An overview of soy oil and its role in foodservice applications.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC. Courtesy of QUALISOY

Soy has a long and important history as one of the world’s most important crops. Every year, 44.07 million metric tons of soybeans are produced globally. In the United States, in 2009, we grew an estimated 3,359 million bushels of soybeans, and from these soybeans we produced 19 billion pounds of soybean oil. Of all the different edible oils produced in the United States, about 80% is made from soybeans.

How much more are consumers willing to pay for sustainable cuisine?

Consumers want and need to eat out, and the foodservice industry has a huge carbon footprint. Getting industry operators and consumers on the “green” bandwagon is necessary to minimize the impact that restaurants have on the environment in the future. But how willing are patrons to embrace this change?

According to a recent Mintel report, just more than half (57%) of respondents are willing to pay more for local and sustainable fare; however, the majority of those are only willing to pay a mere 1% to 5% more.

“Green and sustainable attributes pale in comparison to the leading restaurant decision drivers of menu selection, prices and convenient location,” says Eric Giandelone, foodservice director at Mintel. “However, these initiatives support the leading attributes to help a restaurant stand apart and will become more important as the green movement continues to progress.”

Of the three things you can manage—cost, quality and quantity—you can realistically only manage two. Or so thought the Institute for the Culinary Arts at Metropolitan Community College     .

By James E. Trebbien, CCE, CCA

Omaha, according to some of the people who study such things, has more restaurants per capita than any other U.S. city. In addition to this amazing number of restaurants, the menu is varied, diverse, excellent and reasonably priced. The quality of the restaurants is excellent. As in most major metropolitan areas, to be a chef or restaurant manager in Omaha takes a lot of education and knowledge because of the competition, choices, culinary talent and business sophistication.

From social networking’s impact on success to a greater emphasis on in-house rustic fare to save cost, Technomic predicts the biggest influences on U.S. restaurants next year.

Just as the nation's economic forecast includes mixed signals, restaurants across the United States face a varied landscape of expected trends in 2012. Technomic, the leading foodservice research and consulting firm, sees these seven developments making news in the coming year:

1. Consumers Seek a Twist on the Familiar. Shell-shocked consumers are in no mood to take risks, but novel flavors still tingle their taste buds. Look for comfort foods with a twist (gourmet, ethnic, artisan, wood-fired) as well as innovation in familiar formats (sandwiches, wraps, pizza, pasta) rather than breakout items taken from less-familiar global cuisines.

The CIA’s recent Worlds of Flavor® International Conference & Festival examined the casualization of fine dining.

Dozens of leading chefs from all over the world shared their expertise about the growing role of casual food in different world cuisines at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone in St. Helena, Calif., November 3-5. “World Casual: The Future of American Menus” was the topic of the 14^th-annual Worlds of Flavor® International Conference & Festival held at the college’s Napa Valley campus.

Jose Garces, the James Beard Award-winning Ecuadorian-American chef who owns eight restaurants in Philadelphia and Chicago, provided examples of how to successfully translate world-casual concepts onto American menus. The Food Network Iron Chef led a workshop on the signature casual flavors of Mexico, Ecuador and Peru and gave a presentation about the next generation of Latin casual at a session moderated by Chef Rick Bayless, with CIA chef-instructor Iliana de la Vega as a fellow presenter.