General

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I’m back from a quick spin to Zurich and the Foodservice Summit – trying to digest and extract those first impressions from what was a tightly packed programme. But three things stand out:

Purpose, People, Planet and Profit
There is a shift coming – for years Foodservice has to a very large extent been about concepts. Design and food combined in such a way that they are easily reproducible – the famous cookie cutter approach – roll out the units, the faster the better. But now there are clear signs that the 4 P’s of marketing: Product, Price, Place and Promotion are being challenged by a new type of awareness and approach to foodservice – the new 4 P’s are now: Purpose, People, Planet and Profit, and in that order. This was a clear theme in several presentations. Living examples at the FSS were Leon and Nandos

Back to Basics
Several speakers mentioned simplicity, authenticity and back to basic as a key aspect of what they do. Food is about trust – more so than ever and foodservice is the last link in a long chain from farm to fork. Foodservice will need to work hard to earn and maintain the trust of the consumer. But that means walking a fine line. I have previously noted that I am worried that it is somehow becoming acceptable to add all sorts of ugly chemicals to food in order to make it spectacular – as it’s done by the Techo Catalan high priests in Spain. But we all scream murder when we hear that the so called industrials have added MSG to the Asian take away soup. So from that point of view it was great to see that focus is on authenticity and back to basics.

We don’t go out to eat – we are out and need to eat.
This is another subtle shift that has happened over the past few years. A large part of Foodservice is now about supplying people on the move with what they need much more than catering to that special occasion when they go out.

The new railway stations are now the new high street locations. It started with Termini in Rome a few years back but now Berlin and St. Pancras also have new rail travel hubs that showcase all the latest innovations in Foodservice.

Once I get my notes sorted out I shall be back with more details[/lang_en]

[lang_da]Vi har netop sendt vores nye trendhæfte på gaden – et udpluk af de mange oplevelser og sanseindtryk, vi har samlet fra vores trendstudier gennem årene fra diverse metropoler rundt om i verden. Fænger nedenstående smagsprøve din interesse, så bestil et eksempar hos os allerede i dag. Hæftet er på 54 sider og koster 129,- plus moms og porto. Send dit navn, e-mail og adresse til info4grow@me.com, så sender vi dig fluks et eksemplar.

De 10 artikler i hæftet har fokus på de trends, som vi mener rækker et godt stykke ud i fremtiden og og sætter nye standarder for foodservicebranchen. Og de mange spændende, skæve, nytænkende og begejstrede iværksættere, som vi har besøgt, er i høj grad værter for sanser, for skønhed, vildskab, innovation og fremsynet forretningssans for en branche, hvor der er for meget af alt og derfor stor konkurrence om at skille sig stærkt ud og bide sig fast i et marked, der hele tiden må forny sig for at overleve.

Her kommer en appetitvækker fra bogens billedmateriale.

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[lang_da]Vi er nået til modul II. På første modul havde vi fokus på, hvordan vi selv fungerer. Spørgsmålet er, hvad der skaber vores indstilling til tingene – og især hvor stor en indflydelse vores egen indstilling har på vores oplevelse af, om vi har haft en god eller en dårlig dag. Det er er ikke det, som sker i vores hverdag – det er måden, vi reagerer på det, som sker, der har den afgørende betydning.

På Modul II gælder det vores rolle på holdet. Der er ikke ret mange jobs, hvor man opererer alene og ikke er afhængig af samspillet med andre – måske lige bortset fra hvis man har sin egen pølsevogn. Men ellers er det samspilet med andre – og især det at skulle løse opgaver i fællesskab – der karakteriserer de fleste jobs.

Og som Lothar Friis siger: What we do is what we train – så på modul II kaster vi os ud i at løse en række opgaver i fællesskab. En af dem at er noget så simpelt som at rejse en flagstang.

Hvor svært kan det være? Ja, Lothar har det jo med at stille nogle krav og regler der gør, at det måske ikke er så nemt, som man først skulle tro. Det var i hvert fald en opgave, der fik deltagerne til at få fokus og koncentration.

Men til sidst lykkedes det for alle.

Du kan se flere billeder her [/lang_da]

Take a look at this:

In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what’s wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it’s putting the entire planet at risk.

Nu har vi det endelige program og praktiske oplysninger om rejsen klar til vores Urban Food Safari for DKBS køkkenchefer. Noget vi virkelig glæder os til er et besøg på La Terazza del Casino – en af Madrids absolut førende restauranter ud i kunsten at gøre indtagelsen af et måltid til en oplevelse ud over det sædvanlige.

La Terazza er søsterrestaurant til mesterkokken Ferran Adriás El Bulli i nordspanien.

Vi glæder os!

I have been a fan of Chip Conley ever since i read Rebel Rules his first book. Now he is out with a new book ‘Peak’ that I can highly recomend – What Chip has put in to action in his hotels is essentially what we try to teach in our Service Profit Chain workshops and trainings.

You can learn more about Chip Conley and his amazing boutique hotel group Joie de Vivre Hotels