New Year's Resolutions

All of us at Hatco want to wish everyone a happy and safe new year's celebration. It's been a great year and we look forward to another great year in 2011. As we look to the new year and make those new year's resolutions - remember to put those you love first in your life. In fact, the number one most popular new year's resolution in America is "spending more time with friends and family". At Hatco we are lucky because we are a family and we work hard and play hard together. We are fortunate to work with people we call friends.

Just for fun, I looked up the top ten most common new year's resolutions. Here they are:

1) Spend more time with family and friends (all of us at Hatco agree this should be #1)

2) Fitness and Health (also a great resolution and one that deserves to be at the top - I assure you this will make Billy Booster's list this year - as his tank seems to be growing in places it shouldn't)

3) Lose Weight (sounds kind of like #2 above - and hence the same comments apply - at least for this Booster)

4) Enjoy Life More (those of us at Hatco never struggle with enjoying life - so we would just lump this one in there with #1 above - spending time with friends and family with result in enjoying life!)

5) Quit Smoking (we're happy to say that Hatco's smoking cessation program has had great success over the past few years and as such - not too many people on this list for 2011. However - there are a few stragglers - so if you are one of those dinosaurs that still smokes in America - you better bump this killer habit to number one!)

6) Quit Drinking (we plead the fifth amendment on this one)

7) Get out of debt (as an employee owned company - we are happy to say this will be on our list for 2011 - and it will be achieved)

8) Learn Something New (Hatco's strategy map includes an entire section entitled "Learn and Grow" - we all need to keep learning every year - we would suggest taking this resolution one step further and identify exactly what you want to learn - for Billy Booster - it might be how to speak Chinese)

9) Help Others - AMEN! Always a good one - do this one every day and you will live a happy and healthy life

10) Get Organized (probably should put this one first - because if you have no idea what you are doing you probably have no chance on keeping any of your new year's resolutions

So there you have it. Billy's final blog for 2010. I'm taking the rest of the year off to rest up and get pumped up for 2011 - it will be a great year.

Have a safe and happy new years.

Blessings to all.

Billy

Happy New Year!

"Happy New Year!" That greeting will be said and heard for at least the first couple of weeks as a new year gets under way. But the day celebrated as New Year's Day in modern America was not always January 1.

The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible crescent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).

The beginning of spring seems a more logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical or agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

The Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.

The Romans continued to observe the New Year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.

In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the New Year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the New Year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.

THE CHURCH'S VIEW OF NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS
Although in the first centuries AD the Romans continued celebrating the New Year, the early Catholic Church condemned the festivities as paganism. But as Christianity became more widespread, the early church began having its own religious observances concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations, and New Year's Day was no different. New Years is still observed as the Feast of Christ's Circumcision by some denominations.

So there you have it - a quick history of how January 1st became New Year's Day. Enjoy the celebration - and stay safe.

Happy New Year!

Billy Booster

Hatco Wishes you PEACE This Season!

Happy Monday - hope everyone had a great Christmas. Thanks to my elves last week for posting Christmas wishes! I had a tragic computer accident - I dropped my lap top. It died. I spent the holiday naked without any computer protection. I'm all better now. I want to share some Holiday cheer with you.

For those of you who didn't receive the Hatco Christmas Card in time - it's attached below - and I hope you think it's awesome. I love it. I always wanted to own and drive my own party bus.

Obviously our message for the season is one of Peace and Love. That's the kind of people we are at Hatco. We encourage World Peace and we Love all our partners and customers. It's a great place to work.

Most of us spent the holidays with our families - enjoying some good food and drink surrounded by those we love. Many of us also took time to remember the reason for the season and made sure to give back some of the incredible blessings that have been bestowed upon us.

We all have many favorite Christmas traditions - and we hope all of you do as well. It's not important what those traditions are - as much as it is that we continue to honor them and to reflect on their meaning.

From all of us at Hatco, we wish all of you the very best of Holiday Seasons,

Merry Christmas,

Billy Booster

Happy Holidays!

Sharing and enjoying the holiday meal is such a time-honored tradition that we share with the rest of the world! Amazing how this becomes a melting pot of exciting flavors and tastes of old or new family recipe favorites that land on the table. I think of it as part of the glue that brings us all together, as we gather and share the holiday conversation. Well, sorry I am in a rush to find yet another delectable food item to add to my food list.

