Fatz Cafe raises $142k for local charities

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Fatz Cafe has so far raised more than $142,000 through pancake breakfast fundraisers at its various locations throughout the southeastern U.S. Fatz Cafe partners with nonprofits including schools, churches, community groups and youth sports organizations to prepare and host the fundraising breakfasts. Then the proceeds are all donated to the participating nonprofits.

"Our goal is to help as many different community organizations as possible by inviting them to participate in a breakfast fundraiser at Fatz Cafe," said Margo Mize, director of marketing for Fatz Cafe, in a statement. "We value our relationships with these organizations and we hope our combined efforts make a difference in the communities we serve."

Fatz Cafe operates 47 restaurants in the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. For more information and a listing of Fatz Cafe locations, visit www.fatzcafe.com.
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More NRA Show wrap-up: Editors' picks

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by Chef Magazine staff

Last month, the editors of Chef spent four jam-packed days at the 91st annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show at Chicago's McCormick Place. Between all the press events, education sessions, special events and demonstrations, they caught their breath long enough to reflect a bit on their favorite moments from the show. Read on to see what caught their attention this year.

Cruising the show floor in the North Hall*

A worthy cause is worth your while
From fixing the childhood obesity problem to aiding the cleanup on the Gulf Coast, there is no shortage of charitable opportunities for foodservice businesses to get involved in. Philanthropy and cause marketing are excellent tools for restaurants to build awareness and drive traffic, all the while doing some greater good in the community--and it's easier than you think to get started. That was the message at the "Winning Share of Heart: Strategies for Building a Cause Marketing Campaign," which was moderated by Paula Berezin, president and chief strategist of Chicago-based Social Capital Partnerships, on Saturday, May 22. Berezin first outlined the four main points in a successful cause marketing campaign before opening up the discussion with the panelists:
  • Authentic brand fit--A restaurateur should choose partnerships carefully that align with the restaurant's brand and image, as well as the issues that are of most concern to the employees and guests.
  • Engage consumers--Stay relevant, and get creative with your calls to action to engage your guests. Think volunteer, advocate, donate. Have simple and tangible ways for consumers to get involved (i.e., $1 from the meal goes to planting one tree).
  • Engage stakeholders--The people who work for you can accelerate the cause. Get your employees involved (and excited), and oftentimes the rest happens organically.
  • Stick with it--Be consistent, and dedicate your resources to furthering your chosen cause. Keep it fresh so guests and employees don't get bored with it.
The panel consisted of Diana Hovey, senior vice president of marketing for Dallas-based Corner Bakery; Brian Foye, senior vice president of operators for Orlando, Fla.-based Capital Grille; Ray Blanchette, CEO of Houston-based Ignite Restaurant Group (Joe's Crab Shack); and Mindy Segal, executive pastry chef/owner of HotChocolate in Chicago.

Hovey of Corner Bakery suggested launching a new product in conjunction with a cause. Getting employee input on that new product will get them pumped about it--and ultimately aid in the upsell. She said the thing that surprised her the most was that once the charity program was started, employees started asking what more they could do. In some stores, employees started a friendly competition of who could sell the most of the charity-donation product.

It's all about E.D.G.E., explained Capital Grille's Foye--exceptionally distinctive guest experiences. You have an opportunity to connect with a guest, so how will you accomplish it? Cause marketing is one of those E.D.G.E. tools. Guests will want to participate in the causes they care about. He says stick with your charity, but amend your concept year to year. You don't have to spend a lot, and often you can do things for free through volunteering. And when employees feel like their workplace has values, they tend to be more loyal and stay with you long-term.

Show your employees and guests your core values, said Blanchette of Joe's Crab Shack, don't just put them in a mission statement. Get group participation in the cause by designing a shirt with a catchy phrase that employees can wear and customers can purchase. He also suggested building team unity by, for instance, doing a day of volunteering at a food bank before going to the holiday office party rather than scheduling the volunteering for a different day. You'll get better participation--and can you imagine the tone that would set for the party?

Segal of HotChocolate addressed being an independent operator and how to get her small restaurant's employees behind a cause she believes in. Chefs are asked to participate in so many charity events, she thought that she could make an impact if she focused on one cause--as a chef ambassador for Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation (Ed. note: Segal wrote about it in Chef Magazine's February 2010 issue, which you can read here). She is trying to create a movement by enlisting not just her employees but also her friends and chefs in the industry to get involved in the cause. It's amazing, Segal said, the opportunities that present themselves when you connect with others who want to be involved.

