EPCAS Summer General Assembly 2013 Italy - Management Summary by Office EPCAS

management summary | EPCAS Summer General Assembly | Italy | 29-31 July 2013

Table of Contents 3. introduction 4. list of attendees 6. Monday July 29th ann

Tom Ambaum, Dolly Bachm & Ruedi Bachmann

EPCAS in Cham

ber of Commer ce

6. Welcome lunch - Palace Hotel Moderno

6. Official EPCAS Meeting (Executives) - Palace Hotel Moderno

12. Official CHEFS Meeting - Palace Hotel Moderno

13. Evening programme - City of Pordenone

14. Tuesday July 30th

ann & Tina FĂŚrgem n Eduard Telitsy

14. Official EPCAS meeting - Electrolux Professional Headquarters

16. Best Practices (Executives) - Electrolux Professional Headquarters

19. Mystery Box Lunch Challenge (Chefs) - Electrolux Professional Headquarters

19. Company visit - Olio dei Dogi

19. Dinner by Backstage Catering - I Magredi

20. Wednesday July 31st

StĂŠphanie van Oorsc hot, Charles Smith & Paul Tudosescu

20. Best Practices - Palace Hotel Moderno

25. Lunch by Centro Turistico Alberghiero - Ciasa de Gahja

introduction Maastricht, September 2013

the local Chamber of Commerce, where they were welcomed

The last day of the programme started with best practices by

by the mayor of Pordenone, Mr. Claudio Pedrotti. The Martin

various EPCAS members, and was followed by a lunch at “Ciasa

family of Prosciutteria Dok Dall’ava hosted a fabulous walking

de Gahja”, hosted by the Italian hotel management school “Centro

dinner at the former convent of St. Francis. Various local

Turistico Alberghiero”. The students presented their “Taste the Past”

We are happy to present the Management Summary of the

suppliers of traditional Italian produce and wines from the

menu and their focus on local and regional produce.

EPCAS Summer General Assembly 2013, which took place

region were represented.

Dear (potential) EPCAS member,

from July 29th until July 31st in Pordenone, Italy. With almost

We look back on a great Summer General Assembly, in which

70 attendees, amongst which 11 chefs, it was a truly successful

On July 30th, our group was hosted by Electrolux Professional

sharing knowledge and inspiration were key components. After

General Assembly.

in their headquarters in Pordenone. The Executives presented

receiving great feedback from the attending chefs, we have

various best practices, while the Chefs worked on the “Mystery

decided to continue with this initiative and would like to invite

The programme started with a welcome lunch at Palace Hotel

Box lunch challenge”. After a food waste conscious lunch, the

you to bring your chef with you to Burcharest, Romania in the

Moderno, which was followed by an introduction meeting, in

group departed to “Olio dei Dogi” olive farm, for a company

summer of 2014.

which the attendees spoke about the recent developments

visit. EPCAS Country Ambassador, and host of the Summer

in their companies. After a short break, separate Chefs and

General Assembly, Alessandro Barbisotti from Backstage

Executives sessions took place. In the evening, a walking tour

Catering hosted a wonderful Italian style dinner in the middle

Winter General Assembly 2014. Please save the date: February

through the city centre of Pordenone took the attendees to

of the I Magredi vineyard.

2nd – 4th 2014. The official invitation will follow shortly. You,

But first, we would like to welcome you in Maastricht for the

your management team and your chef are invited. Lastly, we would like to thank all who have contributed to the success of the Summer General Assembly, by sharing their knowledge, by showing their expertise, by inspiring others and by proving that the EPCAS network works! With kind regards, On behalf of the EPCAS Board, Advisory Council and Secretariat, Peter Visscher EPCAS President Chefs Paul Tudosescu, Mischa Schmitt & Eugène Swalen in the Electrolux Innovation Center

EPCAS Group in front of City Hall

list of attendees

EPCAS Country ambassadors & prospective country ambassadors

epcas collaboration partners

Georg Broich

Broich Catering & Locations

Noud van den Boer

Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep

Warren Dietel

International Caterers Association / Puff ’n Stuff Catering

Markus Spengler

FPS Catering

Jim Zilli

Zilli Hospitality Group

Martin Færgemann

Kai Thor Catering

Elvera Weusten

European Parliament / ALDE Group

Artur Junqueira

Grupo Ibersol / Silva Carvalho Catering

Alberto Sanna

Scientific Institute San Raffaele

Alessandro Barbisotti

Backstage Catering

Stefano Giovanzani

Institute of Culinary Arts / QualityFoodSolutions

Frank Steffen

Steffen Traiteur

Ann Verduyn

Fruy Finest Food Catering

Christian Chytil

Impacts Catering & Events

Dorrie Eilers

Neptunus

Cálin Mitu

Privileg Catering

Peter Kandels

Ecolab

Nathalie Gouband

Fauchon Réceptions

Bart Leemans

Koppert Cress

Anca Mitu

Privileg Catering

Tom Ambaum

Neptunus

Alexander Gausmann

Arena One

Sven Bodry

RAK Porcelain Europe

Tina Færgemann

Kai Thor Catering

Charles Smith

At Your Service

Tom Steffen

Steffen Traiteur

Esther de Vaal

Libbey

Pierre de Strycker

Gourmet Invent

Thomas Kascha

SD Trading

epcas committee of related branches

Marco Christ

Christ Party & Catering

Marco van Vulpen

Electrolux Professional

Xavier Fruy

Fruy Finest Food Catering

Charles van Goch

Mise en Place

Erik van Welzen

Erasmus Catering Services

Edwin Westerbeek

Traiteur de Paris

Tone Dyb Jensen

Kai Thor Catering

Marie-Luise Weiss

Impacts Catering & Events

Eduard Telitsyn

Imperial Palace Group

K< K<

ljY\af_ ljY\af_ lnlmZbgZ[e^]blihlZ[e^'\hf

lnlmZbgZ[e^]blihlZ[e^'\hf

chefs

national association

Christian Willrich

Broich Catering & Locations

Hélène Baud

Traiteurs de France

Eugène Swalen

Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep

Eric Miete

Koppert Cress

Marco Inzoli

Backstage Catering

Edwin Westerbeek

Traiteur de Paris

Simon Haastrup

Kai Thor Catering

Mischa Schmitt

Christ Party & Catering

Peter Visscher

EPCAS President

Fernando Santos

Grupo Ibersol / Silva Carvalho Catering

Georg Broich

EPCAS Board / Broich Catering & Locations

Paul Tudosescu

Privileg Catering

Charles van Goch

EPCAS Board / Mise en Place

Edwin Houtman

Erasmus Catering Services

epcas board

epcas secretariat advisory council

Maartje Beijsens

Board EPCAS Foundation

Toine Manders

European Parliament / ALDE Group

Stéphanie van Oorschot EPCAS Secretariat

Ruedi Bachmann

Juran Institute

Aletta van der Vinne

Henk Verhaest

Studio 100

Arnaud Rannou

Mychefcom

Peter Kandels

Ecolab

Frank Steffen

Steffen Traiteur

EPCAS Secretariat

Monday July 29th Welcome lunch Palace Hotel Moderno The Summer General Assembly started with a welcome lunch at Palace Hotel Moderno, where all attendees had the chance to catch up. The welcome lunch was followed by an introduction round in the conference room of Palace Hotel Moderno, where all attendees introduced themselves and gave an update about their recent activities. Official EPCAS Meeting (Executives) Palace Hotel Moderno Update Board & Advisory Council

Charles van Goch gave an update about the recent activities of the EPCAS Board and Advisory Council. He had some insights to share with the attendees: Young Professionals In the last two years, some young professionals became a member of EPCAS. They benefit largely from EPCAS and receive a lot of take home value. The other members benefit as well: the young professionals inspire them, make them look at their businesses differently. Some members have started coaching other, younger members that are represented in the association. Therefore, the Board and Advisory Council believe that we should focus more on young, enthusiastic companies and entrepreneurs. They are not afraid to talk about the future.

has shifted towards exchanging knowledge, via best practices. To expand this even more, the Board and Advisory Council propose to have each caterer share one best practice per year. Quarterly EPCAS Monitor (QEM) The QEM has had a slow start: not all figures are the same and it can be difficult to make correct comparisons. It does give us a lot of great insights though! The QEM is worth expanding and worth investing in. Coaching and consulting The EPCAS Advisory Council members want to offer their coaching and consulting services to the members. All members have the same challenges, and sometimes they can use assistance. The plan for the coaching and consulting of the Advisory Council will be presented in more detail, later on in the Summer General Assembly. New members Our association is changing and growing. New members are interested to join, but miss regular moments of connection with

our association. Therefore, the Board and Advisory Council propose to create a new system, where an existing member visits a potential member to talk about our association and to take a look at the company of the potential member. Bart Leemans: Maybe the step to attend a General Assembly is too big for a small company. They need to leave their company for a few days and it is not cheap to attend the General Assemblies. We need to explain the added value, why the EPCAS General Assemblies are worth attending. Noud van den Boer: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t rule out the large (50 to 100 million) companies. We are still open to have them as a member, but we will need to change our focus to continue growing as an association. Warren Dietel: There is so much to learn during the General Assemblies. With focusing more on knowledge sharing via best practices, I think youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re on to something. Each company has different skill sets to bring to the table.

