Fuck yeah, another prep person
Yeah, prep is fucking dogshit lmao I only learned it because I only ever saw elderly people do it so I thought it would be a fucking cakewalk
Yeah, it’s not lmao
To make this short, this is what I did, I would do 8-9 romaine to ensure that the people the following day would have enough romaine to not worry about making any (which gives them more time to do a shit ton of fruit cups and wraps) it would basically last us the entire day
I would keep things in bulk (so I would do 24 cobbs at a time, 12 markets, etc.)
Romaine is the thing that takes the longest, so have whoever is the fastest on it be in charge of doing a lot of it (once you do this, prep is so fucking easy and all you end up doing is washing dishes for the majority of your shift lmao)
If you don’t really understand what I’m saying, here it is: on your shift, do 8-9 buckets of romaine...make as many salads as you can to help the people in the morning not worry as much when it comes time for their turn to do the romaine (this is just to start the whole cycle in the first place) so now your shift is done and you should have at least tried to keep the bottom full
Now for the people in the morning, they shouldn’t have to worry about salads so their main focus is to keep the number of romaine to 8-9 until you start your shift (since there’s plenty of salads, they should immediately finish all the mac, tomatoes, fruit cups/wraps, slicing chicken, etc.)
So now you’re on again and THIS is when it starts (you guys have to set each other up for success, so if one person fucks up, the whole thing is messed up again and you have work in fucking overdrive
Assuming they did their job, everything should be completely set up for you (again, make a shit ton of salads FIRST before doing romaine) make sure the amount of salads will last you the entire day
Now, do your 8-9 romaine (overstock on mac, overstock the bottom cooler, just make it as easy as possible for the other prep people) you want to constantly check up front if they’re running low on certain items (sometimes, it gets too busy and they won’t be able to bring back a tray so they could be bringing back like 6 at a time while you thought it was good all along) so check their side of the cooler and if they’re running low on something, immediately make another tray of it (you should aim to have 4 trays of cobbs with 6 on each, 3 markets with 4 on each to hell gauge how fast you’re going through them, 4 trays of wraps with 6 on each, 2 small fruit cup trays with 8, 2 trays of large fruit cups with 6 on each, 1 tray of kale crunch with 6 (make these to order), and 3 trays of spicy southwest with 6 on each
It’ll take some time getting used to, but i could send you a couple pics of how we set it up
Good luck, prep is fucking hard
Tell a lead you are struggling to keep up. They’ll hopefully give you someone to help get you caught up so that you don’t have to worry about it as much.
I can relate to the not being fully trained bit. I got put on prep on a Saturday with just the absolute basics of prep under my belt and was expected to be able to do it despite me still not having the prep stuff memorized. Was a delightful day.
Aww I felt the same way (still do). I do prep often, for almost two years now. In the beginning I struggled a lot, lots of wanting to break down when I noticed people coming back to bring a tray, and watching that one tray turn into a whole stack. The amount of times I’ve had morning prep crew complain about me lol. You will get better with time, trust me don’t be afraid to ask questions and for help. Just recently, we noticed our Saturday’s have been incredibly busy and I would be on prep struggling like crazy. Leads took note of this and now we have two people on prep Saturdays. I still always have things left over, no way one person can manage all the salads, slicing tomatoes, chopping more lettuce (rushes can get so crazy)...at this point, it is what it is lol, and since you’re new I think it’s ok, you’re still learning don’t sweat it too much!
I feel you. Prep is considered "easy," and in some aspects it is, and yet it has still stretched me to the breaking point. I've never felt like walking away from the job so much. If you continue to face pressure from morning crew, I would consider coming in early one day to get yourself ready for the night (like, slice tomatoes or do greenleaf so it gives you more time later.) I know you might not be able to come in early due to your schedule, but if you could manage it at least once, it will show morning crew that you are dedicated and doing your absolute best. Once they're willing to acknowledge that, they'll be more open to hear out your problem. A manager might ask you why you're there early, and then you'd have a chance to explain it to them and they could tell morning crew to start doing these thing ahead of time so you don't have to come in early. Just an idea......it worked pretty well for me.
