Chef Corey Siegel Wins Golden Fork Award
Electrolux Professional Executive Chef Corey Siegel traveled to Kiawah Island Resort near Charleston, SC on Feb. 23 to participate in the 2018 Saturday Night Wine Odyssey Gala at Gourmet and Grapes – an unparalleled event that couples local and regional culinary talent with award-winning wineries.
The goal of the event is to raise funds and awareness that will support cancer research and patient programs at the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Chef Corey was one of 25 chefs that prepared a dish for the competition.
All attendees were able to vote on their favorite dish and selected Chef Corey as the winner of the Golden Fork Award for preparing his Smoked Hamachi Crudo bowl (cucumber, puffed wild rice, citrus-serrano vinaigrette and benne seeds).
February Sales Rep Training at Center of Excellence
Four new sales team members traveled to the Electrolux Professional Center of Excellence in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 12 for product education and training. In attendance was Tom Zaun, Art Zaun and Kathy Kaufmann with new sales rep group, Easybar-Central, along with new sales team member, Steve Schmalz, with Voeller and Associates.
Easybar-Central covers Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and western Wisconsin. Voeller & Associates covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
Isaac Kim, Sales Territory Manager for the western United States, hosted the group along with Electrolux Executive Chef Corey Siegel.
The group discussed Electrolux Professional products including commercial foodservice and laundry and even got involved with live food equipment demos using the combi oven, blast chiller/shock freezer, thawing cabinet, EMPower restaurant range equipment, 24-gallon pressure braising pan, food prep equipment and SpeeDelight.
Beach Trip: Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Supply Show of the Southeast
Myrtle Beach, SC was the location for the 42nd annual 2018 Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Supply Show of the Southeast at the end of January. This show provides hospitality industry owners and operators full exposure to the latest products and services available to the industry.
Held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, this three-day event featured more than 400 exhibitors and thousands of attendees. Attendees included independent hotels, motel and restaurant chains, FF&E companies, purchasing companies, healthcare lodging, foodservice, country clubs, design firms, resorts, bed & breakfast, catering companies, nightclubs, bars, hospitals and property management companies.
Mark Thompson with Kelvinator Commercial and Richard Bocian with Dito Sama attended the show along with Lance Restaurant Supply – food service equipment dealer located in Little River, SC.
Lance presented the Kelvinator Commercial (commercial refrigeration), Dito Sama (commercial food prep) and Veetsan Star (commercial dishwashing) brands in their booth.
“The second day of the show really picked up in attendance with interested customers,” Bocian said. “This included the hospitality, restaurant and country club segments in particular. Overall it was a successful event.”
ESI Sell-A-Rama 2018
ESI Sell-A-Rama is the most influential buying show in the Canadian Foodservice Equipment Industry. Hosted by ESI Marketing Group, one of the largest buying groups in Canada, this event brings together manufacturers and dealers for four days in a networking environment complete with round-robin appointments and followed by an extravagant awards ceremony.
The event was held Feb. 4-7 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego.
Electrolux Professional was represented at the event by Pedro Martins, Country Manager for Canada, and Mark Ortiz, Head of Foodservice Sales North America.
Martins and Ortiz met with equipment dealers and showcased the Electrolux Professional star product line-up, discussed target market segments and shared equipment success stories.
Coffee 101: Bean to Brew
Electrolux Professional North America employees attended a coffee education seminar at the Center of Excellence in Charlotte on Feb. 14. Brady Butler and Thom Swain with Dilworth Coffee/Stockton Graham & Co. presented a history of coffee and how it is incorporated into today’s commercial foodservice/beverage industry.
Both presenters are members of the Specialty Coffee Association of America which promote good barista skills and an education in coffee.
The educational seminar was a focus on some of the key products in the recently expanded Electrolux Professional product portfolio – coffee and espresso machines/grinders.
Grindmaster Cecilware (coffee, tea and beverage equipment manufacturer) was acquired by Electrolux Professional last year. The seminar was featured on Facebook Live and can be reviewed here.
The Future of Foodservice Discussed at MAFSI 2018
Changing trends, market disruption and new solutions for the commercial foodservice industry were discussed at MAFSI 2018 in sunny Naples, Florida. The conference was held Jan. 24-27 at the Naples Grande Resort.
Industry professionals connected with their peers, industry legends and the brightest minds in commercial food. The conference is biennial and held every non-NAFEM show year. More than 550 MAFSI member reps and equipment manufacturers attended the four-day conference.
Attending from Electrolux Professional was Roger Kenney, Isaac Kim, Jessica Goodman and Richard Bocian. Electrolux presented and discussed the “Championing the Changed Kitchen” campaign that it first introduced at the NAFEM Show – a continuing look at the role of the chef in the workplace and the equipment manufacturer’s ability to make them work leaner, healthier, more sustainable – and profitable.
Social media was also discussed and the power of digital marketing and its increasing use throughout the foodservice industry.
Another keynote presentation at MAFSI 2018 was Amazon Business discussing “Amazon Business in HD: How Amazon Starts with the Customer and Works Backwards for B2B.”
Other notable keynotes included “Foodservice in HD: Macro Trends Affecting the Industry” and “E-Commerce in HD: The Now and Future of B2B E-Commerce for Foodservice E&S.”
Focus on Multiple Chain Units: MUFES 2018
Dave Hinton, Vice President of Chains for Electrolux Professional North America, recently attended the Multiunit Foodservice Equipment Symposium (MUFES) 2018 to network with attending leading national chains. Foodservice Equipment Reports hosted MUFES 2018 from Jan. 27-29 at the Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas.
The two-day event pairs equipment and supplies purchasers from these chains with manufacturers in an environment packed with powerful and relevant industry topics and discussions.
Arby’s corporate gave a powerful presentation on energy efficiencies. Other chain restaurants in attendance included YUM! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut), Dave & Buster’s, Top Golf, Wendy’s, Whataburger and many more.
MUFES is a great event to get out and meet these customers and really get to know their business needs.
