F&H May 2024 Digital Issue

LEADING FOR THE FUTURE

Conestoga College's Bloom Restaurant is tackling food waste, one challenge at a time The

Keith Müller, Dean, School of Hospitality & Culinary Arts, and Institute of Food Processing Technology, and Dan McCowan, executive chef, Bloom Restaurant at Conestoga College

No need to settle for a transparent, flavourless bacon. Serve a fully cooked bacon crafted to look and taste as if you had made it from scratch every single time.

At a time when we continue to hear more about creating an equitable hospitality industry, isn’t it time to put an end to the archaic practise of tipping and instead create a fair and sustainable system that serves all sides of the equation — the employee, the customer and, yes, even the owners.

The tipping debate fuels passionate discourse and depending on which side of the debate you’re on, emotions can run high, but increasingly the practise has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. There are varied reasons for this. First, tipping harkens back to an era where the practise engendered servitude while also fostering racial inequality.

While some may argue that tipping promotes stellar service and fuels customers to reward outstanding experiences, others claim it does the exact opposite —promoting sub-standard service where servers have the expectation they’ll receive a tip, even in cases where the service leaves a great deal to be desired.

Tipping also creates wage disparity among associates. That’s because countries often promote a lower minimum wage for tipped workers, assuming they’ll make up for lower wages in tips. But why should workers have to rely on customers to help provide them with a living wage. Additionally, tipping creates a

TIPPING THE SCALES

great divide between front- and back-of-thehouse employees. By eliminating the practise, the industry would be forced to pay employees fairly and consistently while putting all departments on a level playing field.

At a time when we continue to hear more about discrimination, tipping tends to perpetuate it. Studies show tipping is influenced by factors such as race, gender, and physical appearance. And, whether it’s unconscious bias or not, it leads to differential treatment and unequal wages for workers from marginalized communities.

While customers have been more than willing to tip generously during and post pandemic as a way to support a beleaguered industry, increasng menu prices and inflation across the board are now causing further challenges. Interestingly, several restaurants that had abolished tipping have since returned to the tipping model, probably as a way to compete for, and, attract employees. But would that be a different reality if all restaurants were mandated to abolish tipping and create a better and more equitable system?

Understandably, some operators might claim they wouldn’t be able to sustain a business without tipping as they’d be forced to deal with the high cost of salaries. But isn’t it time to move past that argument given other retail operators don’t have the similar benefit of subsidizing their employee’s salaries through this mechanism? At the very least, why can’t operators pay staff higher wages by increasing their menu prices, and/or lowering other costs, by creating a service fee as they do in Europe or by changing the business model entirely?

As the hospitality industry struggles to deal with labour shortages, dwindling customer counts and calls for a more professional industry, operators need to take responsibility for paying fair wages and treating employees with the respect they deserve. Only then can the industry work towards building a more sustainable and equitable business model and industry that truly values and respects its employees. FH

ROSANNA CAIRA rcaira@kostuchmedia.com

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EDITOR & PUBLISHER ROSANNA CAIRA

MANAGING EDITOR AMY BOSTOCK

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CIRCULATION PUBLICATION PARTNERS

ADVISORY BOARD

ASCARI HOSPITALITY GROUP JOHN SINOPOLI

BROWNS RESTAURANT GROUP BRUCE FOX

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CHARCUT RESTAURANT CONNIE DESOUSA, JOHN JACKSON

GARLAND CANADA MARY CHIAROT

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MAPLE LEAF SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT DAN MORROW

MTY GROUP MARIE-LINE BEAUCHAMP CHEF NED BELL

SOTOS LLP ALLAN DICK

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS JUDSON SIMPSON UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH, SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY & TOURISM MANAGEMENT BRUCE MCADAMS

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MONTHLY NEWS AND UPDATES FOR THE FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY

LABOUR LIMITS

Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program adopts policy changes

The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program experienced a surge in demand due to the post-pandemic economy, low unemployment rates and record-high job vacancy rates in 2022. To address those labour shortages, the program adopted a series of policy changes. With changing labour-market conditions and declining job vacancies, the government is now adjusting the TFW to ensure the program continues to only be used in cases where there are no workers here in Canada that can fill the necessary role.

The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, recently announced that some time-limited measures

under the TFW Program Workforce Solutions Road Map will not be renewed and will end, earlier than planned, this spring.

Effective May 1, 2024: New Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) will be valid for six months (a decrease from 12 months) to ensure accurate labour market needs.

All employers identified in the 2022 Workforce Solutions Road Map will have a reduction from 30 per cent to 20 per cent of their total workforce that can come in through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, under the low-wage stream, with an exception for the construction and healthcare sectors.

Employers will need to explore every option before applying for

The Workforce Solutions Road Map announced in 2022 applied to the following seven sectors: Accommodation and Food Services (NAICS 72); Food Manufacturing (NAICS 311); Wood Product Manufacturing (NAICS 321); Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (NAICS 337); Construction (NAICS 23); Hospitals (NAICS 622); and Nursing and Residential Care Facilities (NAICS 623).

an LMIA — including recruiting asylum seekers with valid work permits here in Canada.

“We announced our intention to reduce Canada’s reliance on temporary foreign workers and encourage employers to find the talent they need right here, at home,” says Boissonnault.

“The time-limited measures we introduced in 2022 were necessary as our labour market was facing unprecedented conditions — but now, as times change, we must ensure our Temporary Foreign Worker Program reflects our current needs.”

In addition, as of Jan. 1, 2024, employers are required to annually review the wages of temporary foreign workers to ensure they reflect increases to prevailing wage rates for their given occupation and region of work. Through wage increases, these reviews will ensure that employers continue to pay temporary foreign workers at the prevailing wage level throughout their period of employment. For the vast majority of cases, when wages are reviewed, they’re increased for the workers. If not, they remain the same and cannot go down upon review.

The Government of Canada will continue to monitor labour market conditions to ensure that the TFW Program reflects current economic needs, and that Canadians are considered first for job opportunities, while also ensuring that the rights of temporary foreign workers in Canada are protected. FH

BUDDING INDUSTRY

Chefs Canada, the organization that manages Canada’s national culinary teams to the Bocuse d’Or and World Pastry Cup, has launched Chefs Canada Green, a new division that’ll focus on educating culinary professionals, promoting and developing products and events that put cannabis and other health-andwellness local herbs at the forefront of fine dining.

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the legalization of cannabis in Canada, the group has embarked on this new chapter with a team of three Canadian foodservice veterans, including chef Romain Avril, consultant, author and Dean of Chefs Academy; chef Jordan Wagman, education and expert on cooking with cannabis in North America; and Brigitte Foisy, VP of Chefs Canada and award-winning marketer. While the group has several plans for the year ahead, it’s first launching a series of classes to educate culinary professionals on how to incorporate cannabis safely into dishes.

Starting in May, culinary professionals will be able to register for a six-week course that will equip them with all the information they need to begin hosting private-dinner experiences. The course curriculum includes everything from how to safely create cannabis and terpene infusions, to de-carboxylation, emulsifications, and the math behind dosing and titration for repeatability. A certificate of completion will be provided by Chefs Canada to participants who successfully complete the course.

NOW OPEN

COLD BREW CRAZE

McDonald’s Canada has introduced its new McCafé Cold Brew Coffee at participating restaurants across the country. Guests can choose from five different varieties, including Cold Brew (unsweetened), French Vanilla Cream Cold Brew, Caramel Cream Cold Brew, Sweetened Cold Brew with cream and Cold Brew with sugar-free syrup and cream.

The McCafé Cold Brew Coffee is served in a re-designed cup featuring the Golden Arches and McCafé brush script logo on a clear background.

Banda Volpi’s new restaurant, Osteria Elio Volpe, has opened in Vancouver. Co-owner Craig Stanghetta’s Ste Marie Studio approached the transformation of the old 4,200 sq. ft. mechanic’s shop with travels through Italy in mind.

Alongside culinary director Phil Scarfone, Alan Tam (previously of Nightingale) helms the kitchen as head chef. Vish Mayekar, who has moved over from La Tana and Pepino’s, is executive sous chef, and Jessi Morton has been promoted to Banda Volpi’s executive pastry chef and will oversee the desserts with pastry chef Tania Petrin.

Menu highlights include a Yellowfin Tuna &

LET'S ROLL

The Ballroom Bowl Yorkville has opened at Yonge and Bloor in Toronto, boasting eight bowling lanes, including two VIP lanes, alongside dining, bar and lounge areas with curated cocktail and food menu. The venue’s flagship location in Toronto’s Entertainment District opened in 2010.

Dishes from the food menu include house roasted artichoke and white bean hummus and short rib mac-n-cheese. The drink menu features a range of wines, beers and signature cocktails including Smoke & Mirrors, Strawberry Hibiscus Cooler and Mexpresso Martini.