Our vision Why are we doing what we do? The why has changed during the last years. Influencing European legislation and doing business abroad should not be the only reason to be a member of EPCAS. Our focus Ruedi Bachmann

Marco Christ

That should be the reason to join: because you can bring something, not because you are willing to pay the membership fee. Jim Zilli: The only reason I can think of, why people are not joining, is that people are so busy working IN their business, that they don’t have the time to work ON the business. Attending an EPCAS General Assembly is really beneficial, if you want to work ON your business more. Hélène Baud: We have had the same problems within Traiteurs de France. Therefore, we have set up some rules: people are obliged to show up to meetings and general assemblies. If you want to join and be a part of an association, you have to commit! Eduard Telitsyn: The existing members need to push the name of EPCAS as well, internally and externally. Why doesn’t every member use the EPCAS logo in their communication? This makes the association more valuable and interesting, for clients and potential members.

Update Secretariat

Aletta van der Vinne updated all attendees about the activities of the Board and Secretariat since the Winter General Assembly in March 2013, ranging from the visits to potential members, to the re-design of the website to allow for more knowledge exchange throughout the year. Visits Starting off with recapping the visit to the Catersource Conference & Tradeshow in Las Vegas, as part of the EPCAS Winter General Assembly 2013, Aletta then informs all the attendees about the visits which have taken place over the last few months to (potential) members: • In April, EPCAS visited Barcelona where we met with potential members Prats Fatjó and Hotel Arts (Arts & Aurora Catering). • In February and May, EPCAS visited northern Italy to prepare for the Summer General Assembly. During this trip, EPCAS met up with the hosts; member Alessandro Barbisotti from Backstage Catering and potential member Alberto Sbalchiero from Electrolux Professional. EPCAS also had the opportunity to meet with potential member Da Vittorio. • In June, EPCAS visited Paris, where we met up with member Fauchon Recéptions and potential member Laurent-Perrier. Afterwards, EPCAS was represented in London during the British Hospitality Association Summit. • During the Institute of Culinary Arts in Dusseldorf in June, EPCAS visited the host, Georg Broich from Broich Catering & Locations. • Later in June, the EPCAS board visited member Impacts Catering & Events and potential member Adventure Catering in Vienna. Afterwards, the board visited potential members

Dine & Shine Event Catering and Melt Catering in Zürich. • At the end of June, Advisory Council member and Member European Parliament, Toine Manders, attended the Damn Food Waste event in Amsterdam, to represent the EPCAS Food Waste Steering Committee and to meet with Tristam Stuart, Food Waste guru. Apart from the visits to (potential) members, the EPCAS Advisory Council met in Brussels in May, to discuss the association. During the meeting, the AC members volunteered themselves as consultants for the members of EPCAS. Furthermore, the EPCAS Food Waste Steering Committee also met in Brussels in June, where they designed the Toolkit to help reduce food waste in catering. Advisory Council consultancy During the last Advisory Council meeting, the benefits for the members were evaluated. To give more benefits to the members, the Advisory Council volunteered to become advisors to the members, as well as to the board. For this, the AC is available to consult the EPCAS members on a personal basis. Within the AC, the expertise areas range widely from catering to finance and from hygiene to quality control. The AC members are available to be contacted via e-mail, which can be found on the website, along with their expertise areas. Success stories To help promote the benefits of EPCAS to potential members, the Board and Secretariat have collected several success stories to share with these prospects. But in order to have more content for the visits, the Board request that each member delivers their best story to the Secretariat.

Tom Steffen, Frank Steffen & Markus Spengler

Some examples of success stories • Two members joined forces to improve buying power • One member won, together with another member, a tender for a big event in Germany • The chef from one member has visited 3 other members to have a look in their kitchens • One member’s important client was helped in another country due to the EPCAS membership • By having EPCAS at the bottom of the offer, a member won a government contract • A member gained access to a European subsidy, via Toine Manders • A concept developed by one member (best practice) has already been implemented by 3 other members • A member won a party due to being Food Waste consciousness Facebook The Secretariat set up an EPCAS Facebook group called ‘European Party Caterer Association’. This is a closed group for members and collaboration partners of EPCAS only. The group currently has 43 members and is being used to share information amongst each other, and to post questions. This space is available to all members to host discussions and comment on each others questions and remarks. This group has been created to ensure that the knowledge being shared at the General Assemblies will continue throughout the year. The members have pledged to use this platform more often to stimulate conversation.

Website Lastly, the Secretariat presented the re-design of the website, which has taken place to provide a platform to share knowledge continuously throughout the year. The improvements to the website are: • Homepage; - The look & feel has been updated. - The Twitter feed with @EPCAS1 and #EPCAS has been added. - The order of display of the member profiles has been adjusted, to ensure that the member who has been most recently active, is on top. • Advisory Council; - The Advisory Council has a separate page with individual profiles for each AC member, which includes a short biography of their professional career, an introduction of the companies they work for and the categories they specialize in for the consulting. • Member Profiles; - The profiles are more user friendly as they can be personally adjusted to ones preference. Also more information can be uploaded to the company profiles; photos, videos, textual news, documents to be downloaded, etc. - When logged in, the member is also able to see the personal contact information of the representative of the company in order to allow quick communication amongst each other.

Dinner by F.lli Martin & Dok Dall’Ava in the St. Francis Convent

• Initiatives; - Several pages have been dedicated to the initiatives EPCAS is undertaking at the moment: Food Waste Initiative, Quarterly EPCAS monitor and European Catering Awards. - These pages allow for information to be shared publicly about the initiatives, in order to show the achievements and benefits of EPCAS. These pages also allow private information to be shared amongst members, which can only be accessed when logged in. This will therefore be an important source of information about the initiatives. • News; - The news posted by the members on their profiles and the news posted by the Secretariat will be shared within “EPCAS News”. Navigating news has become easier, as related posts are shown below. - The “Industry News” collects RSS feeds from the top European catering publications, such as Caterer & Hotelkeeper and Food Inspiration. This provides a member with ONE source with all of the latest industry news. • Events; - The Secretariat has collected information on a lot of the European trade fairs and exhibitions for 2013 & 2014 related to the industry. This information has been published on the calendar on the website, which is visible on the home page. • Committee of Related Branches (CoRB) platform; - A marketplace has been created where the Committee of Related Branches members (CoRB) can post offers they have

available, specially offered to the EPCAS caterers. Here the members can browse the products/services available, and contact the representative of the CoRB member directly. • Best Practices - During this General Assembly, the members agreed to hand in one Best Practice per year to the Secretariat, which needs to be shared amongst the members. These Best Practices will be uploaded to this page, which is only accessible for members, to allow the knowledge to be shared all year round. Documents, presentations, spread sheets, movies, photos and textual items can be uploaded here. Thomas Kascha: To ensure that we don’t keep losing our login information, can we allow the website to recognize our IP addresses to be able to automatically log on? Charles van Goch: What if you login at home, you will have a different IP? Stéphanie van Oorschot: Perhaps we can set up the automatic login through IP addresses after you have logged in once before so that the website can recognize the different IP addresses you use? We will look into the options of this. Sven Bodry: Can’t the caterer also ask for a product on the marketplace? Then it works two ways. Aletta van der Vinne: This is possible – create a forum – but this will be the only location on the website where this will happen. As EPCAS already has the Facebook group, there are now two places to ask questions, and if more arise, it will be confusing about where to ask. Noud van den Boer: How do the member profiles work? Stéphanie van Oorschot: The members will login and be able to upload different types of files to the page. When the pages are in working order, the secretariat will assist with the functionality.

