Q&A: Beyond scratch-made

It’s no secret that independent restaurant operators are facing critical, ongoing challenges as food cost inflation and labor shortages persist. In 2025, food costs were up 38% from 2019, and labor costs increased 35% over the same period, according to the 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report from the National Restaurant Association.

Amidst those challenges, the traditional scratch-made kitchen model is becoming increasingly unsustainable. However, diners still expect high-quality, handcrafted meals that fit their budget. To meet these demands while navigating the unavoidable obstacles and shrinking margins, operators must consider shifting their menu strategies to incorporate high-performance, top-quality products that reduce prep and offer versatility across dayparts, says Stacey Kinkaid, vice president of product development and innovation for US Foods.

“The strongest innovations help operators create distinctive dishes while making the back-of-house more efficient and the investment more versatile across dayparts and menu ideas,” Kinkaid explains.

Here, Kinkaid dives into solutions that can offer operators sustainable operational efficiency, authentic hospitality and stronger margins – all of which were the driving forces behind the creation of US Foods’ new Italian-themed Fall Scoop™ line, their exclusive label product innovation program released semiannually.

There has been an expectation that beloved menu items at independent restaurants are made daily in-house – a goal that is increasingly unsustainable given current labor and financial constraints. How can foodservice operators balance delivering that authentic experience diners crave and the practical realities of the modern kitchen?

The foodservice operators striking the right balance between authentic menu innovation and profitability are leveraging a variety of pre-prepped items to create new menu offerings without extra labor. The key is that these pre-prepped items must offer high-quality, consistent performance and an authentic taste experience. Our operators expect the new product innovation they use to be developed with the same culinary expertise and care a chef creating a dish from scratch would put into the dish.

Our job as product developers is to help independent restaurants create authentic menu offerings that will attract and retain diners and drive profitability. We do this by creating new, innovative products for our operators that can help them seamlessly add new items to the menu. The products save labor for the operator because they are pre-prepped, but we also take great care to ensure the products are on-trend, versatile across menu day parts and segments and most importantly, high quality.

This mission comes to life in our latest Fall Scoop™ product launch, where we have developed a lineup of authentic Italian-themed products that enable operators to seamlessly add high-demand Italian offerings to their menus. For example, our new Chef’s Line^® Risotto is made with Italian Carnaroli rice, DOP-certified Grana Padano cheese and white wine, eliminating the need to prepare risotto from scratch. Operators can customize the risotto to make it their own with garnishes, sauces or proteins.

The National Restaurant Association’s 2026 What’s Hot Culinary Forecast found that global flavors are shifting from niche concepts to mainstream expectations across all types of dining – not just specialty restaurants. What key shifts are you seeing in how diners approach global cuisine, and how can operators authentically integrate international influences – like regional Italian techniques – into standard American menus in ways that feel authentic and approachable while keeping menu and operational costs top-of-mind?

Diners are increasingly comfortable experiencing international influences across familiar formats and everyday dining occasions, but many still want those flavors to feel approachable and relevant to the restaurant concept.

US Foods Chef’s Line^® Basil Pesto Burrata Ravioli

Operators don’t need to rebuild their menus to respond; they can start small with one or two new additions to the menu, incorporating authentic ingredients, techniques and flavor profiles that work within their existing kitchens and can be applied across multiple dishes and dayparts. Italian cuisine is a strong example because its emphasis on quality ingredients, consistency and hospitality translates naturally across American menus. Whether we are working with a bar-and-grill operator or a casual dining operator, the goal is to help our operators add new flavors, new ingredients and new items to their menus. Italian offerings are an ideal choice that can help drive profitability, balancing authenticity with approachable applications.

Quality is just as important. During development, we consider whether a product can stand on its own while also supporting other flavors and applications. For example, our new Chef’s Line^® Basil Pesto Burrata Ravioli brings a trending ingredient – burrata – into a familiar ravioli format that feels handcrafted back-of-house. We’ve filled each ravioli with a rich burrata made with cow’s milk from Italian dairies and paired this with basil pesto blended with garlic cream, burrata and bechamel for a smooth, balanced finish. We leveraged a familiar and approachable product platform, and our product developers took it up a level with highly authentic Italian ingredients and small-batch techniques.

A successful method is to make global flavors approachable for diners while keeping them accessible for operators by keeping execution, food cost and labor realities in mind.

As Italian dishes remain a popular addition on many independent restaurant menus, US Foods has debuted 14 new Italian-themed products aimed at helping operators add Italian offerings to their menu while driving additional menu profitability. How did conversations with independent restaurateurs shape the 2026 Fall Scoop™ lineup?

