We’ve come across some interesting food news this past week that we thought was either funny or just plain interesting. The first was that Burger king is introducing an I-Phone Application that allows people to get their order in quicker. You can login, find a BK location, place your order and then use the GPS to guide you there. A little much but one thing they do have going for them is that the Application can track their order and act as a loyalty program for future incentive. Not a bad idea. If you’re tired of waiting in those long lines at BK.

Recently a leading market research firm conducted a healthy living survey; Over half of the over 10,000 people surveyed said they usually eat what they want, when they want with a good number of them saying they enjoyed fast food too much to give it up. A quarter of those surveyed said they do other things to make up for some of their habits such as exercising and backing off on alcohol, etc… There were different trends in the different countries that were surveyed. A great article if you have the time; http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE54R1B720090528

On that note, a recent study conducted by the Medical University of South Carolina states that while many in our country are well aware of the benefits of eating healthy including fruits, vegetables etc, that the number of people that are actually following a good healthy eating plan is actually declining. The findings published in The American Journal of Medicine compares two well-known studies done from 1988-1994 and in 2001-2006. Some of the conclusions were; physical activity twelve times a month or more has decreased from 53% to 43% and that people eating five  or more fruits and vegetables a day has decreased from 42% to 26%.

A little over a year ago, AGAR brought Veteran Chef Jeff Merry on board to spearhead their Test Kitchen initiative. The AGAR Test Kitchen is a concept that welcomes customers of AGAR to come in and have Chef Merry work side by side with chefs and owners to take a look at their menus and try to come up with solutions to their challenges whether it’s menu items, food costs, labor costs or whatever can help them become more profitable in these times. Chef Merry offers many valuable solutions including the re-engineering of their menus and advice on portion sizes etc… As a food distributor in New England, AGAR tries very hard to offer other value-added services to their customers. This is just one example.

Chef Merry is a 25-year veteran of the foodservice industry. He has served as executive chef at major hotels in the greater Boston area and beyond. Chef Merry served as Director of Food and Beverage at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, in Natick, MA. and served as a Chef Instructor at Newbury College in Brookline, MA, where he trained countless students for a culinary career.

During his career, he has earned many industry awards including the Peabody Hotel Group “Culinary Leadership Award,” “Manager of the Year” Executive Chef, Intercontinental Hotel Group “Best of the Best,” Crowne Plaza Americas “Food & Beverage Director of the Year,” and “Manager of the Year” Director of Food and Beverage.

Click on the video and get to know Chef Jeff Merry; If you’d like to visit the test kitchen, contact AGAR.

Massachusetts health officials just passed regulations that require certain restaurants to post calorie information in their establishment. Restaurant chains with 20 or more location will have to disclose calorie information on either the menus of menu boards on their wall. According to the Boston Globe, this applies to about 50 chains that comprise over 5,000 locations. Other states have already enforced similar codes and in Massachusetts, it’s slated to into effect in November, 2010. A full article can be found here in the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124225207517116943.html

What do you think about this? Is it a good idea?

Mayor Menino welcomes (LtoR) President of Valencia,Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia, King Olav of Sweden

On Friday May 8, 2009 I had the unique privilege to be a guest at Mayor Menino’s reception for several foreign dignitaries passing through Boston for the Volvo Ocean Races.  Since I was a small child, I never thought I would be in the meat and food distribution business.  Instead, I always wanted to be an Ambassador… to anywhere.  There I was among the venerable Mayor Thomas Menino and his wife Angela.  But the evening was all about meeting the King of Sweden, Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia and the President of Valencia.   As a Bostonian I was thrilled to be able to be part of such an exclusive celebration showcasing our beautiful city, and even more pleased to see our customer, Gourmet Caterers, catering the food for this fabulous event.

AGAR has long been the food distributor for one of Boston’s cherished landmarks, Kelly’s Roast Beef. Who hasn’t been to Kelly’s?? Kelly’s was founded in 1951 on the famous Revere Beach and now has five locations around greater Boston. Not only has Revere Beach seen its share of national recognition but so has Kelly’s, having been featured on numerous national TV shows.

Of course, Kelly’s is famous for their roast beef but they have also made quite a name for themselves with their fried clams, fish and chips and their good old American favorites, hot dogs and burgers.

Karen Bressler, president and CEO of AGAR, recently took the time to visit Kelly’s and ask them what was important to them in their relationship with AGAR.

Many have asked us at AGAR what we are doing to help customers through the H1N1 Swine flu outbreak that is traveling through many countries. As a food distributor and a company that not only deals with large amounts of pork products but also supplies them to restaurants that typically have large amount of people in a small area, we’ve been asked how we help our customers. One word; education.

First of all, and once again, it’s alright to eat pork products. You cannot get the flu from eating these products so it’s important for all of us to understand this and the public to understand this important aspect of this story.

At AGAR, we have done a few things to help our customers. First, we quickly discounted the pricing for some of our disinfectant products to help restaurants. It’s also a great time for food establishments to revisit their internal hand washing and food handling practice to ensure they are operating in the cleanest methods. We’ve also informed our customers that there are a number of places they can continue their sanitation education with Serve Safe training. http://www.marestaurantassoc.org/new_food_handlers_course.html

The link below is to the CDC’s website regarding safe food handling practices and hand washing guidelines that we can all learn from; http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/cruiselines/handwashing_guidelines.htm

Many of us in the food distribution business both in New England and around the country have been asked about the recent Swine Flu outbreak and eating pork products. While the respiratory disease does come from pigs, it does not pose any threat to humans who consumer pork products. As we have all been informed this past week, you get swine flu or any other strain of flu through human contact, people coughing near you etc… Not by eating pork products.

We found a great FAQ article about this topic recent here; We thought it was informative enough to share with you. Enjoy and keep eating pork if you wish.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-04-26-swine-flu-questions-answers_N.htm