Finance

Georg Broich explained that the EPCAS Audit Committee approved the financial figures of 2012. He presented the budgeted and actual figures of 2012, as well as the budgeted figures of 2013. Upon request, the financial data is available via the EPCAS Secretariat. Quarterly EPCAS Monitor

The results of the first round of the Quarterly EPCAS Monitor (QEM) were presented during the last General Assembly in March. During the test run, it became evident that some questions were misinterpreted or found unnecessary. Therefore, during a meeting with Peter Visscher (EPCAS President), Noud van den Boer (CEO Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep), Jaques Laumans (CFO Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep), Jurgen van Wijngaarden (Treasurer Official Network Catering Events) and Aletta van der Vinne (EPCAS Secretariat), the questions for the QEM were discussed and adjusted. In June 2013, the second round took place, measuring the Total of 2012 and Q1 of 2013. These results were presented in Italy. Unfortunately, due to the several adjustments in the questionnaire, the results couldn’t be compared with the first round. Therefore these results were presented with only Total of 2012 and Q1 of 2013. As the QEM is still in its testing phase, not only were the outcomes discussed, but the meaning they provide the caterers and the degree of difficulty they were to fill out were also discussed. In the future, the QEM will show the results compared to previous quarters, to give a clearer benchmark of the market, and possibly some trends. The members are obliged to fill out the QEM, according to the bylaws. Unfortunately, this is not yet being adhered to by all, although it is improving. 66% of all members filled out the first round and 73% the second round. The focus is to have 100% in the upcoming round.

Results Second Round 1. General results On a scale of 1 – 10, what is your general opinion on the economic situation of the event catering market? General 2012 6.3 Q1 of 2013 4.9 The general opinion of the market in 2012 has an above average score, despite the economic crisis in Europe. This cannot be said about the first quarter of 2013. Looking at the growth of these two, it can be justified as Total of 2012 has made a 4% growth since Total of 2011, whilst a decline of 3% occured in Q1 of 2013 compared to Q1 of 2012. What is the growth, related to turnover of previous year? Total 2012 (%) 104 Q1 of 2013 (%) 97 2. Food Waste What amount of food wasted in kg is wasted per kg of garbage disposed? Total 2012 (%) 81 Q1 of 2013 (%) 84 What amount of food wasted in kg is wasted per kg of food purchased? Total 2012 (%) 19 The statistics of amount of food wasted has both environmental and economic implications. It is unbelievable that more than 80% of all garbage disposed by caterers is food, of which there is a shortage. And furthermore, it seems to be increasing in 2013. But not looking at the environmental implications, wasted food is also a hazard on the balance sheet of a company. The QEM measured

that 19% of all food purchased is wasted. The QEM also measured that the average cost of food sales is € 292.145,00. 19% of this amount is € 55.507,55. This means that on average, a caterer throws away over € 50.000 a year in food. 3. FTE vs Flex workers In 2012, the average caterer had an estimate of 157920 hours being invested by FTE employees, compared to 62592 hours which were invested by flex workers. This means that on average 220512 workers’ hours are spent on catering in a year. Of this, 70% is put in by FTE employees and 30% by flex workers. This means that 30% of the industry is run by flex workers. Looking at their respective wages, it is beneficial to the employer to have the majority done by FTEs as they are less expensive per hour. What is the average wage per hour for… A FTE working in the kitchen (€) A flex worker hired for in the kitchen (€) A FTE working in service (€) A flex worker hired for service (€)

18 20 13 18

This information doesn’t speak much on its own, but is used for benchmarking criteria. If you are doubtful about the amount of staff to hire for an event, these numbers can be used as an indicator. Furthermore, if you compare your own results to the average and are far above, you can see this as an indicator that you might have too many personnel walking around on an event, bringing down the productivity and, in turn, the profits. From here, the caterer can use the network of EPCAS to find out how to reduce this. 5. Sales & Marketing What percentage of the total Sales & Marketing budget is spent on Payroll of Sales staff? Total 2012 (%) 64 Q1 of 2013 (%) 56 What percentage of the total Sales & Marketing budget is spent on advertisements? Total 2012 (%) 13 Q1 of 2013 (%) 29

4. Service Styles What is the standard amount of service staff (waiters) hired per X amount of guests with the following types of service styles? Plate service – 1 waiter per X amount of guests 15 Buffet service – 1 waiter per X amount guests 25 Cocktail reception – 1 waiter per X amount of guests 33 What is the standard amount of kitchen staff hired per X amount of guests with the following types of service styles? Plate service – 1 kitchen staff member per X amount of guests 37 Buffet service – 1 kitchen staff member per X amount of guests 63 Cocktail reception – 1 kitchen staff member per X amount of guests 78

Bart Leemans: How can the percentage of the advertisements be so high? 13% in 2012 and 29% in Q1? How do you get business out of advertisements? Pierre de Strycker: As an effect of the crisis, we do not spend one Euro on advertisements. Our marketing budget is much smaller than it was and we really have to choose what to spend it on. It’s true that some of our clients pay us a percentage in exchange. Some of our members are active in advertising, and we use that to combine it with events we catered. For example, we catered for the event Manager of the Year Belgium, and in turn they included us in their communications afterwards.

Noud van den Boer: We publish in a magazine when we open a location. We also use Google adwords, and we calculate that as advertisements. 6. Finance The turnover and costs were asked for Total of 2012 and Q1 of 2013. Unfortunately, Amplixs Interaction Management informed us that these were not filled out correctly, and therefore we will not post them in this summary. In the future, the Turnover, Costs, and Net Profit will be asked per quarter and per year. These results will only be provided to those who have filled out the QEM. Discussion Round Marco Christ: For me it was a bit complicated to fill out the QEM. But once you filled it out the first time, the second time is much easier. After that it’s much simpler to prepare. I prefer to fill it out every quarter. Noud van den Boer: Firstly, the question is “do you want to know the answers to these questions?” Considering the level of professionalism you want to have when you’re a member, the answer should be YES! Usually it’s a lot easier than you think, but one needs to know how to do it. If the starting point of your calculations is clear, then you know how to compare it in the future. Warren Dietel: There is really valuable data here for your membership. I think that you have, almost with each one of these categories, great best practices! If someone has a great productivity for their service staff, ask “How do you do this, how do you motivate them & which tools do you use?” That’s the benefit! You have great content here!

Partner (€ 5.000,-) • 5 entrance tickets for FXE (worth € 1.250,- per ticket) • Branding as partner • The possibility to host workshops or best practices The EPCAS Committee of Related Branches members will be approached for a customized partnership.

Fxe

Where

European

Hos

pit

ty Hotel

ionals meet

nding p

fess

Fou

Pro

Foodservice

tners

3&4 february

ls meet

ers 2014

Catering

Fxe

Whe

re European Hosp

i ta l it

ona ssi

Founding p yP

Food Executive Europe (FXE) update Charles van Goch gave an update on the upcoming event “Food Executive Europe”, which will take place on February 3rd and 4th 2014, and during which, the EPCAS Summer General Assembly will also take place. The organisation of Food Executive Europe (Servicecenter 4Hospitality) is currently approaching potential (founding) partners for FXE. The partnerships entail the following:

Founding Partner (€ 10.000,-) • 10 entrance tickets for FXE (worth € 1.250,- per ticket) • Membership in the FXE foundation and ballot committee • Branding as founding partner • The possibility to host workshops or best practices

rtn

Action Points 1. General Whilst going through the answers, it became evident that the QEM still needs to be adjusted to become more accessible. Together with Paul de Weger from Amplixs Interaction Management, these adjustments will have taken place before the next round. The secretariat will look into options of having a type of helpdesk to assist with filling out the QEM. 2. Best Practices Best Practices will also be determined with help of the QEM. 3. Time schedule The majority voted to have the QEM occur quarterly. To accommodate the smaller caterers who make use of external bookkeeping services, the QEM will be sent a month or two later. The time schedule is the following: Q1 + Year Budget July Q2 October Q3 January Q4 + Year Actual April 4. Traiteurs de France Hélène Baud will present figures from Traiteurs de France in February next year, during the Winter General Assembly.