Scallop Crudo with jalapeno, gooseberry and basil; Whole Roasted Branzino with grilled frisée and Meyer lemon; Grilled Lamb Chops with celery leaf salsa verde and fennel pollen. Banda Volpi’s wine director Kristi Linneboe has curated a wine list rooted in Italian tradition, and the cocktail program, created by beverage director Amar Gill, features seven Negroni cocktail variations; a selection of local and imported Italian gin, vermouth and bitters; and exclusive to the neighbourhood, Elio Volpe’s signature cocktail, the Elio Sour, made with grapefruit hibiscus cordial, orange bitters and Lambrusco.

STE MARIE STUDIO [OSTERIA ELIO VOLPE]

GLOBAL GROWTH

Jollibee has been recognized as the second fastest-growing restaurant brand in the world, according to the latest annual brand ranking report by Brand Finance. Surging by 51 per cent to USD$2.3 billion in brand value, Jollibee ascended from rank 20 to rank 17 in this year’s Global Restaurant Rankings

The brand further solidified its position by achieving fifth place in the strongest restaurant brand category, elevating its rating from AA- to AAA. Additionally, Jollibee is the only Philippine brand listed in the 2024 Top 25 Most Valuable Restaurant Brands and Top 10 Strongest Restaurant Brands.

Jollibee is now present in 17 countries with 1,668 store locations. To sustain its growth momentum, Jollibee remains steadfast in expanding its store network in key markets such as the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia, while sustaining market leadership in the Philippines. The brand recently celebrated its milestone opening in Canada and marked its 100th location in North America.

“This valuation from Brand Finance gives us confidence that we’re on the right track in

EXCELLENCE UNVEILED

The Lake House in Calgary is celebrating 10 years of culinary excellence. To mark this milestone, the restaurant is running a “Best Of” 10-year menu throughout 2024 that features guest and staff favourites from the last decade. Notable items include the Lake House Fish Plank (2014), Warm Triple Cream Brie (2019), Sous-Vide Bison Striploin (2021) and Parmesan Crusted Lamb Rack (2016).

Owned and operated by Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts (CRMR), The Lake House boasts large glass windows that offer view of the lake. Inside, the space is illuminated by ornate elk antler chandeliers, a grand stone fireplace and a refurbished 21-foot bar that dates back to the 1800s. Additionally, the restaurant’s locally inspired menus are enhanced by a wine selection curated by sommelier Brad Royale.

“Our culinary team was inspired by a decade of unforgettable moments and the dedication of our longstanding staff to create our ‘best of’ 10-year menu,” says chef de cuisine Gareth Colville. “With many of our team members having been part of The Lake House family since the beginning, we wanted to offer our guests a flavourful journey through history, capturing the essence of what makes this place truly special.”

COMING IN HOT

Mary Brown’s Chicken has launched its new Korean-inspired fried chicken sandwich: the K-Crunch, now available at locations nationwide.

According to the 2024 Technomic Global Restaurants Trends Forecast, Korean-inspired menu offerings will be hotter than ever across the globe this year. Leaning into this trend, the K-Crunch LTO includes a crispy whole Canada Grade-A chicken breast coated in a soy-garlic sauce inspired by Korean flavour profiles, which sits atop spicy coleslaw and tangy pickles and topped with crunchy fried onion bits and spicy mayo in between a premium brioche bun.

“This sandwich has been a long time coming, and we’re thrilled to expand our offerings into new and unchartered territory in the Canadian QSR market,” says Jeff Barlow, Chief Marketing Officer, MBI Brands. “Our approach to this sandwich takes inspiration from celebrated signature Korean flavours, but through our unique culinary lens and approach to creating a great-tasting menu.”

Meeting of the Minds

NRA Show returns to bring together restaurant operators and foodservice professionals

The National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, the western hemisphere’s most influential foodservice event showcasing industry innovations and trends, is returning to McCormick Place in Chicago from May 18 to 21. Since its inception in 1919, the show has brought together restaurant operators and foodservice professionals for four days of celebrity-led demos, exhibits, sampling, education and networking.

This year’s show boasts robust Expo + Education programming developed to infuse a heightened focus on immersive learning, collaboration, and meaningful connections, offering more than 40 operator-led sessions, intimate roundtable discussions and networking refreshment breaks provided by Keurig Dr. Pepper.

“The Expo + Education [program] underscores our commitment to fostering growth and innovation in the foodservice industry,” says Tom Cindric, president of the National Restaurant Association Show. “This exclusive offering provides growth-minded attendees with a focused

learning experience, featuring innovative solutions and fresh perspectives. It reflects our dedication to advancing education at the National Restaurant Association Show, ensuring attendees gain unparalleled insights and future-forward ideas that drive industry excellence.”

Acclaimed chef, restaurateur and humanitarian José Andrés will join in a keynote discussion at the show on May 19 at 2 p.m., where he will participate in a discussion on the transformative impact of his culinary innovation and philanthropic endeavors, inspiring positive change within communities. Named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People” in both 2012 and 2018 and recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal, Andrés is an internationally recognized culinary innovator, author, educator, humanitarian, and chef/owner of José Andrés Group.

“We are honored to have José Andrés, a true visionary in both the culinary and humanitarian realms, as our keynote headliner,” says Cindric. “His journey and achievements serve as an inspiration to us all,

reminding us of the power of having a vision and the profound impact that the foodservice industry can have on communities in need. José’s dedication to giving back resonates deeply with our own commitment to uplifting the local Chicago community through the show’s annual food donations.”

The show’s on-floor programming includes supplier-led sessions, live culinary demos with celebrated chefs, beverage sessions and demos with top mixologists and experts, which will help attendees walk away with new tools and solutions to boost their business.

The Startup Alley will highlight new companies to the foodservice industry with a sneak peek at new food-and-beverage items, new equipment and supplies, new technology and much more.

The show floor will feature hundreds of new exhibitors in more than 900 product categories — from food, beverage, equipment, technology, tableware, sanitation and everything in between. FH

DO YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT?

Data shows a bright future for French-fry sales

’ve written many columns over the years about the number-1 item consumed in Canadian foodservice: brewed coffee. Looking back, I realize I’ve never written a column about the number-two item: French fries.

Accounting for 1.2 billion servings in 2023, Circana’s CREST consumerbehaviour tracking data reports French- fry consumption rose nine per cent last year, compared to traffic gains of six per cent. Included in 13 per cent of all foodservice meals, a ratio that was up slightly from the previous year and a full point higher than 2018, French-fry popularity seems assured. Just as the coffee category has evolved recently through diversification and innovation, a look at potato consumption habits indicates there remains a bright future for this menu category.

Much like the “host” menu item of French fries, we see poutine consumption also grew nine per cent in 2023, and curly/wedge/waffle-cut fries grew 19 per cent. Meanwhile, sweet-potato fries were up 16 per cent. Clearly there is consumer demand for these specialty fries and the menu innovations associated with them. Limited-time offers (LTOs) can be an effective way of promoting these new items and have been a key growth contributor.

Another trend working in favour of potatoes is the morning meal daypart’s popularity and growth momentum. Morning meals now represent 29 per cent of all restaurant visits, up seven per cent in 2023 compared to 2022. The resulting growth in breakfast potatoes — whether hash browns or home fries — amounted to an incremental 25 million servings, or nine per cent year-over-consumption growth in Canada last year.

Amid all this positivity, restaurant potato consumption could

face some challenges in the future. To begin, the fastestgrowing side dish in 2023 was rice. This is associated with Canadians’ burgeoning appetite for global cuisines from Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, and Mexico. Similarly, witness the rise in “bowls.” While there is much debate over the definition of this menu item, there is no denying its popularity. Advancing the global-cuisine trend, with a dose of healthfulness thrown in, these preparations typically do not include any potatoes in the bowl or on the side. And finally, take note that French fry incidence is lowest, and has declined, within the older Gen-Z cohort (aged 19 to 27). This is the cohort marketers target to drive their future success, but these consumers may be ordering their meals without a side of fries.

For potato growers, producers, and marketers, it is time to start planning for the future. Potatoes’ versatility as a side dish, main dish, or snack is an opportunity for diversity and a buffer against the shifting tides of consumer behaviour trends. No matter how you slice, dice, shred, or chop it, potatoes will remain a popular menu item in Canada for a long time to come.

This column was excerpted from a presentation I delivered in January at The Manitoba Potato Production Days conference in Brandon, Man. During my two days there, I met many amazing people and learned so much about agriculture in general, and of course, about potato farming. One farmer said it best when I told him what I do. “We are at one end of the supply chain. The farm. And you are at the other end. The consumer.” The entire experience gave me a whole new appreciation for the work this community does every day to put food on our tables. Next time you get a chance, be sure to thank a farmer. FH

Nail your off-premises dining experience and satisfy your fry-loving customers. Fries made to deliver make all the difference. See

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

Operators must deliver an unparalleled guest experience

BY MATT ROLFE

he question of whether hospitality is fading within its own industry is more pertinent now than ever as we navigate the complexities of 2024. The obstacles are numerous and daunting — from the relentless surge of inflation to skyrocketing insurance costs, alongside the everincreasing challenge of attracting and retaining talent. These factors beg the question: Is the era of genuine hospitality in the hospitality industry drawing to a close? Are we on the brink of witnessing the sector follow in the footsteps of major banks with their automated tellers, gas stations with pay-at-thepump services, and retail outlets offering self-checkout options?

