Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/679170
R e s t a u r a n t D a i l y N e w s S a t u r d a y, M a y 2 1 , 2 0 1 6 9 6 FINCA PASCUALETE LA RETORTA WINS SUPER GOLD AT WORLD CHEESE AWARDS Finca Pascualete La Retorta was awarded Super Gold and named Best Cheese from Spain at the 2015 World Cheese Awards. This creamy raw sheep's milk cheese is made in the traditional method of cur- dling milk with dried wild thistle flow- ers. Finca Pascualete uses milk from its own flock and stays true to the time-hon- ored recipe which requires daily turning by hand. The resulting aromatic cheese is praised for a smooth yet persistent flavor. The wild flowers lend a hint of bitterness to balance its remarkable richness. Weighing in at 140 grams, La Retorta has understated packaging, wrapped in corrugated cardboard and tied with raffia string. The cheese should be brought to room temperature for serv- ice, when the top rind can be cut off as if it were a lid. This popular La Retorta has gained notice not just for its flavor and quality, but also for its fascinating origins. Established in the 1940s by Luis Figueroa and Aline Griffith, Finca Pascualete is located on a famed Extremadura estate that has been in Figueroa family for nearly 800 years; the palacio itself was built in Roman times. The rich history of the estate took on a new life through Figueroa and Griffith. Having met when Griffith was working as a CIA agent, the couple settled into life in northern Spain, where they became known as the Count and Countess of Romanones. "The cheese showcases the singular- ity of the land, the estate where the flock grazes and the city of Trujillo. It is a farming and agricultural project with a history dating back to 1232 which gained new dimension in 2010 with the inaugu- ration of the cheese factory, achieving important international recognition," said Cheesemaker Juan Figueroa, a grandson of the founders. Finca Pascualete's La Retorta was one of 2,727 entries from around the world to be judged at the World Cheese Awards, where 250 expert judges worked in teams of four to identify medal-winning cheeses. The super gold medal was reserved for each team's favorite cheese. The 62 super gold cheeses were then ranked by a second panel of judges to award "best of" cate- gories and to decide the world champi- on. Finca Pascualete La Retorta is dis- tributed in the United States by the Rogers Collection, which imports and distributes responsibly sourced ingredi- ents of distinctive quality created by gen- erational food producers from small farms rich in traditions and flavors. For more information, call 207.828.2000, email contact@therogerscollection.com or visit therogerscollection.com. CHEWING THE FAT ABOUT EATING MEAT By Lorrie Baumann American demand for food that tastes better is helping some food animals live better lives, says D'Artagnan Chief Executive Officer Ariane Daguin, who credits chefs in fine dining restaurants for elevating Americans' expectations for how their food should taste. "Customers are getting more educated and are asking retailers to source these good pieces of meat for them," she said. "A happy chicken makes a tasty chicken. this is what we've been doing for 30 years, making sure the animals are not stressed and they're raised humanely. It makes a better piece of meat on the table." D'Artagnan distributes high-quality meat products in the eastern, southern and midwestern United States from warehouses and logistics facilities in Chicago, Houston and New Jersey. For much of the company's 30-year history, its primary market was fine dining restaurants, but the company's reach into the retail grocery market is growing because educated American consumers are demanding high-quality meats that have been raised humanely and without unnecessary antibiotics, Daguin says. "Over the past 30 years, I've found a tremendous drive for education and for wanting to know what you eat and being concerned about how the animals were raised," she said. "And the proof is our success. We are now in major retail stores, even in big supermarkets. It means something. It means that con- sumers are aware and don't mind paying a little bit more to have the security to know they are giving the right thing to their family." Over the past year or so, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture was considering how to update the nation's dietary guidelines, animal rights activists and nutrition experts alike have been suggesting that perhaps, as a nation, we ought to rethink how much meat we include in our diets, using the argument that Americans' meat con- sumption is not environmentally sus- tainable. Daguin counters by arguing that it's factory-farming, not simply our carnivorous tastes, that's hard on the environment. "Factory farming pollutes, and pollutes big time," she said. She's an advocate of raising beef on pasture with naturally diverse vegetation and providing supplementary nutrition in the form of rich hay and silage during the winter rather than finishing beef in feed lots. "There's a sustainable way of hav- ing good meat without polluting," she said. Meat is more expensive to raise that way, and many are questioning how