April 30, 2012

News in Review Market Reports Food Quiz Industry Discussion Subscription Information

	Restaurants not legally required to report cases of food poisoning
	Lawsuit: 'Apprenticeship' to Chef Meant Only Long Hours and Sub-Minimum Wages
	The Restaurant Industry's Pink Slime Dilemma
	KFC Japan's New Bar Serves Chicken and Whiskey
	The Mad Cow is Back. What this Means for You
	'Jiro' is portrait of world's greatest sushi chef
	Is the Time Right for Sous Vide Cooking Techniques?
	A Year After Tornadoes, Jack's Sends 'Messages of Hope'
	Fast Food Groper Gets Long Sentence
	Man accused of contaminating hospital cafeteria with mercury faces federal charges
	Restaurant chain donates unserved food to needy families
	Proposal to require restaurants to disclose immigration checks rebuffed
	Burger King will buy cage-free eggs and pork by 2017
	Restaurant taps into wine dispensing concept
	Drive-Thru Performance Study 2012 Set to Launch

Sloco, Jeremy Barlow & Food Fast

By George Green

I consider myself a grizzled, old, cynical foodservice veteran. After two decades in the industry, growing up in one of the nation’s top food cities, and eating hundreds of items from dozens of concepts each year, it is very hard to impress me. For this reason, I have never written an entire column on a single concept or operator. Like most industries, ours is one of incremental and evolutionary changes. Of course, there are notable exceptions such as McDonald’s and the explosion of fast causals like Panera. While these companies get considerable press because of their size and financial success, they started as the dreams of passionate leaders who saw what the future could be and were determined to make it happen. Over the last few years we have also witnessed a consumer evolution in terms of diners’ growing interest in sustainability and local foods. To me, many experts in the field have come across as sanctimonious food snobs trying to force-feed me their hyped up maxims. In addition, they lack an understanding of the economics of our business or an idea of how things work at fast casuals that feed hundreds instead of dozens of people each day. Quite honestly, it is much easier for those people to point fingers and whine than it is for them to do. Don’t get me wrong; I share the locavores’ emphasis on flavor and food quality. The operators I respect the most have always placed food over quantity or simply selling franchises. When I first walked into the door at Chef Jeremy Barlow’s new sandwich shop Sloco, however, my eyes were opened as to how the sustainability movement could work in a fast casual setting. The local food movement has many thousands of leaders and proponents, but Chef Barlow is an eloquent and passionate leader who could take things to the next level much like Ray Kroc, Fred DeLuca, or Ron Shaich did. Chef Barlow, a graduate of Vanderbilt and the Culinary Institute of America, has seemingly...

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View updated pricing and information each week on the website for the following food-commodity markets:

