11 Food Trends for 2011

Looking for some new ideas to freshen up your food and beverage offerings?  Read through the following trends that can help you make a lasting impact on your conference center guests.

   

1. Local Meats, Eggs, and Seafood-- More and more consumers want to know where their meats, eggs, and seafood choices come from, and they even want the opportunity to visit those farms.  Local food benefits the community, the diners, and also the business.  Make it part of your property's CSR strategy and contract with local farmers to get the freshest products available.

2. Half Portions -- Offering half-portions of salads, sandwiches, and entrees can be a great win-win for both diners and businesses.  Some pros of this strategy include diners eating more reasonably-sized meals (can help lead to healthier weights) and less food goes to waste.  A creative marketing blitz showcasing smaller portions could lead to great business.

3.  Mini Desserts -- I personally have received many requests for mini desserts and cookies at various events and receptions.  It seems that guests would rather have a little sample of multiple types of desserts rather than a bigger portion of one type of sweet.

4. Great Grains -- Break out of the basmati and brown rice mindsets and provide more varied grains as side items.  Quinoa, Asian noodles (such as soba or rice noodles), and farro are all interesting and healthy items that can catch diners' eyes.

5.  Food Truck and "Street Food" Appetizers -- By this, I mean more casual and ethnic-themed appetizer options.  What do you see offerred on the streets of NYC?  Falafel, kabobs, tacos, Korean barbecue.  Food truck popularity has also risen magnanimously in the past year.  Use the energy behind that trend and try to incorporate classic food truck or street food appetizers into your menus.

6.  Superfoods -- Acai, blueberries, and goji berries have all been labeled "superfoods" or "superfruits" in the past.  Diners like seeing them because they offer an immediate association with health, vitality, and vitamins. 

7.  Local, Artisinal Cheeses -- Check out your local farmers market to see what specialties small farms have.  You may discover some fabulous goat cheeses (even a goat gouda!), and can then sell a locally-sourced cheese plate as an appetizer.

8.  Creative Vegetarian/Vegan Entrees -- Grilled portabello mushrooms get boring after awhile.  Try to surprise and elate vegetarians (or those that just wish to eat less meat) by offering unique vegetarian and/or vegan entree options.  There are many amazing cookbooks available that may be useful to chefs with limited experience in these realms, such as Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. 

9.  Nutiritous Options for Children -- Startling research about childhood obesity and Mrs. Obama's campaign to combat the disease will continue to affect food and beverage operations nationwide in 2011.  Make sure to stay on top of this trend by offering whole grains, fruits and vegetables as side items for children's meals.  Also, think about offering special salad entrees for children. 

10. Beer and Food Pairings -- If you already offer wine-and-food pairing dinners a few times a year, think about supplementing with beer-and-food pairings.  The market for craft beers has exploded in the past couple years, so you have a good chance of finding a local brand of beers to provide alongside locally sourced dishes.  There's even an iPhone app to help you Find Craft Beer!

11.  Gluten-Free Options -- Providing a gluten-free menu or a list of meal choices that are conscious of food allergies will impress and relieve guests that worry about what to eat when they go to conferences.  Celiac disease affects more than 3 million Americans (1 out of 133 people), meaning you will probably have guests with celiac disease or gluten-sensitivities stay at your property.  Even Subway is testing two gluten-free products at some restaurants.


Written by:
Meghan Bollenback
Food & Beverage Manager
R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center

New Year, New Trends

Here is a list of trends that will carryover into the meetings industry for the new year as listed by PRWeb.  This list came out in September, but I think all of these categories will definitely be significant in 2011.  After each category title, I included a brief explanation but refer to the original article for more insight.

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1. Customizable Mobile Apps - Mobile apps will continue to grow in importance to the meetings world in that they make the lives of event organizers and attendees easier.  Some apps serve as a mobile checkpoint for attendees needing to learn the newest updates on their meetings.  Other apps encourage participation during meetings by involving audiences in presentations. 