At the heart of the hospitality industry lies the profound impact we have on our guests through personal, human-to-human interactions. This unique aspect of our industry has always been its strength, offering experiences that resonate deeply with patrons. Consumerbehaviour studies conducted as restaurants re-opened post-pandemic shed light on evolving customer desires. Initially, the primary need was for re-connecting with friends and family. However, as we settled into new norms, the emphasis shifted towards seeking out unique experiences. Today’s consumers, more cautious with their spending, crave memorable encounters that cannot be replicated at home across all service levels in our industry, from quick service and fast casual to fine dining, presenting us with both a challenge and an opportunity to exceed expectations.

I’ve had the privilege of guiding some of North America’s leading hospitality operators through a series of questions and exercises aimed at achieving three key objectives:

1. Establishing clear, shared goals for the experience we aim to provide every guest.

2. Aligning the entire team on a strategy to differentiate and elevate the guest experience from our competitors, winning over guests’ hearts and trust.

3. Ensuring the consistent and effective communication of the strategy to all team members.

Addressing these questions requires a deep dive into the fundamental aspects of our operations and an honest evaluation of the potential benefits. Given the current challenges of staffing shortages, declining guest traffic and razor-thin profit margins, operators need to execute clear and focused plans.

To be frank, the guest experience is often average at best — this

endeavor represents a significant opportunity for improvement and the ability to set yourself apart from your competition. It’s not merely about implementing a sophisticated manual or online training platform, it’s about engaging your team with a clear vision and purpose.

Why does your community need your restaurant to exist? In a landscape where the supply of restaurant seats often exceeds demand, understanding and articulating why your community needs your restaurant is crucial. Recall the vision that inspired you to open your doors — what was the unique contribution you envisioned?

How do you want every guest to feel? Beyond mere service steps, focus on crafting rich, memorable stories. This approach helps forge a deeper connection with your mission, not only among your team but also within the hearts of your guests.

Recognition is the key to sustainable behavioural change and the link to an engaged culture. Finally, think about how you will recognize, reward and celebrate your team’s successes in delivering the desired guest experience. Positive reinforcement, rather than a focus on correcting mistakes, is key to fostering a motivated and engaged staff.

In today’s experience economy, the emphasis on delivering an unparallelled guest experience consistently is non-negotiable. It stands as the foundation upon which successful hospitality operations are built. As we confront the challenges and changes of 2024, embracing this focus on genuine, impactful guest interactions will determine whether hospitality in the industry merely survives or thrives. Is hospitality in the hospitality industry dead or dying? Absolutely not, but providing a consistently great guest experience will require absolute clarity around your desired guest experience, engaging your staff through rich and vivid stories and examples and recognizing, celebrating and rewarding great service experiences as they happen. FH

For more FREE tools and resources to support this change, email Matt Rolfe at matt@mattrolfe.com

Eating

influential factors in determining their eating habits, with younger people most likely to be influenced by the environment when deciding what to eat.

“The younger generations vote with their money,” says Stephanie Howarth, co-founder of Mad Radish. “That’s driving decisionmaking about where to buy food. Consumers want to support brands that put people before profits and brands that stand for something. In part, that’s helped create this movement away from heavily processed, chemically flavoured foods that people now know could lead to long-term health concerns. However, it’s important not to become inflexible this way. You can’t say to people ‘you can never have a burger again.’ We don’t shame people for the choices they make. Also, there are many people that don’t have the economic or geographical access to some of these healthier natural foods.”

FOOD FLEXIBILITY

Operators are catering to flexitarians by offering customizable menus that accommodate both plant-based and meatcentric options. This inclusivity allows

consumers to enjoy the best of both worlds, without compromising on taste or dietary preferences.

In the fast-food segment, A&W Canada recently launched its new Spicy Piri-Piri Buddy Burger, which is available with chicken, beef or a hash brown potato patty, topped with lettuce, tomato and red onion. The hash-brown option is the result of a community-driven menu hack, predominantly from the SouthAsian community.

At healthy fast-food concept, Mad Radish, Howarth says the Piri-Piri Bowl is the brand’s best-selling dish.

“It can be made with either piri-piri chicken or piri-piri tofu,” she says. “The rest of the dish is dairy free, so a vegan option is also available. For consumers who enjoy both plant-based and non-plant-based options, we wanted our menu to be interchangeable.”

In addition to chicken or tofu, the PiriPiri Bowl ($15.75) comes with mixed greens, brown rice, roasted sweet potatoes, peppadew peppers, carrot-and-cabbage slaw, chickpeas and corn nuts.

Horwath says the Maple Farm Bowl ($15.50), which the brand introduced two years ago, is another top seller, featuring Luisa’s roasted chicken or cilantro-lime tofu, roasted curry cauliflower, sweet potatoes, mixed greens, brown rice, chickpeas and a maple-chipotle dressing.

“We skew more towards chicken. We’re well known for our halal-certified, ovenroasted chicken which speaks to our focus on inclusivity. Halal chicken is an important dietary requirement for many consumers and it’s considered to be of higher quality,” says Howarth. “Additionally, we have nine signature dressings and eight of them are vegan. That’s an effort we made intentionally, making it easy for consumers trying to go to plant-based.

In fact, Mad Radish, co-founded by Adam Tomczyk, David Segal and Howarth in Ottawa, where there are currently five locations, recently opened its fourth location in Toronto, marking the brand’s first franchised location in the city.

At Copper Branch, a vegan-restaurant concept Montreal-based Foodtastic acquired in 2021, Trish Paterson, VP, Brand at Foodtastic, says the General Copper Bowl is the brand’s best-selling dish and features a tofu/shitake mushroom combination, organic brown rice, blanched broccoli, house made sriracha coleslaw, avocado and sesame seeds.

The brand recently launched a pizza line, Serenity Pizza, which Paterson says is 100-per-cent vegan and operates within a couple of existing Copper Branch locations. Two individual pizzas are offered on all Copper Branch menus, with the most popular being The Trippy Truffle (gluten free), featuring a garlic-aioli base, arugula, Portobello mushrooms and truffle oil.

Mad Radish menu items

Green smoothie at Copper Branch

This month, Paterson says the brand is launching a new line of Gochujang (Korean chili paste) recipes, including a Gochujang Tofu Bowl and Gochujang Tofu Bao.

MENU DEVELOPMENT

Sgabellone says there’s a place for vegetarian or plant-forward items on every menu. With regard to menu design, he recommends operators use dietary icons, “which can be a great money-maker if used correctly, drawing customers to the items you’d like them to purchase,” he says.

“We started with chicken and fish and, knowing that many consumers are leaning into a flexitarian or vegan diet, developed some delicious tofu marinades as well,” says Howarth. “Our menu isn’t a compromise; it’s a celebration of the possibilities of vegan ingredients. We made sure that our plant-based options are just as interesting and exciting as the non-plant-based options. That was the driving philosophy for menu development.”

Horwath continues, “One of the main priorities for the culinary department is when they’re thinking about introducing a new product, for every three non-plant-based products (roughly), there needs to be one plant-based product to ensure that we always have variety.”

“It’s all about flavour, texture and pricing,” says Paterson. “Four years ago, it was tough to get the flavour and texture right unless operators were working with meat analogues. Now, there’s so many things operators can do with shiitake mushrooms and lentils, such as creating a Bolognese sauce for example.”

Paterson continues, “I often ask people, ‘Does raw chicken have flavour?’ and they say no. It’s a carrier of flavour, much like tofu,

the part of the consumer.”

“The other important thing to consider is that while less than 10 per cent of the population will declare that they’re looking for something vegetarian, they’re not necessarily eating out on their own,” says Sgabellone. “If someone is eating out with others who are looking for

lentils and legumes. So if we can find a way to capture the flavour and texture customers are looking for, then it doesn’t matter if it’s not chicken, pork or beef.”

Generally speaking, food costs tend to be lower for restaurants that incorporate plantforward dishes.

“Particularly, if you look at dishes that can be served with or without meat, such as a salad or stir fry, the option without meat usually comes at a price discount,” says Sgabellone. “If the menu price is lower for the consumer, then that means the food costs for the operators are lower. This gives operators an opportunity to sell at a reduced price but at a higher profit margin. If they do it right, it’s a win-win for everybody.”

“Working with mushrooms, legumes, tofu and tempeh is far less expensive than working with meat,” says Paterson. “Where it starts to get expensive is working with heavilyprocessed meat analogues.”

Sgabellone agrees. “Alternative-meat companies faced some pushback because they weren’t less expensive than their meat substitute,” he says. “Therefore, restaurateurs had to charge the same, if not a premium, for these vegetarian items, which created pushback on

away from the idea that what’s being created is less than its original. However, brands are actively re-writing that narrative through their marketing efforts.