Poultry Commentary	View Detail
Whole bird prices are steady to firm in the Midwest, steady to weak in the East, and steady in the West. Preliminary majority prices are in a slightly wider range in the Midwest, down 1 cents in the East and unchanged in the West when compared to early week prices. Offerings cover the full range, moderate for current trade needs. Retail and food service demand is light to moderate for late week business. Floor stocks are mixed. Market activity is slow to moderate. In the parts structure, movement is mostly moderate. Prices are trending firm to higher for drums, thighs, tenders, thigh meat and bone-in breasts. Prices are weak to lower for wings and mostly steady for all other parts. Offerings are light for drums and bone-in breast and tenders are light to moderate. Wings and boneless skinless breast are moderate to heavy and slow to clear. Market activity for parts is slow to moderate. In production areas, live supplies are moderate. Weights are mixed, but noted as desirable.
Dairy Commentary	View Detail
Cheese production across the country is robust. Milk supplies are up and much of that production is finding its way to cheese plants. Excess milk volumes are often being discounted to encourage additional cheese manufacturing. Cheese inventories are building and this is reflected in the March Cold Storage report. NASS reported stocks of natural cheese in cold storage, 2% above the previous month’s volume. At the CME Group this week, cheese trading was active. Barrel prices worked lower through the week, while blocks inched higher. Sales activity was heavy, with blocks trading at their highest volume of the year. The CME Group cash butter price dipped under the $1.40 level for the first time since February 2010 and closed the week at $1.3600. This weekly close compares to $1.4175 last Friday, $1.5225 a month ago, and $2.0150 a year ago. Churning schedules across the country remain seasonally strong as cream supplies are readily available. In most instances, current churning is surpassing demand, thus clearances to inventory are strong. Butter producers and handlers are indicating that buying interest is fair at best with most buyers cautious with their purchases and procuring for near term needs. Milk production showed signs of leveling off at or near the seasonal peak in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Arizona had marginally lower production, caused by the recent heat. California’s milk production was uneven; Florida was steady with the rest of the nation showing various degrees of increased milk production. Coops in the Pacific Northwest are warning dairy producers of possible penalties, like those imposed in California, for excess milk above their established bases.
Pork Commentary	View Detail
With the calendar approaching May and charts telling sellers that higher prices loom ahead, many thought that trading levels for retail cuts might start creeping higher this week. But, an increase in harvest rates and additional tonnage from record hog weights for this time of the year squelched the upward trend and prices held on by a thread to be mostly steady with weakness noted as buyer interest continued to be limited. Also, many retailers have not lowered their feature prices as they try and make up for lost revenue from beef cuts with pork. Bone-in ham price levels firmed slightly on light trading with just a few token trades sparking the advance. At the same time, sellers had better sold position while buyer interest was light. Seedless belly inventories remain burdensome for sellers as price levels continue their downward trend, although fresh belly prices haven’t been this low since January of 2010. Bacon prices at the retail counter remain high in relation to the raw product as consumers keep their distance from the meat case. Trimmings experienced lighter offerings while demand was light to moderate. This caused price levels to firm as sausage manufacturer’s ramp up production for summer grilling items.
Beef Commentary	View Detail
Boxed beef cutout values were higher on light to moderate demand and offerings. Most of the cutout gains came early in the week and primarily from ground beef and trimmings price appreciation as these items continued to rebound from the LFTB disruption. While Tuesday’s announcement of a BSE positive dairy cow at a rendering plant caused live cattle futures to plummet, by contrast Tuesday’s close was the biggest gain of the week in boxed beef since the trade deadline of 1:30 CST was before USDA’s 2:00 announcement. By Wednesday most of the apprehension in the market surrounding BSE appeared to have settled, but that uncertainty did combine with typical late month reduced demand to lower the overall trade volume booked for the week. For the session both end cuts and middle meats trended firm. Beef trimmings were sharply higher, particularly for mid-May delivery. Fed cattle and blended grinds were mostly firm on lower lean percentages to higher on the relatively leaner items.
Produce Commentary	View Detail
The National Diesel Average has been recorded at $4.09 this week,. NPC continues to monitor, track and control diesel fuel averages by state as well as reported truckload freight rates on a weekly basis. Offshore Melons: Movement on Cantaloupe continues to be somewhat unprecedented for this time of year. Overall supplies will begin their seasonal decline as we have seen for the past two weeks. Guatemalan supply will continue for another two to three weeks (weather permitting), yet supplies are extremely limited. Honeydews are starting to become very limited especially on the smaller sizes. Mexican production will not be ready until the later part of the month so we are anticipating a slight run up with this market. Only contract business basically getting covered at this time, not a lot of fruit on the open market. Offshore melons should continue into the 2nd week of May perhaps the 3rd week if weather permits before moving into the Imperial Valley. Domestic melons: * May 7th Cantaloupes limited volume out of Mexico and very limited out of the Imperial Valley * May 14th volumes will pick up on cantaloupes and the start of Honeydews out of the Imperial Valley * May 21st Volumes should be in full swing for cantaloupes and honeydews as Mixed melons should begin We will stay in the Imperial Valley until June 1st or the 4th, then on to Maricopa through the 9th of July. Suggest communicating almost daily and ensure you get your orders in advance to your assigned grower/shipper partner! Lettuce and Leaf: Markets increased this week once again on lettuce as the transition is all but complete to Salinas. Production volumes are down as Salinas begins and expect the market to remain steady to stronger into next week until volumes pick up. Expect heavier than normal weights on lettuce due to rains during the past few days. We could experience some quality issues bacteria rot and decay which will be addressed during harvest, but for the next 10 days be vigilant on inspections. Leaf items also increased but not with the same vigor of lettuce, but we can expect the market to remain for at least the next 7 to 10 days. Watermelon: Market is stable from the previous week, volume out of Guatemala and Honduras have been light due to rain. Offshore prices have been ranging $0.22 to $0.24 per pound. Mexico volumes has increased during the past week and should continue for the next couple of weeks. Prices crossing in McAllen range $0.24 on seeded and up to $0.28 on seedless. Overall quality is very good. Asparagus: Market continues to be strong as California volumes are lighter than expected all the while holding the umbrella for offshore imports and the lower Yakima Valley in Washington ST. CA 11lb STD $19.00 to 20.00, WA 20lb $30.00 to 32.00 and out of FL 11lb 19.00 to 20.00. Tomato market: Roma markets are stable with Mexico starting new fields as they transition. Demand is better, Florida is getting better demand and they have taken their markets up slightly. Quality has been good from both area's. Some shippers in Mexico are starting in Baja with roma's. Hot House markets on the tomatoes are very depressed this week but with good quality. Supplies are steady on tomatoes and cukes coming out of Mexico, Guatemala, and Canada. Produce Commentary brought to you this week by NPC Inc.

Possible fake complaint?

Community member twotoejoe1 writes...

