Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/1111999
Restaurant Daily News 9 3 Sunday, May 19, 2019 Sodexo in North America. This covers a lot – core menus for all the various busi- ness segments, new service development and product specifications are the main buckets of activity. I have a team of 18 awesome chefs, dieticians and experts that manage it all for me. Each year, on average, we create over 1,000 new recipes and manage over 60 core menus for 5,000 locations across North America. RDN: How would you describe your working relationship with Carla's Pasta? RM: It's one of the best. Relationship- wise fantastic; strategic conversations that are also timely from a consumer per- spective. Plant-based is a great example; Carla's saw the trend and knew we were working on solutions. So they came to us not just with one solution, but several. Product is really the differentiator. Who makes better pasta on a large scale? I'm kind of over doing blind product cuttings in this space; there isn't really any com- petition. RDN: What do you view as the biggest strength between the partnership with Carla's Pasta (Cont'd. from p. 1) Carla's Pasta and Sodexo? RM: I always judge a partnership by each side doing what they said they were going to do. Carla's nails this one, even when we may have had blips on our side. Yes, we are the customer, but Carla's makes us better partners. RDN: What key attributes have encour- aged such a strong partnership for the last 10 years? RM: Great products, competitive pric- ing, clean label. Some partners do some of these, some do them all – very few do them all well. Carla's does! Plus – inno- vation (that is able to be acted on and deployed into the business) – and that hard to quantify family feel to the rela- tionship. RDN: What does the future partnership look like for Carla's Pasta and Sodexo? RM: If it's anything like the last 10 years, it will still be awesome. If it improves somehow, it will be amazing. Visit Carla's Pasta at booth #707. marketed like it is today. It wasn't until the 1940s when sugar was rationed to support the war effort, that honey was turned to as an alternative sweetener. The popularity of honey grew, and the indus- try was born. Throughout the next 30 years, Louis grew his family orientated busi- ness into one of the most respected honey producers in southwest Iowa. Lavern Schmitz worked for his father- in-law, Louis, after returning from the Korean War. Lavern saw the opportuni- ties with honey early on and started his own producing operation in the mid 1950s. Nicknamed "Smitty" in grade school, he named his new business Smitty Bee Honey. The business grew through the 1960s, '70s and '80s. Doug Schmitz, Lavern's son, worked beside his father, learning the trade as well. Doug then started his own operation in the late 1970s, which he grew into a lucrative honey producing business throughout the 1980s and '90s. In the early 1990s, commercial agriculture changed the natural landscape and honey production yields decreased Smitty Bee Honey (Cont'd. from p. 1) every year, as the majority of southwest Iowa was converted to corn and soy- beans. To further diversify, Doug and his family turned their attention to packing honey for farmer's markets and craft shows. The packaging business grew strong through the 1990s, while honey production struggled. Over 20 years, Smitty Bee grew from a small honey producer and packer to one of the nation's fastest growing honey proces- sors, packaging over 20 million pounds of honey per year. Smitty Bee Honey packages differ- ent types of honey for all industry sec- tors. These markets include commercial food manufacturing, foodservice and retail. Honeys are carefully selected from specific botanical or geographical areas from around the world and blended to match customer specifications. Exotic and rare varietals such as Washington Raspberry, California Sage and Mexican Avocado honey are just a few of the hon- eys that can be sourced. Recent trends show that customers are looking for new and trendy honey items that will stand out from the rest. Visit Smitty Bee Honey at booth #10023. you're looking for equipment that is accompanied by great customer service, logistical assistance, post-delivery sup- port, engineering assistance, a tech serv- ice department, the cost of a domestic oven might sound expensive to you but it's definitely going to get you the best return on your investment in the long term. RDN: What are some of the reasons domestically manufactured ovens cost more? FM: Not everybody understands that quality comes with a price. If one compa- ny has a staff of 60 to 70 people, and another only has a tenth of that labor force, that should tell you who the best option is going to be. All the additional value that a company provides is going to add to the cost. Of course, you have to do your research to make sure the company really provides that extra value, but once you do that, the budget should not dictate the decision