01Scale
“We have a great product but can't scale it.”
Formulation, batch sheets and costing that hold up at production volume.
40+ years inside the food business
From the kitchen to the factory floor.
We don't just advise. We build, fix, optimize and scale food operations, from recipe development to USDA/FDA manufacturing, supply chain and P&L.
- Background
- Executive chef → VP of plant operations
- Environment
- USDA & FDA facilities
- Based in
- La Mirada, California
Everytable · 2020
5,000 → 38,000
meals per day, reached in 7 weeks at a newly commissioned FDA plant
At a glance
- years in restaurant R&D and food plant operations
- 40+
- net income delivered in 12 months at Del Real Foods
- $9.4M
- saved across sourcing, contracts and distribution at Lemonade
- $3.3M
- on a commissary's first third-party food safety audit
- 98.5
Results achieved by Nacho Varela in executive roles.
See the full track recordThe whole chain
One partner. Five disciplines.
Most food businesses hire one specialist for the recipe, another for the plant and a third for the numbers, and then pay for the gaps between them. We cover every link.
- 01Where it starts
Culinary
- Menu & recipe development
- Test-kitchen R&D
- Concepts for chains
- 02Make it repeatable
Product
- Industrial formulation
- COGS & batch sheets
- Nutrition & labeling
- 03Make it at scale
Manufacturing
- Plant design & layout
- Start-up & commissioning
- QA, sanitation, USDA/FDA
- 04Make it pay
Operations
- Supply chain & scheduling
- Labor & yield control
- KPIs & P&L
- 05Get it to market
Commercialization
- Launch & roll-out
- Outside sales programs
- Team training
“Most consultants cover one link. Nacho has run all five.”
Two decades as an executive chef and head of R&D for restaurant chains, then more than two decades designing, opening and running USDA and FDA plants.
Where it hurts
What is holding your business back?
Food manufacturers, commissaries, restaurant groups and growing food brands tend to call us for the same eight reasons.
02Margin
“Our plant produces, but margins aren't where they should be.”
Labor, portioning, yields and schedules, measured line by line.
03Growth
“We're growing faster than our systems.”
Layouts, equipment and production planning sized for the next stage.
04Food cost
“Food cost keeps going up.”
Menu engineering, portion control and cost sheets on every item.
05Supply chain
“Our supply chain is getting too complex.”
Sourcing, contracts, forecasting and inventory under one plan.
06R&D to production
“Our new product is stuck between R&D and production.”
A path from test kitchen to first production run, with specs and costs.
07Facilities
“We need to build or redesign a facility.”
Plant design, equipment selection and start-up, USDA or FDA.
08Leadership
“We need senior operations expertise without a full-time executive.”
Hands-on senior guidance for your managers and supervisors.
Recognize your operation in one of these?
What we do
Six ways we get to work.
Every engagement is hands-on and led personally by Nacho. We work on the floor, with your people, until the results show up in your numbers.
- 01
Food Manufacturing
Build better. Operate smarter.
Plant design, equipment layout and start-up for USDA and FDA facilities, plus the quality, sanitation and compliance programs that keep them running.
- Plant design
- Equipment layout
- Start-up
- QA & sanitation
- USDA / FDA
- 02
Operations & Profitability
Find the money hiding in your operation.
Labor scheduling, portion control, yields, KPIs and P&L discipline. The unglamorous work that turns a producing plant into a profitable one.
- Labor
- Food cost
- Portion control
- KPIs
- P&L
- 03
Product Development & Commercialization
From recipe to production line.
Industrial formulation, batch sheets, COGS, nutritional analysis and packaging, so a recipe that works in the test kitchen works at production scale.
- Formulation
- Scale-up
- COGS
- Nutrition & labeling
- Packaging
- 04
Supply Chain & Procurement
Support growth, not complexity.
Sourcing and contracting commodities, forecasting, warehousing, inventory control and production scheduling, set up to support growth instead of slowing it.
- Sourcing
- Contracts
- Forecasting
- Inventory
- Scheduling
- 05
Restaurants & Commissaries
What works in the kitchen must work in the P&L.
Commissary design and consolidation, menu engineering and food and labor cost control for restaurant groups, independents and supermarkets.
- Commissary design
- Menu engineering
- Food cost
- Labor cost
- 06
Training & Leadership
Better systems. Better people.
On-site coaching for managers and front-line teams, food safety training, and the management routines that build accountability and keep good people.
- Management coaching
- Food safety training
- Safety programs
- Accountability
How we work
Diagnose. Design. Execute. Improve.
A simple sequence, run on the floor with your team, not from a conference room.
Step 01
Diagnose
We walk the line, read the P&L and talk to the people doing the work, then name the few problems that matter most.
- Floor assessment
- Cost & yield review
- Priority list
Step 02
Design
We turn priorities into a practical plan: layouts, formulas, schedules and programs, each with owners, costs and dates.
- Action plan
- Specs & layouts
- Budget & timeline
Step 03
Execute
We stay for the hard part: equipment, start-up, first production runs and training your managers and hourly team.
- Start-up support
- On-site training
- Launch checklists
Step 04
Improve
We put in place the KPIs and routines your team keeps running after we leave, so the gains hold.