The theme of FXE will be “The Agenda for the Future – There is no Time to Waste”. With this theme, the focus lies on sustainability and working towards a better future for the rapidly growing world population.

Water

Power

Food

Pollution

Changing markets

education

Attendees The attendees of FXE will consist of: Hotel Attendees G20 Hotelvision Catering EPCAS members Catersource Top Gun members Attendees of the European Catering Conference Foodservice Members of Foodservice Network International EPCAS Winter General Assembly 2014 The EPCAS Winter General Assembly 2014 will take place simultaneously with FXE. A second person of your company can attend for € 500,- per person (excluding Hotel, F&B, EPCAS Summer General Assembly and FXE attendance) If an EPCAS member would like to bring a European colleague with them to FXE, they can give the special ‘friends rate’ of € 500,per person. This only includes FXE attendance – no hotel and F&B.

Preliminary Programme FXE & EPCAS Winter General Assembly February 2nd Start EPCAS Winter General Assembly February 3rd

09.00 – 12.00 12.00 – 15.00 15.00 – 17.00 17.00 – 18.00 18.00 – 19.00 19.00 – 23.00 23.00 – 02.00

EPCAS Winter General Assembly Start Food Executive Europe Official programme FXE Networking drink at Experience Center Columbus Trophy award ceremony Culinary Tour of Maastricht Party

February 4th

08.00 – 10.00 G20 Breakfast Session 10.00 – 11.00 Plenary programme by Foodservice Network 11.00 – 13.00 Masterclasses and workshops 13.00 – 14.30 Lunch 14.30 – 16.00 Keynote speaker 16.00 – 17.00 Masterclasses, workshops and speeddates 17.00 – 17.30 Networking drink 17.30 – 18.00 European Catering Award 18.00 – 21.00 Live 3*** Cooking

The members of Catersource Top Gun will be invited to attend FXE. A special programme will be set up for them, to make the most of their stay in Europe. February 1st Arrival in Amsterdam February 2nd EPCAS Winter General Assembly February 3rd FXE February 4th FXE February 5th Visit Champagne area and Rungis / Les Halles (Paris) February 6th Visit Fauchon Réceptions (Paris) February 7th Trendtour Amsterdam February 8th Departure

Official CHEFS Meeting Palace Hotel Moderno Cress Experience by Koppert Cress

The official Chefs Meeting started with a presentation by Koppert Cress Committee of Related Branches). Koppert Cress specializes in cresses; seedlings of unique plants, which each have their own specific effect on the senses. Flavour, fragrance, feel or presentation, there is a cress for each. And the assortment is widening. Every year at least one new cress is added to the collection of Micro-vegetables. A collection, which is presented as ‘Architecture Aromatique’. The chefs were introduced to the products of Koppert Cress. Most of them had already heard about Koppert Cress and a couple of them already used the products. Cress coach Eric Miete explained that cresses are more than just decoration. “It’s all about taste. Food is emotion!”. The cresses can be combined with a lot of other products to enhance the flavour. Koppert Cress grows its products in their own greenhouses, where they produce over 60 different cresses. The chefs tasted several cresses such as Apple Blossom, Jasmine Blossom, Syrha Leaves, Honny Cress and Pepquiños. They experienced two special tastings: homemade iced tea with cress, and espresso with oyster leaves.

Mischa Schmitt & Edwin Westerbeek What is EPCAS?

Moderators Ruedi Bachmann (EPCAS Advisory Council / Juran Institute) and Peter Kandels (EPCAS Advisory Council / Ecolab) gave a presentation about EPCAS, as some of the chefs were not familiar with the association. Food waste by Peter Kandels and Ruedi Bachmann Peter Kandels and Ruedi Bachmann continued their presentation about the EPCAS Food Waste Initiative. Reason Food Waste is one of the most severe social, economic and ecological pathologies our planet is facing. Wasting food is economically bad, environmentally wrong, and morally and ethically inacceptable. Facts As per EUROSTAT in the year 2010, 89 million tons of food is wasted per year, which means 180 kg per person. At the same time, 868 million people suffer from hunger. This hungry population

can be fed with our food waste. The food demand will increase with 70% in 2050. A lot of (EU) regulation makes producers throw away a lot of good, useable food. The EU objective is to reduce 50% of food waste by 2020, by creating awareness and changing regulations. The EPCAS Food Waste Initiative EPCAS strives for its members to be sensible and aware regarding food waste, and to become pro-active to avoid / minimize food waste – wherever it matters. Do you measure? The Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep has been measuring their food waste for a couple of years already. Fruy Finest Food Catering also measures their food waste structurally and has created their own composting site. Christ Party & Catering recently started measuring their food waste. They found out that 20 tons of food was wasted and were shocked about the figures. The other attending chefs do not have figures on the food waste in their kitchens. Best Practice Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep by Eugène Swalen In 2005, the Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep started talking about food waste, and exploring options to work on it. They started measuring in 2007. Within their company, food waste is defined as: the devaluation of purchased food and preparation time which is not consumed by the guests at the intended value.

Key causes of Food Waste within the Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep • “Under consumption” • “Not smart” food decoration • Regulation (for example: 2 hours non refrigerated display time) • Portion control • No-shows Their food waste strategy • Packaging • Process re-design • Portion control/ assortment re-design • Production location central vs de-central • Service management • Crowd control • “Protect” the profit improvement • Not a USP, but a potential dissatisfier • It’s part of their corporate social responsibility Obstacles • Demand driven Sales model • “Dynamics” of labour time • Stress prevention during events • Old habits • Lack of discipline • The purchasing habits of clients (anticipation of no-show by clients)

Best Practice Fruy Finest Food Catering by Xavier Fruy Xavier explains why he uses techniques like vacuum cooking, sous vide cooking and pickling. By using these techniques, food can be kept for a longer period. By pickling products before vacuuming, the product gains weight and moisture, which helps keep the taste and texture at an optimal level. Further, the use of these techniques lowers the production costs, because less labour and energy is needed. To keep products intact on location, it is all about temperature. When food is kept at the right temperature, and a chef responds to noshows on time, this reduces the food waste tremendously. Evening programme City of Pordenone The evening programme started with a walking tour through the city centre of Pordenone. The attendees were welcomed in the Chamber of Commerce by the mayor of Pordenone, Mr. Claudio Pedrotti. He warmly welcomed our group to the beautiful city of Pordenone, and emphasised the culinary history and traditions of the Friuli region. After a visit to the newly renovated city hall of Pordenone, the attendees were welcomed in the former convent of St. Francis, where the Martin family of Prosciutteria Dok Dall’ava prepared a walking dinner with a large group of suppliers of local products.

Their food waste ratio was 18% of the total purchased kilograms of food, of which 29% was kitchen waste and 71% was wasted due to under consumption and/or over production. Their target for 2013 is to reduce the food waste ratio to less than 10%. Alberto Sanna, Peter Visscher, Mayor Claudio Pedrotti, Maartje Beijsens & Toine Manders

Tuesday July 30th Official EPCAS meeting Electrolux Professional Headquarters The official EPCAS meeting, for the Executives as well as the Chefs, took place at the Headquarters of Electrolux Professional. e-Services for Life and Health Re-engineering and Re-designing Nutritional Services By Alberto Sanna – Scientific Institute San Raffaele, Italy Alberto Sanna is the director of the Scientific Institute in San Raffaele, and focuses on innovation and research in life and health services. They design services to emphasise on good quality of life. Their vision is, that once you have a high quality of life, you will also be healthy. Their goal is to prevent people from becoming ill. Alberto proposes to include the pillar ‘health’ in the Agenda for the Future. Why? • Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980 • In 2004, over 1,4 billion adults (age 20 and older) were overweight. Of these, over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese. • 65% of the world’s population lives in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people, than underweight. • Over 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011 • Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases: diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. • An obese person incurs 25% higher health expenditures than a person of normal weight and Obesity is responsible for 1-3% of total health expenditures.