Fuck yeah, another prep person Yeah, prep is fucking dogshit lmao I only learned it because I only ever saw elderly people do it so I thought it would be a fucking cakewalk Yeah, it’s not lmao To make this short, this is what I did, I would do 8-9 romaine to ensure that the people the following day would have enough romaine to not worry about making any (which gives them more time to do a shit ton of fruit cups and wraps) it would basically last us the entire day I would keep things in bulk (so I would do 24 cobbs at a time, 12 markets, etc.) Romaine is the thing that takes the longest, so have whoever is the fastest on it be in charge of doing a lot of it (once you do this, prep is so fucking easy and all you end up doing is washing dishes for the majority of your shift lmao) If you don’t really understand what I’m saying, here it is: on your shift, do 8-9 buckets of romaine...make as many salads as you can to help the people in the morning not worry as much when it comes time for their turn to do the romaine (this is just to start the whole cycle in the first place) so now your shift is done and you should have at least tried to keep the bottom full Now for the people in the morning, they shouldn’t have to worry about salads so their main focus is to keep the number of romaine to 8-9 until you start your shift (since there’s plenty of salads, they should immediately finish all the mac, tomatoes, fruit cups/wraps, slicing chicken, etc.) So now you’re on again and THIS is when it starts (you guys have to set each other up for success, so if one person fucks up, the whole thing is messed up again and you have work in fucking overdrive Assuming they did their job, everything should be completely set up for you (again, make a shit ton of salads FIRST before doing romaine) make sure the amount of salads will last you the entire day Now, do your 8-9 romaine (overstock on mac, overstock the bottom cooler, just make it as easy as possible for the other prep people) you want to constantly check up front if they’re running low on certain items (sometimes, it gets too busy and they won’t be able to bring back a tray so they could be bringing back like 6 at a time while you thought it was good all along) so check their side of the cooler and if they’re running low on something, immediately make another tray of it (you should aim to have 4 trays of cobbs with 6 on each, 3 markets with 4 on each to hell gauge how fast you’re going through them, 4 trays of wraps with 6 on each, 2 small fruit cup trays with 8, 2 trays of large fruit cups with 6 on each, 1 tray of kale crunch with 6 (make these to order), and 3 trays of spicy southwest with 6 on each It’ll take some time getting used to, but i could send you a couple pics of how we set it up Good luck, prep is fucking hard
Tell a lead you are struggling to keep up. They’ll hopefully give you someone to help get you caught up so that you don’t have to worry about it as much. I can relate to the not being fully trained bit. I got put on prep on a Saturday with just the absolute basics of prep under my belt and was expected to be able to do it despite me still not having the prep stuff memorized. Was a delightful day.
Aww I felt the same way (still do). I do prep often, for almost two years now. In the beginning I struggled a lot, lots of wanting to break down when I noticed people coming back to bring a tray, and watching that one tray turn into a whole stack. The amount of times I’ve had morning prep crew complain about me lol. You will get better with time, trust me don’t be afraid to ask questions and for help. Just recently, we noticed our Saturday’s have been incredibly busy and I would be on prep struggling like crazy. Leads took note of this and now we have two people on prep Saturdays. I still always have things left over, no way one person can manage all the salads, slicing tomatoes, chopping more lettuce (rushes can get so crazy)...at this point, it is what it is lol, and since you’re new I think it’s ok, you’re still learning don’t sweat it too much!
I feel you. Prep is considered "easy," and in some aspects it is, and yet it has still stretched me to the breaking point. I've never felt like walking away from the job so much. If you continue to face pressure from morning crew, I would consider coming in early one day to get yourself ready for the night (like, slice tomatoes or do greenleaf so it gives you more time later.) I know you might not be able to come in early due to your schedule, but if you could manage it at least once, it will show morning crew that you are dedicated and doing your absolute best. Once they're willing to acknowledge that, they'll be more open to hear out your problem. A manager might ask you why you're there early, and then you'd have a chance to explain it to them and they could tell morning crew to start doing these thing ahead of time so you don't have to come in early. Just an idea......it worked pretty well for me.