All About the Food

The Operator’s Monthly Conference Call

The RCS Monthly Operator’s Conference Call is scheduled for July 15th at 3:00 p.m. CST.

On this call we will discuss ways to improve your operation’s efficiency and marketability through answers to your submitted questions. continue

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85 Percent of Consumers Eat Desserts at Least Once a Month

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–New research from foodservice consultancy Technomic found that virtually everyone enjoys dessert from time to time. In a survey of 1,500 consumers, the vast majority (85 percent) said they eat dessert once a month or more, with zero respondents indicating that they “never” eat dessert. And more than half of consumers (57 percent) report eating dessert “very frequently” or “often” (at least once a week).

“Clearly, consumers love dessert,” says Darren Tristano, Executive Vice President of Technomic Information Services. “We see the overwhelming appeal of desserts as a great way for restaurants to boost incremental sales.”

Admitting that it can be challenging to persuade consumers to order dessert once they’re full from their meal, Tristano noted that the new research points out numerous ways to appeal to their sweet tooth. Both full- and limited-service restaurant operators, as well as their suppliers, can drive dessert sales by concentrating on these and other key consumer trends:

• Even though traditional desserts such as chocolate-chip cookies, a dish of vanilla ice cream or a slice of apple pie are most favored, the definition of dessert is changing. More consumers, for example, now view yogurt parfaits, fruit plates, or cheese samplers as appealing desserts.
• Dessert toppings are growing in popularity, and not just for ice cream sundaes. Many consumers indicate that they like toppings on cakes, pies and cookies.
• Consumers like to share desserts. In fact, some won’t order dessert unless someone else in their party also plans to. This behavior varies by gender and ethnic group, with women, Asians and Hispanics more likely to pass on dessert unless they can either share it or know that they aren’t the only one ordering a dessert.
• When purchasing desserts at limited-service establishments, consumers look for portability and reasonably-priced options. At full-service restaurants, however, high overall quality is the most important attribute.

These and countless other findings are presented and interpreted in the new Dessert Consumer Trend Report, which was developed to give restaurant operators and foodservice suppliers vital market and consumer insights to drive business-building efforts in the dessert category. It includes over 300 pages of detailed reporting on dessert menus, prices and ingredients, in addition to in-depth consumer research aimed at consumption behaviors, attitudes and behaviors that impact the dessert decision, dessert occasions, brand preferences, and improvement areas.

Several appendices include emerging desert chain profiles, operator-specific demographics, consume

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Eating With Your Mind’s Eye

Garnishes are to a dinner plate what accessories are to fashion models: They set off attributes to their best advantage. But making food look nice — the “halo effect” of plate presentation — doesn’t require foam machines or truffle shavers. Here, a three-element plate gets a simple, effective makeover.

One caveat: Because we tried to show as many techniques as possible on one plate, this comes dangerously close to overdone. Learn to stop garnishing at the first moment of satisfaction — or even before.

Select the plate: Go with plain white, and keep proportion in mind: For three components, a 10-inch plate with a 1 1/2 -inch rim and a slight well gives the food a little room to breathe. The well defines the space and keeps liquids from running. The rim frames food just as margins frame words on a page.

Watch dimension: A little piling goes a long way. Towers of food that topple with the first cut of a knife have gone the way of the ’90s.

Use a kit: When having guests over for dinner, do what restaurant chefs do. Have some of the following items handy to choose from as the muse strikes, provided they make sense where you use them:

• Chopped parsley.
• Chopped and/or whole chives.
• Chopped scallions.
• Diced red bell p epper.
• A bunch of clean greens or herbs (such as watercress, flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, basil, thyme or sage).
• Black or white sesame seeds.
• Toasted pine nuts, pecans, slivered almonds or other nuts.
• Smoked paprika.
• Edible flowers.
  

Make garnishes work: Too much color can look clownish, and everything should belong. On our makeover plate, the red pepper strips on the sugar snaps and black sesame seeds and scallions on the couscous set off the colors and enhance the foods’ flavors instead of clashing with them.

When it comes to greenery, keep in mind that parsley goes well with all savory dishes, but other herbs should be used only if they are already components in the dish. Basil would be fine on our makeover plate because it’s in the sauce, but sage leaves would be inappropriate.

Some of the most fashionable finishing touches are also the tastiest: varieties of coarse sea salts and freshly ground peppercorns.

Source: The Washington Post 

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Benchmark’s Top 5 Dining Trends 2007

Benchmark Hospitality International, which manages 30 award-winning hotels, resorts, conference centers and condominium resorts throughout the United States and in Japan, has just released its Five Tasty Dining Trends for 2007, as observed by its properties. The trends were announced by Bob Zappatelli, vice president of food & beverage, and his team of 18 food & beverage professionals.

Benchmark Hospitality International, an independent hospitality management company based in The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, operates resorts, conference centers, hotels and condominium resorts both domestically and internationally. For locations of Benchmark Hospitality properties and for additional information, visit Benchmark’s Website at www.benchmarkhospitality.com.

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California Wines Most Featured By U.S. Restaurants

By Martinne Geller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. restaurants are most likely to feature California wines that sell for less than $39 a bottle, according to a new report.

Start-up research firm Winemetrics LLC released its first annual “On-Premise Wine Distribution Report” on Thursday, ranking the nation’s top 100 wine brands based on the frequency of their inclusion on restaurant wine lists.

Topping the list are Beringer, owned by Foster’s Group Ltd., Kendall-Jackson, and Constellation Brands Inc.’s Robert Mondavi.