--Lacey Griebeler, managing editor


Quotable
This year, I was able to duck into several fascinating education sessions throughout the show, which covered timely issues from social media and rooftop gardening to seafood traceability and donating surplus food for tax savings. It was encouraging to see considerable audience participation, which also brought about the most lively and informative discussion. Here I've gathered a few soundbites from some of the most compelling sessions I attended:

"Get Butts in Seats for Free with Word of Mouth & Social Media," Saturday, May 22
"Social media is a conversation; it goes both ways. It's about engaging people and making them part of the community. ... You want to actually talk to them."
--Geoff Alexander, vice president and managing partner, Wow Bao--Lettuce Entertain You, Chicago
(l to r) Andy Sernovitz, GasPedal; Geoff Alexander, Wow Bao--Lettuce Entertain You; Charlie Howard, Gold Star Chili; and Ramon DeLeon, a Domino's Pizza franchisee*
"We had to take a leap of faith and give out every location of every chili parlor [in Cincinnati]. This is chili democracy."
--Charlie Howard, vice president, director of marketing and chilimeister, Gold Star Chili, Cincinnati, on launching the microsite Chilitownusa.com, a word-of-mouth campaign to play off Cincinnati pride in its chili and get the city officially recognized as Chilitown, USA

"Plant a Garden and Harvest Profits," Sunday, May 23
"There's something very priceless about the way a community is connected to the restaurant [with a rooftop garden]. It's a lovely way of creating income--we can grow a lot of food in a small space."
--Helen Cameron, owner, Uncommon Ground restaurant, Chicago, which received well over $500,000 in TIFF funds and grants to help build the country's first certified organic rooftop farm at the restaurant
"It's about making a connection with the earth, and nourishing yourself and others. The thing that surprised us at Bastille the most was the amount of press we got."
--Deming Maclise, owner, Bastille Café & Bar, Seattle, on installing the restaurant's 4,500-square-foot rooftop garden with help from Colin McCrate of Seattle Urban Farm Co. before they opened last year

"Seafood Traceability and What It Means to You," Tuesday, May 25
"All supply chains already have internal traceability systems in place, and they could connect each of those to a standard interface. As of right now, Trace Tracker and Trace Register are the only tracking systems [of seafood traceability]. The IT end of it is easy. But the market isn't mature yet--there's still a lot of land grabbing. But eventually there will be a single traceability portal."
--Andy Furner, vice president, Trace Register, in response to a question about whether a single seafood traceability standard will be implemented

"Turn Surplus Food into Tax Savings to End Hunger," Tuesday, May 25
"To give you a sense of the scale [of the hunger problem in central Florida], five years ago, we served food to 298,000 individuals. In 2009, we served almost 732,000, which is about 25 percent of the population."
--Dave Krepcho, CEO and president, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, on the growing need for high-quality food sources to feed the hungry in Florida and elsewhere in the U.S.
"At Darden, organizational buy-in [for donating surplus food] was initially very tough. We're a big company, so everything new you implement is a big deal. But now, each concept owns it and manages it. We have people on staff becoming huge supporters--they do it in their restaurant, and then they even take their teams to spend time volunteering at Second Harvest."
--Anthony Walker, vice president of corporate tax for Darden Restaurants, on getting individuals at every level of the company to support donating surplus food to food banks (since 2003-2004, Darden has donated between 33 and 34 million pounds of food and saved billions of dollars in tax money)

--Maggie Shea, assistant editor


*Photos courtesy of the National Restaurant Association

What did you learn at this year's NRA Show? Tell us about it in the comments section.
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Multi-Cultural Cuisine breakfast transports guests

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Integrated marketing communications agency Greater Works! Inc. hosted a global cuisine breakfast for the press, in collaboration with commodity boards, chef ambassadors and brand manufacturers, on May 23 during the 2010 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, at the Drake Hotel, Chicago. Among the highlights were:


GreaterWorks! created the Multi-Cultural Cuisine event as an opportunity for foodservice manufacturers and commodity board representatives to engage the press and showcase new products and their applications. Those interested in having their products featured at next year's event can contact info@greaterworks1.com.
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IBIE to host three baking competitions

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The 2010 International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) will host three renowned baking competitions on the show floor: the Louis Lesaffre Baking Competition, the 10th annual Pillsbury Bakers Plus Grand Champion Creative Decorating Competition and the World Chocolate Masters Regional Qualifier.

In the Louis Lesaffre Baking Competition, eight artisan baking teams from North and South America will vie for a spot in the 2012 Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (Bakery World Cup) by producing bread, a Viennese pastry and an artistic piece.

In the 10th annual Pillsbury Bakers Plus Grand Champion Creative Decorating Competition, contestants will compete over three days in five categories for $14,000 in prize money and the Pillsbury Baker's Plus Trophy. The categories include wedding cake, rolled fondant, sculpted, creative design and floral design.

Chocolatiers, pastry chefs and other chocolate professionals will compete against each other to advance to the World Finals in the World Chocolate Masters regional qualifier during IBIE. The contestants must make a large chocolate showpiece, a chocolate pastry, two different pralines and a gastronomic chocolate dessert.