The life expectancy of children tends to decrease nowadays, because they are becoming overweight at a much younger age, and at a much faster rate. Therefore, it is possible that the current generation of parents will live longer and healthier than their own children!

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.

The fundamental cause of obesity and overweight is an imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. Globally, there has been: • An increased intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat • An increase in physical inactivity

San Raffaele is a “Smart City” in Milan. It has a large hospital (1.200 beds) and university, 74.000 square meters are dedicated to labs, offices and meeting rooms. There is a variety of shops, supermarkets, restaurants and cafeterias. It also has a hotel of 250 rooms and residential apartments. Around 25.000 people come there every day to experience the service. At San Raffaele, they redesigned all city environments, including retail and catering, in order to change these services to a health driven approach. It’s a ‘living lab’ that tests random visitors.

At the same time, our society is getting older. Customer needs are changing accordingly. The trend of getting people so ill that they need to come to the hospital, needs to be reversed. To do this, we need to consider the entire span of the market. It’s not a matter of employees in their workplace, or of people at home. It’s not possible that the kids eat good, but the parents eat bad. Most of the meals we eat, we eat out of home, on the move or to go.

Edwin Houtman

Scientific Institute San Raffaele focuses on three research lines • Smarter & safer hospital • Smarter & healthier city • Smarter & healthier life

Alberto Sbalchiero, Pierre de Strycker, Ann Verduyn, Alessandro Barbisotti, Xavier Fruy, Stéphanie van Oorschot, Bart Leemans & Erik van Welzen

Lifestyle What does lifestyle really mean? Health & well-being as cross-market services. There are many things to take into consideration, when thinking about being healthier. The research of Scientific Institute San Raffaele focuses on the food industry, supermarkets, workplace, school, the media industry, home, hospitals, pharmacies, etc. They start their research with profiling, in order to be able to provide better services. They make a complete personal profile with preferences, a medical profile of needs and an exposure profile. These databases are combined to be able to provide better services to the guest. Scientific Institute San Raffaele came up with a platform to teach people to cook better and link them with good food. Further, they designed a shopping advisor on the quality of the food, and they redesigned the canteen services in the hospital. They have also created an interactive vending machine with a touchscreen, which captures the age, mood and race of a customer and understands what their needs are, based on the personal profile of the customer. This vending machine also works with a loyalty programme. It can be used for schools, workplaces, public places, supermarkets, etc. Kids Kids are natural innovators, which makes them easy to talk to. Scientific Institute San Raffaele created a 5-day programme, after which the children who followed it ate 26% more vegetables. If children are motivated towards specific types of food, their nutritional behaviour becomes predictable. That leads to less waste.

Electrolux Professional by Alberto Sbalchiero Alberto Sbalchiero, Consultant and International Hotel Chain director at Electrolux Professional, gave a presentation about Electrolux Professional, its history and its activities. Food Waste by Ruedi Bachmann and Peter Kandels Ruedi Bachmann and Peter Kandels gave an update on the activities of the Food Waste Steering Committee. During the Official Chefs Meeting on the 29th of July, Peter and Ruedi received the following feedback from the chefs regarding Food Waste: • It needs to become natural for each of us to become food waste sensitive • Very few chefs have facts & figures about their food waste • Only two chefs are structurally measuring and minimizing food waste • One member just started measuring: they were shocked about the real figures EPCAS, through the Advisory Board and the Food Waste Committee, came up with an objective regarding Food Waste: We strive for EPCAS members to be sensible and aware regarding food waste, and to become pro-active to avoid/ minimize food waste – wherever it matters

Ruedi and Peter started their presentation by explaining what the EPCAS Food Waste Initiative entails. The facts tell us that too much food is wasted, which is bad for the environment and costs a lot of money. Further, fighting food waste is a shared responsibility. Together we have to create awareness on how to reduce food waste. This initiative supports EPCAS members to fight their food waste and become food waste sensitive, which is the bronze level of the Food Waste Initiative. Bronze level: Food Waste Sensitivity • Yearly staff briefing on Food Waste • Signing the EPCAS Code of Conduct (which includes a paragraph on Food Waste) Silver level: Food Waste Awareness • Measuring Food Waste • Showing your figures via the Quarterly EPCAS Monitor (QEM) Gold level: Food Waste Prevention • Written plan on implementing measures • Integrated procedures on Food Waste reduction To support the members in reaching (at least) the bronze level, a Toolkit is created. The Toolkit consists of: • A wise up on waste guidebook with tips & tricks • The waste reduction value chain, which visualises where the waste occurs • Templates to keep track of the waste within your company

The three R’s become evident in several stages of the kitchen process. Wise up on Waste focuses on reducing the waste margin across all areas of your business.

6. Catering Kitchen

4. Preparation storage Fridge

7. Plate Waste

Freezer

1. Purchasing

Ambient storage

SPOILAGE WASTE

2. Storage

High

3. Mise en place kitchen

High

Low

The spoilage bin covers waste from over purchasing and the stock room, fridges & freezers.

8. Disposal

High

PrEP WASTE cATErInG kITchEn

Low

The preparation bin 1 covers waste in mise en place and preparation to storage.

cuSTOmEr PLATE WASTE

Dishwasher

High

Low

PrEP WASTE cATErInG kITchEn

5. Transport

PrEP WASTE mISE En PLAcE kITchEn

SPOILAGE WASTE

PrEP WASTE mISE En PLAcE kITchEn

The preparation bin 2 covers waste from the kitchen on the event location.

cuSTOmEr PLATE WASTE

Low

The plate waste bin covers portioning and plate waste.

these steps means: Cateringsolutions GmbH consists of three parts: Peter KandelsOptimizing explains that EPCAS takes Food Waste prevention As the catering business varies per season, with many peaks As you can see from the diagram the waste generated from 6. Catering kitchen: only prepare the amount needed and 4. Preparation storage: keep your products safe, sealed 1. Purchasing: have real-time control over your stock and thethe different areas the kitchen can be segmented into 4 keep unused products cool and ready for reuse. and cooled and maintain an overview of what goes in and the sold items 1. Catering service (which has obtained the Austrian eco-label very seriously. Therefore, with the toolkit, the EPCAS members throughout year, it ofwas challenging for Impacts to keep their different types of waste; spoilage, preparation in the mise comes out. 7. Plate Waste: the right portions will prevent your kitchen 2. Storage: maintain an overview of stock, using an improved en place kitchen, preparation at the event location kitchen from producing excessive plate waste 5. Transport: safe, sealed and cooled in for tourism) are offered useful tips & tricks, as well as templates to make the put your products employeesandand the same level of quality. Therefore, to achieve date sticker system plate waste. By segmenting your waste you will be able the transportation provided. to see where your waste occurs. 8. Disposal: learn from your plate waste and dispose of your 3. Mise en Place: produce items once you are sure they will 2. Lunch service (which won the ‘Umweltspreis’ in Vienna) measuring ofbeFood more fast andproducing effective. The toolkit a minimum workload, they created ‘Webrestaurant.at’. organic waste sustainably utilized,Waste to make sure you are not over 3. Event organization (which has a green meetings & events will be sent to the EPCAS members in October, so everyone can 6 7 label) start working on reaching the bronze level. Webrestaurant.at is an eco-friendly lunch service, with 98% fresh ingredients, served on porcelain plates and delivered directly at They have several motives for this: your office. They have a database of over 1.200 dishes, and Best Practices (Executives) • Their company’s vision focuses on quality and high service offer a daily changing menu. Each day, they offer one soup, Electrolux Professional Headquarters • Quality and sustainable solutions need to go hand in hand salad, pasta, main dish, country style dish, dessert, side salad Best practice: Webrestaurant • They underlined their efforts by applying for the Austrian by Christian Chytil and Marie-Luise Weiss of Impacts Catering and bread. At 11:30, the online order system shuts down and no eco-label for tourism more orders can be placed for the next day. The precise amount & Events of ingredients is then calculated and automatically transmitted Christian Chytil and Marie-Luise Weiss start their presentation by to the suppliers. explaining the structure of their company.