2.  Hybrid Meetings - The mixing of virtual and live meetings will continue to grow this year as this trend tends to lead to cost savings.  The best way to adapt to this trend?  Learn how face-to-face meetings can be enhanced through digital means and how it benefits your customers.

3.  Comprehensive "Green" Meetings - This means that multiple or all aspects of the meeting planning and execution are eco-conscious.  This includes everything from the type of travel to and from airports to the type of notepads used in the conference room.

4.  Social Media Interaction - Interaction of meeting participants will grow through social media outlets (such as through Twitter streams during conferences or Facebook pages created for special events). Social media will also help planners, clients, and customers communicate faster and more effectively.

5.  Corporate Social Responsibility - This is the "Grandaddy" of the above trends.  How do you use your company's resources to better your community, the environment, and the lives of your stakeholders (including your employees, customers, and clients)?  More teambuilding projects with a CSR focus may be seen in 2011, such as having a volunteer outing during one day of a conference.

6.  Luxury Meetings Return - Do you agree or disagree with this trend?  I think the industry will see an increase on spending in 2011, but am not certain that resort-type destinations will see much benefit of that.  I do believe that more money will be spent on certain "luxuries" that have been absent at many meetings during the past couple of years (such as VIP amenities).


Written by:
Meghan Bollenback
Food & Beverage Manager
R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center

CSR - Holiday Style!

Happy Christmas Eve to those of you celebrating in the States and merry Christmas to those that are a few hours ahead of us around the world! 

It's been a while since that last corporate social responsibility post, but now is the perfect time for a quick update.  One way that my property participated in CSR recently was by "adopting" two families in need for the holidays and hosting a drive for gifts and money.  The families were different -- one was a single dad with a young daughter and the other a young family with three children all under 10 years old. 

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A few photos were hung in the employee break room along with a sign advertising what these families needed and wanted the most for the holidays.  Clothing and diapers were among the more popular items, but books and a bike also made the list.  Announcements were made at our monthly property-wide meeting in which employees who organized the drive spoke about the good that could come from donating.  (Note -- it was not management that organized this drive, but housekeeping staff!  Talk about engagement as a bonus to CSR!).

Adopting families in need is a pretty common CSR practice that many companies participate in during the holidays, but it is still a good one to share.  One way to find families in need is by contacting local organizations, such as the Salvation Army, YMCA or United Way.  Local homeless shelters may also provide contact information with individuals that need a little extra help. 

Here's to hoping that the holiday spirit of generosity continues throughout the rest of the year and 2011!  Happy holidays to you and your families!

Tips for Managing Older Employees

As a Millennial entering into a workforce and property of employees that were mostly older than me (both in age and seniority at the property), I felt a lot of pressure.  Pressure to perform.  Pressure to fit in.  Pressure to prove that there was a reason I was there.  One of the biggest pressures I faced (and still do) was managing employees older than myself.  It's not the easiest task to take on, yet it's not impossible.  Age does tend to bring wisdom, and many companies still value seniority and longevity over expertise or compatibility for future goals.  There are pros and cons to both sides of that argument, but that's for another post.

Since more individuals are continuing to work well into their 50s and 60s, the trend of young employees (again, both in terms of age and years of service) is not going to go away.  Many Baby Boomers still work now, and some that retired may enter back into the workforce if they haven't already (thank you, recession!).

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I think that I've grown since taking on my current role and have learned how to relate, communicate, and listen to employees from all different age groups (Millenials, X'ers, Boomers).  I still learn how to be better at this every day, but can think of two things that have helped me the most in being successful with this challenge.  Hopefully other individuals that are new to managing older employees will find them useful as well.

1.  Listen -- It is the best thing you can do for your employees and yourself (both professionally and personally).  Listen to their experiences.  Listen to their individual needs.  Listen to their complaints and concerns.  Listen to them talk about their kids or grandkids.  Don't interrupt -- just listen and think about what they have told you.  Each time employees reveal something to you about themselves, it is an opportunity for you to learn from them, understand what truly motivates them and how to inspire their best work.