US Foods Chef’s Line^® Italian-Style Chicken Breast Cutlet

The Fall Scoop™ lineup was shaped by an operator-first mindset. We use data to understand how operators are leveraging trends and what they are purchasing, but we also listen closely to the challenges restaurant teams face back-of-house. At US Foods, we work with more than 250,000 customer locations, so we have an endless number of customers to help us with feedback and testing. In addition, many of our product developers and culinary team members come with years of experience working inside restaurants across a range of operator types, so they understand the labor, consistency and execution barriers operators face every day. That perspective helps us identify solutions operators will expect as we develop a new product.

For example, as we were developing our new Italian-themed items, we knew chicken cutlets were a staple on many menus, but as we talked with operators about this product type, we learned that a broadly available foodservice format that is comparable to what a chef would make themselves back-of-house was not available, so we developed one. Our new Chef’s Line^® Italian-Style Chicken Breast Cutlet makes it easier for restaurants to add a chicken cutlet-style Italian dish to their menu without the extra labor or culinary experience needed to create a precision-cut cutlet. The cutlet is hand-cut and coated in a rustic Italian-style crumb, blended with Parmesan and Romano cheeses in a format that can be used across sandwiches, entrées, salads and appetizers. It brings a familiar, old-world flavor to modern menus without extra prep and can be used as a chicken parmesan option or in an Italian-inspired hot or cold sandwich.

How do the new products’ built-in labor-saving formats allow operators to serve high-quality dishes with greater consistency and less back-of-house complexity?

A labor-saving format is most valuable when it removes unnecessary work while preserving the quality and appeal of the finished dish. Our Devonshire^® Tiramisu is a great example. This trending dessert is a very mainstream, approachable and beloved Italian classic. It features authentic Italian-style mascarpone, imported Italian ladyfingers, coffee, brandy liquors and cocoa powder and requires only an operator to thaw and serve. An operator doesn’t need a pastry chef who specializes in baking complex desserts to prepare a memorable dessert each night. Our tiramisu comes to the operator pre-prepared with a made-from-scratch feel, for a chef to slice and serve as they wish. With a pre-made dessert such as this, the operator also has confidence that the dessert will consistently offer the same flavor profile and performance week to week.

Our product innovations allow restaurant staff to spend less time on repetitive preparation and more time on execution, presentation and experience.

When your team is developing new culinary concepts, how do you identify opportunities for ingredient cross-utilization, and how do you think operators will be using these new products across multiple dayparts and menu applications to maximize their investment while maintaining menu variety?

We look for products that solve more than one operator challenge. During development, we ask where an ingredient can work across the menu, whether it can support different dayparts and concepts, and how it can create variety without adding unnecessary SKU complexity or preparation. We also test products across different applications and flavor profiles to ensure they are genuinely versatile. The goal is for a product to work on its own while also being versatile enough to be customized to complement ingredients and dishes an operator already has on the menu. And of course, it must save the operator time without sacrificing taste.

US Foods Chef’s Line^® All Natural Sweet Italian Sausage

For example, pre-cooked sausage is often an item operators approach cautiously because they may worry about sacrificing flavor, texture or the appeal of a raw sausage link. For our Chef’s Line^® All-Natural Sweet Italian Sausage, however, the team extensively researched and tested different recipes to find the perfect authentic Italian-inspired solution. The result is a pork-and-herb sausage with a coarse-textured bite that delivers a more varied, satisfying eating experience. And, it can be used to create the ultimate sausage sandwich, as a topper for an unforgettable risotto or sliced for a special appetizer.

Operators can use that same lens when evaluating their own menus: Where else can this product work? What ingredients can it complement? How many applications can it support? That flexibility helps operators maintain menu variety, maximize each product’s use across dayparts and drive menu profitability.

Independent restaurant operators are currently navigating rising food and labor costs, along with the ongoing challenge of keeping menus fresh and profitable. How does US Foods partner with these operators as a strategic advisor to help them succeed and boost overall menu profitability?

Independent operators need more than a catalog of products to choose from. They need a partner who understands the pressures they are balancing and can connect culinary ideas to operational and financial outcomes.

At US Foods, that starts with understanding each customer’s goals and biggest pain points. If labor is the challenge, we can help identify products that simplify preparation in a particular menu category or daypart. If the goal is to drive traffic, we can look at trends that are gaining traction in that operator’s market and identify ways to incorporate them into the menu. Sometimes that means adding an ingredient to an existing dish; other times, it means introducing a complementary new product.

It’s important to work with the operator to understand what problem we’re trying to solve. Where else can this ingredient work? Does the dish deliver enough value and margin? Our role is to help operators answer those questions so they can keep menus fresh and compelling without losing sight of consistency, cost control or profitability.

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