“The most important story we want to tell you is about flavours and inspiration,” says Howarth. “We want to share culinary traditions and preparation methods from around the world. Storytelling is also important, so we try to make the names of our dishes as evocative as possible. We lead with a passion for food in our marketing. It’s not about providing a remedy, we simply want to enhance people’s lives with food that they’re going to want to come back and eat time and time again.”

At Copper Branch, Paterson says, “Our slogan is Think, Eat, Change. We want consumers to connect food with change, whether that’s changing their health or changing the environment.”

By embracing vegetarian, flexitarian and pescatarian dishes, the foodservice industry is not only meeting the evolving preferences of consumers but also contributing to a healthier, more sustainable future for all. FH

Breakfast sandwich and buffalo wings, Copper Branch

A&W's Spicy PiriPiri Buddy Burgers

UPHILL BATTLE

OPERATORS NEED TO BAND TOGETHER TO MAKE SUSTAINABLE CHOICES MORE AFFORDABLE

BY MORAG MCKENZIE

As Canadians witness the effects of climate change in every aspect of their lives, sustainability and decreasing the environmental footprint of their foodservice businesses have become an increasing focus for operators across Canada.

From the Supply Side

Based in Miami, SOFi Paper Products, founded by brothers Brandon and Jordan Leeds, makes durable, compostable paper straws and cups that help businesses offer an environmentally sustainable food-and-beverage experience. In 2022, the company released the first 100-percent biodegradable cup that eliminates the need for a plastic lid. The SOFi Cold Cup is a foldable, plastic-free, and bioplastic-free cup that will biodegrade naturally within 180 days in landfills, soil, or marine environments.

Over the past four years, SOFi has been at the forefront of designing new single-use cups and straws that are plastic-free and 100 per cent biodegradable and has also developed a guidebook on single-use plastic restrictions to help Canadian businesses navigate the patchwork of rules across different jurisdictions.

The products have been in high demand since the federal government announced its intention to ban single-use plastic servicewear and the company now supplies plastic-free single-use items to Pizza Nova, JJ Bean, White Spot, Triple O’s and more.

While restaurateurs continue to make a positive impact by utilizing local and seasonal ingredients, introducing more plant-based menu items, reducing food and production waste, managing energy efficiency and in their restaurant design, one area that has undergone increased focus is packaging.

Walking the Talk

Many studies show that Canadians are strongly influenced by sustainability when making a food or beverage purchase at a restaurant. However, actual actions taken by some customers do not always support this. “A lot of people are motivated by sustainability, but also by convenience and cost. It’s a balance, and will take time to work into people’s habits,” explains Kelly Higginson, CEO of Restaurants Canada.

However, one impact that most customers notice immediately is packaging. Stevie Driscoll, brand designer for The Fifteen Group in Toronto says, “Whether ordering takeout or [packing up] your meal leftovers, the type of packaging an operation uses demonstrates their commitment to sustainability. It’s often the last impression an operation leaves on a customer.”

Canadian Government Impact

In November 2023, the Federal Government proposed a ban on many plastic single-use items, including straws, cutlery, foodservice ware and stir sticks. Led by plastics manufacturers,

it was overturned by a Canadian court as unreasonable and unconstitutional.

“Industry is not looking at sustainability because of government legislation, but because it’s the right thing to do and makes business sense,” says Higginson, adding Restaurants Canada has hired a VP of Sustainability to ensure the foodservice industry has a seat at the table and is intimately involved in all future legislation. “One of the most critical challenges operators face is the patchwork of legislation at all levels of government, which results in some of the most innovative packaging solutions not supported by area bylaws and local wastedisposal facilities.”

Maria Cancellieri, GM of Bloom Sushi, a plant-based restaurant in Montreal says the business initially purchased compostable packaging for the restaurant. “Then Montreal introduced a bylaw, which made our packaging non-compostable, so we needed to switch our packaging again to ensure it was at least recyclable.”

What is the real cost?

Reducing the use of plastics and moving to sustainable packaging is a major priority for many foodservice operators. However, it comes at a cost. “The price differential can be up to $0.40 per package depending on order size. By the time operators get to packaging decisions, they’re usually already significantly over budget. Restaurants that have a focus on sustainability will accept that cost, but not all can,” explains Driscoll.

Demand and Supply

Today, there’s is a great deal of innovation around sustainable packaging, including plant-based, PLA (polylactic acid), bamboo and many other compostable products, yet one of the hurdles that remains is regulations around its disposal. Jennifer Appleby, CEO of Vines Georgette Packaging, a sustainablepackaging broker based in KitchenerWaterloo, Ont. says, “There is so much innovation in this space, however, how these products are used at the end of life — and the varying regulations around this — means that what is compostable at one facility might not be at another. Our priority when developing a packaging strategy is to ensure the packaging complies with our customers’ area by-laws. In partnership with our clients, we communicate in our packaging how to compost or recycle our packaging.”

She adds scalability is another issue. PLA is a

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great product as it can be home and commercially composted, however, the world supply is so low that if a large business embraced it, it would use the entire existing supply.

Re-usable Packaging

Friendlier, a re-usable cup and container company located in Guelph, Ont., launched in 2020. With more than 200 locations, 1.5 million containers have been successfully re-used. Customers order their food in a Friendlier container and pay $0.50 to $1 for its use. After consumption, they scan the QR code on the bottom of the container, their deposit is returned to their account, and the container is returned to any participating location. Friendlier then picks containers up, washes and sanitizes them and re-fills them as required.

“We have experienced tremendous growth in the last few years, expanding from Southern Ontario to Ottawa, Montreal and now Vancouver. The greatest interest is in universities and colleges,” says Jacquie Hutchings, the company’s co-founder. “We do everything we can to drive down our carbon footprint, including launching our first electric delivery vehicle.”

River Café in Calgary was built around sustainability. “Built in 1991, we’re designed to look and feel as on old fishing lodge,” says Sal Howell, owner and operator. “Our picnic packages are either re-usable or compostable.”

Sustainability for All

Four All is an all-natural, locally sourced ice-cream shop in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. Ajoa Mintah, founder and head icecream maker, launched Four All in 2017 with a vision of making delicious, hand-crafted ice cream delivered in as sustainable a manner as possible.

“The first thing I did when searching for packaging was go to my area waste-disposal facility to find out what type of packaging it recycled or composted so my packaging would meet its criteria.”

Glass jars are used as containers for ice cream purchased for at home with a refundable $1 deposit.

Waste management is also a focus at Four All. “In the Scoop Shoppe we only have two bins — one for recycling (packaging) and one for compost (napkins, wooden spoons, ice cream et cetera). Production is simple — we re-use and re-purpose as

much as possible. When we make strawberry ice-cream cake, we have to macerate the strawberries, which creates a waste product of strawberry syrup. We sell that as Strawberry Lime Soda in our Scoop Shop,” adds Mintah. “We also have thousands of metal tasting spoons, which we sanitize and re-use.”

She concludes, “I knew it would cost more to deliver my products, but that is the way I started it.

My customers know they are going to pay more for my ice cream because of my use of local and sustainable products. However, they’re willing to do so for those very same reasons.”

What’s Next?

Canadians and operators alike across Canada agree that moving to more sustainable operations and packaging is the path forward. “Achieving a more sustainable business is an uphill battle, and there has to be some sacrifices in terms of cost and convenience along the way. However, it’s worth it. If every restaurant demands sustainable packaging, it’ll become more affordable for all. If we all work together, our end goal will be achievable,” concludes Driscoll. FH

Foodservice Delivery Is Getting on Board

Foodservice delivery services such as Uber Eats are moving to more sustainable packaging options, piloting a re-usable container program in Toronto and Vancouver. Uber Eats customers are now able to choose re-usable packaging with participating merchants.

“We’re uniquely positioned to make a difference,” says Lola Kassim, general manager of Uber Eats Canada. “We know that delivering a carbon-neutral platform is a challenge bigger than Uber. We’re firm believers that climate is a team sport, and that’s why we need policies in place that make EVs, e-mobility and sustainable packaging affordable and accessible for everyone.”

Taking the Work Out of Exchange Programs

Every year, more than one billion single-use cups end up in landfills. A&W sought a solution for this, becoming the first QSR in Canada to launch a nationwide exchangeablecup program in October 2023. The ‘A&W One Cup’ is an innovative exchangeable feature that promotes circular usage, resulting in a significant decrease in single-cup waste. Customers purchase an exchangeable One Cup for $3, then fill it with their favourite hot or cold beverage. The next time they visit A&W it will be exchanged for a freshly cleaned and sanitized One Cup, and customers receive a $0.20 discount on their beverage purchase.

“When crafting this program, we prioritized making it effortless, convenient, and accessible for our guests. We do the dishwashing for our guests so that they can enjoy the benefits of using reusable cups without the hassle,” says Angela Griffiths, VP of Food Safety, Animal Welfare and Environment at A&W.

