Who's News in Catering for February 3, 2024

People on the Move

Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino, a spacious resort nestled in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of North Lake Tahoe announces Sahid Khan as the new executive pastry chef.  Originally from Bhubaneswar, India, Khan’s devotion to the culinary arts stems from a deep passion for creating memorable experiences through food. He expresses a fascination by the power of food in bringing people together, evoking emotions, and creating long lasting memories.  Khan embarked on his hospitality journey 16 years ago, starting as a commis chef in a bakery and confectionary. Joining the Hyatt Corporation in 2019, Khan assumed the role of head pastry chef at Park Hyatt Doha. In his new role as executive pastry chef, Khan’s main responsibilities include overseeing and managing all aspects of the pastry department, conceptualizing, and developing innovative pastry menus, and ensuring the highest standards of quality and taste in all pastry creations. 

Air Culinaire Worldwide, a global leader in inflight catering, committed to delivering exceptional high-quality food, proudly announces a change in leadership aimed at further elevating the inflight catering experience. John Lee has assumed the role of CEO at Air Culinaire Worldwide and has a proven record of accomplishment in international business and financial leadership. Lee will also continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer of Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., the parent company of Air Culinaire Worldwide expressed his excitement about leading Air Culinaire Worldwide, stating, In addition to Lee assuming the CEO role, he announced a new position within Air Culinaire – Chief Operating Officer and promoted Sav Mongelli into that position. Mongelli’s oversight will extend to Guest Services, Global Operations, and our Network of vendors. Sav has been with Air Culinaire Worldwide for 18 years and has a wealth of experience managing several departments during his tenure.  

Hot Off the Presses

For the second year, General Mills Foodservice announces it is rolling out the red carpet for restaurants to showcase how biscuits play a starring role on their menus and offer operators a chance to win a total of $35,000 in cash prizes. From Feb. 1 to March 31, 2024, the Biskies™ Recipe Contest will accept submissions for original recipes that use any baked or unbaked Pillsbury™ biscuit product and two or more additional ingredients. The Biskies Recipe Contest calls on chefs, owners and employees of commercial restaurants to showcase how biscuits shine on their menus for a chance to win cash prizes by uploading a photo of their original biscuit recipe to the contest website, Facebook or Instagram. The recipe contest will award one Grand-Prize Winner, who will receive $20,000, and three Runner-Up Winners (one for each category: appetizer, entrée and dessert), who will each receive $5,000. 

Ahead of the second edition of F&B@Sea (April 10-11, 2024), Seatrade Cruise has published its second Cruise Food and Beverage Trends Report. The findings from the report indicate a momentum towards experiential dining and/or opportunities for passengers to connect with communities visited via their gastronomy with demand for local cuisine, authentic cultural food experiences and immersive dining predicted to gather pace in 2024 and beyond. The report, which captures the views of cruise lines, manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers of food/beverage, while also representing the views of associations, training providers and consultancies, reveals challenges impacting the sector as well as several key trends influencing shipboard drinking and dining. 

ezCater, the leading food for work technology company in the US, has announced its new supplier diversity program designed to highlight and amplify small businesses and restaurants owned by members of an underrepresented group. As part of its supplier diversity program, the company has launched two new filters to provide more search options on ezCater’s marketplace. The “Diversity of Ownership” filter allows workplaces to seamlessly search and order from restaurants whose owner identifies as Asian-American, Pacific Islander, Black, Disabled, Hispanic, Latine, Indigenous American, LGBTQ, Middle Eastern, North African, a veteran or a woman. The "Business Size" filter allows workplaces to discover and support small businesses. To participate in ezCater’s supplier diversity program, restaurants can provide demographic information about their ownership in their ezCater account. ezCater defines restaurant ownership as the person(s) with at least 50% ownership of the independent business, franchise, or corporation; and adheres to the Small Business Administration definition for small restaurants as having less than $13.5 million in revenue. The demographic data provided by restaurant partners will also be used to gauge the equitability of ezCater's network of over 100,000 restaurants, power enhanced search results and heritage month spotlights, and generate reporting on diverse supplier spend for corporate account customers.

Products on the Market 

Tillamook is excited to share two announcements for products that are hitting shelves across the nation.