So here's a holiday toast to all our friends around the world. We are so thankful for you being part of this blog with us.

Happy Holidays,

Billy Booster

Winter Solstice

Today, at Hatco, is the winter solstice; this is the shortest day, and the longest night because the Earth, tilted on its axis, is the farthest away from the sun on this day! AND, we had a nice layer of snow overnight. I'm all bundled up and ready for the winter weather - are you? Email me and let me know what your holiday plans are!

Happy Holidays,

Billy Booster

Popular Foods for Winter!

Us Hatco types love to eat. We've also discovered we crave different foods in winter than in summer. Do you have this problem too? I recently came across a list of foods that increase in popularity during the Winter months. Some of them aren't surprising. Others are inspiring. Here's an abbreviated list for you too enjoy - and possibly build a holiday menu from....

- Braised Meats / Roasts - no surprise

- Root vegetables (potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips) - no surprise

- Comfort Foods (meatloaf, gravy, mash potatoes, pot pies) - no surprise (but now coming with a twist of distinct local and seasonal ingredients - like turkey meatloaf with wild mushroom gravy and yukon gold potatoes with tyme)

- Lots of starches - of course - but some less common ones growing in popularity - like Faro, Parsnips, Butternut Squash

- Beef Short Ribs - showing up everywhere - even on Pizza (got to love this one - as who doesn't enjoy a good short rib!!!) (Try them with a nice redwine demiglace - and accompany them with a caramlized onion risotto - yummm)

Other common foods that increase in popularity in the winter time include: red cabbage, white beans, lima beans, baked apples, sausages and of course, bread pudding.

Of course, Italian food is always good in the Winter - some nice hearty pasta, some meatballs (veal and risotta), Pizza - or how about a nice braised Ox tail with a ricotta gnocchi.

While we tend to lean towards red meats in winter - there are a lot of great fish choices this time of year. Some fish pick up fat in the cold winter waters making them mostier and more tender than usual. Try some fluke, some Mahi or how about some cod fritters.

At the end of the meal, don't forget to wash it all down with a home made pie - the best of winter foods - perhaps a pumpkin, sweet potato or even a nice pecan pie. Try accompanying the pie with some artesan cheese.

So - there you have it - some great winter foods to help you fight off cabin fever. Of course, any holiday meal isn't complete without a nice ham, roast turkey or even a smoked duck. But you already knew that.....

Happy Holidays,

Billy Booster

A Fond Farewell to Switzerland, on My Way Home!

My second trip to Switzerland this year was even better than the first. Not only did Billy Booster help advance some key initiatives on behalf of Hatco, but he (me) also got to learn a lot of about traditional Swiss culture. Yesterday, my last day, was the highlight as I got to see the city of Zurich in full holiday Décor. With the snow falling gently and all those holiday lights, it was truly amazing.

Before entering into the city of Zurich we made a few visits to some new foodservice concepts in and around Switzerland. The first was a retail / grocery chain by the name of Migros. This is the largest retail chain in Switzerland with over $28 Billion in annual revenue. They have recently introduced a very large hot food deli which they call the “Take Away” department. They offer an amazing variety of hot foods: roasted meats and chickens, hot entrees, pastas, warm vegetables, potatoes and a full assortment of fried foods and appetizers. These are all presented using a combination of steam tables and induction warming plates. There are also high end prepared salads and sweets on sale. The products are displayed on nice ceramic plates and promoted with lots of colorful signage. Finally, the décor of Migros is elegant. The floors are marble and the fixtures of mostly made of wood and colored tile. The serving areas have big bright and clean glass and stainless surfaces. The halogen lighting adds to the overall warmth of the location. It was no surprise there was a long line of people purchasing food to “take away”.

Migros also offers a cafeteria style restaurant that sells mostly the same products as the “Take Away” department. The big difference is the scatter system that is used to speed up delivery of all the different foods. The salad bar, beverages and desserts are all self serve. There is also a hot buffet that is self-serve. These foods are paid for by the kilogram. There are also hot foods available “to order” at different stations. There is a traditional Swiss food station as well as a more modern “fast food” station. There was also a “wok” station featuring Asian and other stir fry dishes.