IBIE 2010 will take place Sept. 26 to 29 in Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.ibie2010.com.
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AHF announces winners of culinary competition

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The Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF) named two foodservice professionals at Saint Mary's Health Care in Grand Rapids, Mich., the winners of the 2010 Culinary Competition held June 7 during its inaugural conference in Austin, Texas. Mary Jaskowski, Saint Mary's director of nutrition services, and William Read, executive chef at Saint Mary's, won first place, a set of engraved plates and knives and $500 in Tyson reward points with their dish of pecan goat cheese chicken and cinnamon bread pudding.

(l to r) Executive chef Eric Eisenberg of the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Mary Jaskowski and William Read from Saint Mary's Health Care and Doris Davis of Tyson Food Service

Jaskowski and Read competed against five other teams to create innovative entrées using sponsor Tyson Food Service's True Chicken Breast Fillets and Natural Hardwood Smoked Center-Cut Bacon. Taking second place were nutrition services director Deborah Jones and chef Karea Anderson from St. Peter's Hospital in Helena, Mont. with their chicken and bacon empanadas with grilled corn salsa, avocado crema and pomegranate cherry reduction. The third place award went to director of nutrition and foodservice Angelo Mojica and executive chef Shawn Dolan from UNC Healthcare in Chapel Hill, N.C. for their tobacco road chicken.
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RATIONAL is paying foodservice operators to replace outdated equipment

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SPONSORED POST

Operators can receive up to $1,000 in cash or $2,000 in RATIONAL accessories for purchasing SelfCooking Center® units

With no government bailout pending for foodservice operators looking to upgrade to more efficient cooking equipment, RATIONAL is stepping in with a new rebate program: Cash for Trash. The RATIONAL Cash for Trash promotion offers foodservice operators rebates of up to $1,000 for the purchase of a SelfCooking Center or up to $2,000 in RATIONAL accessories. The program began May 1 and runs through December 31, 2010.

The RATIONAL SelfCooking Center is an advanced piece of cooking equipment capable of baking, roasting, poaching, frying, grilling and steaming. Each unit comes equipped with nine automated cooking modes and 57 cooking processes for turnkey operation. It is available in six different model sizes and in gas or electric configurations.

Foodservice operators who are eligible for the Cash for Trash program include those replacing any brand of commercial combi steamer or heavy conventional cooking equipment, such as convection ovens, steamers, grills and tilt skillets. Also eligible are current customers replacing a RATIONAL unit or adding additional units to replace older, conventional equipment.

The rebate structure for purchases by model is:
  • SelfCooking Center 61 & 101 - $500.00 Buy-back rebate
  • SelfCooking Center 62 & 102 - $750.00 Buy-back rebate
  • SelfCooking Center 201 & 202 - $1,000.00 Buy-back rebate
The rebate amount can be doubled if the customer opts to receive the rebate in RATIONAL accessories such as the CombiFry Basket, Combi Grill & Pizza Tray, Multibaker or cleaning chemicals for the self cleaning and descaling feature. RATIONAL accessories can further customize the SelfCooking Center unit for foodservice operations. Accessory packages are as follows:
  • SelfCooking Center 61 & 101 - $1,000.00 Accessory Package
  • SelfCooking Center 62 & 102 - $1,500.00 Accessory Package
  • SelfCooking Center 201 & 202 - $2,000.00 Accessory Package
"We started the Cash for Trash program to make the advanced SelfCooking Center technology more accessible for operations that want to grow or are in need of an equipment makeover," said Vinod Jotwani, director of marketing, RATIONAL USA and Canada.

To take advantage of the rebate program, operators must attend a TeamCooking Live event where they can test drive the SelfCooking Center. In order to receive the rebate, the end customer must remove and send back the Serial Identification Tag for the equipment they are replacing and send it to RATIONAL along with a RATIONAL rebate form and purchase documentation. RATIONAL does not take ownership of the old appliance at any time during the program. Rebates are sent directly to the end user.

Acceptance of rebates issued through RATIONAL's Cash for Trash program does not preclude operators from applying for and receiving state-level, energy efficiency rebates. Operators are encouraged to check with their equipment dealer for specific guidance on state program eligibility.

Operators can find out more about the rebate program by contacting a RATIONAL representative or by calling (888) 320-7274. Registration for TeamCooking Live is available online at www.rational-online.com/US_en/events/.
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June 2010 Chef digital edition is now available

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The digital edition of the June 2010 issue of Chef Magazine is now online through the Chef Web site. This digital edition features all the same great content as the print edition, plus online exclusives on healthy recipes, icy-cold drinks and to-go beverage supplies. To access the issue, click the icon below. You can also register on the Chef Web site to receive e-mail notification when each new digital magazine is available for viewing.
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Industry Voices

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"I'm probably as well known as a philanthropist as I am a chef in my hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, even though I couldn't really pull off the philanthropic side without my culinary background. What I've managed to do for my business is take an economic and personal approach to charitable involvement. It's an approach that began for personal reasons, but has evolved into an economic strategy for success in the fine-dining industry."
--Jon Bonnell, chef/owner, Bonnell's Restaurant, Fort Worth, Texas, "Industry Voices," June 2010, Chef Magazine

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