Sustainability ‘hot topic’ at NRA
Show
Fast Casual
by Valerie Killifer • 27 May 2008
More than 71,000 attendees converged on Chicago ’s
McCormick Place last week for the National Restaurant
Association’s 89th Annual Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show. Among
the more than 65 educational sessions held during the four-day
event was a presentation given by Chipotle Mexican Grill chief
executive officer Steve Ells, who discussed an owner’s
perspective on serving food in an ethical and sustainable
manner.
Sustainable and eco-friendly products were a hot topic once
again at the NRA Show, with an abundance of exhibitors displaying
cage-free, growth-hormone free vegetarian-fed animal products.
Ells expressed his disappointment with what he describes as the
American food paradox.
"What most Americans eat today isn’t real food," he said.
"Eating has become just an act of putting calories into our body.
Most of us don’t even know where we’re going to get our
next meal."
The paradox, according to Ells, is that Americans practice such
eating habits while at the same time representing the most
health-obsessed culture in the world.
So what went wrong with food in America in the first place?
Ells claims scientists "led us astray" when they began
engineering out of food what they thought was unhealthy, putting in
its place preservatives, antibiotics and other ingredients they
thought were good for us.
"They’ve contributed more to a problem than they have to a
solution," Ells said.
The real solution, he said, is "to eat real food –
unprocessed, whole food that has been cooked in a classic way and
sourced from real farmers," as opposed to large corporate
farms.
For foodservice operators who have had a difficult time
implementing sustainable initiatives, especially in a struggling
economy, Ells advises, "Just cook good food. If you cook good food,
the people will come."
Live from Chicago
Fast Casual editor, Valerie Killifer, and publisher, Paul Barron,
conducted several video interviews from the NRA Show floor. Watch
below for trends and products found at the Show's first
International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event, held May 19-20.
Featured Exhibitors
The National Restaurant Association Hotel-Motel Show is one of the
largest trade events in the world. Search NRA on FastCasual.com for
more extensive coverage of the show, and in the meantime, enjoy
this brief look at just a few of the exhibits. Click here to view a
slideshow of the NRA Show featured exhibitors.
BUZZTIME. Any operator who has ever been to a Buffalo Wild
Wings, and watched customers get their trivia in between beers, is
already familiar with Buzztime’s nationwide interactive
games. Now, for operators who want to take the application a step
further, Buzztime is introducing a way for them to put their
customized messages on the screen beside the games. A web-based
interface allows deployers to log on, choose from various fonts and
other tools, upload their own images, and have the resulting
messages sent to their screens. Uses include making real-time
specials to move certain items during slow periods or executing
general promotional efforts. Space can be sold to third parties for
additional revenue, and content can be changed as often as the
operator likes.
CUSTOMER2YOU. Fax machines have served an important role in the
history of mankind. But so have 8-track tapes, dot-matrix printers
and pet rocks. Online ordering can help do away with the busy
signals and overlooked faxes so toxic to the customer experience,
but until recently, the technology has been too cumbersome and
expensive. Customer2You can work directly with POS providers to set
up an online ordering application in no time flat, including
complete menus, and have orders zoomed straight into the POS.
Service is ongoing and seamless with the POS provider to give
operators the proverbial one-throat-to-choke. Cost? Free to
deployers because customers foot the 75 cent transaction fee.
EPICURE DIGITAL SYSTEMS, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., is a
digital-signage solutions company integrating software technology
with multimedia marketing to create products and services for the
foodservice industry. Its core product, the Epicure Digital Menu
System, replaces traditional menu boards and signage with a
computerized LCD system with web-based controls. The system
displays menus, video, animation, commercials, images and food
photography. Each menu board can be programmed by day part and menu
cycle. Menu items, descriptions and prices can be changed easily,
quickly and online in one or more restaurants using Epicure
Digital’s LiveText technology. The company's creative team
also can create compelling visual experiences that enhance the
dining experience by creatively combining information, motion,
imagery and food photography. Epicure Digital System calls this
experience The Cure for the Menu Bored.
H.C. BRILL continues to strengthen its foodservice presence by
leveraging in-store bakery expertise and innovation. This
year’s exhibit featured a broad range of operator-friendly
products including freezer-to-oven cinnamon rolls, focaccia dough,
scoop-and-bake batters and thaw-and-sell cookies and muffins. "Our
products are very versatile," said company president Troy
Hendricks. "We used cobbler crusts for quiches, puff pastry for
sweet-and-savory applications, and focaccia dough for breadsticks
and pizzas." The exhibit also featured the Karp name, after H.C.
Brill spent a few years integrating its best products. "Now, we
offer a line that can accommodate operators without ovens as well
as those with pastry chefs," Hendricks said.
TORANI, specializing in flavored iced teas, specialty coffees
and lemonades, had two products make their NRA debut. One was a new
drink with an especially fresh strawberry taste. The other was
Torani Amer, a bitter orange liquor the company introduced shortly
after the end of Prohibition. Torani, based in South San Francisco,
does business in about 38 countries.
VULCAN HART RANGE had a new, composite metal cooking top that
offers up to 40-percent energy efficiency. It’s so efficient
that the company is pursuing an Energy Star rating. The unique
surface requires no seasoning and can be cleaned with water and a
razor blade. Cook zones are precise and reliable, and the grill
reheats so quickly from standby that more operators will feel
comfortable shutting it down between busy times, thus saving them
energy costs. While some grills can vary from 75 to 100 degrees
from corner to center, the new Vulcan Hart range has a 12-degree
idle average variance.
VGS won’t be left behind in the move to green. At the NRA
Show, the company showcased its new ecofriendly products. MgO
board, for example, is made of magnesium oxide and other materials
that require no energy for the manufacturing process. It cuts into
shapes easily and is one of the most durable and flexible eco
materials for today’s signage and displays. Wood veneer
panels are abrasion, scratch, stain and impact resistant. Plywood
panels made from abundant, plantation-grown coconut palms can be
used as stand-alones or integrated into most of VGS’
proprietary signage and fixture systems. "When we think of our
company as being very product focused, we were trying to showcase
in our booth that visibility starts with design and builds from the
ground up," said Patrick Benasillo, vice president. "We showed two
different pathways, one more creative and vibrant, the other
eco-friendly."
WILD VEGGIES made its debut at the show with four
vegetable-based, frozen products that can be served hot or cold, as
beverages or as parts of soup or other recipes. Currently,
broccoli, cauliflower, edamame and red bell peppers are available.
The process takes the whole vegetable, lightly cooks it and uses
micro-cutting technology (as opposed to a puree process) to liquefy
it. The advantage is that the product retains greater color and
fresher taste. Wild Veggie traces all products from raw materials
through the manufacturing processes and distribution channels to
assure full accountability. In addition, Wild Veggies uses state of
the art equipment for quality assurance, lot tracking and food
safety analysis.
WINSTON INDUSTRIES, founded in 1969, a leading foodservice
equipment manufacturer, designs, builds and markets
state-of-the-art equipment for a wide variety of foodservice
operations. Winston manufactures two product brands, Collectramatic
and CVap. Collectramatic fryers use a gravity filtration system to
remove loose breading from cooking oil, which extends shortening
life, and lowers operating costs. CVap (controlled vapor)
technology uses a patented dual heat system, composed of vapor heat
and air heat. The system precisely controls food moisture and
temperature, meaning food can be held for extended periods, without
any loss of quality or temperature. Because CVap technology is
available in a wide variety of product configurations, it offers
operators the solution to a multitude of cooking and holding
challenges.