Americans will respond as those costs have an effect on what goes onto their plates. Restaurateurs and Slow Food advocates Dan Barber and Alice Waters have been suggesting recently that the time may have come to take meat off the center of the plate and to reduce restaurant portion size to match the amount of meat normally served for a meal in other cuisines around the world. In many other cultures around the world, meat is used more for flavoring than as the main component of a meal, Barber observed. That won't necessari- ly decrease the cost of the meal, since the preparation of ingredients to take the place of that meat tends to be more labor intensive, but the result would be a healthier meal, he said. Daguin agrees. "In general, our U.S. portions are too big," she said. "That's not just about meat – it's everything. Portions are too big.... We associate big- ger with better. That is changing, but it is changing very slowly.... We want a full plate, and we've been raised to finish the plate, so we eat too much." She has a piece of advice for American restaurant diners: "Just realize that you have two portions instead of one, and just take half of it home in a doggie bag," she said. "It's going to be a tough uphill battle because it's so engrained in our culture in the United States that bigger is better." SIMPLER, SAFER PAYMENTS WITH MAGTEK Restaurants must be dynamic if they want to succeed. Not only does the food have to be delicious and high quality, but the technology infrastructure used for operations must be secure and robust. This is true whether you are a fine dining establishment or quick-service restau- rant, or somewhere in between. Technology and security must go hand in hand while being flexible and scalable. Easier and faster payment acceptance makes for increased sales and more cus- tomer referrals. Durability Coupled with Security MagTek devices are known in the indus- try as being durable and secure. Its card readers deliver some of the highest first time swipe read rates in the industry and they are built to withstand real world use. Made from durable materials, its devices are also tamper evident and tamper resist- ant and the PIN devices are tamper responsive; all security features are designed to minimize the potential for cyber-attacks and fraud. Use EMV and Security Regulations as an Investment in Customer Service The changeover to magstripe/EMV/NFC accepting devices and mobility provides an unparalleled opportunity to materially improve how you interact with your cus- tomers. Leverage your investment in security as an opportunity to enhance your complete customer experience with payment devices that deliver more than just compliance. Simple Integration Magensa™ allows you to create your own process or use the ready to go PCI certified service for decryption, card and device authentication, remote key injec- tion as well as gateway services for magstripe and EMV transactions. MagTek has SDKs and APIs available for iOS, Android, Java and Windows to streamline development and speed up implementation and certification. MagTek's devices are integrated and cer- tified to most existing QSR POS soft- ware platforms. Move Beyond the Register, Pay at the Table Restaurateurs can enhance the customer experience by moving beyond the regis- ter with new technologies, including mobile pay-at-the-table solutions, pay- ment kiosks and curbside pickup options. By bringing multiple, low-cost and secure point-of-service terminals directly to the customer, they can maximize cus- tomer trust (since cards and other pay- ment tokens never have to leave the cus- tomer's sight) and reduce wait times. Industry research varies, but most agree that providing payment at the table can increase turn times per table by several minutes. Unmatched Security that Stops Fraud in Real-Time MagTek's industry leading anti-fraud and authentication systems integrated into your POS system immediately reduce or eliminate card fraud, chargebacks, skim- mers and device tampering. MagTek customers can take full advantage of its MagneSafe Security Architecture (MSA), and leverage open standards encryption to protect sensitive card and PIN data from the point of interaction. The MSA uses device authentication to remove the threat of skim- mers and other rogue devices. This holistic strategy takes advantage of emerging payment technologies that lower acceptance costs, streamline oper- ations and create a more secure payment environment. Reduce fraud by utilizing MagnePrint ® to identify cloned or altered magstripe payment cards and decrease the chances and costs related to charge- backs. MagnePrint card authentication is a patented, proven technology that reli- ably identifies counterfeit credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, ATM cards and ID cards at the point of swipe, before fraud occurs. The benefits of these dynamic and flexible solutions enable increased con- venience, speedier check-outs, enhanced security for both secure magstripe, EMV and contactless/NFC transactions, and reduce overall risk of fraud, while limit- ing the scope of PCI. For more information about MagTek, visit booth #10745, go to www.mag tek.com or call 562.546.6400.