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Leading for the Future

Bloom becomes the first restaurant in Canada to display GHG emissions icons on its menu

BY NICOLE DI TOMASSO

loom Restaurant,an interactive live classroom located within Conestoga College’s School of Hospitality & Culinary Arts in Waterloo, Ont., has transformed into a climate action Living Lab to provide solutions to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions as they relate to food, food waste and packaging.

Starting in 2022, a team of faculty, researchers and students collaborated to develop a model to input current and future recipes to determine ingredient GHGs. As a result, Bloom became the first restaurant in Canada to display GHG emissions icons on

its menu. As this year’s recipient of Kostuch Media’s Green Leadership Award, Bloom is a leading example for restaurateurs seeking ways to re-build their business to ensure a sustainable future.

“We were fortunate to be one of the first 10 colleges in Canada to receive a grant through Colleges and Institutes Canada,” says Nicole Detlor, director, Conestoga Food Research and Innovation Lab. “The funding allowed us to hire student researchers who helped with the initial project research and menu labelling. We started by looking at literature to find credible data and then built a tool for culinary staff. We’ve since purchased Klimato software, which aligned with our vision from the beginning, but it didn’t exist when we started out. Everything

seemed to happen at the same time.”

Initially, the model was developed using open-source, peer reviewed life-cycle analysis data of food items. Chefs enter their menu into the model and the GHG emissions are calculated. On Bloom’s menu, the results are communicated by icons indicating a low, medium or high quantity of GHGs in each dish.

In December 2023, Conestoga College became the first academic institution, and among a short list of restaurants, in North America to purchase a license for Swedenbased Klimato, a software company helping food businesses calculate their GHG impact. To advance Bloom’s efforts, the Klimato

PHOTOGRAOHY BY JASON GORDON; ANTHONY REGO [BLOOM INTERIOR]

(L to R) Hope Akoya Amukoa; Dan McCowan, executive chef, Bloom Restaurant; Pablo Vadik Ramirez Castineyra

(L to R): Darryl Haus, maître d', Bloom Restaurant; Brad Lomanto, Chair, School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts; Keith Müller, Dean, School of Hospitality & Culinary Arts, and Institute of Food Processing Technology; ; Nicole Detlor, director, Conestoga Food Research and Innovation Lab and Dan McCowan, executive chef, Bloom Restaurant.

system was implemented in January 2024.

“Finding the initial data was challenging. It was a daunting task,” says Detlor. “However, Klimato software is a great example of making this data accessible and meaningful. They have a great science team backing them and have added even more North American ingredients to serve our region.”

Bloom operates in seven-week cycles and offers two or three-course options. “Half of the menu will be updated every term, so it evolves seasonally and with the intention of giving students the opportunity to learn new skills when they come back for their second year,” says executive chef Dan McCowan.

Generally, menu items containing meat products have high quantities of GHG emissions while plant-based foods have low quantities. Examples from Bloom’s spring 2024 menu include Coq au Vin (high), a red-wine soaked Cornish hen with parsnip purée, fingerlings, roasted pearl onion, bacon lardons, honey mushrooms, arugula and parmesan salad and red-wine jus; Bacon & Brussels (medium), featuring crispy smoked pork belly, cider glazed Brussels sprouts, goat cheddar, toasted pine nuts and gala apple; and Vegan Moussaka (low), a panko-breaded and fried eggplant with tempeh “Bolognese”, cashew cream, pickled turnip and herb salad.

“I joined about half-way through the initial project, but it has become addictive,” says McCowan. “When I’m creating the menu, I want to see the lows become lower and I want

to ensure we’re using things that are in the curriculum. We re-purpose some items that come from the butchery to use as much as we can in-house.”

However, McCowan notes, “The low, medium and high GHG icons on the menu aren’t meant to guilt people for ordering things that are high. The goal is to start a conversation and allow people to understand where we’re headed.”

With regard to food waste at Bloom, a waste audit was conducted in fall 2022 by faculty and students in the college’s Sustainability Business Management program. The team found that organics made up 76 per cent of the total waste and recycling accounted for three per cent of the waste measured, with only 15 per cent contaminated. Students provided 25 recommendations for consideration and several projects have been initiated and/ or completed to date, such as reducing the contamination level in the organics stream, reducing the quantity of plastic wrap and using a juicer to convert fruits used for zest into juice for other applications.

The following year, additional plate-waste audits were conducted as part of the Global Hospitality Management program. The audit found that plate waste often include side-dish carbohydrates, such as bread, potatoes and ingredients for coffee service. Adjustments included offering less bread, condiments and dairy, as well as reducing portion sizes.

Another priority area for the project was eliminating single-use containers. In September 2022, Bloom partnered with Guelph, Ont.-based A Friendlier Company Inc. to provide the restaurant’s take-out counter with re-usable containers. To date, nearly 4,000 containers have been re-used, diverting 507 lbs. of plastic waste, saving 32,150 litres of water and preventing GHG emissions equivalent to driving a car from the college campus to Calgary from being released into the environment.

Undoubtedly, the complexity of this project

PHOTOGRAOHY BY JASON GORDON

has presented a number of challenges, but the team’s passion and sense of responsibility are key drivers of its success.

“With regard to packaging, one of the ongoing challenges is finding solutions that have minimum order quantities we can work with,” says Detlor. “We’ve looked at more sustainable options for packaging, but the minimum-order quantities are about five years worth of supply. It’s not feasible and we don’t have enough storage space.”

“Some packaging is labelled compostable but when you look into it further, it’s not. Coffee cups, for example, have a lining or coating on the inside that can’t be recycled,” says says Keith Müller, Dean, School of Hospitality & Culinary Arts, and Institute of Food Processing Technology; Conestoga College. “We’re always searching for alternatives that are more viable, compostable, et cetera. Bloom runs a graband-go too, so finding [alternatives] that can package baked goods and still have a protective barrier is a challenge. I don’t think it’ll ever be perfect but we’re always aiming for perfect.”

“One of the challenges from my perspective is finding [products] I’m excited

about and then realizing they don’t ship to Canada yet,” says McCowan. “There’s a million different ways we can improve, such as sourcing a sustainable takeout ramekin bowl for a side sauce, but it has been a great experience so far.”

Among its other sustainability efforts, a geo-thermal heating system is currently being installed at the Bloom campus, which is anticipated to go online in 2025. Additionally, Bloom has linen-free table settings and only requires laundering for re-usable cloth napkins. Motion sensors for lights as well as light dimmers have been installed to reduce energy consumption where possible. To conserve water, all taps in restrooms are either sensor activated or timed.

Moving forward, McCowan says he looks forward to refining Bloom’s menu. “The difference between legumes and rice is quite dramatic in terms of the GHGs that are produced. As the menu evolves, there will be a lot of ways to create dishes that can lower GHGs without focusing solely on meat proteins. That’s where the next phase comes in from my perspective.”

“We weren’t that confident in our model at the beginning. We knew it had to be adjusted, but partnering with Klimato software has helped justify what we did and now we say with confidence that this is a model that restaurants can move forward with,” says Müller. “This is a project that has brought us a long way from where we were, but we’re not stopping here.” FH

“THE LOW, MEDIUM AND HIGH GHG ICONS ON THE MENU AREN’T MEANT TO GUILT PEOPLE FOR ORDERING THINGS THAT ARE HIGH. THE GOAL IS TO START A CONVERSATION AND ALLOW PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHERE WE’RE HEADED”

IIn this episode of Table Talk, Rosanna Caira, editor and publisher of  Foodservice and Hospitality  speaks with chef Jonathan Gushue and former hotelier, Jennifer Belanger, partners of Gushue Belanger Hospitality Services. The partners, whose combined

business experience totals 50 years, in both restaurants and hotels, discuss the challenges and opportunities of launching a new partnership in 2022 post pandemic, while also working to launch two new restaurant concepts — The Gate, and The Vale, in 2024.

Better Together

Rosanna Caira: How did you come together to form this new partnership?

Jennifer Belanger: I started working at the Bruce Hotel in the middle of the pandemic in early 2021. And climbing out of

COVID, it was a struggle looking for staff. So, as I was building the team and trying to flesh out the culinary team, I reached out to Jonathan for consulting purposes. We instantly had a likemindedness towards hospitality and worked really well together. So, our time there was brief,

Jonathan Belanger open

Better Together

but we [went] to a dinner in Collingwood, stumbled upon a property and decided we should do this [restaurant] together. The skills that he lends and that I lack complemented each other.

Jonathan Gushue: We got to know each other and our skillsets

coming out of COVID. There was a lot we had to do at The Bruce, logistically and Jen was wearing a lot of hats, so that was an opportunity for us to see the abilities of the other.

RC: Your original plans included opening The

Vale? What happened to those plans?

JB: It’s in Beaver Valley (Ontario) in a rural area with a lot of natural elements. As you can imagine, converting a mill from 1877 to a restaurant, you jump through a lot of zoning permit

municipality hoops. The highlight has been that the municipality and the community is very receptive. But there are building acts and zoning plans you need to navigate, which can take time — a lot more time than we expected. But we moved up here full time in early summer of 2023 and quickly saw

Jonathan Gushue and Jennifer open The Gate and The Vale

INTERVIEW BY ROSANNA CAIRA

that it was going to take a lot longer than we hoped for.