We also visited a B&I location at UBS (United Bank of Scotland). The canteen at UBS feeds 2000 meals a day for the 3200 employees working there, according to the friendly Swiss Chef, Rolf, who gave us the tour. The food and serving systems were identical to those we saw at Migros – only on a slightly larger scale. There was a wide variety of food available in a large scatter system style buffet service. The Chef explained how they mostly use steam tables and chef assisted service to plate customer choices on demand. They had four large combi ovens dedicated to the retherm of vegetables and pastas. The main kitchen produced all the meats, stews, vegetables, soups and pastas using a battery of tilting kettles and brazing pans. Everything was neat, clean and well organized – just as you’d expect at a bank in Switzerland.

We visited a few other interesting locations including a high end grocer in down town Zurich called “Gourmet Garage”. Here again we saw a large offering of high end dishes in a semi-self serve buffet scatter system. This seems to be the preferred method of foodservice outside the traditional Swiss restaurant.

To finish the day we walked through downtown Zurich which was a glow with Christmas lights on all the buildings and interesting strings of lights dangling from the “sky” right down the middle of each street. The Swiss string wires from one building to the other right across the main streets. They then string long ropes of lights overhanging the street from one end to the other – a cloud of lights from North to South, East to West – on every main street in town. With the light snow that seems to always be sprinkling down on Zurich, rarely have I seen a more festive city during the Holidays.

We finished our day with a nice meal at a traditional Italian restaurant on the shore of Lake Zurich. On our way to the restaurant we walked past Zurich’s train station – the “hopbonhof”. The station was decorated like a small Alpine Village. There will many small chalets constructed inside the station. Most of these little houses were selling holiday gifts – everything from arts and crafts to food and drink. One small chalet was selling “warm wine”. With my tank felling empty – this was a nice warm up for the delicious dinner yet to come.

The highlight of the train station was the Christmas tree donated by Swarovski Crystal Company. The tree was nearly 40 feet high. The entire tree was decorated exclusively with ornaments made of Swarovski Crystal – there must have been thousands of crystal snowflakes hanging from white ribbons. The entire tree glowed and glimmered like nothing I’d seen before. It was an impressive display.

We then walked headed to dinner. The Italian Restaurant on Lake Zurich was all you would expect; great bread, pasta, fish and wine. And of course, the waiter was a charming comedian always working to up sell us on a better wine or a bigger piece of fresh fish. The only thing better than the food was the friendly conversation offered by our Swiss hosts.

Overall, it was a great week in Switzerland. I can’t wait to go back again soon. If you’ve been to Switzerland recently, send me an email and let me know what you thought of this gem of a country in the heart of Europe. Write me at billyb@hatcocorp.com. In the meantime, I wish everyone the best of Holidays.

Cheers,

Billy

I'm in Switzerland!

We here I am in Switzerland on day 2 of my trip. Lots of Hatco business to be done - and lots of snow falling as well. I am visiting a small town near the Austrian border today. Small town Switzerland is a lot like small town America: great people, great food, great conversation and lots of potential business to be had.

We are here on Hatco business, so the first order of the day was to investigate the local market. My first stop was a small shopping mall and a local "canteen" for lunch. The canteen had lots of great food. The food is served and sold cafeteria style. You pick up your tray and pick what you want of the hot or cold buffet. Or, there are a few "made to order" stations where you can have some local cuts of meat and fish quickly grilled to order. There was also a wok station serving fresh stir fried meats and vegetables. It all was clean, well organized and efficiently delivered. This location was very busy for a small town. I estimate they did more than 200 meals during the lunch hour.

While the food was good, the prices were a little higher that we are used to in the US. The Hatco engineer traveling with me had some pasta and a pork chop, I had a bratwurst, fries and a salad, and we both had an ice tea to go with our food. The price was $41 Swiss Franc - or about $45 US dollars. The ice tea alone was $8 for two 12 oz bottles of Nestea.

After lunch we visited the local grocery store. The price of meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables were slightly higher than the US - but not by much. This led us to believe that the increased cost of foodservice is driven by the high price of labor, property and energy in this area. We also noticed they have a much nicer selection of cheese, beer and chocolate in a Swiss grocery store than in an average America grocery store. Obviously these are the local favorites. I can attest to the very large variety and high quality based on my first hand experience. I highly recommend them all to anyone visiting Switzerland.

There is also lots of great conversation available with the fine Swiss people of this area. Over dinner I enjoyed meeting Marco - a native citizen of Switzerland and this North East region. Marco told me that crime is very low here for a variety of reasons. First of all there is very little immigration. The little immigration they do have comes from Germany and is driven by the Swiss draw for highly skilled labor in their technology and manufacturing industries. While they have some immigration from Italy, Russia and the former Serbian nations, they have very harsh rules governing their stay. If they are convicted of any crimes they are immediately deported, even if they have established Swiss citizenship. Crime is simply not tolerated.