To prevent Food Waste, guests have to order their dish one day in advance. All recipes are calculated per gram, so they can purchase the specific amounts needed. The whole system is based on cook & chill, meaning there is no overproduction and no waste of valuable food. When the food is delivered, guests can choose whether they heat it in the steamer, or put it in the microwave. The dirty plates are collected the next day. The Eco-Outcome of their activities: • A reduction of packaging waste of 31.543 kg • A reduction of food waste of 14.340 kg • Savings in the cost of sales: down by 5%

has grown with 10% per month. There are over 5.000 customers, and over 2.000 meals are produced per day. Green Meetings & Events Impacts is the only Austrian caterer that is certified as a “Green Meetings & Events Company”. Some of the requirements are using regional or organic food, and only sending out digital invitations. Impacts uses this certificate as a marketing tool, to differentiate them from their competitors. Around 20-25 Austrian catering companies have obtained the Eco-Label, but Impacts is the only one that has the Green Meetings & Events certification.

Food Waste The problem with catering companies, is that they want to use fresh products (which is also expected by customers), and still want to have minimum waste. Therefore, it is really important to tell the story to your guests: they need to think about what they want to eat the next day, so the food can be prepared with as little waste as possible. In the beginning, this is challenging for the guests. After a while, they fill out their meal plan two weeks in advance. Without advertising, the revenue of Webrestaurant

Questions Toine Manders: What are the costs? Marie-Luise Weiss: The cheapest main course costs € 5,90, the most expensive costs € 8,10 (grilled fish). Xavier Fruy: Is there a minimum amount to order? Marie-Luise Weiss: Yes, the minimum order amount is € 12,-. If you order less, the difference is charged. Noud van den Boer: What is the average size per client, in number of plates?

Eugène Swalen, Paul Tudosescu, Simon Haastrup, Christian Willrich, Eric Miete, Edwin Westerbeek, Fernando Santos, Edwin Houtman & Mischa Schmitt

Group photo at Electrolux Innovation Centre

Christian Chytil: This varies greatly, from elderly people to large banks. The largest is around 40 plates per day. Henk Verhaest: By implementing this, you know you have constant business. But how can you guarantee that you can deliver everything, and can live up to the expectations of your guests? Marie-Luise Weiss: To place an order, you need to register. This means I have full control. Now that we have a new building, we have two kitchens. Webrestaurant uses different equipment because we produce large quantities. The catering on the other hand, is becoming more and more last minute. Luckily, the chefs can help each other. Good kitchen management is more important than ever. Warren Dietel: Do you use your own software? Marie-Luise Weiss: It’s kitchen software, but the whole CRM system has been programmed specifically for our company. Toine Manders: How do customers pay? Marie-Luise Weiss: Either in cash to the driver, via a weekly invoice, or per month as a company. We do not accept credit card payments.

Marie-Luise Weiss, Christian Chytil, Arnaud Rannou, Alberto Sanna, Warren Dietel, Tom Steffen, Nathalie Gouband & Hélène Baud

Peter Visscher: What is the annual turnover? Marie-Luise Weiss: We started around € 80.000,- and are now around € 1,5 million. The profit (EBITA) is around 5-8%. Xavier Fruy: How many plates do you need to sell, to make a profit? Marie-Luise Weiss: Around 700 plates per day are needed to make it profitable.

• • • • •

Best Practice: Libya Build by Tom Ambaum of Neptunus Neptunus was founded in 1937 and has over 75 years of experience They have over 250 employees All products are designed, produced and engineered in-house Maintenance and handling is done in-house as well, for which they have state-of-the-art facilities They have a hire stock of around 500,000 square meters

Neptunus has an annual turnover of around € 43 million. Around 90% of the business is in Europe, 10% in the rest in the world. European Focus Neptunus has offices in: • The Netherlands – Kessel (head office) • Poland – Wroclaw (production facility) • Great Britain – Northampton • Germany – Düsseldorf • France – Evry • Austria – Salzburg • Belgium – Zonhoven What does Neptunus represent? • Distinctive styling • Innovation

• • • • •

Quality Creativity & flexibility Reliability Sustainable design Experience

Neptunus is the specialist in two areas: tents for events and relocatable buildings. Tents for events For example, Neptunus built 40.000 square meters at the London Olympics. They also build a lot of showrooms to present new cars. Relocatable Buildings The main reason why people want relocatable buildings, is because they want to expand to a new area but are not sure whether it will be successful or not. They approach Neptunus if they want to be in a location for 1 or 2 years, but want it to be built with a good structure. Other reasons are in case of a disaster (like a fire), or if they are refurbishing. Lately, Neptunus has built a lot of sport halls. Many municipalities do not have budget to build new sport halls. Neptunus then builds a relocatable building for them, with all the facilities they need. The municipality rents the building from Neptunus. A new market for Neptunus is semi-permanent housing. There is a shortage of houses for social rent in the Netherlands. Neptunus builds semi-permanent houses on land of the city council, the council makes sure all the semi-permanent houses are filled, and Neptunus receives the rent. They are building the first semipermanent housing structures in Venray, The Netherlands, in October 2013.

Best Practice: Libya Build A former client of Neptunus needed an exhibition place for an annual specialized international building and construction exhibition in Tripoli, Libya. There were 636 exhibitors from all over the world, over 18.000 visitors and it is the most significant Libyan exhibition. The requirements for Neptunus were to build 18.000 square meters of temporary structures, for the duration of the five day show. The structures needed to enable the exhibitors to showcase their latest products, equipment and services. They needed a high quality temporary solution to be quickly installed by specialist builders, in 44° heat. The challenges were: • Unstable country, safety of the team • The heat (44° C) • The quality of the plant equipment • Cultural differences • Logistical challenges • The unpredictability of the location How did Neptunus overcome these challenges? • By doing site visits and exploring the location and its surroundings • By having a reliable local partner • By making sure that the expectations of the client were clear • By using their own experienced international staff, to instruct the local builders • By doing good research on the logistical process when working in an African country • By knowing the rules and jurisdiction relating import and export • By having a large doses of creativity and adaptability for overcoming challenges

Peter Visscher: Are all the structures standardized? Tom Ambaum:Yes. We have single deck, double deck, triple, etc, and the structures come in 5x5 meter blocks (standardized). The façade can be custom made. Peter Visscher: How long will the structures of the temporary housing project be used? Tom Ambaum: For a minimum of 10 years. All the structures are up to the building codes, well designed and good to live in. Peter Visscher: What is the price of a temporary housing structure, compared to a normal housing building? Tom Ambaum: We are 15-20% more expensive, but the people rent it and don’t buy it. The municipality does not take the risk, Neptunus does. Further, the construction goes much faster than with regular building. Christian Chytil: How about insulation? Tom Ambaum: We need to meet the building and insulation codes. The walls and roof are 1.20 thick, the flooring is 20cm thick wood.

Markus Spengler & Sergio Martin

Alberto Sanna: How do you connect the temporary structures with the public infrastructure, such as water and power? Tom Ambaum: We work with local subcontractors for those matters. Mystery Box Lunch Challenge (Chefs) Electrolux Professional Headquarters Electrolux Professional Headquarters has their Innovation Center onsite, with four training kitchens inside. The chefs were invited by Electrolux Professional to use these kitchens for a challenge. Together with Electrolux Professional, EPCAS set up a Mystery Box challenge for the chefs, with a focus on Food Waste. One way of reducing food waste, is by using frozen products. The chefs were asked to serve lunch for the entire group with use of frozen and fresh products. One kitchen had frozen products and the other kitchen was equipped with the same products, but then only fresh produce. The chefs were split up into two teams, each

Tour of Olio Dei Dogi

serving a starter and a main course for 70 people, within two hours. The food was enjoyed by all, and although the dishes made with fresh food were better preferred, the dishes made by the frozen kitchen took less staff, less time and produced less waste. Company visit Olio dei Dogi In the evening, the attendees travelled to olive farm “Olio dei Dogi”, where they got a guided tour on the grounds and where the production process of olive oil was explained. Also present was Latteria di Aviano, who showed how they made fresh mozzarella. Dinner by Backstage Catering I Magredi After the company visit at Olio dei Dogi, the group departed to vineyard “I Magredi”. In the middle of the vineyard, a typical Italian dinner was organized by EPCAS Country Ambassador Alessandro Barbisotti of Backstage Catering.