RC: Tell us a little about your restaurant, The Gate. What spurred this restaurant, what’s behind the name of the restaurant and how would you describe what you’re trying to create?

JB: We had people who had moved to the area to join our team and be a part of our vision, but no project. So, the first weekend we discovered Grey Highlands (in Ontario), we ran into a gentleman who owns this beautiful building in Flesherton. It’s 150-year-old building sandwiched between other buildings on a corner, up the street from factories and farms. We were enamored with the charm of the building. Jonathan was coming back from Toronto, and I realized The Vale wasn’t going to open so I sent him a text and I said, ‘no need to respond, but think on your drive about opening a restaurant while we wait to open a restaurant.’ And when he came back, he said we’re crazy. We sort of jumped into this quickly together, but agreed to it and took the property over on a lease in September and spent about three months renovating. So, the project really came from a pivot from what The Vale was supposed to be, but just isn’t yet.

JG: Jen and I both are used to larger volumes, both coming out of dining rooms of anywhere between 80 and 110 seats. This restaurant here, and all our projects, are restaurants that are 22 seats, 40 seats, and 38 seats — they’re a little more manageable — and what we like about that is it gives us the chance to be far more personal with the guests and play a larger part within the restaurant.

RC: How would you describe the menu of the restaurant and what you’re trying to create from a food perspective?

JG: What we wanted was a true farm-to-table restaurant, a very community-minded restaurant that uses the farms and producers around us. We’re starting there and trying to feed the needs of the community, which for the most part, seems to be a lot of people looking for more plantbased and fish options. They say the only rule about opening a restaurant is don’t be like your neighbour, and that’s what we’re trying to do; we’re trying to add to the community, not compete with anyone. The philosophy was to fill an unmet need.

We’re trying to keep a very simple approach to the food, and not really do too much to it — just try to let these products speak for themselves. And then that allows us to just go with the seasons, which allows us a lot of room for change.

After being open a month, we already changed the menu once. We don’t mind pivoting; we’ve got about 24 items on the menu right now and it’s set up in a way that if something’s not working, we can pull that out. But the menu itself doesn’t really follow any specific theme other than farm to table.

RC: How many chefs in your brigade?

JG: We brought in Phillipe de Montbrun as the executive chef of The Gate and he’s going to be the executive chef of all of our properties. We also have a great sous chef coming from Montreal, as well as two more cooks we brought on that came from Langdon Hall. Including me, it’s just five of us, but we’re a very passionate group that has worked incredibly hard. They’ve made the decision to make this their

career and it really shows in the food and what we’ve been doing. They’re doing a phenomenal job — we’re small but mighty.

RC: How many seats does The Gate have? Is it open for lunch and dinner and do you offer takeout?

JG: On Fridays, we’re open for lunch and Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we’re open non-stop 12 to 9 p.m. During the week, Monday and Thursday, we’re open in the evenings. There’s a big ski community up here but it’s only been a month, so we’re finding the footing with their habits. But with the non-stop service, guests can be on the hills all day and then come at 2:30 or other off hours to have lunch.

RC: Did you come into owning a restaurant with a different mindset given

the precarious state of the industry post pandemic?

JB: There comes a point where you have the jitters from that going into a business. But there’s a point where you just have to take a deep breath, really focus on your own four walls and get back to the essence of what hospitality and good food is. We did have those jitters, but the day we opened, there was a sense of calm with our team, because we prepared and we prepared and we prepared. That’s not to say we aren’t vulnerable to the pandemic aftershocks, if that’s the word for it.

When Jonathan I met, we wanted to serve good food and treat people well; hire good people, pay them well, and treat them well. I don’t want to say the rest takes care of itself, but that’s where loyalty lies. There’s a fatigue and an investment when you have

a revolving door of people but we’ve been really lucky. What we found, by the time we got to this point, was there’s nothing we can do about [the state of the industry], but what we can do is look at it as an opportunity for a re-set in the industry or even in the way we run our lives or our businesses or the way we behave in in in the industry. And the great thing is, the people that are still in the industry now that went through COVID and stayed through it. There’s some really strong, amazing people out there and those are the people we want to emulate. It’s that group of people that are going to bring new, solid and committed people to our industry.

RC: Have you experienced staffing challenges? How are you dealing with labour shortages and finding enough personnel to work for you?

JB: We’ve been very fortunate. One of our managers is [local] from Markdale and we were able to hire two servers from

the area. What’s interesting is that we didn’t get a lot of people applying, but the people who did were excellent and we were fortunate to have a team behind us. There’s a great deal of interest [in working here] now that we’re open. We’re seeing a lot of interest from the area, knock on wood. Mostly in the front of house, but we’ve also had interest in the back of house. We’re going to slowly build.

RC: There are industry experts who believe the current restaurant model was flawed and that for the industry to move ahead it needs to be changed. Do you agree

that structural changes will have to be made in the business model?

JB: What am I doing differently comes down to culture. And that’s a big word. We don’t measure the bottom line with human resources. Of course, there’s labour, but I’m creating an environment where people feel that they’re adding value.

I remind myself to send a weekly email to say this is where we’re at, this is where we’re going. And sometimes it’s just celebrating the wins. Sometimes it’s acknowledging that yesterday was awful, and we weren’t kind to each other. But let’s turn that page and take a deep breath and move

forward. So, I don’t know if I’m doing anything differently, but it has to be a healthy environment. And to say managers aren’t what they used to be, well, are we spending time training managers? We can sometimes just put them in that position because it’s a Band-Aid and they just need to be there. But are we showing them the tools?

JG: It’s about checking in, ensuring the needs of your team are met and knowing how can you assist — and that might be physically or that could just be that they need more spoons. You have to keep those lines of communication open so a cook, or the dishwasher, feels they

THERE’S SOME REALLY STRONG, AMAZING PEOPLE OUT THERE AND THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WE WANT TO EMULATE

can come up and say, ‘hey, you know, this is not adequate,’ or ‘I feel uncomfortable with this reasoning here to do said project.’ And we need to make sure everyone feels like they’re a part of this project or this restaurant.

When I was a young cook, we could complain or be upset all we want but we were kind of ignored. That’s just not a way to operate or live or build a team. And that’s what we want— we want to build a big strong group of people to open these restaurants.

RC: The restaurant industry often gets accused of being a toxic environment. How do you, as an operator, ensure your restaurant culture isn’t toxic and that employees have work-life balance?

JG: I grew up in restaurants where I was completely obliterated and yelled at. We can’t do that. But I do think, and I would be very delicate in saying this, that we fall into a bit too much of a swing towards people can be delicate flowers. We do have a job to do and I remind the team that accountability should not be confused with disrespect. Accountability is saying, you’re going to do something and you do it, and we hold each other to that.

JB: At the inception of our company, we talked about our values being kindness, thoughtfulness, generosity, and sense of humour. So, we have this sort of intangible charter with each other, and if we’re off track with those values, what are we going to do to address it with each other? And what are we going to do to bring it on track. So everyday coming in, sort of putting down what’s going on in your brain, outside of work, and, and trying to embody those values. It sounds a bit cheesy. And it’s not always easy to do when in

WE’RE TRYING TO ADD TO THE COMMUNITY, NOT COMPETE WITH ANYONE. THE PHILOSOPHY WAS TO FILL AN UNMET NEED

service emotions can run high.

RC: Any advice that you could offer for people who are considering running a restaurant as a partnership?

JB: One of the biggest things we try and stick to is that, although we’ve worked very closely together and we’re friends as well, when it comes to business, it’s got to be business; it’s not personal. We made a commitment that we’re going to listen to the other partner’s ideas and not discount them; listen to what they have to say if there’s an issue, not take it

November. And it’s hard when you get excited and just want to make things happen.

RC: What’s been the biggest lesson for you over the last year as you put these two new restaurants on the map?

JG: Asking questions and not necessarily just blindly accepting the answer. It’s learning a lot about zoning requirements and the difference between a municipality requirement and an act or law — they’re very different things and the municipality telling you to do something doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do it. It’s maneuvering through that world that’s been very different for me that now that Jen and I do absolutely everything, and don’t have people to take care of that stuff anymore.

personally and realize that this person is bringing this to you for the betterment of the business.

RC: What keeps you up at night?

JG: One of the biggest things is being able to afford the things you need to run what is a modern restaurant. There are so many amazing products out there that we were looking at — but they cost money and they’re not cheap.

JB: What keeps me up is managing those timelines to get to where we want to be. If we think it’s July, it’s going to be

JB: The fastest way is slowly. It’s knowing that you have all the information so you aren’t making decisions under duress. And looking ahead because when you’re bogged down by doing marketing, administrative accounting, and just trying to run your own life and the business of you, it can feel like you’re just spinning, like an alarm clock is in your head. I learned that you need to start slowly. We want all these amazing things for The Gate and The Vale, but we can grow into that in the third quarter. We can add electronic gift cards next Christmas; we can-do old-school ones this year.