Have any of you ever had a complaint come in via email that was suspicious or maybe even fake? I got a complaint come in to our business email on Sunday April 22; the one listed on our webpage. They listed the day of their visit as Monday, April 2. They specifically listed the time they were there, and listed the server they were complaining about.

They mentioned they came by after a movie and the time was after 10pm. The first red flag is that particular server NEVER works...

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Beginning Of The End

Community member Borbeaux writes...

Subtopic: INSANITY I don't know how you guys do it. I'm losing my mind. I'm not surprised anymore when I'm waken from sleep because of an emergency. My life is one big interruption, I'm always putting out fires. Out of product, so-and-so didn't show up, this or that check bounced, it's endless! Finally, the call I've dreaded and secretly hoped for has come. The Landlord! He wants to have a meeting on Monday and I know what he wants to talk about. I think this...

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Alcohol sales increase

Community member Hardcoreamazingg5 writes...

So I work at applebees, have for about a year but since im not even 21 im still dumfounded on alcohol, i do live in the south so the alcohol prefernces may be different, but im trying to find ways to sell more alcohol. Sometimes it can be rather difficult to do in the bible belt. Im not sure if im going about it the wrong way or if im even trying But alcohol sales is my weakness, any suggestions?
...

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Benefits of Using an Online Table Booking System

With the advancement of technology, the internet has now become just another household product. Its versatility is such that it can be accessed from anywhere in the world using computers, laptops and mobile phones. This means that the traditional methods of booking that involved calling or visiting the hotel or resort in person has been replaced by a few clicks. As such many companies are opting to make the booking arrangements occur online and this procedure carries many benefits in this modern environment.

Speedier
This is the easiest advantage to distinguish. Since there will be no need to visit the location to book your table, it will be quicker to do all these processes online. The amount of time saved will enable you to get back to your own businesses without much interruption. Booking can simply be done from home or from the office and your employer won’t be too concerned over the usage of company resources.

Flexible
Such transactions can be done from anywhere and at any time. You need not worry calling from a different time zone only for the machine to answer. This form of flexibility can only be attained through the incorporation of booking systems into an online platform. Time management will also be easier for all the parties involved. The hotel or restaurant can also benefit from this flexibility as there will be a reduced need to hire extra personnel to man the desk at odd hours.

Personal Guarantee
With an online table booking system, you will be certain that all the entries you have made will be correct. It would be a terrible thing to book a table over the phone only to later discover that the names and details were accidentally misspelled. The customer will be sure that all the details needed are fully and appropriately entered. The customer will also know whether or not there is any room left. It would be quite painful to drive a few miles to a place to book a table only to be told it is full.

Business Protection
Such systems also protect the merchants against any form of fraud that they may suffer from bookings made over the phone. The standard online table booking system usually requires that some form of payment be made upfront before the table is lent. This will guard against people who will fail to turn up and the profits will be guarded. This will make sure that only paying and loyal customers will turn up. The costs of the table may be refunded or deducted from the food depending on the business.

Reduce booking errors
Through online table booking systems, the problems related to double booking or over booking will cease to exist. These are usually caused by human errors and are sometimes unavoidable. An online system will make sure that this never happens since there will be a query generated...

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My plant has created terror and joy

We have always suspected the Romans who wanted to change everything and make it their own. Originating in the Mediterranean region and South West Asia, today you will find me thriving in the fields of over fifty countries, which is no surprise as I am one of the oldest food plants. My earliest remains on record date back to the Neolithic period (6800-6500 BC). China remains my largest region of cultivation. My erect, hardy, annual plant has created terror and joy throughout the centuries. While Egyptian leaders used me as offerings to the gods, Egyptian priests feared my hollow stems. I remain a reminder of rebirth and new life and take great pride in being a global staple from early civilizations to the present. Only the potato can rival my popularity, and that has been very recent, say, the last 200 years. I am a pulse in the vetch family. My thick green skin reveals a white pith-like interior, which provide protection for my green, brown or sometimes red seeds. Dried or fresh, we have numerous uses, but other than our very young, don�t eat us raw, it�s a hard way to discover my potential toxins. I am broad and am named Horse, Tick or Windsor. I'm not all good: I am responsible for an haemolytic anaemia "ism" that affects over 100 million people with inborn metabolic enzyme deficiency that creates a great challenge in dealing with my digestion. You will find me ground into flours, steamed, or saut�ed fresh with bacon or ham, cassoulets, dried in soups, or as Hannibal likes them, eaten with liver and Chianti. I am a good source of protein and carbohydrates while being low in fat. I also contain carotenes and vitamin C.

What am I?

The Food Quiz has is brought to you by Culinary Specialty Produce, a specialty produce broker that scours the world for the very best in specialty produce. Contact them at 908-789-4700 or by sending an email to info@culinaryproduce.com.

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