The labor challenges that operators have been battling for years can at least in part be attributed to the working conditions in their kitchens. Cramped, hot and sometimes dangerous conditions reduce the appeal of back-of-house positions and drive increased turnover, leading operators to seek to address this aspect of their operations, said Bendas.

He cited the need for a holistic approach that includes heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment considerations, as well as thoughtfully designed production lines.

“Think about every motion that the bartender, cook or server must go through to execute a task,” Bendas said. “What are all the motions, what are all the reaches, and what are all of the distances that they need to deal with?

“People don’t tend to think in terms of milliseconds of time,” he added, “but all those milliseconds saved add up to labor efficiency, ergonomic efficiency, throughput efficiency, table turn efficiencies, and all those sorts of things.”

Rethinking storage areas is another aspect of back-of-house design that operators should consider as they seek to minimize building footprints, Bendas said. Often operators have underutilized overhead space that could be converted into storage, he pointed out.

Cooking equipment that can perform multiple functions, such as combi ovens, will also continue to be in high demand, as will pre-programable, high-speed cooking equipment, said Bendas. He cited a new TurboChef oven “that can do all kinds of things, from baking pizza, to roasting, to potentially cooking something to look like it was grilled … in a piece of equipment the size of my desk.”

Miller of Master Chef Consulting Group said he recently worked with the Bristol Event Center in Connecticut to redesign its kitchen area, including the installation of a Rational combi oven that allows the facility to cook hundreds of steaks at once, complete with grill marks.

“Normally in a large event center like that, you would need an 8- or 10-foot grill for one of your employees to grill steaks,” he said, adding that the kitchen operates with just one small grill a fraction of that size, and it’s used only for finishing.

Further augmenting the efficiency of that kitchen is the use of what he described as an I-wall design, in which two rows of equipment share either side of a single wall that contains all of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructure, which eliminates the need for floor drains and adds other efficiencies, Miller said.

Self-cleaning oven hoods that flush themselves automatically with hot water and equipment designs that make it easier to clean the floors beneath them are among the solutions that operators also could see more of in 2024, Miller said.

In addition, “power wash sinks” that use water jets to clean pots and pans are another labor-saving technology that operators have been deploying, he said. He cited installations he recently worked on at the Bristol Event Center and at the Italian Village restaurant in Chicago.

“It takes the labor out of scrubbing pots and pans individually,” Miller said. “The pans kind of clean themselves, then you just dip them in the rinse and the sanitizer and put them on the drying rack.”

Induction stovetops and a transition to refrigerants that minimize harmful atmospheric emissions are also among the trends that could see more uptake by restaurant operators in 2024, said Tanja Crk, product manager for ENERGY STAR Commercial Food Service at the Environmental Protection Agency.

“As the restaurant industry continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic, we expect to see a resurgence in demand for energy-efficient equipment because it is good for the bottom line,” she said.

A range of technological advances will continue to be reflected in the product features associated with ENERGY STAR-certified commercial food service models, Crk said. These include the ongoing shift toward the use of low-global warming potential (low-GWP) refrigerants and the use of energy-saving, variable-speed compressors in commercial refrigeration equipment. Commercial dishwashers that use heat recovery systems are another energy-saving innovation gaining traction, she said.

In addition, ENERGY STAR recently added electric cooktops that use induction technology to its program, and Crk said the agency anticipates product certifications for commercial electric cooktops to begin by the end of 2023 and increase in 2024.

Operators will be under pressure from both their customers and from increasing government regulations to use more sustainable packaging, as the trend toward off-premises dining remains strong, said Chris Howell, director of product management at Sabert, which makes a range of packaging solutions for foodservice.

A key challenge for operators, he said, remains finding solutions that are both effective and sustainable. Recently implemented regulations banning the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as “forever chemicals,” in packaging in New York and California only complicate matters for operators. PFAS have long been used in packaging — including compostable paper-based packaging touted as being more sustainable — as a barrier to prevent grease and oil from seeping through.

Leading packaging makers have stepped up to introduce innovative new packaging, such as Sabert’s Pulp Plus and Pulp Max formulations, that combat moisture permeation, said Howell.

“It’s a compliant packaging solution, but it’s also something that's going to perform,” he said.

There are no one-size-fits-all solutions for operators seeking more sustainable packaging, Howell said, noting that operators will need to work more closely than ever with their packaging suppliers to ensure the products are both compliant with local regulations and functional in terms of meeting the specific demands of the operation.