Presented by John Noble Masi June 11, 2015

 How can you Identify Trends?  What’s Popular now?  Do you have a Productive Menu Environment?  How can you drive Seasonality in your ingredients and menus?  Suggested Core Principles  Recipe Review

 People in the United States eat an estimated 300 million sandwiches every day — on average, about one a day for every American. In restaurants, sandwiches are menued more frequently than any other type of entrée. (In fact, if hamburgers are included, sandwiches account for nearly half of all limited-service restaurant sales.)  Nearly nine in 10 (87 percent) consumers say they have purchased a sandwich away from home in the past two months, according to Chicago research firm Technomic.

 Ways to identify trends ◦ Secondary Research  Annual Reports-NACUFS, NRA  Food Industry Consultants and Research Companies  Advocacy Boards  Suppliers’ sales data  Tracking your own sales/production ◦ Primary Research  Focus Groups  Guest Surveys ◦ Competition ◦ ATTENDING THE CHEF CULINARY CONFERENCE

 Our sandwich recommendations include several of the focuses included in the 2015 Trends report : Top Trends 2015Top Trends 2015 ◦ Authentic Ethnic ◦ Southeast Asia ◦ Grass-fed Beef ◦ Perennial Favorites  BBQ  Italian cuisine  Pulled pork

What are the Trends today?

 House Cured Meats  Chicken  Pork

Increasing  Italian style cheeses  Blue varieties  Hispanic Varieties Decreasing or flat  Swiss and Cheddar  Monterey Jack  Mozzarella  Processed Cheese

Increasing  Aiolis  Pestos  Ketchup-Flavored  BBQ sauce  Sriracha-Still  Guacamole  Harissa Decreasing or flat  Dijon  Tomato Sauce  Plain Mayo  Buffalo

What is our competition doing?

 Spring 2015-"Our Tangy Pineapple Chicken offers something fresh and new to the everyday salad or wrap, and we know people look forward to its return each year"

 Spring Spicy Asian Pork Hot Toasted Sandwich-features fire-roasted pork sautéed in a spicy Asian barbecue sauce, and topped with house-pickled jalapeños, cucumbers, spicy slaw and cilantro on a toasted French roll. "

 Summer New Shrimp Salad Roll - Shrimp tossed with lemon tarragon mayo, leaf lettuce and avocado served in a freshly baked New England roll and topped with chopped basil and Old Bay seasoning

 Winter NEW Fontina Grilled Cheese- Vermont white cheddar, fontina, reduced-fat chive & onion cream cheese spread and a four cheese Italian blend grilled on thick sliced All-Natural White Miche.

Spring 2015 Sirloin & Asiago  Sirloin steak with asiago cheese, romaine, fresh tomatoes & dijon served hot on asiago ciabatta. Spring 2015 Asparagus & Tomato Egg White Frittata  Egg whites, asiago, roasted asparagus, and roasted tomatoes topped with fresh spinach on an asiago bagel.

Fall 2014: Oven Hot Turkey & Cheddar on 9- Grain Cranberry Ciabatta with apple butter mustard and arugula

100 Mini sandwiches, unique ingredients on “baked to order” bread VideoVideo

How can you add Seasonality?

 How is your Sandwich menu currently set up? ◦ Core menu vs. Specials  How do you write your recipes? ◦ Standard recipes? Tested?  Relationship with Produce Supplier? ◦ Local Availability? Support Materials?  Rewards for Creativity? ◦ Recipe contests? Team involvement?

Warmer MonthsCooler Months  Holidays  Cooler sandwiches  “Salad” sandwiches  Try a little spice  More Chicken, Turkey, and Vegetarian  Seasonal proteins-Soft Shell Crab, Spring lamb  Seasonal toppings- Avocado, Stone Fruit, Heirloom lettuces  Method-Grill and BBQ  Holidays  Warmer Sandwiches  More Melts  Combo with soups  More Beef and Pork  Seasonal toppings- Apple, Cranberry, Pear, Squash  Heartier Breads  Method-Braise and Roast

 Focus on Quality ◦ Bake your own breads ◦ Use seasonality for toppings/ingredients ◦ Offer multiple varieties of popular proteins ◦ Offer Whole Grain and Gluten Free options  Focus on Marketing Seasonality ◦ Ensure Sandwiches are part of your “seasonal plans” ◦ Build menus around Holidays-November 3 rd ??????? ◦ Key is always growing, changing, and staying current

Thank you!

 NRA 2015 Culinary Forecast  Technomic.com, 2014 The Sandwich Consumer Trend Report  WashingtonPost.com  Wisconsin Cheese Board