to buy a good piece of equip- ment. RDN: What are the main reasons you feel domestic is the best way to go? FM: When we think of import versus domestic, number one, we're in the United States. We should support our own companies. Second, an importer doesn't necessarily know the American manufacturing standards. We provide ETL and NSF certifications. It takes years to get certified. It's too easy for a company that has not gone through the certification process to provide a cheaper product because they didn't have to put Marra Forni (Cont'd. from p. 1) up the upfront investment. If you were to ever have an issue, you're not dealing with an importer, you're dealing with a manufacturer right here in the United States. Most artisanal ovens are built in Italy. If something goes wrong, you have to call Italy. If some- thing goes wrong with one of our ovens, we can provide much faster service from our warehouse in Maryland. RDN: What would you say to a restaura- teur who is contemplating this big deci- sion? FM: A restaurateur might say, 'Your product is too expensive.' Well, I could say the same thing. A pizza in Italy is 4 euro, a pizza in the United States is an average of 12 to 20 dollars. I don't think you're ripping me off. I'm not compar- ing the cost of pizza in Italy. I don't live in Italy or Europe. I live in the United States. So, the cost of doing business is more expensive, the cost of labor is more expensive, the overhead, the lia- bility insurance, everything is more expensive. RDN: What are some of the additional benefits of working with your compa- ny? FM: We like to think of ourselves as a young company, but very experienced. We offer countless customization options. You can really choose your own design. We stand by our product. We're changing the industry and we definitely pride ourselves on being leaders in our industry. Visit Marra Forni at booth #2068. For more information, go to www.marraforni.com. PV: We import everything from man- darin oranges to truffle peelings. Fruits, vegetables, condiments, sauces, IQF frozen vegetables, appetizers and pasta, rice, grains and more. That list is always expanding. RDN: What's one thing you want people to know about Vertullo? PV: I want people to know that we scour the globe in search of the high- est-quality imported items. We know that every step is critical, from product development to procurement to deliv- ery. Our staff of culinary trained chefs, quality assurance and marketing and sales teams boast decades of experi- ence successfully importing the highest quality items from around the world. While our brand is still in its infancy, our staff consists of seasoned experts that have been doing this for a very long time. RDN: What sets Vertullo Imports apart Vertullo Imports (Cont'd. from p. 1) from its competition? PV: Above all else, we understand the importance of quality, flavor and consis- tency. Our eyes are on crop sensitivity, currency fluctuations and trade regula- tions. In addition to our culinary trained, U.S.-based staff, we also have staff over- seas headquartered in Europe to interface directly with suppliers on quality and logistical issues. RDN: Can you tell our readers about some of the new items you're currently working on? PV: We're currently extending our line of Greek olives to include Sliced Kalamata Olive Rings and a Country Olive Mix. We'll also be introducing a White Balsamic Vinegar, Rice Wine Vinegars and Sesame Oil in the coming months. Visit Vertullo Imports at booth #5645. For more information, go to www.vertullo imports.com, call 516.222.6220 or email customerservice@seviroli.com. straws, Aardvark Paper Straws decom- pose in just 45-90 days. All materials that make up an Aardvark Straw – adhesive, inks and papers – are also "edible." In 2018, Hoffmaster ® , a leading U.S. manufacturer of premium dispos- able tableware for restaurants, hospi- tals and the foodservice industry, acquired Aardvark Straws to add to its premium portfolio of environmentally responsible, disposable tabletop prod- ucts. About Hoffmaster Hoffmaster is a one-stop source offering a complete line of premium disposable paper tableware items for restaurants, hospitals and a wide variety of other service industries. The company, estab- Aardvark Straws (Cont'd. from p. 4) lished in 1947, is the platform company for the Hoffmaster Group, Inc. ® Foodservice Division. About Aardvark Straws Aardvark paper straws were introduced in 2007 in response to a growing anti- plastic movement. Precision Products Group, Inc., created an environmentally friendly straw based off of the original paper straw invented in 1888 by Marvin Stone. Today, Aardvark offers printed straws, cake pop sticks and Eco-Flex paper straws that are earth and marine friendly, naturally degradable, FDA/EU compliant, compostable and made in the USA. For more information, visit booth #2788, go to www.hoffmaster.com or www .aardvarkstraws.com, email marketing@ hoffmaster.com or call 800.327.9774.