EUROPEAN PARTY CATERER ASSOCIATION EPCAS is dedicated to look after the interests of the European professional caterer. Our goal is to offer European caterers a platform in which networking and knowledge sharing on mutual and current subjects are key issues.
PREFACE Catering and hospitality perform important roles in our society. In our constantly changing world, the excitement about good food and drinks in a perfectly designed environment is paramount. The shared expertise between the European caterers proves to contribute time and time again to a strong and effective communication between caterers and their clients. Both on national as on European level, it is vital to share expertise and insights about concept and product development. Welcome to our culinary and inspiring world! EPCAS President
CONCEPTS EXPERTISE INTERNATIONAL
ROI
ASSEMBLIES
COMMUNICATION
WORKSHOPS
INSIGHTS
HATE WASTE LOVE FOOD
EPCAS
LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE OUT OF THE BOX
HOSPITALITY
GLOBAL ISSUES
COLLEAGUES
NETWORKING BEST PRACTICES
EXPERTS
TRENDS
EUROPEAN LEVEL
RELATED BRANCHES
JOINED FORCES
FOODSERVICE
B2B
CATERING MEMBERS SHARING UNIQUENESS
KNOWLEDGE
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
BENCHMARK
EXPERIENCES
DEVELOPMENTS
RUEDI BACHMANN
Hélène Baud - Traiteurs de France (National Association)
“Traiteurs de France has chosen to join EPCAS for several reasons: We’re a domestic network joining an international network: a great opportunity to open our minds, get international awareness and develop a benchmark approach. A nice way to share Traiteurs de France values and learn from others through their best practices, knowledge sharing, friendliness, networking, current trends and topical subjects, sustainable development and corporate responsibility awareness… A new opportunity to convey and foster the Traiteurs de France image across our borders and defend the interests of our line of business.”
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WHAT IS EPCAS? The European Party Caterer Association (EPCAS) was founded on the 23rd of January 2007 and is dedicated to looking after the interests of the European professional caterer. FOUNDATION OF EPCAS During the last decade, catering has changed from an individually based and a national and product oriented industry into a much more mature, supranational business. In the early years, several European countries started national catering associations, to join forces on common grounds. In the open-borders community of Europe it was only a matter of time before the national initiatives were succeeded by a European association, being EPCAS. AIM OF EPCAS EPCAS offers European caterers a platform in which networking and knowledge sharing on mutual and current subjects are key issues. We want to connect caterers with a current and reputable source for news, information, products, services and networking opportunities relevant to the industry. With this, EPCAS creates transparency within this line of business so that differences between regulations and legislation in the participating European countries can be addressed at the European Parliament. • First European Association for Caterers • Representing over 15 countries across Europe • Members • Committee of Related Branches • (Inter)National Associations • Collaboration Partners • Board & Advisory Council – experts from the catering industry Artur Junqueira - Grupo Ibersol / Silva Carvalho Catering (Member)
“As a catering operator we are member of EPCAS because we understand that we need to be in touch with operators from other countries. For us, being involved in EPCAS is important because sharing knowledge, best practices, problems and solutions with companies from all-over the world is essential to move our business forward. It’s also an opportunity to get in touch with similar companies and potential suppliers in order to discuss common issues that concern our line of business, find solutions and get inspiration to innovate.”
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VISION
MISSION
The European caterers join forces in order to look after the interests across borders, and to influence European legislation in order to provide the best service to their customers.
To pursue a healthy catering industry in order to achieve an increased Return on Investment, by joining forces and by offering a platform to share knowledge and experience, on mutual and current subjects.
Charles Smith - At Your Service Group (CoRB)
EPCAS is a refreshing forum for like-minded hospitality professionals where sharing ideas and contacts is at its centre. I always return to my business reinvigorated and with a clearer focus. It is my other business family.
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2012
SUMMER GENERAL ASSEMBLY COPENHAGEN 6
EPCAS GOALS 1
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TO CREATE A PLATFORM for large and medium exclusive caterers on which the sharing of knowledge, experiences, best practices and developments (specifically organisational issues, staffing, turnover volume, financial management, local and international market situations, suppliers, etcetera) are main issues.