Another reason for the Swiss stability and safety is their military training. It is mandatory that all young men serve 1 full year in the military followed by 800 hours as a reserve. Every former solider is mandated to buy their military issue weapon (normally a fully automatic machine gun) and to keep no less than 50 rounds of ammunition in their home at all times. This is law. The National Rifle Association would be in heaven here!

Marco also shared with me some great insights on other aspects of the Swiss way of life. They have great selections of food driven by an eclectic mix of French, Italian and German dishes. They are very healthy due to their love of skiing and other winter sports. They have strong health care and education due to the strong financial position of their nation and government. So far, a great visit.

More on the Swiss tomorrow.

Cheers,

Billy

Billy Visits the Alps

Greetings from Switzerland.  That's right - Billy's in Switzerland this week.  Got sick of the Snow, Ice, Wind and Cold in Wisconsin - and decided I'd go some place nice and warm like the Swiss Alps.  I'm here all week.   This is my second trip to Switzerland this year.
I hope to share with you a little bit about Swiss culture and food while I'm here this week.  As I've only just arrived this morning - I will tell you what I learned from my last visit.

Switzerland is a beautiful country, nestled in the midst of the Alps - some of the most majestic mountains in the world.  It is a very clean and well organized country - a country with a very unique history and culture when compared to the rest of Europe.

I am here visiting a Swiss manufacturer that Hatco is working with on the development of some exciting new technology.  It's all top secret so I cannot tell you more than that.  I arrived in Zurich this morning - and took a train to a small town near the Austrian border.  Switzerland shares a border with France, Germany, Italy and Austria.  It is literally in the center of all Western Europe.  Despite its very central location, and a culture that speaks English, German, French and Italian - the Swiss are the most independent people in all of Europe.   Partially because of their geography - and partially because of their culture and mentality.

Switzerland was one of the few countries in Europe that managed to remain completely neutral throughout World Wars I and II.  The Swiss have benefited greatly from this nuetrality as they've become a safe haven for banking and investment - holding on to large portions of the World's wealth inside their very modern financial system.  The Swiss are also the only major European Country that did not adopt the EURO when the European Union centralized it's monetary policy.  The Swiss Franc stands alone alongside the Euro and the British Pound as a major European currency.

This is all very amazing when you consider how much smaller in size and population Switzerland is when compared to it's mammoth neighbors:  France, Germany and Italy.  This autonomy and independence has instilled a sense of great pride in the Swiss.  Their culture is one of excellence as they feel the need to prove themselves worthy of their special nature - and they are quite successful at this effort.  They have an amazing infrastructure.  The country is very clean, organized and efficient.  Everything is beautiful and well kept.  There is no signs of poverty or hardship.  Once always gets the sense that Switzerland is a wealthy and well disciplined society.

The other thing that stands out in Switzerland is it's natural beauty.  The Alps are some of the most amazing landscapes the World has to offer.  Their majestic pines, snow capped peaks, deep green valleys - and all littered with well kept Swiss Chalets with herds of milk cows wandering about - it's all enough to take your breath away.  Having traveled the World for some twenty five years - I can easily say Switzerland is one of the most beautiful places in terms of natural wonder and landscape.

As for the Swiss people themselves, while they are proud they are not without grace and hospitality.  They are friendly and always willing to offer assistance.  They enjoy their food, their wine and their sports.  You will never meet a stonger group of skiers in your life.

In addition to their history and their culture - they are also famous for being master craftsmen.  The Swiss watch is a great example of how everything here is done with great precision and the highest level of quality.  They also know how to make a profit - so if you want a Swiss watch - be prepared to pay for it.

I look forward to this week in this magical place.  The snow is falling and the mountains are all around.  What could be better than Switzerland during the holidays.  

Look for more updates tomorrow.  Jet lag has the better of me so now it's time to sleep.

Cheers,

Billy

FREE RIDE for NAFEM!

