Employment problems go up in smoke

Simplified menu helps to accommodate for staffing shortfalls at Pigeon River Brewing Company
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

Many businesses dealing with a shortfall in employees have been reducing their hours to keep from running their current workers ragged.

For Pigeon River Brewing Company, the solution was as simple as changing the menu.

Kayla Knaack, who owns the Marion business with her husband, Nate, said that they’d been able to keep employment numbers in check until the end of the summer, but then they found they had a couple of vacancies they couldn’t find anyone to fill.

“My husband and I were both splitting up our days. He was working here part of the day, and I was working another part of the day,” Knaack said. “All of our staff that were working here were really getting stretched thin as well, and not getting the work-life balance that we’d like to be able to offer.”

She added that having five children at home did not make it easy for her and her husband to be in the trenches with the cooks, servers and bartenders.

“We got to the point where we were like, something needs to change,” Knaack said. “We couldn’t do this anymore.”

That’s when Knaack and her husband realized there was a way to streamline the process, and it all had to do with something Nate was already doing — smoking meats. Knaack said it’s something he’s been doing for years at home, but they hadn’t done anything as far as implementing that smoked meat into the menu at the brewing company.

The Knaacks simplified their menu, taking off burgers and other items that took a lot of time to cook from raw meat, and instead introduced smoked meat sandwiches and other goodies. With smoked brisket, pork and chicken available, Pigeon River is offering sandwiches like the mac attack brisket, pork tacos, smoked Gouda chicken sandwich and more.

“It was a way of dealing with a bad situation, but it was also an opportunity to become more true to ourselves,” Knaack said. “He’s really passionate about (smoking meat). He loves it. He’s getting to the point where he enjoys smoking meat almost as much as he enjoys brewing beer.”

The mac attack brisket, which combines smoked brisket with macaroni and cheese, caramelized onions and beer cheese, has been the favorite among all the new dishes, according to Knaack. Following up close behind is the brandy old-fashioned pork sandwich, which includes Monterey Jack cheese and brandy old-fashioned flavored bacon and cherry jam.

“It’s a bacon jam made with Gary’s Old Fashioned Mix and brandy and sweetened, dried cherries, so that old-fashioned flavor goes well with the pulled pork,” Knaack said.

By putting the skill at the front end of the process, smoking the meats, Knaack said time is drastically cut in preparing the food, which means orders do not get backed up and thus, employees are not stressed out during the busy times of the day.

“It’s a lot more manageable and efficient for the staff that we have, and they feel like they can breathe a little bit more during the shift and not feel quite so burned out,” Knaack said. “They’re able to put food out a lot faster.”

Having a menu with smoked meats is also helping Pigeon River deal with supply chain issues, as well, according to Knaack.

“If we’re ordering fresh ingredients like fresh brisket or fresh pork, it’s a lot easier to source those ingredients locally versus some of the other pre-made stuff that you just can’t get your hands on these days,” she said. “Everyone’s having a hard time finding chicken wings. Fish is kind of getting in short supply, and we’ve been lucky enough that we can get a good supply of haddock, because we have a very popular fish fry.”

The simplified menu has helped in light of the brewing company hiring some new cooks. The easier items catch on more quickly to those being trained, according to Knaack, and it makes it easier if Pigeon River has to hire any cooks in the future.

Even though patrons enjoyed the burgers, wraps and pizzas offered, streamlining the menu made a difference in time management.

“When you’ve got 20 burgers on a char grill, there’s a lot of pressure in being able to time them all right,” Knaack said. “If you’re off by a minute or two, people’s burgers are going to be overcooked or undercooked. It’s really hard to keep consistency in something like that, whereas with this product it’s not quite as timing specific, and we’re able to put out a consistent product without having that pressure on everybody.”

Knaack noted their consistent patrons have expressed sadness as losing some of Pigeon River’s mainstays, but the new items on the menu work to fill the gaps.

“Everybody who’s willing to try it out has liked it,” Knaack said. “We’re just trying to do whatever we can to support our family, support our staff and support our community. We’re really hopeful that they’re going to support us in return.”


lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com