- KPIs & dashboards
- Management routines
- Follow-up reviews
Every engagement is scoped to your operation. Tell us what you're trying to accomplish and we'll propose the right starting point.
Leadership record
Numbers from the floor.
Results from forty years of running kitchens, commissaries and plants: measured, dated and tied to a role.
- meals per day, reached in 7 weeks
- 5,000 → 38,000
- Everytable · VP Supply Chain, Manufacturing & R&D
- in supply-chain savings
- $3.3M
- Lemonade Restaurant Group · VP Supply Chain, Manufacturing & R&D
- on a first third-party audit, first try
- 98.5
- Lemonade Restaurant Group · commissary
- net-income turnaround in 12 months
- $9.4M
- Del Real Foods · VP of Operations
- in yearly outside manufacturing sales
- $80K → $128M
- Real Mex Foods · SVP Operations, Sales and R&D
- plant EBITDA
- 12%
- Real Mex Foods · SVP Operations, Sales and R&D
- seasonal workforce managed
- 1,600
- Tomatek · General Manager
- restaurants' menus developed
- 735
- Sizzler International · Director of Product Development
Results achieved by Nacho Varela in executive roles.
Facing something similar in your operation?
Executive roles
Three turnarounds, up close.
Before Practical Solutions, and alongside it, Nacho led supply chain, manufacturing and operations for growing food companies. Here is what those roles involved.
Everytable · 2020–2021
7.6× daily output in seven weeks
Vice President of Supply Chain, Manufacturing and R&D
- Opened a new 35,000 sq ft FDA facility and hired 250+ employees
- Built quality assurance and sanitation departments from scratch
- Helped the company turn profitable for the first time in five years, within six months
Lemonade Restaurant Group · 2018–2020
Three commissaries became one
Vice President of Supply Chain, Manufacturing and R&D
- Designed a commissary built to support 120–130 restaurants
- Wrote the industrial recipes and COGS sheets behind the company's first accurate P&L
- Scored 98.5 on the plant's first third-party audit
Del Real Foods · 2010–2012
A turnaround in twelve months
Vice President of Operations
- Over $1M saved on labor, overtime and double time with new schedules
- Food cost cut by more than 5.2% through portion control of cooked proteins
- Over $300K saved on workers' compensation premiums through safety training
Who we help
Built for the people who make and serve food.
From a single USDA plant to a multi-unit restaurant group, the common thread is food that has to be made consistently, safely and at a profit.
01
Food manufacturers
USDA and FDA plants that need better efficiency, productivity, sanitation or margins.
02
Growing food brands
Brands taking a product from concept to commercial production.
03
Restaurant groups
Multi-unit and independent operators working on menus, food cost and labor.
04
Commissaries & central kitchens
Operations that feed many locations from one kitchen and need it to scale.
05
Supermarkets & grocery
Retailers with prepared foods, commissary or manufacturing programs.
06
Owners & investors
Leadership that needs an operator's read on a plant or a turnaround.
USDA and FDA facilities and multi-unit taqueria operations Practical Solutions helped design, equip and start up
- Northgate Markets
- MCI Foods
- Tacos La Bufadora
- Taqueria 2 Potrillos
- Everytable
- Sonora Corp.
- Happy Goods
- Mex Tamal
- Adesa International
- Grounded Foods / Real Vision
- Cedarlane Foods
About
An executive chef who learned to run the plant.
Nacho Varela spent his first two decades in kitchens and test kitchens, developing menus for chains such as El Torito, Sizzler and Ninfa's.
He then moved into manufacturing: designing, opening and running USDA and FDA plants and commissaries as a senior vice president, vice president and general manager.
Since 2015 he has brought both sides to clients as the principal of Practical Solutions Consulting. That mix, a chef's palate and a plant manager's P&L, is what every engagement gets.
Culinary & R&D
- 1977–1981El Torito RestaurantsExecutive Chef
- 1981–1984Seafood Broiler RestaurantsExecutive Chef
- 1984–1989Acapulco RestaurantsExecutive Chef
- 1989–1991Sizzler InternationalDirector of Product Development / Executive Chef
- 1991–1993Ninfa's & Atchafalaya RestaurantsDirector of Concept Development / Executive Chef
- 1993–1994Landry's Seafood RestaurantsDirector of Food Services / Executive Chef, Joe's Crab Shack
- 1994–1996El Torito RestaurantsExecutive Chef
- 1996–1999American Golf CorporationCorporate Executive Chef / Area F&B Director
Manufacturing & Operations
- 1999–2010Real Mex FoodsSVP of Operations, Sales and R&D
- 2010–2012Del Real FoodsVP of Operations
- 2012–2013Packline WestVP of Operations
- 2013–2015TomatekGeneral Manager
- 2018–2020Lemonade Restaurant GroupVP of Supply Chain, Manufacturing and R&D
- 2020–2021EverytableVP of Supply Chain, Manufacturing and R&D
- 2023–presentNorthgate MarketsConsulting project: commissary design and start-up
Start a conversation
Tell us what you're trying to accomplish.
A few details are enough to start. The more we know about your operation, the more useful our first conversation will be.
Prefer to pick a time?Book a call with Nacho
Prefer to talk?
- Phone: 562.234.1322
- Email: nacho@practical-solutions.us
- WhatsApp: WhatsApp · 562.234.1322
- Location: La Mirada, California