OK, I got your attention and I wasn't entirely truthful. However, look extremely smart by having your operator customers (who haven’t been to NAFEM in 2009) aware that they maybe eligible for FREE show registration and up to $500 of travel expenses. (Sunny Orlando, Florida this coming February 10-12th, NAFEM 2011! )

They must meet the following criteria:

• Applicant must be a member in good standing of an allied organization.
• Applicant must NOT have attended The NAFEM Show in 2009.
• Applicant must currently be employed as a foodservice industry professional.
• Applicant must reserve and stay in a hotel room under his/her name through Travel Planners, The NAFEM Show’s official housing coordinator.

Complete details are available on NAFEM’s Web site.
Start planning the fun trip to NAFEM, take along your “fav” operator customers and enjoy Florida in February!! Geeze, that’s a hot win for you!

Adios Aigos!,

Billy

Top Ten Food Trends in 2011-Continued

On Monday I reviewed the top 10 trends in foodservice for 2011 on my blog. Today I review the second ten (11-20) trends in foodservice for 2011. These were as voted upon by over 1,500 Chefs and as reported upon by the National Restaurant Association. They are as follows:

11) Micro-distilled/artisan liquor.
Welcome back to the days of prohibition. You got to love this trend. People making booze in their own backyard. What's not to love about that. Granny (from the Beverly Hillbillies) would be proud.

12) Locally produced wine and beer.
Is it me - or is this just like the one above. Once again, I say bring it on. Nothing better than booze handmade with TLC.

13) Smaller portions for smaller prices.
I get this one, but as an IMPERIAL BOOSTER TANK, I've never been fond of small portions. But, in today's tight economy, this one is here to stay.

14) Organic produce.
This isn't new. If you check out my blogs from much earlier in the year - I reported on a lot of the myths relative to organic foods. They've been here for a long time and they are here to stay. I say this is not really a "trend" but a reality.

15) Nutrition / Health.
Is this a trend? I believe this is a subject. A trend would be "more concern about healthy foods"…and that was covered in the top 10. What am I missing?

16) "Culinary" cocktails, for example, ones that have the savory of fresh ingredients.
Wow! A lot of emphasis on alcohol in the 2011 food trends. Maybe everyone will be drunk in 2011. Not sure I want "savory" in my vodka soda, but I'll try anything once. I hope we don't start having rum and cokes with a touch of sage? That sounds horrible.

17) Newly fabricated cuts of meat, such as the "pork flat iron" and the "beef petite tender."
This seems like a stretch as well. I believe a pig and a cow have had the same cuts of meat on them for about 10,000 years. I would suggest this is the same thing but a different name. Not really a trend in food, but a trend in marketing.

18) Fruit and vegetables as children's sides.
Yes, we know. This was in the top 10 trends under "healthy diets for children"

19) Ethnic - inspired breakfast items, such as Asian-flavored syrups, chorizo scrambled eggs and coconut milk pancakes.
Mmmmmm, I like the sound of this one. I already love chorizo in my scrambled eggs and I'm more than ready to try coconut milk in my pancakes. I like this trend and I say "bring it on".

20) Artisan cheeses.
Hey, us Hatco types are from Wisconsin. Never met a cheese we didn't like. There is no better food trend then the one that includes cheese. This should have been #1.

So there you have it - the top 20 food trends for 2011. Send me an email with your thoughts. Do you agree or disagree? What trends do you see coming? Send an email to billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Have a great day!,

Billy

Pearl Harbor Rememberance

Today is December 7th, 2011 Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Please take a few minutes today to remember and honor those who paid the ultimate price on that day that will live in infamy, December 7th, 1941. The day when America was attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. Thank you to all our WWII veterans. Below are a few facts about that day:

1. Pearl Harbor is a United States naval base located west of Honolulu on the island of O'ahu, Hawaii.

2. It was the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II.

3. Due to the fact that it was a Sunday morning, many of the soldiers were sleeping and were completely unaware of the catastrophe that was soon to be upon them all.

4. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan was supposed to be a preventive attack used to scare the United States from interfering with Japans' plan to wage war against Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States. Although this was a very good strategic victory for the Japanese, they used huge amounts of resources for this one attack.

5. There were two waves of planes that attacked the U.S Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The first arrived at 7:55 a.m. and consisted of 183 planes. The second wave arrived almost an hour later with 167 planes. There were very few soldiers ready to fight on cue, thus the damage and devastation was quite severe.

6. In all, the Japanese sank or damaged 188 aircraft, eight U.S. Navy battleships, three destroyers, three cruisers, and one minelayer. The damage caused to the Japanese navy was very small, Only 29 aircraft out of 350 were destroyed.