2.  Do not be anyone other than yourself -- I've found that the longer an employee has worked for a company or property, the more skeptical they are of new blood.  I may be wrong, but it has been my experience that older employees will test you to see if you do know what you're doing and if you do it well.  So when you start managing more senior staff members, do not try to be something you're not.  They will see through you.  Chances are, they've seen a manager before you pretend to be someone he/she was not in order to win over employees.  Senior employees can and will spot a phony in two seconds. 

If you don't like the way a food is presented or a napkin is folded on a table, say it.  Have a reason for your preference and stand behind it.  If you can show that you are true to your ideas and explain why you feel a certain way, the more your employees will respect you and learn to follow you.

CR and Sustainability at Sundial Group’s UK Meeting Venues

Over here in the UK, corporate responsibility and social awareness among meeting venues continues to be a major talking point. As with all such topics, some ‘discuss’ in more depth than others while others just get on with it. The line between genuine concern for the environment or simply paying lip service to today’s latest trend is blurry. Our economy is, by nature, demand-led, therefore suppliers must respond to customers’ requirements or face an uncertain future. In the middle of the noughties, therefore, businesses up and down the country were clamouring to show us how warm and fluffy they all were. What happens when customers’ requirements change though?


This may seem controversial, and I may be wrong, but anecdotally the perception I have is that venues’ green credentials have not, over the last year, been as important to buyers as they once were. Sad as that may be, the economic climate, rather than the earth’s climate, has been the one whose change has preoccupied budget holders the most of late. Large tender documents, although still asking for extensive evidence of environmental policies and programmes, have given greater emphasis to price since the credit crunch. Beforehand, “green” was the new gold standard. In a recession, it seems, not so much.

Like many other businesses, we decided to document the things we do at our venues to be better citizens, so a few of us got together to produce not only a range of formal policies in line with our values, but also our detailed environmental action plans and we have published these on our website for over three years now, updating them periodically so that they remain current. In total, we identified 75 actions that we either do already, or aim to implement. Some were quick and easy to identify and implement – it didn’t take us long to implement a policy of switching off printers and computer monitors when not in use, and after a few months we had, by and large, replaced all our light bulbs with energy-efficient equivalents. We contacted local councils to ensure we were recycling all that we could and we reviewed the timer settings on exterior lighting and all thermostats so that we were reducing the amount of energy we were using. Some of the venue-based initiatives that we identified were things we were doing already – like making sure our fridges and freezers are defrosted regularly and waiting until a washing machine was full to run it.

Other items took a bit longer – for example we decided that we should network our photocopiers as scanners so that the amount of paper being passed our office was shifted onto the email server instead. However previously-agreed contracts meant we had to wait until early last year to be able to replace the equipment. Likewise our shift to ‘green’ electricity suppliers required existing contracts to expire. Some of our agreed actions have not yet been achievable for us – the investment that would be required to install new boilers, for example, has (if you’ll excuse the pun) been put onto the back burner.

At the corporate/policy level, we had always incentivised car-sharing amongst employees for business travel, but we decided to try and find a way to encourage our customers to join in, so we launched our Green Meeting Package, an optional, zero-additional-cost (we wanted to push against the profiteering we had seen on environmentally-friendly options) enhancement to a company’s Complete Meeting Package. Part of this includes an incentive to residential delegates to car-share or use public transport to get here; if they do so, they get a credit of £5 to spend in our bar.

The critical factor, however, to achieving success is employee engagement. To get this, we said that our CSR efforts should be spearheaded by our Managing Director but that our Green Teams should spread throughout the business and every department should be represented. Further to this, we integrated sustainability as a measure on our Balanced Scorecard, so that our performance and success in reducing our environmental impact will affect our employees directly through their evaluations and through the company-wide bonus scheme. This alignment of personal and corporate goals makes it all much more real for everyone at Sundial Venues, instead of it just being something that comes from head office but has little or no meaning on-site.

Written by:
James Bland
Marketing and Communications Manager

The Sundial Group
Highgate House