Retail & FoodService

Food bloggers are hungry for Idaho® potatoes! These passionate home cooks have been whipping up spud-centered creations in an assortment of videos and recipes spanning the web. The Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) is collecting these original Idaho® potato posts and serving them up in a new section on its website, The Potato Blog Squad. …

Among the best-­known garlic lore, its power to repel vampires is legendary. Following that line of thinking, Christopher Ranch Monviso California Heirloom Garlic becomes a failsafe ingredient for Halloween night specials. As Halloween falls on Wednesday this year, operators can capitalize on garlic’s popularity and its ability to ward off the “evil eye” to lure customers with enticing menus and ghoulish fun. …

Darden Restaurants today issued its second sustainability report noting it has made progress in all areas of sustainability across its more than 1,900 restaurants, 180,000 employees and global supply chain. Most notably, the company has exceeded its 2015 goal of reducing water consumption in each of its restaurants by 15 percent on aggregate and is more than half way toward meeting the same goal for reducing energy consumption in its restaurants. …

The nation’s premier organization of professional chefs recently honored Executive Chef William Reardon and Hartford’s own VIVO Seasonal Trattoria with the 2012 Achievement of Excellence Award during the American Culinary Federation’s 2012 National Convention held in Orlando, FL. VIVO, which is located at the Marriott Hartford Downtown in Hartford, CT, was one of only 11 restaurants nationwide honored with the award. …

Reinhart Foodservice Louisiana, L.L.C., announced that it has entered into an agreement with P.A. Menard, Inc. to acquire certain assets of P.A. Menard's business in New Orleans, Louisiana. The transaction is expected to close on August 13, 2012, and P.A. Menard's operations will be subsequently integrated into Reinhart's New Orleans distribution facility. …