7. There were 2,403 people killed, 68 of those were civilians. 1,178 were wounded.

8. There had been a declaration of war sent to the United States by the Japanese before the attack even happened, but the United States thought that it was an ending to negotiations. This mistake proved deadly.

9. The Four U.S. Navy battleships that were destroyed were the USS Arizona, the USS Nevada, the USS Oklahoma, and the USS West Virginia.

10. The Japanese thought that the battleships were the primary source of the United States strength, but they failed to realize that the aircraft carriers and submarines would be sufficient enough to stop them in the end.

11. Although the Empire of Japan caused huge amounts of damage to the United States, there were still many members in congress that did not want to go to war, and felt the need was quite small. However, this did not stop the United States from declaring war with Japan the very next day.

12. Lastly, one of the main reasons that the attack on Pearl Harbor did not succeed was because this very attack helped spur the Americans onward and proved to be a huge rallying point for the troublesome days, months, and years that lay ahead. .

Thank you to our current soldiers and veterans!

Billy Booster

Billy's Back!!!

Happy Monday. I'm back. After a nice two week vacation, Billy's back and pumped up to finish the year strong. As I prepare for 2011, I picked up on NRA's top 10 trend list for next year. They surveyed 1500 chefs and came up with the top trends in foodservice for 2011. Interested in knowing more, and Billy's perspective on these 10 - keep reading....

1) Locally sourced meats and seafood.
OK - this is certainly a trend. It's been a trend since the whole green thing started and people started pushing for sustainable food production practices. This isn't a new trend - but it's a trend. Why wouldn't people want to eat fish and meat that's grown and harvested locally. This is a no brainer in my book.

2) Locally grown produce
OK - see above....

3) Sustainability
Is anyone getting green over green. I've had my fill of sustainable stuff and locally grown and energy efficient, etc. This is the new normal. We all know it. We all live it. I hope this is the last time someone calls this a trend and we just start calling in reality.

4. Nutritionally balanced children's dishes.
This is a good trend, and one that's been building for a long time. It's needed and important. How about the same thing for adults?

5. Hyper Local - restaurants with their own gardens and chefs who do their own butchering
This one sounds a lot like # 1 and 2 and 3 above. I feel like these are all variations of the same thing. Pretty soon we'll just put a table and chairs in the barn and farm and fork will be the same thing.

6. Children's nutrion
I don't understand how this is different from #4 above - but then again, I'm just a booster and not as smart as the combined brain power of 1500 chefs and a publisher at NRN.

7. Sustainable Seafood
OK - know this is getting rediculous. I think we can combine all of these and call it "Save the World".

8. Gluten-Free food and being food allergy concious
True trend. Didn't even know what Gluten was 10 years ago - know I see warnings and promotions about gluten and gluten free all over the place.

9. Simplicity - back to the basics
Does this mean meatloaf and mashed potatoes? If so, is it sustainable, good for children and gluten-free?

10. Farm / estate-branded ingredients
I told you it would come to this. No more restaurants - just farms serving sustainable, local, children friendly, gluten free food - right from their own garden. No more chefs - just celebrity farmers.

Well it certainly is interesting to see what chefs think the top 10 trends will be in 2011.

Tomorrow we will talk about the next 10 (11-20) and see what we think about those. For now, let me know what you think by emailing me at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

Happy Thanksgiving...

I know I am a little early with my holiday wishes, but Billy Booster is going on vacation and won't be back until after Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday wherever you are – in or outside the states. May you eat, drink and be merry! In honor of our Thanksgiving celebration, I have filled my blog with some interesting trivia about Thanksgiving in America.

- The first Thanksgiving dinner took place in 1621 in the Plymouth Colony. The dinner was shared between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Tribe of Native Americans.

- Abraham Lincoln was the US President who declared Thanksgiving to be a national holiday on the last Thursday of November each year.

- American statesman, Benjamin Franklin, lobbied hard to make the turkey the national symbol instead of the bald eagle.

- 90% of all American households will eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

- 38 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles to dine with relatives on Thanksgiving Day.

- One fifth of the 275 million turkey's raised in the US each year will be consumed on Thanksgiving Day.

- The average turkey weighs 15 lbs - meaning 650 million pounds of turkey will be eaten on Thanksgiving Day.

- The most common foods that are served with turkey include cranberries, pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes.

