As the elections approach, we continue to hear that jobs are the most important issue in the minds of the American people. Over the past four years, during the worst of the financial crisis, the restaurant industry outpaced the national average with 2.3 percent job growth, reaching 12.9 million employees1. The National Restaurant Association projects that foodservice will add another 1.4 million jobs in the coming decade. Americans now spend $632 billion annually in restaurants and cite food quality as the number one reason for hoosing a place to eat, whether in fine dining or casual sectors. In fact, 66 percent of adults say they seek out restaurants with foods that they can’t easily make at home.
So how does a restaurateur remain successful and continue to innovate in order to get a piece of that everexpanding pie? Keeping abreast of the latest food trends and emerging flavors is key.
Over the past 15 years, the Worlds of Flavor® International Conference & Festival produced by The Culinary Institute of America has paved the way for the incorporation of a wide world of flavors into American menus. Themes introduced at past Worlds of Flavor Conferences have consistently foretold restaurant trends: the movement to more casual dining, including in fine dining operations; the Spanish food craze; the rise of Asian
influence on all types of American operations; and the mainstreaming of “street food” to name a few. 1 All figures from National Restaurant Association – 2012 Restaurant Industry Pocket Factbook
This year, the theme of the conference is “Arc of Flavor: Re-imagining Culinary Exchange from the Mediterranean and Middle East to Asia.” Participants will hear from leading chefs, culinary experts and cookbook authors from around the world, who will explore the techniques, ingredients, flavor profiles, and dishes that have made their way across that arc, looking at their similarities and differences and translating them for American menus.
Through seminars, cooking demonstrations, panel discussions and a daily marketplace tasting, attendees will have the opportunity to exchange information with chefs from 24 different countries, including, for the first time Iceland, Qatar, and Sri Lanka.
The entire event, according to Greg Drescher, CIA Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Industry Leadership, “is organized encourage attendees to incorporate these flavors and techniques, which range from the most avant-garde to centuries-old, in their menus. Nowhere else can American chefs get this kind of concentrated access to such a delicious spectrum of ‘gold standard’ world flavors.”
Over the years, the Worlds of Flavor Conference has provided inspiration and knowledge for thousands of leading American chefs and operators who then work to translate these flavors to the unique palates and preferences of their customers, be they in hotels, resorts, casual cafes, campus dining, or quick serve restaurants.
More information about this year’s conference, open to culinary professionals only, is available on www.worldsofflavor.com. The program is made possible in part through the generous support of Grand Platinum Sponsor McCormick for Chefs, Platinum Sponsors Chobani, The Coca-Cola Company, Foods from Spain/Wines from Spain, and United Soybean Board, and more than two dozen additional foodservice industry sponsors.
About The Culinary Institute of America:
Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute of America is an independent, notfor- profit college offering bachelor's and associate degrees, as well as certificate programs, in the culinary arts and baking and pastry arts. As the world's leading culinary college, the CIA has a network of more than 40,000 alumni that includes many industry greats. The college has campuses in New York (Hyde Park), California (St. Helena), and Texas (San Antonio) and Singapore. In addition to its degree programs, the CIA offers courses for professionals and food enthusiasts, as well as wine education. Each year, the CIA presents a portfolio of industry leadership programs and initiatives. The college’s Worlds of Flavor International Conference and Festival is the premier educational forum in the USA dedicated to the discovery and exploration of world flavors, cultures and cuisines.
Source: The Culinary Institute of America