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.

http://www.foodchannel.com/stories/2144-hottest-trends-on-restaurant-menus-for-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.

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.

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?

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"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/business/media/01adco.html?scp=6&sq=facebook%20&st=cse

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.

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.