Eight Big Ideas from the NRA Show
By CSP Staff on May 23, 2016CHICAGO -- This week kicked off with the foodservice industry’s largest event, the NRA Show, where even your Uber driver is an executive chef. Really, it happened to us.
Tens of thousands of foodservice professionals descended upon Chicago for the National Restaurant Association’s annual trade show. CSP Daily News editors are there in force, seeking out ideas, products and solutions that could help the convenience-store industry continue to steal share of the foodservice dollar.
Nitrogenized Coffee
Like Guinness? Like coffee? Well, nitrogenized coffee doesn’t contain beer, but it provides the same smooth, creamy, slightly effervescent experience to cold-press coffee that you expect from nitrogenized beer. Manitowoc’s Multiplex N2Fusion Beverage System lets you add nitrogen to a beverage at the point of dispense, and the company has partnered with a coffee company for a bag-in-box cold press product.
Induction Expansion
Induction continues to increase its presence at the NRA Show, with two manufacturers—Nemco and Hatco (pictured above)—rolling out induction cooktop lines this year. Curious to see how induction could fit into a convenience store? Just look to Rutter’s Farm Stores; it incorporates induction cooktops into its kitchen suite. The technology reduces ambient heat and eliminates open flame.
Icy Treats
Frozen treats were once again prominent at the NRA Show, from frozen yogurt to a new take on shaved ice. Snowpop from Presidential Foodservice works with a wide range of base liquids, including juice, water, soda, alcohol, milk and yogurt, to create flavored ice of snow-like consistency and texture. It’s a blank slate for any variety of flavor profiles.
Hiring Right
During Jim Sullivan’s session on successful foodservice brands, teams and leaders, he said what everyone in the room knows but perhaps has never enunciated: “Life is too short to work with a-holes.” If you have a C-level manager, that person is going to hire D-level employees. But A-level managers will always hire A-level employees. Hire managers well and they will reward you with hires of the same caliber.
Packaged Craft Cocktails
Convenience stores haven't been able to get in on the craft-cocktail renaissance—until now. Specialty soda company Joia has come out with a line called Joia Spirit that features sparkling vodka cocktails Greyhound, Moscow Mule and Cosmopolitan, all with modern flavor twists such as cardamom, ginger and pear.
Focus on Food Safety
The current gravity of food safety was evident everywhere, from the show floor to billboards along the "L" urging consumers to get educated on foodborne illnesses. Chipotle’s crisis has proven that anyone’s susceptible to a serious outbreak, while finalization of the Food Safety Modernization Act is making notably stricter regulations a reality. Ecolab showed off a multipurpose spray that kills norovirus, as well as its digital temperature-tracking solution that eliminates paper recordkeeping.
Kombucha Smoothies
If tasked with naming two of the biggest current beverage trends, chances are pretty high you’d say smoothies and kombucha. Well, why not combine the two? Vitamix chefs were blending up a smoothie featuring the probiotic-rich fermented drink. The combination makes good business sense: Thirty percent of smoothie consumers cite health as a reason to buy a smoothie, says Vitamix, compared with only 20% who said the same four years ago.
The Best Bites
We saved the most flavorful for last. Among some of the tastiest items sampled so far at this year’s NRA Show were the fully cooked Fast ‘n Easy patties from Hormel in Asian, chipotle-lime, barbecue and chorizo flavors; Jumbo Stuffed Tater “Kegs” (think pumped-up tater tots) from Stone Gate Foods in flavors such as Bacon Cheddar & Chive and Reuben; iced cappuccino from a Franke machine (yes, you can cold-foam milk); the heavenly combination of chiles, beer and cheese in a dip from Pine River; and potato chips drenched in a “fondue” of bacon and Emmi Roth cheeses—all flambéed with tequila and poured over chips.