Dinner at I Magredi

Wednesday July 31st Best Practices Palace Hotel Moderno Best Practice: BIOLOGISCH by Markus Spengler of FPS Catering This new food concept from FPS Catering is all about serving children fresh food and healthy nutrition. There are about 15.000 schools and 2 million students in Germany, which makes it a huge market for school catering. Schools and nurseries are continuously expanding the all-day child care services they provide. Parent’s priority is to make sure their children get balanced, healthy meals prepared with fresh food. FPS Catering supports this trend and offers their new concept BIOLOGISCH. BIOLOGISCH offers food that is perfectly adjusted to the requirements of children. Up to 70 % of the products are cultivated organically with special attention to the use of seasonal products. The menu is rich in cereals, potatoes, milk products and mainly lean meats. Once a week, it also contains sea fish from sustainable fisheries (MSC). Raw vegetables and salads are regularly included in the menu, as are healthy desserts. With 52 different weekly menus per year, BIOLOGISCH provides variety – at least four weeks without repeats. All meals are freshly prepared with utmost care, to provide balance, organic integrity and freshness, according to the latest nutritional knowledge. BIOLOGISCH is the first partner concept for caterers in the area of organic food catering for schools and nurseries in

Germany. This concept is unique, thought out and well tested. Contrary to event-catering, school and nursery catering offers an equally distributed turnover throughout the year. The franchisees of BIOLOGISCH can thus exploit their resources optimally.

Unique characteristics of BIOLOGISCH • More capacity utilization • An increase in turnover and economic security • Image and sales gains: organic certification, step by step • The media will definitely talk about it

Partners receive the following support and consultation services: • Implementation of the organic certification • Access to the online database and software system • “Citrix” with access to all the relevant samples and master copies • A daily update of the complete recipe database, including all relevant information on purchasing and logistics • Allocation of a monthly new menu, according to the guidelines of the DGE, including menus for people with allergies • The creation and testing of new recipes • Support in optimizing the process, from cost of goods to turnover • Consultation services and support in operations (ordering, accounting, logistics) • All the rights of utilising the BIOLOGISCH licenced brand, including the use of all communication tools like the logo, promotional articles, etc. • Professional marketing support • Direct access to purchasing channels in the European organic world, with attractive price structures and quantity discount • An advisory service by four employed nutritionists and organic consultants

The BIOLOGISCH concept has proven to be successful in the market. There are already 5 franchisees who use the concept. Marco Christ: “For a small company, it is impossible to create such a concept ourselves. Now, we can buy the expertise. And it works!’’ After 6 months of partnership, the first two licensees, Broich Catering and Brunckhorst Catering, can present a result of 1.600 meals per day. In other words, 32.000 meals per month. Altogether, more than 1.5 million meals per year are currently being produced for schools and nurseries. Charles van Goch: Is it accessible in other countries, outside Germany? Markus Spengler: It is possible. We are already in contact with British and Luxemburgish caterers about the concept. Peter Visscher: Maybe it is possible to develop a franchise system within EPCAS, available for all members? We could put this on the agenda for our next General Assembly. Noud van den Boer: What is the investment per day? Markus Spengler: Around 200 meals per day, with a very low investment. Noud van den Boer: Did you protect your brand name in Europe? Markus Spengler: We made sure that the brand name is protected throughout Europe.

Best Practice: Portfolio Analysis by Noud van den Boer of Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep Our business is about the Alpha side of life: it is about good food, good parties, good locations – the emotional side. But in business we need more rational people – Beta people. Koninklijke van den Boer Groep is a family company, founded in 1906. They focus on corporate, private and public events with a € 60 million annual turnover made possible by approx. 650 employees. Their corporate values are: quality, professionalism / craftsmanship , experience, sustainability and hostmanship. They work with two brands: Maison van den Boer (more classic and stylish) and O7 (more modern and courageous). This makes the portfolio analysis more difficult. The company asked themselves the question: what do we know about our business? • How many customers do we have? • What is their importance? • How many customers of over € 50.000,- do we have? • How many projects do we have? • How many guests do we serve? • What is their average spending? Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep found out they didn’t have clear answers to these questions. Not all figures were put in the database correctly. There was no connection between sales information and marketing actions. That was the beginning of awareness. It was a wakeup call. Therefore they conducted a portfolio analysis.

Noud van den Boer The analysis showed the following facts and figures • 20.000 customer records • 2.000 relevant customers, including all different contact persons within parent and/or subsidiary companies • 250 important customers • 12 account managers • 3 executive account managers • 2.000 projects per year • 2,5 million guests, of which 1 million through public catering • An average spending of € 24 per guest They also found out that they had incomplete PMC definitions and random project descriptions. The lack of a connection between sales information and marketing actions made it clear that they needed to make a change.

Their goals for 2013 are: • A ‘best guess analysis’ by data crunches on the present situation • A clear and final vision on processing customer and project information • Including answers in their new IT configuration • Installing a new system per January 1st 2014, as part of the digitalization process As a long term objective, they want to create a state of the art “Balance Scorecard” for all management and key personnel, to be able to give exact information on customers and sales.

Warren Dietel: You have analyzed your data. Now that you know this, what are you going to do with it? Noud van den Boer: Waiting for two years until we have the system set up the way we want it to, will take too long. But in the meantime, we know that if we increase the average spending by € 1, we will make € 2 million. That is important information! We do many things out of habit. For example, by installing video cameras in the bars, we cut costs by 20%. Arnaud Rannou: How do you keep your database up to date? And do you make use of social media? Noud van den Boer: Every person that has done business with us over the past 10 years in any way, is a customer. They are all in the system. It takes discipline though, and of course we will miss people. Our social media are not completely up to date. Artur Junqueira: Which approach do you use, to get new clients? Noud van den Boer: We have a lot of contact moments with our clients. Each account manager visits their top 50 of clients. There is a big competition between our account managers – they see a client as ‘their’ client instead of ‘our’ client. Best Practice : QUALITRAITEUR by Hélène Baud of Traiteurs de France There are 36 companies within Traiteurs de France, which all share the same level of expertise and values. Therefore, Traiteurs de France decided to develop a quality management system. QUALITRAITEUR is a quality specification that Traiteurs de France created in 2006, approved and controlled by administrative authorities. It consists of one on site audit per year and one audit on location every 3 years.

Goals Customers are more and more demanding these days. Traiteurs de France wants to prove that they respect the commitments made to their clients. Further, they also want to enhance the image of our network, through a specific label designed for our profession. There is no legal frame for catering in France, because it is not seen as a legal profession. Everybody can become a caterer. With this system, they want to develop a reliable, sustainable and front-line national network. The Qualitraiteur system revolves around 10 services commitments, specified below. 1) Skilled and certified professionals To make use of the system, the company’s length of services needs to be at least 1 year. The company has to own kitchen facilities and needs to implement the HACCP standards. 2) Trained and responsive staff The company’s staff needs to be trained on an on-going basis. This fosters creativity and innovation. An example is the Annual Chef’s Challenge. Each caterer has to send his chef to this three day event. Chefs team up with students to create new dishes and share experience/knowledge. This is a good project for communicating about Traiteurs de France. 3) Manage Material Resources in compliance with Qualitraiteur requirements The company must have tracing systems for maintenance of kitchen equipment, vehicles, information systems etc. 4) Provide regular advice and follow-up to clients The company needs to do regular checks to make sure hygiene and safety rules are respected, using dedicated inspection tools like microbiological testing, an on-line health monitoring system and health alert management.

5) Respect commitments through clear and on-going communication Very important for the company is to provide regular advice and follow-up to their clients, like a decent briefing of client and staff. Get feedback of the client on location and follow up on complaints. 6) Ensure constant selection and control of service providers and subcontractors The company must respect the made commitments through clear and on-going communication with the client, consisting of a client briefing on location, a staff line-up, use of a Defect Report Form and client feedback on location 7) Ensure on-going improvement of the services provided through surveillance and quality measurements The company must ensure constant selection and control of his service providers. A yearly Subcontractors Quality Assessment is required.

