Introducing ProStart , C.O.R.E., and Round It Up Recognition of C.O.R.E

Baby boomers are still financially driving the restaurant business and millennials are becoming obsessed with gourmet. Sweet is surrendering to savory. Unique snacks and breakfast items are soaring, cocktails are becoming more culinary. Boutique beers have their own fan bases and all of this is creating a new set of rules for food & beverage menu development executives and menu marketers. We’ll take a look at which menu segments and trends are gaining momentum and with whom, and which are on their way out. The ever-entertaining Dr. Sloan examines the latest flavor profiles, preparation methods, and general preferences – and how menu and product developers can continue to drive traffic and ensure customer satisfaction based on guest profiles.

Restaurant chefs today continue to face the critical challenge of developing exciting and newly inspiring dishes. With many  traditional American foods already in play, and knowing that today’s consumer is increasingly adventurous, seeking bolder and spicier flavors with more authentic flavor profiles, greater influence is coming from around the globe. Leading industry consultant, Darren Tristano, identifies exciting flavor trends from Technomic’s Global MenuMonitor, sharing strategic insights on how to create approachable menu offerings that stay true to your brand and showcase your culinary skills.

While the world is truly getting smaller and more interconnected and while foodservice concepts increasingly expand across borders, there remains a remarkable diversity of foods and food traditions globally. Chef Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC Vice President of Culinary Arts for Laureate Universities and Kendall College, shares some of his favorite food discoveries from his international travels. This presentation will tie together a complete picture of different food experiences – how and when foods are enjoyed and in what context, how they are prepared, how they smell, how they are eaten, etc. The focus of this presentation will be to share compelling food inspirations that can have a direct implications to your foodservice operations.

Innovation abounds in mixology, beer- and wine-making, but who’s really innovating to make all these great products truly accessible to bar and restaurant patrons? Our expert “think outside the drink” beverage pros in beer, wine, and cocktails will share how they brought cutting-edge ideas, technologies and menuing options to the bar to engage and  educate guests, and how you can do so in your own business.

Do what’cha wanna do, or just…do nothing until 6:15!

Our Pinnacle Partners: Almond Bd. Of California, Dole Foodservice, Monin Gourmet Flavorings, Nestle Professional, and Pilgrim’s have their top chefs and mixologists serving their exquisite culinary food and beverage creations that create another AHA moment for you at The Flavor Experience.

Wherever you go for dinner, you’ll want to meet up in the lobby bar afterward to swap your Flavor Experiences. Right outside the lobby door, you need to stop by Bunge’s way cool food truck, “MOE” for a tasty sweet treat or two – then go back for more if you want.

Overwhelmingly last years attendees wanted Dr. Painter to come back to help us further understand implications of food on ourselves, our customers, and on our menus – and he is here to do just that. Jim is a nationally recognized Food Psychologist and Nutrition Educator. He produced “Portion Size Me” a compelling documentary about quick-service food and health and has been featured on national television and in journals and magazines. His presentations are informative, thought provoking and entertaining. Presented by California Raisin Marketing Board

Back by popular request, Cathy Holley will moderate a session with leading innovators. She has been searching for just the right participants that will guarantee some AHA moments for the audience. Stay tuned.

After focusing on individual cities in his past presentations, Chef Gerry will now offer his view of the best and brightest new menu ideas from a national perspective – providing insights from his 2012 research trips to New York City, Chicago, L.A., San Francisco and Miami. In a segment called “parallels and transplants”, Gerry will compare similarities in menu trend evolution in these cities, and highlight successful local concepts that have begun migrating across the country. He’ll also provide an extensive pictorial view of the hottest new restaurants that are serving foods and flavors on the leading-edge of mainstream, and ripe for commercial menu development. Again this year, attendees will receive a Menu Ideation/R&D CD containing color photos and complete descriptions of all dishes from the presentation, as well as menu scans from each featured restaurant.

Just listen for the California Beach Music and head in that direction to the BAY POOL where you’ll find epic waves of flavor awaiting you. Chefs from our valued Sponsor companies have ideated the menu ideas throughout the planning process with Flavor Experience Executive Chef Extraordinaire …TJ DelleDonne. The menu is flavor-forward and fabulous. Stop by one of the bars to select your choice of beverage – a colorful specialty drink, a trendy Manhattan, a glass of wine, an ice cold beer, or an alcohol-free concoction. Then…with drink in hand, you’re ready to go Flavor Surfin’. You’re about  catch set after set of great flavors and tastes. Don’t miss even one mouthful or sip full of of these fabulous waves of flavor.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Industry players must understand the issues influencing food, flavor and beverage trends to successfully navigate them and uncover white space not yet explored. Influencers including consumer trends, travel and beverage trends, and economic forces will be discussed as they pertain to the shaping of marketplace trends and how they impact the creation of new products and menu items. Participants will be able to better recognize and predict the opportunities and pathways for making food and beverage products and menu items successful in their marketplace. Equally important is the ability to recognize and adapt to upcoming changes in trend direction as the recovery unfolds, and to differentiate between long and short lived trends.