- In 1924 Macy's started the Thanksgiving Day parade to "kick start" the holiday shopping season. This year more than 3 million people will watch the parade in person, while another 44 million will watch it on TV.

- In 1934 the Detroit Lions hosted the Chicago Bears in the nation's first nationally broadcast football game. The game took place on Thanksgiving Day and was broadcast by NBC radio on over 94 radio stations nationwide. The Lion's have played a football game on Thanksgiving Day every year since (except 1939-1944). In 1956 the game was televised for the first time.

- More people overeat on Thanksgiving Day than any other day (OK - I made that up - but I bet its true)...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Billy Booster

Those Less Fortunate...

Are you hungry? I am. I am always hungry or at least I think I am. Have you ever met someone who couldn't feed themselves or their family? Do you know someone who's really, truly hungry? Well, here in Milwaukee we have a lot of those people. In fact we have more than 158,000 people living below the poverty line, just in Milwaukee proper. Do you want to know what you can do about it? Do you really care enough to want to help?

Here at Hatco we've begun a food drive. This year we are working with Hunger Task Force here in Milwaukee. In the past we've offered support to America's Second Harvest as well as our local Food Pantry. We believe strongly in this effort, not only because we manufacture and sell foodservice equipment, but because we live in the heart of America's fourth poorest city. That's correct, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee ranks as our Nation's fourth poorest city (of all city's with a population of 250,000 or more).

We have nearly 160,000 people living in poverty which is 27% of the city's total population. The definition of poverty is a family of 2 adults and 2 children with a total household income of $22,000 / year or less. What's worse, we have over 62,000 children living in poverty here in Milwaukee... that's 4 of every 10 children under the age of 18. Statewide, Wisconsin has more than 683,000 people living in poverty.

As we get closer to the Thanksgiving holiday, those of us at Hatco, who are grateful for all we have, understand the need to help our neighbors in need. In the last three weeks, our employees have donated over 2600 food items for the Hunger Task Force. These items will go towards feeding the hungry this holiday season and into next year.

The consequences of poverty and hunger are massive. Inadequate nutrition can lead to health issues, environmental issues, decreased education and employment problems, and worst of all family and street violence.

As you prepare your own Thanksgiving dinner this year, please remember those who are less fortunate and need a simple meal and some basic nutrition. Please donate to your local food pantry, America's Second Harvest and or the Hunger Task Force.

We are attaching the links to these organizations websites below. Please give what you can...all of us here at Hatco thank you for your generosity.

www.hungertaskforce.org

www.feedingamerica.org

www.thefoodpantry.org

www.ampleharvest.org

Thanks again for thinking of others.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

Turkey Trivia

Happy Tuesday all. Hey - Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Did you know 90% of all American homes eat Turkey on Thanksgiving Day? I have lots more fun Turkey trivia to share with you today.

Here are some great Turkey trivia questions (Scroll down to the bottom for the answers ... but don't cheat ... at least try to guess the answer before checking the answers below ...)

1. In which country was the first turkey domesticated?
2. What is a female turkey called?
3. What is a male turkey called?
4. What sound does a female turkey make?
5. What sound does a male turkey make?
6. How many feathers does a male turkey have?
7. What state produces the most turkeys annually?
8. How fast can a turkey fly?
9. How fast can a turkey run?
10. What's the best way to thaw a turkey?

Answers:
1. Mexico
2. Hen
3. Tom
4. "Look at me" (or cluck)
5. "I can't decide" (or gobble)
6. 3500 - wow - that'a a lot of feathers...
7. Minnesota - who would have thought it
8. Turkey's love Sammy Haggar - that's why they can't fly 55 mph (well - that's their top speed anyway)
9. Fast on the ground too - they can run up to 25 mph
10. Place on the launch pad beneath the space shuttle (although the correct way is in the refrigerator)

Have a great Turkey Day...

Gobble, Gobble,

BIlly Booster

Seasonal Pitfalls

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a nice weekend. As Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I thought I'd discuss some related topics with you this week. Today I want to talk about common ways people get food poisoning over the holidays. Tomorrow some Turkey trivia. Wednesday we'll talk about the role of Food Pantries during the holidays. And the Thursday we'll discuss the history behind our Thanksgiving Holiday. After that, I'm taking a little time off and won't return until Monday November 29th.

