According to Mintel research, more than half of U.S. consumers think organic labeling is simply an excuse to charge more, and more than a third regard “organic” as a marketing term with no real value or definition.

Organics would seem tailor-made for shoppers seeking foods and beverages that are healthier for them, their families and the planet, but new research from Mintel reveals that Americans appear confused about the benefits of organics, with many perceiving the organic label as nothing more than an excuse to sell products at a premium.

Overall, the biggest selling point for organics is the perception that the products are healthier (72%)—much more so than any environmental or ethical reason. In fact, only 29% of consumers recognize that organic products are highly regulated, and 51% agree that labeling something as organic is an excuse to charge more. While sales of organic products are on the rise, actual consumer penetration has plateaued.

Organics Are Healthy, Right?
Overall, 72% of U.S. consumers purchase organic food and/or beverages for health or nutrition reasons, while slightly fewer (69%) factor environmental or ethical reasons in their purchase decision.

When looking specifically at female shoppers, this consumer group appears to choose products that avoid certain characteristics: 43% purchase them because they do not contain unnecessary ingredients or chemicals, and the same percentage do so to avoid food made with pesticides.

For 17 years, Worlds of Flavor in Napa Valley has been considered by the industry to be America’s most influential professional forum on world cuisines, food cultures and flavor trends. This year’s event didn’t disappoint.

The trend to Asian tastes and techniques has been growing exponentially in the United States for years. It never came together with such enthusiasm and promise as it did at the 17^th Worlds of Flavor® International Conference and Festival, held in April on the Greystone campus of The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley in front of an audience of more than 700 culinary, foodservice and hospitality professionals.

“The vastly varied cuisines of Asia are deeply rooted in traditions that have evolved over millennia,” said Greg Drescher, vice president of strategic initiatives and industry leadership at the CIA. “Today, American chefs are embracing and experimenting with what once was considered exotic. These foods and flavors are poised to continue their ascendance and become ever-bigger players in our national dining scene, whether it is in small independent restaurants, high-volume operations, food trucks or university cafés.”

Versatile Idaho^® Potatoes provide the canvas as culinarians get creative.

For a dish of humble Canadian origin, poutine—a savory amalgam of crispy French fries gilded with cheese curds, beef gravy and an optional egg—has quickly established a substantial presence on American menus.

A distinctive variation on loaded fries and an American quick-service favorite, poutines of all stripes are popping up in fast-food and casual-dining operations across the country, much to the delight and enjoyment of customers who enjoy their fries with a side of creativity.

Whether served as an appetizer or entrée, poutine is a popular dish that starts with a menu basic—crisp Idaho^® potato French fries—and can absorb other standard menu ingredients with aplomb and style. For example, surplus short-rib orders make a rich, meaty gravy. Cheeses salvaged from salad and appetizer orders melt atop sizzling fries to offer an intriguing new flavor profile.

Finally, we’ve talked fries, but why stop there? Idaho hash browns, tots and country potatoes also provide an excellent foundation for a signature poutine.

Real information power comes when operators begin to consolidate and review all their data, to reveal the complete picture they need to make better business decisions.

By Dave Bennett

Culinary educators know their students seek out the foodservice industry for many reasons: They simply love to cook, they excel in the high-energy foodservice environment and they see long-term career potential and an opportunity to make a name for themselves.

Few, if any, culinary students will profess they are in it for the statistics.

Minding the numbers goes beyond containing food or labor costs. Effectively leveraging restaurant information can be the key to profit and financial success. It can be the difference between driving defensively, stuck forever in the right lane, versus pulling away from gridlock to lead the competition.

There are three main reasons that operators should mind (and mine) their business data. This article will address two of those reasons; the third reason will be covered in the second article in this series.

#1: Information is power
Harnessing a restaurant business’ information can, and should, ultimately increase earnings. Information is power, power that can be converted into dollar signs. The trick is to learn how to put that information to its best use. 

In the award program’s inaugural year, two secondary and two postsecondary educators earned recognition for distinction in training professional cooks of tomorrow at the 11^th-annual CAFÉ Leadership Conference in June.

Sysco, the world’s leading foodservice distributor, recognized four foodservice educators in the 2015 CAFÉ/Sysco Corporation Educator of the Year Awards at the 11^th-annual Leadership Conference of the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ), June 18 in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

“In our first year of supporting this new annual award that acknowledges the tremendous industry contributions of foodservice instructors throughout the United States, we were introduced to many genuinely gifted teachers,” says Neil Doherty, CEC, Sysco’s senior director of culinary development.

