round of PPP Loans: What You Need To Know

The Small Business Administration has just released guidance on what they're calling the Paycheck Protection Second Draw Loans. They've made a few tweaks to the program since the first round in 2020. In this post, we break down some of the eligibility requirements and get advice from fellow restaurant owners that went through the process the first time around.

1/26/2021

Delicious on Arrival: Better Packaging for Delivery and Takeout

Finding the right packaging for your takeout and to-go business can be a daunting task. There are so many different options. Takeout and delivery is only trending up, so putting some thought and effort into how you package your food will become more and more important.

1/8/2021

How to Pivot Your Restaurant Business Model in a Pandemic

2020 has been full of ups and downs, to say the least. With local ordinances changing every few weeks it's hard to keep up and still keep your business afloat. In the face of so much uncertainty, how can you pivot your business model effectively?

12/21/2020

How Frozen Foods Can Improve Labor and Inventory Management During COVID-19

With local restrictions on restaurant dining evolving as coronavirus cases spike nationwide, inventory, food costs and labor are getting harder to manage. We've addressed forecasting sales to help with scheduling your staff and managing labor in this article in more depth.

11/24/2020

Restaurants Give Back to Communities in the Face of COVID

Without a doubt, 2020 has been a harrowing year for restaurants and other foodservice operators. How did they respond? Incredibly, by giving back.

11/23/2020

How to Forecast Your Restaurant Sales to Help with Scheduling

Proper scheduling to maintain labor costs has always been essential to running a restaurant business. The pandemic has made forecasting sales and scheduling your team even more challenging—we have some suggestions to help you.

11/16/2020

Versatile Products Are Key for Mexican and Latin Restaurants During COVID-19

Mexican and Latin-themed restaurants in the pandemic era have to think fast, smart, and out of the box to thrive. More than ever, it has to pencil out to work. That means narrowing your menu to best-sellers and keeping a lid on the number of products you have to stock. To earn a place in your pantry, an ingredient needs to work across many menu items and dayparts.

9/18/2020

Recipes for Disaster: A Cooking Contest Comes to Life During COVID-19

When we look back on the COVID-19 pandemic, we'll remember the sinking uncertainty of February, the toilet paper shortages and panic grocery shopping of March—and the stuck-at-home creativity of making, cooking, and baking that followed.

9/4/2020

How to set up your operation for more efficient delivery and takeout

According to the National Restaurant Association, the operational aspect of implementing off-premise programs is most daunting to restaurant operators. So if you're overwhelmed by getting set-up, you're not alone.

9/2/2020

Al Fresco Fries: Choosing the Right Fry for New Outdoor Seating

While many cities are mandating lower indoor seating capacity inside restaurants thanks to COVID-19, many are also allowing operators to add new seating areas outside—on the sidewalk, on a closed street or even an adjacent park.

6/8/2020

Reopening Successfully, Part 3: Optimizing Revenue and Operations

In Part 1, we discussed ways to improve the way you attract, train and manage labor as you restart operations. Part 2 covered the steps you can take to streamline and optimize your menu for profit. This article offers you some promotional and operational strategies to maximize your traffic and profitability.

5/4/2020

Reopening Successfully, Part 2: Menuing Strategies

With seating capacity reduced by social distancing guidelines, it's going to be critical to make as much as you can from every seating and keep tables turning. Now is the time to take a hard look at your menu and make sure it's optimized for profitability and operational simplicity.

4/30/2020

Round Up Part 2: Inspiring Ideas from Operators to Help Your Business During Crisis

"Comfort food" isn't just an indulgence, especially in times of social distancing. Comfort food has real, psychological and social benefits for many, and operators are shifting menus to help deliver comfort-based menu items people are craving. In Cary, N.C., operators of Postmaster, a high-end prime rib restaurant, switched to offering takeout cheeseburgers—both to meet demand for comfort food and so their margins made more sense in the age of delivery.

4/29/2020

Reopening Successfully, Part 1: How to Manage Labor

Maybe you closed your doors temporarily or kept a skeleton crew for takeout and delivery orders. You've made it this far. Now governors are setting dates for when restaurants can fully reopen. That's good news.

4/28/2020

14 Recipe Ideas for Mother's Day To-Go Meals

You know what moms would like for Mother's Day? A break from cooking. Many operators scored a welcome success with Easter-themed to-go meals over the recent holiday weekend. With shelter-in-place orders continuing, it's a smart idea to begin planning how you can make Mother's Day delicious for moms in your area, while bringing in some additional revenue.

4/23/2020

Tips for Converting Into a Retail Grocery Shop During COVID-19

If you're already offering curbside takeout, why not give your customers the opportunity to pick up some of the items they can't get in their local supermarket?

4/4/2020

Helpful Food Industry Links for COVID-19 Resources

Here are some links we've gathered from around the Internet to help keep you informed during this unprecedented time.

4/3/2020

9 Ways to Use Frozen Products to Offset a Labor Shortage

Many delis have had a sizeable portion of their staff reassigned to other parts of the store to help with things like stocking. At the same time, these departments are being asked to produce more grab-and-go offerings and meal kits than ever in response to the coronavirus crisis.