In fourth and fifth place, respectively, are Diageo Plc’s Beaulieu Vineyard, also made in California, and UST Inc.’s Chateau Ste. Michelle, made in Washington state.

Winemetrics’ data was gathered from over 10,000 casual and fine-dining restaurants in 20 states. The majority of the restaurants in the survey were casual locations, though upscale restaurants had more extensive lists.

Winemetrics Chief Executive Charles Gill told Reuters that such information can be useful to wine makers, distributors, restaurateurs and investors hoping to scan the industry’s competitive landscape and gauge potential performance, since many consumers buy wine based on what they taste at restaurants. Consumers feel that by featuring certain wines, restaurants are endorsing those brands.

“Brand image is built on-premise, and volume is built off-premise,” said Gill, a former wine brand manager who founded a company called Alambicor seven years ago. Alambicor recently changed its name to Winemetrics.

While sales of wine drunk “on-premise” — meaning in restaurants or bars — make up less than one-quarter of the volume of wine sold in the United States, such sales account for nearly half of the revenue, Gill said, due to the price mark-ups that restaurants put on the bottles they sell.

U.S. consumers spent $24.3 billion on wine in 2005, with $11.8 billion coming from restaurants and bars, Gill said.

The top 100 list is dominated by U.S. producers, with most coming from California. There are also 15 wine makers from France, seven from Italy, two from Australia and one from Chile.

Other brands near the top of the list include the independently owned Caymus and Cakebread as well as Diageo’s Sterling Vineyards, LVMH’s Veuve Clicquot, and Fortune Brands Inc.’s Clos du Bois.

According to the sample, the largest portion of wines consumed in restaurants sell for between $25 and $39 per bottle, according to the report. Those bottles would cost $13 to $19 at retail.

Red wines outnumber whites by a ratio of two to one, with Cabernet Sauvignon edging out Chardonnay for the top variety. Pinot Noir was the second most common type of red wine listed, a development Gill guessed was caused by the 2004 film “Sideways,” in which a wine enthusiast espoused Pinot’s virtues over Merlot, which is now third.

“‘Sideways’ did a number on Merlot. You can’t discount that,” Gill said, though he noted that Merlot far outsells Pinot Noir by volume.

Source: Reuters

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Consumer Preferences - “Health”

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Study Shows Portion Size Too Big

ARLINGTON, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Most Americans believe some restaurants serve portions that are too large, according to a nationwide study by Decision Analyst, a leading international marketing research and marketing consulting firm.

In its ongoing Health and Nutrition Strategistâ„¢ syndicated study, Decision Analyst asked 4,156 survey respondents about the amount of food they are served by restaurants. Among all surveyed, 57% agreed completely or agreed somewhat that some restaurants often serve portions that are too large. About 23% of respondents neither agreed nor disagreed, and 20% disagreed completely or disagreed somewhat that restaurant portions are too large.

By gender, 67% of female respondents said restaurant portions are too large, while 47% of male respondents felt the same way. Older respondents (over 65) also tended to think portions are too large (68%), while only 55% of younger folks (18-24) think portions are too large.

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

The survey shows that the higher one’s income, the more likely she or he is to believe that portions are too large. For example, 45% of respondents earning under $25,000 annually said food portions are sometimes too large, while 70% of respondents earning at least $150,000 said portions are sometimes too large.

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Those respondents who “Don’t worry about nutrition when they eat out” are much less likely to agree that portions are too large (53%) than those who “Try to make healthy choices when they eat out” (70%).

Methodology

Decision Analyst’s Health and Nutrition Strategist™ was conducted online via its American Consumer Opinion® panel from January 2006 through December 2006 using a nationally representative, statistically balanced sample of 4,156 American adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 2%, at a 99% confidence level. The Health and Nutrition Strategist™ syndicated study is a massive, integrated knowledge-base of food, beverage consumption, restaurant usage, health habits and nutritional attitudes.

About Decision Analyst

Decision Analyst (www.decisionanalyst.com), based in Dallas-Fort Worth, is a leading international marketing research and marketing consulting firm specializing in advertising testing, strategy research, new product development, and advanced modeling for marketing decision optimization. The 28-year-old firm delivers competitive advantage to clients throughout the world in the consumer packaged goods, telecommunications, retail, high technology, medical and pharmaceutical, utilities, and e-commerce industries. In addition, Decision Analyst operates the American Consumer Opinion^® online panel, one of the world’s largest consumer opinion panels, with more than seven million participants.

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Marketing to small fries isn’t child’s play

According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurant-industry sales are expected to reach a record high of $537 billion in 2007, with children and teens playing a big role in that 5 percent increase from 2006 sales figures.

“Households with children feel a need to reduce stress much more than households without kids,” said Hudson Riehle, the NRA’s senior vice president of research.

read more here…

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burgers are back

NEW YORK Even as they promote healthier choices like salads, wraps and chicken sandwiches, America’s fast-food chains are warming up to the fat, juicy burgers that put them on the map. “Burgers are back,” says Ron Paul, president of Chicago-based research firm Technomic, who expects the major players to continue their monstrous investment in prime time this fall as they battle each other for market share at a time when business overall is sluggish.

Read story here 

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Convection oven 101

Don’t let the fancy terms throw you. All ovens are radiant. Heat radiates from the element to heat food. Convection ovens have built in fan to circulate the heat more equally, which shortens the cooking time.

The Washington Post

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