TO DEVELOP A QUALITY LABEL for EPCAS participants which can be conveyed in their external communication, guaranteeing external parties that they are dealing with a certified company.
TO INFLUENCE EUROPEAN REGULATIONS in order to create a uniform and workable European legislation for the areas that concern caterers.
TO PROVIDE OUR MEMBERS WITH INSIGHTS in the developments in the industry, by shining light on current issues and bringing in (branch) experts to share their knowledge.
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TO CREATE TRANSPARENCY in this line of business for participating caterers by interpreting these data and sharing them. The topics are: • International trends; • Technical developments; • Improving relationships with other stake holders within the catering industry.
TO MAP THE PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION and influencing institutes for education and the developments on the labour market, to increase numbers of schooled staff in Europe.
TO JOIN FORCES TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE in the catering industry, by providing our members with up to date information, and hands-on tips and tricks, regarding possibilities to work on this matter.
Georg Broich - Broich Catering & Locations (Board Member)
“If you want to set things in motion, you have to move yourself! The decision to found EPCAS was entirely consistent for me. Both for my head and my heart. Here I can exchange with the sector on an international level. From this platform, we have already changed a lot and we also have big plans for the future.”
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WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? EPCAS offers a unique and extended network to exchange thoughts, do business and share knowledge, all in order to make for a stronger catering branch. It is the foundation of our organisation and is incorporated in everything that we do and express. WHAT IS THE VALUE OF AN EPCAS MEMBERSHIP? The possibility to attend two general assemblies per year where members receive the opportunity to network on a professional and personal level, visit companies to learn new trends, and share best practices, amongst others.
A strong social network – the network built up at EPCAS General Assemblies and FXE is invaluable to the growth of a company. Being able to share knowledge and expierences with like-minded people is essential to gain perspective.
The EPCAS Advisory Council includes several top players within the industry, who are all specialized in their own fields of expertise. The EPCAS Advisory Council members are available to coach members.
Being able to use the ECPAS brand in external communications, which acts as quality label to external parties. In order to guarantee the quality label and maintain the standard of EPCAS, all members shall comply with the EPCAS Code of Conduct.
EPCAS Food Waste Initiative – EPCAS is creating awareness about Food Waste across Europe, especially amongst members. We also provide extra knowledge on this topic, which the members can take back and implement in their businesses.
EPCAS has created a questionnaire, the Quality EPCAS Monitor, to keep up with the issues, topics and challenges that occupy the members in order to bringing certain topics up for discussion during the Assemblies and providing valuable insights, knowledge and information where needed.
Xavier Fruy - Fruy Finest Food Catering (Member)
“It is always great to see your business grow by sharing information with others. Sharing = multiplying”
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OTHER BENEFITS OF BEING INVOLVED IN EPCAS • Insights: After each assembly a management summary is spread amongst the members. Included in this summary are all the presentations given, a summary of the knowledge shared and the decisions made by the association. • Exhibitions & Conventions; Through suppliers and collaboration partners, EPCAS members receive the opportunity to attend various conferences and exhibitions free of charge, such as the SIAL, Sirha, Foodservice Network International, etc. • Collaboration Partners – HOTREC, FoodServiceEurope and the European Parliament are connected to EPCAS – and share their knowledge & insights. • A secretariat that keeps track of what is happening in the industry, spots trends for the caterers which they may want to implement, and maintains an overview of the upcoming events of the industry such as the trade fairs. • A Market Place on the website, where members of the Committee of Related Branches can publish special offers for EPCAS members. • A company page on the EPCAS website where members can publish their own news, movies, photos and general company information. This page can be viewed by all visitors of the website. • Anticipating on the War on Talent – the EMCup (the competition amongst European Hotel Management Schools) is intertwined with Food Executive Europe, connecting students with the hospitality industry and vice versa and as such building a bridge between schools/students and companies/employers. • Knowledge to be gained for staff members by attending; • Food Executive Europe (FXE) – the management teams of the EPCAS members are invited to attend and gain valuable ‘take-home-value’. • Summer General Assemblies – the chefs are invited to participate in the special chefs programme to exchange and gain knowledge.