4/3/2020

WEBINAR: How Patron Behavior is Evolving During COVID-19

Restaurant patrons are rapidly changing where and how they purchase food during COVID-19. But how has it changed? And what can deli departments do about it today?

4/2/2020

Top 10 Strategies for Supermarket Delis During COVID-19

Deli departments are dealing with changes to every aspect of their business as new precautions change the way you and your customers interact. And with labor being diverted to help in other parts of the store, it's more important than ever to work efficiently.

4/2/2020

4 Tips for Serving Better Fries Amid COVID-19

With the current shelter-in-place orders, delivery, takeout & curbside pick-up orders are rising fast. Learn 4 key ways to serve better fries off-premise.

3/30/2020

Round Up: Inspiring Ideas from Operators to Help Your Business During Crisis

We're all pulling together to help support our operators and their communities during this unprecedented time. In every large-scale emergency, we have always been inspired by how individuals innovate and how others can take those good ideas and adapt them.

3/28/2020

25 Survival Strategies for Breakfast Spots and Diners

As we head into the second (or for some operators third) week of stay-at-home guidelines from state and federal governments, operators are reporting plummeting sales and empty dining rooms. Here Simplot Corporate Executive Chefs Roberto Roman and Michael Zeller offer timely advice for breakfast- and lunch-focused operators new to takeout, delivery and grab-and-go service.

3/27/2020

Lessons From Katrina: How New Orleans Restaurants Rebounded—And What It Means Today

For the restaurant industry, the coronavirus has been devastating. Owners, employees and suppliers are struggling to cope with the extreme disruption and dislocation. This brought to mind another catastrophic event for Simplot rep Nick Niemenski: Hurricane Katrina.

3/27/2020

Guide to Marketing Takeout, Delivery & Curbside

This short guide is designed to give you answers to these questions and more. While every restaurant is as unique as its owner, we hope this provides a jump start to help you move faster and more successfully as you get going with to-go._x000D_

3/19/2020

Tips for Converting to a Takeout and Delivery Operation During Coronavirus

Even as authorities have shuttered restaurants to slow the coronavirus outbreak, many are allowing takeout and delivery to continue. If delivery and takeout (including drive-thru) are new to your operation, you probably have a lot of questions.

3/19/2020

23 Things Foodservice Operators Can Do TODAY to Stay Open and Reduce Losses

If you're like most operators, your dining room is quiet (perhaps even closed), your staff is worried, and your shelves are full of food you've already paid for. What can you do right now—today—to protect your business through this crisis?

3/19/2020

View Less

Category Covid-19 Resources

How to Meet the Pent-up Demand for Catering with Limited Staff

UPDATE: Why the Restaurant Supply Chain Crisis Isn't Going Away Anytime Soon

16 More Things You Can Do to Overcome the Restaurant Labor Shortage

How Restaurants Can Adapt to a Smaller Workforce

How the Global Supply Chain Crisis Affects You and Why

Fries Drove Traffic During the Pandemic: Learn How to Capitalize on the Trend

9 Tips for Dealing with the Restaurant Labor Shortage

Re-Opening in the Time of COVID: Guidelines for Operating Safely

How to Prepare Your Restaurant for a Successful Mother's Day 2021

How to Make Outdoor Dining Perform Beyond the Pandemic

Iconic Seattle Restaurant 86's Soggy Delivery Fries

5 Predictions from Operators About the Industry After COVID

The Second Round of PPP Loans: What You Need To Know

Delicious on Arrival: Better Packaging for Delivery and Takeout

How to Pivot Your Restaurant Business Model in a Pandemic

How Frozen Foods Can Improve Labor and Inventory Management During COVID-19

Restaurants Give Back to Communities in the Face of COVID

How to Forecast Your Restaurant Sales to Help with Scheduling

Versatile Products Are Key for Mexican and Latin Restaurants During COVID-19

Recipes for Disaster: A Cooking Contest Comes to Life During COVID-19

How to set up your operation for more efficient delivery and takeout

Al Fresco Fries: Choosing the Right Fry for New Outdoor Seating

Reopening Successfully, Part 3: Optimizing Revenue and Operations

Reopening Successfully, Part 2: Menuing Strategies

Round Up Part 2: Inspiring Ideas from Operators to Help Your Business During Crisis

Reopening Successfully, Part 1: How to Manage Labor

14 Recipe Ideas for Mother's Day To-Go Meals

Tips for Converting Into a Retail Grocery Shop During COVID-19

Helpful Food Industry Links for COVID-19 Resources

9 Ways to Use Frozen Products to Offset a Labor Shortage

WEBINAR: How Patron Behavior is Evolving During COVID-19

Top 10 Strategies for Supermarket Delis During COVID-19

4 Tips for Serving Better Fries Amid COVID-19

Round Up: Inspiring Ideas from Operators to Help Your Business During Crisis

25 Survival Strategies for Breakfast Spots and Diners

Lessons From Katrina: How New Orleans Restaurants Rebounded—And What It Means Today

Guide to Marketing Takeout, Delivery & Curbside

Tips for Converting to a Takeout and Delivery Operation During Coronavirus

23 Things Foodservice Operators Can Do TODAY to Stay Open and Reduce Losses

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