COMBATTING CRISIS

Canadian operators are embracing carbon-neutral kitchens

BY JENNY FEBBRARO

Eco-consciousness has become a priority for restaurant operators and suppliers. Like every industry, the restaurant sector has had to react to a rapidly advancing climate crisis. This past summer alone, as Canadians watched wildfires rage across the country, it became a salient reality. In a joint effort, diverse factions of the industry from equipment suppliers to kitchen designers are strategizing to minimize energy costs and reduce overall waste.

“When people think of reducing their carbon footprint, they think of electric vehicles, solar energy, or even eating a veggie burger instead of meat,” says Michael Oshman, CEO of the Green Restaurant Association. “But people rarely include the restaurant industry in their calculations — and it has a massive

impact on the climate crisis.” Oshman provides statistics to back up his claim, stating that restaurants consume nearly one third of all electricity. “Think of the environmental costs of air conditioning, transportation of non-local ingredients, and chemicals used for laundering, to name but a few.”

The Green Restaurant Association allows for restaurants to become certified green restaurants based on detailed steps and targeted solutions that are customized for each unique business. “We will work with vendors and trace back the sources of their ingredients, find out where their waste goes, and what chemicals are used throughout their building in order to create a sustainable plan for them,” he says.

Oshman told the story of working with one of the biggest airports in the

world: “They thought they were recycling, but through our research, we found out they weren’t, so we created a plan to distribute it to a place where it could be properly recycled.” By offloading the investigative work to a third party, restaurants reap the benefits of sustainability while also accessing environmental expertise that caters to them. “Our clients range from Harvard University to Fortune 500 companies to credit card companies,” he says.

On average, Oshman says that it costs a restaurant approximately $55 a month to earn the certification and to work towards even more sustainable practices to reduce its overall carbon footprint. “In the end, it actually saves the restaurant money — from energy savings to shipping fees.”

And it’s not just the operators who benefit. Oshman says that a recent survey conducted by the association found that 79 per cent of customers care about sustainability. He says all guests, but especially the younger generation, are more aware than ever of the climate crisis and the need for restaurants to participate in change.

“Restaurant guests are a captive audience and are beginning to check for green certifications,” he notes. “You can now get an MBA in environmental sustainability. It’s the first time in history for something like that. There are more documentaries on Netflix about eating responsibly. So yes, people are more knowledgeable on the topic and care more than ever.”

For Oshman, reducing a restaurant’s carbon footprint might even mean changing the menu. If you are serving fish, for example, Oshman says that the type of fish may change. “Why serve something that comes in a truck from far away — or is on the brink of extinction?” he says. “Not all miles are created either. If it arrived on a truck — that’s more pollution, but ingredients that arrive by ship — that’s less pollution emitted.”

The Winnipeg-based Assiniboine Park Conservancy operates three Certified Green Restaurants, including Park Cafe, Gather Craft Kitchen & Bar and Tundra Grill. Laura Cabak, director,

Communications and Public Relations, says working toward the goal of sustainability just makes sense. “The conservancy is operated on behalf of the City of Winnipeg and is home to the Assiniboine Park Zoo, The Leaf, gardens and greenspaces — it’s mission is to connect people to nature,” says Cabak. “So, it makes sense to integrate green initiatives in our three restaurants.”

These include creating a green roof, which reduces summer energy use by 10 to 40 per cent, using LED lights, incorporating produce from the extensive kitchen gardens and eco-friendly cleaning products with minimal packaging, as well as introducing motion sensors on lights, low-flow taps and toilets to reduce water usage, and forgoing tablecloths. The restaurants have also developed an extensive recycling and composting program.

“We strive to operate our restaurants in a way that minimizes our environmental impacts and creates a more sustainable future for both our customers and the planet,” explains Bob Braun, director of Food and Beverage, Assiniboine Park Conservancy. “These are across-theboard changes to nearly every element of our operation — including our sustainable and delicious dining options.” This includes keeping the menus rotating through seasonal vegetables and preserving locally grown vegetables for year-round use.

QSR operators are also on board with reducing their carbon footprint. Wendy’s has been eco-conscious for years. “Before we put a name to our environmental strategy in 2020, we had been tracking our energy use and identifying conservation opportunities since 2009,” says Anna Blitz, vice-president of Corporate Social Responsibility, The Wendy’s Company. To do this Wendy’s has earned renewable energy certificates and purchased lower-carbon products as well as moved to on-site energy generation.

Its Global Next Gen restaurants, for example, showcases its most energy-efficient design yet. “They are more energy efficient with elements like lighting, special energy-saving windowpanes and HVAC to decrease energy usage and costs by about six per cent per

Gather Craft Kitchen & Bar, located in The Leaf at Assiniboine Park, explores food from across cultures, incorporating fresh, locally sourced, and seasonal ingredients from our gardens.

year,” explains Blitz. “But all franchises are encouraged to engage in Wendy’s Energy Challenge, which has global franchisees undertake energy efficiency improvements and to track and report their energy consumption.” By 2023, that translated to nearly 1,800 franchise-operated restaurants and all company-operated restaurants reporting their 2022 energy data — with the goal of lowering it year after year.

Wendy’s has also dramatically improved its waste-reduction efforts. This includes the goal of sustainably sourcing 100 per cent of customer-facing packaging in the U.S. and Canada by 2026. For now, the clear plastic drink cups, made from polypropylene, can be recycled in select municipalities, while providing educational info for customers on how to properly dispose of and recycle their packaging via How2Recycle labelling.

CLEAN & GREEN

At MEIKO, the manufacturer of professional warewashing technology as well as cleaning and disinfection technology, sustainability has also been a priority. “One way we divert food waste away from landfills and the water drain system is to recycle food waste,” says Gary Lee, director of Sales at MEIKO. “To do this, we transfer the waste to an anerobic digestive plant which then transforms it into fertilizer.” The company also designs energy-efficient dishwashers that uses less water and chemicals than ever before. “Most operators are interested in reducing their carbon footprint and creating a greener environment for guests,” he says. “Germany is ahead of us by about 10 years, but Canada is slowly catching up in terms of its technology.”

“We’ve also reduced our cutlery use in bagging procedures to reduce the number of bags and amount of cutlery used,” says Blitz. “That’s resulted in only 30 per cent of our delivery orders containing cutlery — a huge decrease.” In Canada, Wendy’s also transitioned from plastic to paper straws diverts approximately 62 million plastic straws or approximately 100,000 pounds of plastic per year from landfills.

While the changes are incremental, Canadian operators have embraced the journey towards a carbon-neutral kitchen. Though even an optimist like Oshman says change can’t happen overnight. “Think about change. Change is slow. Change is not easy. But even small steps will get you there — you just have to start. It’s for the good of our industry and our planet.” FH

(Above) The Leaf has been recognized as "Garden of the Year" at the Canadian Garden Tourism Awards at the 2023 International Garden Tourism Conference!

The Park Café

KEEPING TABS

The hidden benefits of inventory-management software

BY ERIC ALISTER

You might have the best cheeseburger in town, but how are you doing on the less savoury side of the business? Good inventory management can help you save time, reduce food waste and prime costs, increase profit and improve overall productivity. That’s why, in this month’s technology section, we’re exploring asset-management software options and talking with experts in the field so you don’t have to.

WHY KEEP TRACK?

Did you know that each year, we waste one billion tons of food, globally? According to Abby Jenkins, Product Marketing manager at NetSuite, “up to 10 per cent of food purchased by restaurants is wasted before it even reaches the consumer. Restaurants buy too much food at a time, so it ends up spoiling before being served to customers. Food inventory management can minimize that loss.”

Common causes of food waste in the restaurant business include spoilage, over ordering, overproduction and staff errors. So how does inventory-management software play into all of this?

FOOD WASTE

Inventory-management software helps restaurants know more accurately how much stock to order and when to order it. You might be accomplishing this with spreadsheets and

manual counting, but there will come a time when this practice simply fails to scale. Restaurant inventory-management software tracks the lifecycle of your inventory in real time as food comes in from suppliers, makes its way into your storage and is ultimately used, lost or left over. Tracking the lifecycle of your inventory helps pinpoint where supplies are being lost or wasted so that you can address the root causes and save on costs.

INTEGRATION

A huge bonus of using an inventory-management software solution is its integration with your POS system. This holistic approach enables you to see detailed sales and labour data in the same place you view your inventory data, allowing you to save time and increase accuracy when determining how much food to order. Tracking your sellthrough rate regularly will allow you to be much more precise with your ordering quantity.

LOSS PREVENTION

It goes without saying that inventory management allows you to audit lost or stolen goods, but good inventory-management software saves you ample time and headaches associated with manually tracking items. It gives you the ability track with granularity where small items such as your cutlery, condiments, napkins and employee uniforms are going. If you’re not already doing this, it’s time to start tracking every item in your restaurant and cut your losses.