“All of them submitted amazing endorsements from their administrators, program and industry colleagues and former and current students—making the selection of only two award recipients and two runners-up from both high-school and college-level training programs extremely difficult. In the end, thanks to their extraordinary career accomplishments, four individuals stood out.” They are:

High-school culinary-arts programs in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Batavia, N.Y., earn honors for exemplary practices in—and innovative teaching of—ecological sustainability.

Kendall College, Chicago, and the Annapolis, Md.-based Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) presented 2015 CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Awards to two secondary hospitality programs during a June 18 reception at CAFÉ’s 11th-annual Leadership Conference for foodservice educators at Niagara Falls Culinary Institute, Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Among dozens of submissions from secondary and postsecondary programs nationwide, Kent Career Technical Center in Grand Rapids, Mich., received this year’s top award. According to chef-instructor Sarah Waller, who teaches advanced baking and pastries at Kent, the $1,000 grant from Kendall College will help fund the high school’s goal to become the first water-bottle-free secondary school in Michigan.

A bakery entrepreneur leaves nursing behind to enroll in an online pastry-certificate program, and the result is sweet.

Kim Washington is the perfect example of someone who has never given up on her dreams. She recently retired early from a decades-long career in nursing to pursue her passion of starting a bakery. Now with Escoffier Online International Culinary Academy’s pastry certificate under her belt, she feels more ready than ever to tackle whatever obstacles may lie ahead.

Exploding Desserts LLC opened in May 2015 in South Holland, Ill. So Escoffier Online sat down with Washington to talk about what it takes to open a business, her favorite pastries to make and the No. 1 ingredient she makes sure to put in all of her creations.

Escoffier Online: You have quite a bit of culinary/pastry schooling. Why did you want to attend Escoffier Online?
Kim Washington: I was intrigued by the history of Escoffier. His name and works are mentioned in many of my cookbooks and he’s quoted and fashioned after numerous times in the culinary world. Then I sought out to learn more about the online culinary school and was excited about what it offered and the fact that I could study on my own time.

An understanding of “putting in place” is one of the most important skills for culinary students to learn and practice in becoming professionals. Says Dr. Mayo, proper mise en place is actually composed of three parts—all of which do double duty in the kitchen and dining room.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

In the last “Mayo’s Clinic,” we completed a three-part series on using out-of-class learning experiences such as interviewing, structured observation and shadowing. This month, we will talk about a core issue in culinary education: mise en place.

Mise en place—literally, the phrase in French means “putting in place”—has become a personal and professional discipline for chefs. It structures the way they work in kitchens and, for many of them, how they organize and structure their lives. There are even articles such as “For A More Ordered Life, Organize Like A Chef”published in the NPR blog, “The Salt,” that point out how useful the discipline can be in life.

As we teach our students to learn and practice mise en place, it might be useful to remember the three dimensionsof mise en place: physical, intellectual and emotional.

Physical Mise en Place
One of the primary foundation skills we teach new culinary students involves the practice and importance of organizing their stations in a kitchen before they start to prepare food. It is a matter of both arranging the equipment and the ingredients since both are critical to successful cooking.

Donna L. Quadri-Felitti has been selected as the new director of the School of Hospitality Management at Penn State, effective July 2015.

“Dr. Quadri-Felitti brings a combination of academic and industry experience, which means she will do well at helping the school build relationships with industry partners and other external constituents, such as alumni,” said Ann C. Crouter, Raymond E. and Eric Stuart Schultz Dean of the College of Health and Human Development. “She brings a broad perspective on hospitality from foodservice to hotels while understanding the connection between communities and hospitality.”

Prior to joining Penn State, Quadri-Felitti served on the faculty of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism in New York University’s School of Professional Studies, where her most recent post was as academic chair of the center.

Quadri-Felitti replaces John O’Neill, professor of Hospitality Management, who will lead the school’s new Center for Hospitality Real Estate Strategy.

While at NYU, Quadri-Felitti developed and taught various hospitality-management undergraduate and graduate courses not only at the flagship campus in New York City, but in NYU programs in Florence and Prague. She has advised scores of undergraduate and graduate students on their individual academic, research and career development.

Individuals with a flair for cooking can now put their passion to work at Star Career Academy’s Egg Harbor Township, N.J., campus, which recently introduced three new culinary programs: Professional Cooking, Commercial Cooking and Professional Pastry & Baking.

The Professional Cooking class began on April 7, 2015, with new classes beginning each month. In June, the campus began its first Commercial Cooking class and on July 1, 2015, the first Professional Pastry & Baking class.

Star Career Academy has a history of producing satisfied graduates. Graduate Aronita Foxwell initially began attending classes simply to hone her cooking skills, but after spending time in the classroom, she realized she wanted to make cooking her career. Foxwell realized her dream and works in her field as a chef. Now, individuals residing near the Egg Harbor Township campus have the same opportunity to pursue this career path.