Warren Dietel - International Caterers Association/Puff ‘n Stuff Catering (Collaboration Partner & Advisory Council)
“Connecting with interesting companies and professionals each coming from different cultures and experiences is of much added value to us. Everyone is willing to share and there is much to learn from EVERYONE! EPCAS members are bright and innovative… and also lots of fun to be around. Remaining stagnant is the kiss of death. You never know what will inspire your next big idea. EPCAS gives me the necessary push to think and approach my business differently. I now have an incredible network of catering friends from all over Europe. I know that if I have a need or require advice on a topic I have a network of incredible professionals I can call on for ideas and guidance. “
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EPCAS STRUCTURE
Determining Course EPCAS
Experts
Board EPCAS Foundation
Reciprocity Linked to Industry
(Inter) National Associations
Committee of Related Branches
Board EPCAS Association
Sounding Board Advisory Council
Umbrella Organisations
Secretariat
Facts & Figures
Coaching
EPCAS Organisation
Daily Operational & Organisational Tasks
Collaboration Partners
Media & PR
Working Committees Online Tools Marketing & Communication
Expertise
Raising awareness on important issues
Food Waste
QEM
Noud van den Boer - Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep (Member) “As a market leader in party-, event- and venue catering in The Netherlands and one of the larger European players in the field, the Royal Van den Boer Group has benefitted well from the EPCAS membership. It gave us a much better view of the European and worldwide market, best practices, players and developments in the field of party-, event- en venue catering. Meanwhile it gave us the opportunity to directly communicate with the other players in the market, personally as well as for several members of our management team. We feel it’s also our responsibility to share our company- and market information with foreign competitors to develop and increase professionalism of our sector.”
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FOOD WASTE INITIATIVE We strive to be sensible and aware regarding food waste, because we believe that “Wasting food is economically bad, environmentally wrong and morally, ethically unacceptable!”. For that reason the EPCAS Food Waste Initiative has been established. The Food Waste Initiative consists of two components: • Best practices and information from leading members in food waste reduction • With help of a Toolkit made for members
Photo: Maison van den Boer
The EPCAS Food Waste Toolkit has been designed by the EPCAS Food Waste Steering Committee and Unilever Food Solutions. It has been developed to help the members reduce their food waste within their catering practices. The toolkit includes several attachments that help collect data and stimulate the staff members. FOOD WASTE STEERING COMMITTEE
Pierre Smits – Koninklijke Van den Boer Groep Peter Kandels – Ecolab Stéphanie van Oorschot – EPCAS Secretariat
Ruedi Bachmann – EPCAS President Xavier Fruy – Fruy Finest Food Catering
The three levels of the Food Waste Initiative:
BRONZE FOOD WASTE SENSITIVITY
SILVER FOOD WASTE AWARENESS
• Brief staff yearly concerning • Measure Food Waste Food Waste • Provide figures in writing • Sign EPCAS Code of Conduct
GOLD FOOD WASTE PREVENTION
• Written plan on implementing measures • Integrated procedure 11
2013
WINTER GENERAL ASSEMBLY LAS VEGAS 12
QUALITY EPCAS MONITOR As EPCAS we have the chance to professionalize our European branch. In order to be able to do this, we need to know what is happening with our members and what issues and topics keep them occupied, such as trends, new legislations and work-related challenges. In the form of a questionnaire, named the Quality EPCAS Monitor (QEM), we gain insight in what keeps the members busy. We believe that the information retrieved from these questions, give a good reflection on current affairs in the catering industry, as a whole. The QEM is based on one of the EPCAS objectives; to create transparency, especially concerning international trends, facts and figures, and technical developments. This also gives us, as association, the opportunity to support our members by bringing certain topics up for discussion during the Assemblies and providing valuable insights, knowledge and information where needed. The goal is to expand to the rest of the market in a few years to bring a more correct picture of the branch, in the form of a benchmark.
