Blogging to me has always been somewhat of a mystery to me, so when our teacher assigned us blog postings to do I was a bit scared at first. I like most Americans have just gotten used to using facebook and all those other social media sites out there. I always knew blogging was out there I just never took the time to sit down and use it. Since I started posting, I enjoyed every minute of it, not looking at it as an assignment, but as a way to express myself and just let me speak my mind. For me it was great therapy to be able to find different and interesting articles about what is going on in my chosen career path and share with the world what I have to say and how I feel. I could definitely see myself doing more blogging in the future, whether it be for personal use, to connect with the family or when I am actually working using a blog to keep everyone in the loop. I recently just stumbled upon a few blogs that I have started to follow. My passion has always been in the cruising industry so when the president and CEO of Royal Caribbean started a blog to promote their new ship, I always found myself taking a peek just to see what was new and their insights into what was happening. It was almost like they gave us a key into their minds because it was very informal and almost as if they were talking to their friends and family, which is the way it should be, because true corporate talk can get boring and stuffy after a while. After the launch of their new ship the blog didn’t end there. They still continue to post about what is happening in the company and other industry related news. John heald is another friend of mine, who I have had the pleasure of meeting on several trips.He has almost a cult following on his blog with thousands and thousands of replys daily to his many insights and humourous interpretations of life as one of the senior cruise directors for Carnival Cruise Line.
Some blogs that I do follow:
http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/chairmans-blog/
http://johnhealdsblog.com/
These are only a couple that I do follow religiously. There are a few that have nothing related to food or cruising such as theme park blogs and other travel blogs. Kudos to our teacher for giving me the blogging bug.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Fish for Lent!
today in class, professor Ross asked us to find an article that has to do with a topic we havent discussed yet. I may have to tread lightly here, but i have found an article that has to do with the food industry's effect or take on religion.
click here for the article.
A brief summary of the article is that in loo of the Lenten season, restaurants will be marketing and upselling their fish products more. During the lent season, practicing Catholics will be giving up meat and/or other vises during the 40-day duration until Easter. So restaurants need to find a way to sell their other products to gain revenue.
i feel that this is a perfectly legitimate thing to do. if people around the world are choosing to eat your fish products, why not upsell the price? while you are potentially losing money from not selling chicken or beef, i see no harm in raising the price of a fish filet a little bit at McDonalds.
click here for the article.
A brief summary of the article is that in loo of the Lenten season, restaurants will be marketing and upselling their fish products more. During the lent season, practicing Catholics will be giving up meat and/or other vises during the 40-day duration until Easter. So restaurants need to find a way to sell their other products to gain revenue.
i feel that this is a perfectly legitimate thing to do. if people around the world are choosing to eat your fish products, why not upsell the price? while you are potentially losing money from not selling chicken or beef, i see no harm in raising the price of a fish filet a little bit at McDonalds.
Flavor & The Menu Announces Top Ten Menu Trends for 2010
Since trends are on the menu for this week I thought this would be appropriate:
http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/article43722Flavor___The_Menu_Announces_Top_Ten_Menu_Trends_for_____.html
I like how we are finally starting to go back to our roots with rustic and affordable foods for all. Gone are the boring ham and cheese sandwichs 0f the past, now its becoming complex versions of foods that were once considered off limits and out of reach to us normal folks. But somehow these exotic sandwiches, sauces and spreads are taking our menus in 2010 to new and amazing heights. Interesting is how healthy didn't make the make the list, as it talks nothing about lighter foods but more heavier "comfort" foods and lots more fried foods. You would think with everyone seemingly tying to live a healthier lifestyle that would be number one on the list but surprisingly not. Everyone in these tough economic times just wants to be satisfied with a downright good home cooked meal that they didn't pay an arm and a leg for. It's about time america starts to realize about how good some foods can be if they just give them a chance and that the norm is not always best option. I think this article subtly addresses the importance of eating locally and supporting your local farms. It talks about the rustic revolution which emphasizes using what they called foraged foods and farmstead cheeses. Its definitely our responsibility to give what the customer wants so use this list as a guideline. The only true way to tell if these will be trends, is to test them out in your own restaurant.
