[Source: la.foodblogging] quoted: Unlike a typical bakery where a product is simply plucked off the shelf when a customer places an order, Beard Papa’s prepares each puff individually for each customer. It is only when the customer purchases the c…

Choux me too, dammit!

Have you ever tried to make those little suckers? Lots of hard, fast beating by hand, I recollect. I can remember my forearm aching like anything.

Thanks, SoCal.

Here’s a little more info from qsrmagazine.com:

The puff’s shell comes from frozen dough balls that are made in the factory. The creamy filling is made in the stores using Madagascar vanilla beans. “A lot of companies cut costs by using vanilla essence or extract,� says Inagaki. “We take the vanilla bean, slice it in the middle, and scrape out the seeds. That’s why you can see black bits in the custard itself.� Beard Papa’s maintains that using these premium ingredients create a taste premium that sets the product above its Japanese competitors.

As Inagaki noted, there is also an element of theater to a Beard Papa’s operation. Unlike a typical bakery where a product is simply plucked off the shelf when a customer places an order, Beard Papa’s prepares each puff individually for each customer. It is only when the customer purchases the cream puff that the cream is injected into the pastry shell. There is a practical reason for this as well—a last minute cream injection keeps the pastry shell crisp, the cream fresh, and the whole puff from getting soggy.

Beard Papa’s also takes action to ensure product standardization across locations. One out of every five cream puffs is weighed to ensure that the proper amount of cream has been added to the shell. “If a cream puff is off the standard weight by more than 5 grams, we either throw that pastry away or keep it for the staff. Part of what makes a franchise a franchise is the maintenance of the same product and quality in all stores. We make sure that the cream puff tastes the same even if we have to use sugar or flour from different suppliers. To obtain this consistency required more than 3,000 trial-and-error tests,� says Inagaki.

Beard Papa’s high standards of service. In Japan, customers expect quick-service workers to provide a level of courtesy, professionalism, and deference that far surpasses what is asked of U.S workers. “We try to do everything for the customer,� says Inagaki. “We don’t see ourselves really here to sell cream puffs—we are here to sell a service. When the customer walks into the store, we engage his five senses. You can smell the cream puffs baking all day long. You feel the fresh shell of the cream puffs, and you taste them when you bite in. You can see and hear the servers talking to you and to each other so it’s important that they are very upbeat and enthusiastic. We tell our staff that when they are behind the counter, they are not there to sell cream puffs—they are actually performers on stage who are being watched making cream puffs. When the customer is done seeing the performance, he gets to go home and take the cream puff that he watched being made. The cream puff is just something to take home. It’s an extra treat.