‘The Quality EPCAS Monitor: Designed for caterers, by caterers’
Tom Ambaum - Neptunus (CoRB)
“We have joined EPCAS since 3 years now, it’s a fantastic association. EPCAS is helping us by setting up relations with people in the catering industry, which is also our market.”
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GENERAL ASSEMBLIES All members are invited to attend the General Assemblies which take place two times per year; the Winter General Assembly in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and the Summer General Assembly in one of the EPCAS members’ countries. WINTER GENERAL ASSEMBLY • Annually in Maastricht, the Netherlands During Food Executive Europe (FXE) (except 2013: Las Vegas) SUMMER GENERAL ASSEMBLY • Hosted by one of our EPCAS members • Thun, Switzerland 2009 • Düsseldorf, Germany 2010 • Lisbon, Portugal 2011 • Copenhagen, Denmark 2012 • Pordenone, Italy 2013 • Bucharest, Romania 2014 • Milan, Italy 2015 During the General Assemblies, the members get together for several days to network in an informal setting, exchange knowledge & best practises, get updates about EPCAS, experience culture, spot new trends and of course enjoy great F&B, hotels and each other’s company. After each General Assembly a management summary is shared amongst the members. Included in this summary are all the presentations given, a summary of the knowledge shared and the decisions made by the association. Tina Færgemann - Kai Thor Catering (Member)
“We have learned quite a lot from EPCAS. We already do a lot within our company, but still we can do better. After each Assembly, we take back our ‘homework’ and implement this!”
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2013
SUMMER GENERAL ASSEMBLY ITALY 15
2014
WINTER GENERAL ASSEMBLY MAASTRICHT 16
FOOD EXECUTIVE EUROPE In 2014, a new, exclusive event called Food Executive Europe (FXE) was launched. FXE is a ‘by invitation only’ event and the first of its kind organised solely for decision makers within the European hospitality industry, focusing on the foodservice, hotel, (hospitality management) education and catering segment. It provides a platform for networks and associations, to encourage sharing and netWWW.FOODEXECUTIVE.EU working with like-minded people. FXE is a truly inspiring event for every hospitality professional who believes in the added value of networking and knowledge sharing, and who is willing to step out of his comfort zone to experience innovations and business opportunities from other segments of hospitality. EPCAS is one of the initiating parties, together with Foodservice Network International, HotelloTOP and EMCup. AN IMPORTANT THEME IN FXE IS:
THE AGENDA FOR THE FUTURE: THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE!
WATER
POWER
FOOD
POLLUTION
CHANGING MARKETS HEALTH & CARE
EDUCATION
Living together, now and in the future. In 2050, the world population will consist of 9 billion people. This means that we need to make changes now, in order to be ready for tomorrow! For this reason, we must find new ways to keep the world liveable for everyone. To underline the global problems even more, transnational cooperation is a necessity. We, as people and as industry, have a responsibility. We should be aware of the influence that we have on this planet and what the consequences of our actions are. What role does our industry play in this and what can we, as a branch, do? Tom Steffen - Steffen Traiteur (Member)
“As a multi operations family business, we spend most of the year working IN our business instead of ON our business; our involvement in EPCAS helped us realise this.”
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2014
SUMMER GENERAL ASSEMBLY BUCHAREST 18
CONTACT INFORMATION EPCAS Headquarters Château Jerusalem Jeruzalemweg 2 6222 NG Maastricht The Netherlands P. O. Box 4260 6202 WC Maastricht The Netherlands T: +31 43 356 1091 F: +31 43 326 4263 www.epcas.eu office@epcas.eu @epcas1 #EPCAS
Sven Bodry - RAK Porcelain Europe (CoRB)
“We can learn a lot from all of the needs of the members, caterers, so we can produce for those needs.”
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CONNECTING EUROPEAN CATERERS SINCE 2007