http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/article43722Flavor___The_Menu_Announces_Top_Ten_Menu_Trends_for_____.html
I like how we are finally starting to go back to our roots with rustic and affordable foods for all. Gone are the boring ham and cheese sandwichs 0f the past, now its becoming complex versions of foods that were once considered off limits and out of reach to us normal folks. But somehow these exotic sandwiches, sauces and spreads are taking our menus in 2010 to new and amazing heights. Interesting is how healthy didn't make the make the list, as it talks nothing about lighter foods but more heavier "comfort" foods and lots more fried foods. You would think with everyone seemingly tying to live a healthier lifestyle that would be number one on the list but surprisingly not. Everyone in these tough economic times just wants to be satisfied with a downright good home cooked meal that they didn't pay an arm and a leg for. It's about time america starts to realize about how good some foods can be if they just give them a chance and that the norm is not always best option. I think this article subtly addresses the importance of eating locally and supporting your local farms. It talks about the rustic revolution which emphasizes using what they called foraged foods and farmstead cheeses. Its definitely our responsibility to give what the customer wants so use this list as a guideline. The only true way to tell if these will be trends, is to test them out in your own restaurant.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Food Trends
I found this article about the hottest trends on restaurants menus for 2010. The article says that from an annual survey from the National Restaurant Association, given to more than 1,800 chefs, it said that local sourcing of ingredients, sustainability and nutrition will be the hottest trends on restaurant menus for this year.
The article basically talks about the results of the "what hot trends we'll see in the coming year," which is send to a lot of professional chefs out there which are members of the American Culinary Federation. I got to say, when I got this survey on my email, as I was answering the questions, I was also wondering what answers would be given by other chefs, with obviously a lot more experienced than me.
One thing that got my interest in this article, was something that Michael Ty, CEC, AAC, ACF national president said: "This is retro - it's what we did in the past when chefs relied on local markets because we did not have the luxury of today's transportation system. We are going back to our roots and the foundation of our craft that made it more pleasurable." When I though of this being trends, it never occurred to me that, that's the way it was done before we had all this technology to import and export products all around the world.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Technology drives on-property spend
http://www.hotelworldnetwork.com/technology/technology-drives-property-spend
This is definitely an up and coming trend since everyone is constantly on the go and constantly staying connected with the latest and greatest cell phones. I think it is the way of the future because as technology improves our lives become simpiler and simpiler and this article proves this. The only problem I have with technology taking over the hospitality field is the lack of human interaction and the service we come to expect after paying an arm and a leg for a hotel room, I want actual people to be at my becon call. Even though this may be true for most instances , sometimes ordering room service on your TV could come in handy for those times when you just don't feel like leaving your room or picking up the phone. I found another article that includes some trends to look for and keep a close watch on if you plan on being successful in the hospitality scene. It includes such things as more and more apps for everything from ordering your food at a restaurant to information about different food items and liquor to smart inventory control systems that tell you how your doing and how you could improve. I like the idea of integrating technology into this industry, I'm just affraid that we will lose site of what it really means to be hospitable in a day and age where we are overrun by super computers and soon to be robots.
This is definitely an up and coming trend since everyone is constantly on the go and constantly staying connected with the latest and greatest cell phones. I think it is the way of the future because as technology improves our lives become simpiler and simpiler and this article proves this. The only problem I have with technology taking over the hospitality field is the lack of human interaction and the service we come to expect after paying an arm and a leg for a hotel room, I want actual people to be at my becon call. Even though this may be true for most instances , sometimes ordering room service on your TV could come in handy for those times when you just don't feel like leaving your room or picking up the phone. I found another article that includes some trends to look for and keep a close watch on if you plan on being successful in the hospitality scene. It includes such things as more and more apps for everything from ordering your food at a restaurant to information about different food items and liquor to smart inventory control systems that tell you how your doing and how you could improve. I like the idea of integrating technology into this industry, I'm just affraid that we will lose site of what it really means to be hospitable in a day and age where we are overrun by super computers and soon to be robots.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Chipotle commits to solar power
http://www.nrn.com/article.aspx?id=374722
This article goes along with the whole green initiative that we have been talking about in class. I like the idea of how Chipotle wants all restaurants to use something that pretty much comes free to us to its advantage. Funny how this article doesn't talk about who is going to pay for all these added solar panels and other green initiatives, hopefully the company will give some sort of help to offset these added costs. Overall reguardless of cost, I think it will save them money in the long run which will give them extra money to use as they wish. Maybe they could use this for more green projects, new menu ideas, new or upgraded epuipment who knows. I'm glad people have finally started to wake up and realize that we need to start taking care of this planet we call home, honestly you could say i'm embarassed at the way we treat earth, I mean I know we need to live and support ourselves and our society but the earth gives us so much and we need to return the favor in what little ways we can.