8) Do regular checks to make sure hygiene and safety rules are respected using dedicated inspection tools It is important to provide measurement and analysis of the satisfaction of all clients by using satisfaction forms. Each six months, the gathered forms will be reviewed and compared to the results of other caterers. 9) Provide measurement and analysis of the satisfaction of all clients To ensure on-going improvement of the services provided, surveillance and quality measurement is needed. This can be done by appointing a Quality Manager and/or Quality Committee, to review the Quality Policy. 10) Integrated Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management Each company has a social responsibility and needs to be concerned about their staff. The company must combat discrimination and social exclusion, promote gender equality and improve employment prospects for disabled workers. The company can therefore improve the social dialogue on health and safety. Further, the company has an environmental responsibility. The company must take action aimed at lowering water and energy consumption and cutting all forms of pollution, such as greenhouse gas emissions and waste production. They must keep track of the use of water, gas, electricity, paper and plastic and need to fill out a bio-waste tracking sheet. Lastly, the company has an economic responsibility, which has to favour the local environment.

Charles van Goch: How do you get your members to fill out the data sheets? Hélène Baud: That is our everyday challenge. It is a big commitment to become part of Traiteurs de France. Every member has to respect the requirements to be part of the network. Christian Chytil: Can we do something similar for EPCAS? Charles van Goch: We are getting there. We have our Code of Conduct and are setting up our QEM, but something like ‘Qualitraiteur’ is one step further. Artur Junqueira: What were the results of the chefs challenge? Hélène Baud: The chefs seem very open to share experiences, because there were no managers present. It was very good for team building & training. Christian Chytil: Did the government have something to do with the development of the initiative? Hélène Baud: There was no interference of the French government; it was an internal process. Best Practice: Innovations in Warewashing by Peter Kandels of Ecolab Ecolab is continuously innovating its products. They want to make a positive impact everywhere it matters and try to do more with less. They focus on offering more services for a clean and safe business environment, without high investments in labour time and energy, to reduce costs.

• • • • •

100% solid program including detergent, rinse and pre-soak Solid products eliminate spills Shape and color coding for maximum ease-of-use Non-corrosive chemistry to minimize the risk of chemical injury High performance low phosphate and phosphorus formulas for excellent results

Also, an investment was made in technology. Ecolab developed a new device to monitor the dishwashing operations, called dashboard reporting. It is more efficient in the use of energy and reduces labour costs and packaging waste (with 95%). Safety is all that matters. Dashboard reporting • Data captures for every rack washed • Data date and time stamped • Wash and Rinse Temps • Out of Product – Detergent, Rinse Aid and Sanitizer • Wash Tank Change Out Daily detailed reporting is available, to understand exactly what the problem is and when it occurred.

Apex, the new generation Ecolab changed the formula and created high solid products instead of liquid products. By taking out the dangerous ingredients, no protection is necessary. Apex is a new product, developed in the USA and soon on the market in Europe. Peter Kandels

Non labelled sanitiser cleaner Benefits • Label free cleaner sanitizer covering all the market needs • Unique product on the market • No hazardous symbol on label and no PPE under CLP • Fulfils European market needs • Registration in all European countries • Passes EU-norms • According European Biocidal Product Directive Greaselift A new strong degreaser which is both effective and safe to use. No protective equipment is needed because there is no corrosive in the product. • As effective as corrosive degreasers • Aluminium safe • Requires no gloves or goggles • No unpleasant flashback or odour • Foam for vertical cling • Biodegradable • Available dispensed or RTU Best Practice: Food Waste from a Sales Perspective by Warren Dietel of Puff ’n Stuff Catering and Jim Zilli of Zilli Hospitality Group What is branding? Branding is all about defining your customer experience and reputation. So how do you reinforce your brand? • Company brand – how does the world perceive you? • Individual brand – why do you work there? What is your experience and background? Qualify your customer! Who, what, when, where? Make sure you listen, but actively manage as well. Stay on point, but know how to move them through the sales process, and always position yourself as an expert.

Jim Zilli & Warren Dietel Presentation Offer your clients a virtual tour of your properties with e.g. an iPad. This way, they can get a sense of the location and the possibilities. Walk through the creative/culinary/innovative side of the venue. Give your clients some background information on your sales team and involve your chefs in the process, which is needed for customer intimacy. It is very important that the customer gets involved and gets a glimpse of your corporate culture. Another way to communicate with your clients is to use a chat line. Don’t use it for corporate driven communication, but use it to offer a listening ear to your clients. People are communicating all the time. Provide a tool for Q&A. Responses can be created on beforehand, but make sure to keep it non-robotic and as personal as possible. Referral marketing Puff ‘n Stuff Catering has created an online venue guide; a website within their own website. Via the venue guide the caterer refers to the venue, and the other way around. This two-way traffic is great for Google rankings. There is no need

for using Search Engine Optimization, it grows organically. Around 66.000 unique visitors visited the venue guide in one year since its implementation. Standardised systems to reduce costly waste It is a fact, that food and operations costs continue to rise. The financial squeeze between the retail price and the cost of food and operations often results in a reduction of bottom line profits. Some of the best practices that were shared by Jim Zilli and Warren Dietel to combat these rising costs are: • Develop standardised systems to reduce costly waste • Use menu engineering when designing cost-effective menus • Determine true production and overhead costs • Effective purchasing practices To make sure your team is achieving the set goals, make sure everybody is involved. Make the team responsible for the successes of the company. Give the team more leadership to achieve the best quality control possible. Forming a team within your team that is focused on quality, which develops food and service standards, is a great added value.

Efficient teams 1. Blend food & labor costs • Labor is a significant portion of menu cost • Example: Lobster is a high food cost, but is low in labor cost

• Use software to mark-up based on venue commission, other factors • Put a “Cleanup and Disposables” charge per person into every menu

2. Utilize technology to: • Scale recipes & prep • Determine required items

6. Venues • Develop different menus for different venues

3. Leverage small efficiencies • How many chefs chop parsley each day? • Consider offering screw top wine

7. Labor • Electronic & smart phone tech for time & attendance • Stagger labor arriving and departing • Capture accurate time for work produced

Lunch by Centro Turistico Alberghiero Ciasa de Gahja After the morning session with Best Practices, the attendees travelled to ‘Ciasa de Gahja’ for a lunch by hotelschool ‘Centro Turistico Alberghiero’. The students of the school had prepared a lunch and a presentation about their ‘Taste the Past’ theme. This theme focuses on local and seasonal products and recipes, with main ingredients from five categories: pork, rabbit, beef, asparagus and trout. The school focuses on sharing knowledge between elderly professionals, with great knowledge and experience about the local and seasonal products and recipes, and the students.

4. Let your software do the heavy lifting 5. Pricing • Set a base sell price for each menu item

Students of Centro Turistico Alberghiero

All the best practices that were presented during the Summer General Assembly will be published on a private part of the EPCAS website. Please Contact the EPCAS Secretariat if you have not received your login information.

Caroline Snelling, Peter Visscher & Luciano Moro

Italian Master Chefs

Claudio Pedrotti, Me lissa Dietel & Warren Dietel

Stéphanie va nO Beijsens, Ale orsc hot, Maartje tta van d & Elvera Weu er Vinne sten

alen gène Sw

s & Eu do Santo

Fernan Artur Junque ira, Ruedi Ba chmann & Peter Kand els

View from I

Magredi

Lunc h at E

lectrolux

orrie Eilers

nders & D

Best Practices at Electrolux

Toine Ma

Marie-Lu

ise Weis s, C & Christia harles van Goc h n Chytil

I Magredi

St. Francis Convent Anca Mitu, der Vinne, Aletta van & Eduard Telitsyn Cálin Mitu

EPCAS in front of Ci ty Hall

CĂĄlin Mitu &

Simon Haa stru Marco Chr p, Mischa Schmitt, ist & EugĂ¨ne Swalen

Henk Verhaes

CAS c hefs

red by EP

pa Lunc h pre

Toine Manders

Wine Agric from Azien ola Sp d adafo a ra

rduyn, est, Ann Ve Henk Verha Elvera Weusten & Xavier Fruy

Chamber of

Commerce

Warren Dietel

nk Verhaest

Esther de Vaal & He n Goc h ha, Charles va ni Thomas Kasc iovanza & Stefano G

Arnaud Rann ro Barbisotti, Jim Zilli, Charles van Goc h, Alessand Warren Dietel & Georg Broic h

ou & Edwin W esterbeek

See you in maastricht! Save the date: Winter General Assembly | During February 2nd - 4th 2014