PRODUCTIVITY

With an integrated inventory-management solution, you can create and effectively implement digital checklists and optimized workflows, saving you a ton of time that is otherwise spent on managing tasks and monitoring Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Let your inventory management software assign tasks, track who is doing what, and help you generate employee schedules so you can focus on the restaurant experience.

MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS

By collecting meaningful data, centralizing it and integrating it across your operation, you have a broader view of your business needs and can therefore make much more informed decisions. And perhaps even more importantly, access to real-time data allows for real-time decisions, because in the restaurant business, owners and managers need to be able to react to changing daily demands with great agility.

Notch and Restaurant365, both, offer training in the forms of documentation, live online sessions and in-person sessions, but Restaurant365 has the added bonus of also offering webinars. Both companies offer telephone and online technical support.

Finally, if you have a penchant for supporting local companies, you may be interested to know that Notch is a Canadian company. FH

From the Supply Side

Two popular options for inventory-management software are Notch and Restaurant365. They both offer similar functionality and cover all the staple features you would want in an inventory-management solution. Both solutions offer APIs so that you can custom-tailor the software to your restaurant’s specific needs, and both offer a web-based portal. Notch, also offers a Mac app, as well as a mobile app that’s available for iOS, iPadOS and Android.

he brewing industry has seen a palpable shift in recent years. The craft-beer market is maturing, and the traditional stalwarts of beer production find themselves facing off against the rising tide of small breweries. There has been a lot of diversification into new experimental and trendy flavours and amidst this backdrop of change, the landscape of beer sales, marketing strategies and flavours has evolved.

However, one cannot write off traditional beers. Gary Lindsay, director of Marketing and Sales at Driftwood Brewery in Victoria, B.C. remarks, “It’s going to be a more secure place for traditional craft-beer styles. Everyone will keep trying to find their place and niche, but that has reached a saturation point. As far as new things, you’re seeing a bit of a decline overall, you’re seeing people looking to alternatives, whether it be marijuana, psychedelics, or just other options.”

This tug-of-war between the traditionally dominant breweries and the burgeoning craft-beer movement has been affected by the beer-tax system. Scott Simmons, president, Ontario Craft Brewers Association says, “Ontario’s beer-tax system is threatening the future of the sector. Right now, craft breweries are saddled with paying the highest craft-beer taxes in all of Canada. This is making breweries uncompetitive and we’re sadly seeing breweries close in some cases and being bought out by foreign-owned companies in others as a result. This needs to change to keep craft beer local.”

RISE OF INDEPENDENT BREWERIES

A noticeable facet of the beer landscape evolution is the rise of independent breweries. These breweries thrive on a hyper-local focus and aren’t restrained by the limitations faced by larger establishments, tapping into the consumer desire for unique experiences. However, this

independence comes at a cost, Lindsay says. “Because of being independent, you are more prone to the cost increase, as the smaller you are, the more razor-thin your margins are. We’ve learned firsthand that we can’t afford to raise prices.”

The pandemic was a limiting blow as it forced the purchase trend to veer back toward classic styles. “COVID limited the opportunities to do new things because consumers weren’t able to shop, and they weren’t able to come out and have an experience with the beer. People were limited to grabbing what they knew and not taking a lot of risk,” says Lindsay.

LOW AND NO-ALCOHOL BEERS

Growing consumer preferences towards health and wellness have brought a demand for low-alcohol and no-alcohol beers. While this segment has come a long way, the road hasn’t been without pitfalls. Despite advancements in taste and quality, breweries continue to face challenges such as higher manufacturing costs and intense market-place competition. “The consumer always tells us that that’s what they want, but when [it’s more expensive] that doesn’t translate to sales,” says Lindsay.

BREWING INNOVATION

The quest to stand out drives breweries to innovate with unique flavours and ingredients.

“At Driftwood, we have a small pilot system. For us, it’s to try to do things with a new twist… developing different flavour profiles in beer comes down to a real simple ingredient that’s lost on most people [which] is yeast strains or lactobacillus and how much they can impact the flavour profile of a beer and then doing a hybrid style using something different,” says Lindsay.

He adds a word of caution regarding the longevity of initial excitement for a new beer style or flavour and emphasizes that though the enthusiasm may be high initially, it might not translate into sustained sales over time. He quips, “You can’t expect every beer to be the next big thing.” FH

Chef Chanthy Yen began his culinary journey at a very young age in his grandmother’s Windsor, Ont. kitchen and garden, where she spent most of her days cooking and gathering.

A graduate of St. Claire College, Northwest Culinary Academy and Basque Culinary Centre, Yen says his love for food has always been spiritually intuitive and that “cooking in a restaurant seemed like a natural transition for me. I started my apprenticeship journey at quite a young age, and from there, I began to take on more opportunities.”

His journey involved travelling the world to learn from acclaimed chefs, including chef Andoni Luis Aduriz at Mugaritz and chef Ferran Adrià at Bullipedia in Spain. Yen finally settled in Montreal, where he opened his first restaurant, Fieldstone (now closed), earning the Chef of the Year honours from Eater Montreal.

Yen also served as executive chef at the British-style pub Parliament in Ottawa but during the pandemic, the restaurant temporarily closed, prompting Yen to pivot and launch a successful Cambodian streetfood pop-up. Once pandemic restrictions eased, Yen

GLOBAL INFLUENCE

Chef Chanthy Yen brings a world of experience to Bacaro

BY ROSELINE VICTORIA VIJAYAKUMAR

re-located to Vancouver where he opened Nightshade, a vegan eatery that earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Adding to his accolades, in 2021 Yen was asked to be the personal chef to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a role which included overseeing family meals, state dinners and representing Canada at the Club des Chefs Summit in Madrid.

Yen articulates his culinary approach with an emphasis on understanding the concept, philosophy and passion within and around each restaurant he joins. “This allows me to adjust my style accordingly. Having a relatively diverse portfolio, I’m able to work with people’s needs and help restaurants succeed.”

Currently, Yen infuses his global expertise into the Venetianinspired, Michelin Recommended Bacaro, where he brings an affinity for Italian cuisine. “My first apprenticeship was at an Italian restaurant, where I was exposed to so many different ingredients and food styles. Taking on a Venetian concept seemed like a full-circle experience that I was really excited about. In preparation for the role, I travelled through the Veneto region of Italy, sampling regional fare whose ingredients and flavour combinations will heavily influence Bacaro’s re-vamped offerings.”

BITS & BITES

What do you cook at home?

At home, my partner and I like to cook fresh pasta, bake pies and make dumplings with friends.

Favourite kitchen tool

The mortar and pestle.

If you weren’t a chef, what would you be?

A nurse, RMT or event planner

Favourite culinary destination

A toss-up between Italy and Spain

He says Bacaro’s menu will emphasize Venetian dining culture, including a focus on seafood, as well as Cicchetti (small bites) and an in-house mozzarella program. The dinner menu includes the Humboldt squid- white polenta, squid ink and marinated trout roe ($38) and Snow crab tagliolini (snow crab legs, sea asparagus, burrata, saffron olio, $42). Wine will also feature prominently, with regional varietals thoughtfully selected to complement the food.

Reflecting on a pivotal moment in his career, Yen recalls, “The first thing that came to mind would be celebrating with my team after winning The Bib Gourmand award by The Michelin Guide. As a cook, I loved collecting random issues of The Michelin Guides from all over the world. I also have a few first editions hidden away.”

Looking ahead, Yen says, “In the future, I would like to help make an impact on the Vancouver restaurant community by offering great food at a unique restaurant like Bacaro. I would like to see Bacaro on The Michelin Guide again and possibly win an award.” FH

HOSTED BY ROSANNA CAIRA

Check out the Table Talk podcast to listen to conversations between Foodservice and Hospitality’s editor and publisher Rosanna Caira and industry leaders speaking about the issues impacting the dynamic foodservice industry.

FEATURED PODCAST GUESTS

E73. SHAPING THE MINDS OF FUTURE LEADERS

FRANK MENEZES

PROFESSOR & PROGRAM COORDINATOR, HOTEL OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY & TOURISM MANAGEMENT

GEORGE BROWN COLLEGE

E72. A LABOUR OF LOVE

JONATHAN GUSHUE

CHEF & PARTNER

GUSHUE BELANGER

HOSPITALITY SERVICES

JENNIFER BELANGER PARTNER

GUSHUE BELANGER

HOSPITALITY SERVICES

E71. A PASSION FOR HUMANITY MEERU DHALWALA

CO-OWNER AND CHEF

VIJ'S RESTAURANT

E70. FROM SICILY WITH LOVE

JACQUELINE NICOSIA CEO

ROBERTO MAROTTA CHEF

CO-FOUNDERS AND CO-OWNERS

ARDO RESTAURANT | DOVA AND VIVI IMPORTS

TABLE TALK podcast episodes are available at https://www.foodserviceandhospitality.com/category/media/podcast/ or find them on and