# Covert recipes to commercial recipes



## kitz (May 4, 2021)

Hi, I have recipes for a startup. I am looking for help with converting these recipes to commercial/industrial recipes. Who can help and how can I find that skill set?

I would really appreciate any inputs or guidance?

Thank you.


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## thomas fontaine (Oct 2, 2016)

Hej Kitz,
Let's say you have a recipe for 4 people and you want to produce a batch of 60 servings.

Calculate 60: 4 = 15 and multiply your portions by 15. If you are using metric units use only Liter, Kilo, Piece or Minute as the unit not a mix of grams with centiliters, this will be all the easier to read (1.000 L milk, 0.008 Kg salt, 1.0 Pc bay leaf, 4 'working)

Then it is necessary to check the realism of the recipe: to produce 24Kg of stew and to put 2.830 kg of salt in it must raise questions.

It is also interesting in the Excel spreadsheet to quantify the ingredients in percentage; this allows readjusting the ingredients according to their importance in the finished product and in the price. (Let’s imagine that I add coconut milk in a recipe and that 12% of ingredients represent 96% of the food cost, you have to check the relevance)

In the excel sheet made among others: a column with the ingredient, the unit, the unit price, the quantities for a complete batch or a half batch, the handling with its working time, the percentages, accessories and unstenciles, allergens , ...

In practice, it is not guaranteed that 12g of ingredients for one portion correspond to 1200g of ingredients for 100 portions.

Taste, verify and validate!

Let us know something!
Whish you all the best


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## kitz (May 4, 2021)

thomas fontaine said:


> Hej Kitz,
> Let's say you have a recipe for 4 people and you want to produce a batch of 60 servings.
> 
> Calculate 60: 4 = 15 and multiply your portions by 15. If you are using metric units use only Liter, Kilo, Piece or Minute as the unit not a mix of grams with centiliters, this will be all the easier to read (1.000 L milk, 0.008 Kg salt, 1.0 Pc bay leaf, 4 'working)
> ...


Thank you for your response Thomas. My recipes are already adjusted for big batches but it includes too many ingredients and too many steps, which makes the commercial production very complicated. And since there are multiple recipes, it further becomes cumbersome. 
Is there a tool I can use to reduce the number of steps in the recipe? Or would it be a chef or food technologist/scientist who could help with reducing these steps?


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## STEPHEN WOODARD (Aug 13, 2019)

Abacus


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## thomas fontaine (Oct 2, 2016)

I understand, be careful, just because you cook food that your family and friends appreciate, doesn't mean you can become a professional cook. This takes a lot of work and experience. 
Call on different professional cooks to simplify your operations. 
Understand the chemistry of your preparations, premix your ingredients, combine your operations and cookingsteps, mix only once ...
Courage and good luck


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## kitz (May 4, 2021)

I understand. this is very helpful, thank you.


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## thomas fontaine (Oct 2, 2016)

Maybe we can have a try here if you send us a recipe on the forum


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## kitz (May 4, 2021)

thomas fontaine said:


> Maybe we can have a try here if you send us a recipe on the forum


That's very nice of you to offer. Thank you. Unfortunately, these recipes are formulated and I cannot share without an NDA.


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## Mischief (Dec 13, 2018)

An NDA for unfinished recipes? That's unique.


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## Aldente (Apr 26, 2012)

kitz said:


> Thank you for your response Thomas. My recipes are already adjusted for big batches but it includes too many ingredients and too many steps, which makes the commercial production very complicated. And since there are multiple recipes, it further becomes cumbersome.
> Is there a tool I can use to reduce the number of steps in the recipe? Or would it be a chef or food technologist/scientist who could help with reducing these steps?


This would be tough to do without any way to see your recipes. Every dish is different and depending on the complexity of the dish, some do have multiple steps which cannot be avoided.

I know of no tool that streamlines a recipe, other than trial and error to simplify steps, or remove unnecessary steps.

All I can suggest is that you list the dishes you plan to make. We may be able to provide the standard recipe which you can compare with. Like I say, it just depends on the recipe.

Also, this topic may be more suited for the Recipes category.


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## Aldente (Apr 26, 2012)

kitz said:


> That's very nice of you to offer. Thank you. Unfortunately, these recipes are formulated and I cannot share without an NDA.


I understand the need to protect your recipes. Most restaurants that wish to keep a recipe proprietary will have specially formulated flavorings which are kept secure and are never shared, so no NDA is required in that instance because the secret ingredients are not shared.

The purpose of an NDA is to protect the assets of a business when it becomes necessary to inform an employee what the process or the key components are to a product.

But standard recipes known all over the world are not a secret, nor are they the key to the success of a business. For example, the recipe for apple pie is known all over the world. However, if a business has a special ingredient for their apple pie, they could simply keep that one ingredient a secret. But the standard apple pie recipe is well known and anyone can share this without risking their business.

Also, most foodservice businesses eventually find that their recipes are not nearly as important as the quality of service they provide. Making a customer happy should be the goal of any business and this is not always the food alone. I may be less likely to go to a restaurant that has terrible service... even if their food is great.

I would be less concerned with sharing your recipes, and more concerned with how you will manage your business. You need happy customers, first and foremost. And if you need assistance with streamlining a recipe, hire a good chef. Part of their job is to create, test, and refine any recipe.


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## kitz (May 4, 2021)

Aldente said:


> I understand the need to protect your recipes. Most restaurants that wish to keep a recipe proprietary will have specially formulated flavorings which are kept secure and are never shared, so no NDA is required in that instance because the secret ingredients are not shared.
> 
> The purpose of an NDA is to protect the assets of a business when it becomes necessary to inform an employee what the process or the key components are to a product.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your detailed response. Yes, I understand. These recipes are made to specific requirements and hence an NDA is required. But I totally agree with you on the overall experience end to end including customer service. Thanks for your note.


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## redbeerd cantu (Aug 7, 2013)

"Hi! Can you help me multiply my recipe?"
"Sure! What are the numbers?"
"I can't tell you..."


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## Aldente (Apr 26, 2012)

redbeerd cantu said:


> "Hi! Can you help me multiply my recipe?"
> "Sure! What are the numbers?"
> "I can't tell you..."


Exactly... even give us a fake recipe with similar numbers so we can at least have an idea what you are looking for.


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## Wurstmeister (Mar 6, 2021)

Kitz, take a look at the_ "Excel Recipe Templates for Chefs"_ at Chefs Resources web site (link below). I've been using this one along with their other Excell spreadsheets for a few years and find them very useful.

Of course there is no such things as a_ "free lunch"_ and to acquire the downloads, you have to pay a membership fee. But if you're not Excel friendly, or are not getting paid to create the template, these pre-made templates are worth the membership costs.

https://www.chefs-resources.com/kitchen-forms/recipe-template/recipe-templates-excel/The Scalable Recipe Template is the last one, bottom of page.


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