This article goes along with the whole green initiative that we have been talking about in class. I like the idea of how Chipotle wants all restaurants to use something that pretty much comes free to us to its advantage. Funny how this article doesn't talk about who is going to pay for all these added solar panels and other green initiatives, hopefully the company will give some sort of help to offset these added costs. Overall reguardless of cost, I think it will save them money in the long run which will give them extra money to use as they wish. Maybe they could use this for more green projects, new menu ideas, new or upgraded epuipment who knows. I'm glad people have finally started to wake up and realize that we need to start taking care of this planet we call home, honestly you could say i'm embarassed at the way we treat earth, I mean I know we need to live and support ourselves and our society but the earth gives us so much and we need to return the favor in what little ways we can.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Carbon Footprint
Carbon Footprint
ok, here is an interesting article i found. It is showing how Good Morning America, a reputable news source, is voicing their concern about the carbon footprints that hamburgers are leaving on the world.
They are saying that in order to process, ship, and make one quarter pounder with cheese, it would cost 26 ounces of oil. The article also went on to say that some countries want to put labels on different food products saying how much carbon was used to make the product.
My issue with this is wouldnt it cost a lot of energy to make the new containers/packaging/wraps for the products...possibly more then you are saving?
Regardless i feel that the new labelling system will become more of a niusance because people wont have an understanding right off the bat.
comments?
ok, here is an interesting article i found. It is showing how Good Morning America, a reputable news source, is voicing their concern about the carbon footprints that hamburgers are leaving on the world.
They are saying that in order to process, ship, and make one quarter pounder with cheese, it would cost 26 ounces of oil. The article also went on to say that some countries want to put labels on different food products saying how much carbon was used to make the product.
My issue with this is wouldnt it cost a lot of energy to make the new containers/packaging/wraps for the products...possibly more then you are saving?
Regardless i feel that the new labelling system will become more of a niusance because people wont have an understanding right off the bat.
comments?
More Social Media
The article is really interesting, how Einstein Bros. gives away free bagels to their facebook fans just to get their name out there, it is a great strategy to get people to try their products, and have them come back for more.
From all the articles I have read, there are many thinks companies can do to advertise their company, or to even help a cause. I found this article from yesterday, with the title "Pepsi Invites the Public to do Good" where their goal according to the article is "The brand is dedicating at least $20 million through the end of the year for donations to local organizations and causes proposed by the public in realms like health, arts and culture, the environment and education."
I thinks is amazing on how companies are using facebook not only advertise themselves, which is probably their main goal, but at the same time help a community or a cause.
"Pepsi Invites the Public to Do Good"
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Einstein Bros. gives away bagels on Facebook
Ok even though I know we are no longer talking about social media, this is an interesting article relating to Quick Service Restaurants.
http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=378774&menu_id=1368
This is definitely one way to get your name out there. Hopefully their aggressive advertising strategy works out for them.
http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=378774&menu_id=1368
This is definitely one way to get your name out there. Hopefully their aggressive advertising strategy works out for them.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Delaware moves to require menu labeling
Here's an interesting article I found on Nations Restaurant News:
http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=378588
Since we are doing health and nutrition this week, I thought this would be fitting. It talks about the push for restaurants in Delaware to be required to post nutrition information on menus. Although this is great and all who is going to enforce this? I am sure that the cost involved with hiring inspectors to make sure all restaurants are in compliance would be extremely high.The article raises an interesting point in saying that a franchise owner may incur all costs associated with this. I think if this is the case the company should help out in some way to send a positive message to franchise owner rather than leaving them high and dry. Could this also impact sales of particular food items as well? Say if a customer sees an item with a lot more calories then he or she would want would they opt for a healthier choice instead? Of course this wouldn't be the case for everyone, because some people could care less about what they are eating. But as obesity rises and the push for a healthier society this may or may not help with our growing problem.
http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=378588
Since we are doing health and nutrition this week, I thought this would be fitting. It talks about the push for restaurants in Delaware to be required to post nutrition information on menus. Although this is great and all who is going to enforce this? I am sure that the cost involved with hiring inspectors to make sure all restaurants are in compliance would be extremely high.The article raises an interesting point in saying that a franchise owner may incur all costs associated with this. I think if this is the case the company should help out in some way to send a positive message to franchise owner rather than leaving them high and dry. Could this also impact sales of particular food items as well? Say if a customer sees an item with a lot more calories then he or she would want would they opt for a healthier choice instead? Of course this wouldn't be the case for everyone, because some people could care less about what they are eating. But as obesity rises and the push for a healthier society this may or may not help with our growing problem.
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