DEMO & TASTING
Chef Jet is Asian but he’ll be the first to tell you that Umami is not exclusive to Asian food. The umami flavor applies to a full complement of cuisines in all types of culinary environments and is likely in many of your current offerings. So what do you do to capitalize this little secret as a menu differentiator? Join Jet in an open forum discussion on the the idea of umami as menu development and business building strategies. Attendees will see for themselves the difference umami can make in guest satisfaction by tasting and discussing “without umami” and “with umami” samples of a same menu items. Combine your senses to see, hear, talk, and taste the difference Umami will bring to your business.

TASTING
Do you keep searching all over for a “diamond” that will make your signature cocktails stand out among all others? You don’t always need to explore odd places or products to satisfy your quest. What you want or need may already exist right at your bar, in your kitchen, or your walk-in. You just need to know how to put it together in just the right way to end up with a flavor profile winner. David shows the audience what some of these gems may be and where to find them, then how to combine them into money-making, on-trend, easy to create and make signature cocktails that guests will talk about and come back to have more.

INTERACTIVE GROUP PARTICIPATION
Our chosen tastes, buying habits and decision-making processes now change at warp speed. So…do you still really know your target customer as well as you think you do? Fortunately, we still fall into 5 universal segments and psychographic groups, even if their scope changes more quickly, and these groups have specific values and perceptions that trigger their decision-making. In this session, attendees explore each of the 5 groups, then test themselves into their correct group as a lead-in to an open discussion on how restaurants can influence these groups’ behaviors on expectations and usage of brands. Attendees walk away with a renewed understanding of their customers vs. their perception of their customers, and how this impacts everything from marketing to menu development and site selection.

TASTING
Chef Charlie Baggs always has a great idea up his sleeve. This year he takes the audience through a product development process, from the concept to the consumer’s plate, a completely guest driven process. The process uses a global perspective to create memorable flavor profiles that are cravable for the consumer. Using the Culinary Bridge, Chef Charlie demonstrates how this process can be streamlined from manufacturer, to operator, to the guest, in the most practical way. It’s an exiting adventure. Pull up a seat at the table to join Chef Charlie, a couple of participating operators, and the innovative team at Charlie Baggs, Inc.

Nearly all of today’s food trends have a direct effect on protein on the menu. From farm-to-fork movements and supply-chain stewardship to small plates and bar menus to the exploding interest in globally inspired menu items and regional American specialties, the center of the plate is being remodeled and reinterpreted to keep pace with the trends making headlines and the market conditions. Tune into the latest research on leading trends within the protein category and hear from an innovative operator panel from different segments about how these trends are being represented on cutting-edge menus at a variety of price points, as well as translate their potential to multi-unit, mainstream operators.

Panelists TBA

Millennials are individualistic, optimistic and thrive on technology. When it comes to food, “real and authentic” is a must, as long as it fits into the flexibility and freedom they seek. They continue to demand real, unique experiences from their foodservice choices. So, what is driving Millennials’ eating habits and why should you be paying attention? In this session, Mindy, who is dialed in on all things Millennial, shares all you need to know through an open dialogue session about Millennials, including your own experience in having them as restaurant guests, employees and family members. Mindi has the scoop on Millennials’ flavor cues and shares a glimpse at a “day in the life” (very insightful). The takeaways will be some research on the changed life trajectory, vs. what it was for Boomers and the flavors that will most appeal to this group, followed by an interactive discussion among attendees.

TASTING
As an operator, or a supplier partner trying to support them in developing menu concepts that appeal to both “foodies” and mainstream customers, you’ll find spot-on insights gleaned from real consumers who have been identified as “foodies” or “mainstream” customers over time by the Culinary Visions Panel®. On an on-going basis these consumers choose menu descriptors that best fit them when dining out. Foodies always or usually try new dishes and flavors. Mainstreamers stick to their favorites and stray to new flavors only once in a while. See and taste an understanding of these foodies vs. mainstream consumers in terms of behaviors and preferences as they relate to crafting successful menus that transcend pure demographics. You’ll leave with a better understanding of menu concepts and flavors that captivate these groups. The tasting is a live example of of this inspiration, taking a classic menu item that is delicious alone and then VOILA, easily turn it into a “foodie” please with a simple, contemporary twist.

Moderator: Rachel Tracy, Olson Communications. Operator Panelists TBD

TASTING
Knowing what to drink with what we eat is in constant evolution these days. So what really goes with what? He says it’s beer. She says its wine. Who’s right…or are they both right? Let’s see for ourselves. Ryan Johnson, the smart & popular Trade Brewmaster for MillerCoors, pairs with a noted Sommelier (soon to be announced) to explore this concept through comparative tastings of food & beverage pairings and interactive discussions with the audience. Everyone walks away smarter about beer, smarter about wine, smarter about the principles of pairing all types of foods with wines and beers regardless of your menu (well, most menus). The session will be moderated by a chef and a beverage director.
(more details available soon)

Gluten-free Goes Mainstream; Modify your Menu
Moderator, Jim Painter, PhD, RD with a chain operator panel

Alcohol-free Beverage Programs & Ideas – Kim Haasarud, Owner/Mixologist, Liquid Architecture TASTING

How & Why a Final Product Becomes Greater than the Sum of its Parts (working title) TASTING
Chef John Csukor, President/CEO, KOR Food Innovation and fellow panelists of sensory experts and chefs

The Eyes Have It: Presentation = Profit