So - why do so many people get food borne illnesses this time of year? Is it just because we have so many amateur chefs in the kitchen? Perhaps it's a lot of dirty turkey? Most likely, it comes down to lack of knowledge and experience with safe food handling techniques.

The three most common types of food borne illness in the United States are Campylobacter, Salmonella and E-Coli. All three of these illnesses come from poultry, beef and/or meet of some type. In almost all cases, potential illness from these sources can be easily avoided if proper food handling is followed.

There are over 76 million cases of food borne illness in the United States each year. Most of these are easily traced to lack of hand washing. If people would wash their hands with anti-bacterial soap before handling food - it would eliminate a large number of cases. The second most common cause is contaminated utensils or surfaces. Often cross contamination occurs when knives, cutting boards, food prep surfaces, and other containers aren't cleaned properly. The third common cause is improper food temperatures. Given a warm and most environment, a single bacterial will keep dividing and duplicating at such a rate that after 12 hours that single bacteria can grow to be 17 million cells. This is why safe food temps are so important. Temperatures above 160 degrees F (71 degrees C) kill bacteria - even if only at this temp for a few minutes. Conversely, at temperatures below 40 degrees F (4 degrees C), bacteria growth is greatly slowed or even stopped (below freezing). Minimizing the amount of time foods are in the "danger zone" (temps between 40 degrees and 160 degrees) greatly reduced the chance of food borne illness. It is commonly understood that from farm to fork, it's best to prevent foods from being exposed to the danger zone for more than 4 hours.

So, as you prepare your holiday meals - keep these concerns in mind. Washing your hands, keeping utensils clean, and minimizing time in the danger zone will all lead to a healthier and happier holiday season this year.

Happy Holidays,

Billy Booster

Key Trends to Impact Foodservice in 2011

TGIF! Hope you all have plans for a fun and enjoyable weekend. Here at Hatco we are busy planning for 2011. We've started to think about the key trends that impact foodservice equipment and our beloved operators. Beyond the ever popular topic of "green" - what else do you think operators are really worried about these days. Here's my list. Send me an email with your own ideas. You can email me at billyb@hatcocorp.com

1) Is the economy a concern? Many polls have shown that the operators primary concern is the economy. If they don't get help there - the rest of it doesn't matter.

2) Massive Emphasis on “Green” initiatives. Everyone wants to save money on energy, save the environment, recycle, and make their customers know they care about it.

3) Energy Concerns / Cost of Ownership. Similar to Green - but going beyond to actually measure the cost of ownership of their equipment. Features and Benefits aren't enough anymore. You have to be able to show the payback on your equipment decisions is better than the alternatives.

4) Food and Labor Costs Concerns. Labor is always a big one. Can you find good people? Can you train them? Can you retain them? However, these days food costs are becoming a bigger concern. The Consumer Price Index has been very flat for a long time. However food costs have begun to rise again in the last few months. Recent data indicates food costs are up as much as 5% since the first of the year. This can eat into operator's margins in a hurry.

5) Food Safety / Sanitation Concerns. This has been on operator's hit lists for the last decade or more. Ever since the e-coli outbreak at Jack-In-The-Box back in the 90's - operators are very worried about how their revenue can evaporate with even a small outbreak of foodborne illness. Making sure staff follow safe food handling procedures and purchasing equipment than ensure foods are held and cooked properly will always be a high priority.

6) Rapid Cooking is very important. Multi-technology ovens. Induction. "Turbo" ovens. High efficiency fryers. Operator's need to serve customers quickly. They want lightening fast equipment.

7) Value Menu is everywhere. The "dollar" menu got things started in quick service a few years back. Now you see casual dining, full service and even fine dining offering all kinds of value deals to entice consumers into their restaurants.

8) Front of the House / Décor emphasis (Open Kitchen). As the competitive environment grows and the consumer has less to spend - good food and good service isn't enough any more. People want an impressive atomosphere. They want to see their food being prepared. They want a new, clean and modern look to the places they eat. Operators everywhere are working to give their property a face lift. Many are opening up the dining room to provide visibility to the kitchen. Equipment in the kitchen must look good as a result.

These are just a few of the trends we are thinking about here at Hatco as the new year unfolds. Send us your thoughts by emailing me at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Cheers,

Have a great weekend.

Billy Booster

Salute to Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day! A salute today to all our Veteran's and those who've made the greatest sacrifice to protect our freedom and our great Nation.

Today I have two quick stories to share with you about Veteran's Day, and then I will provide you with a history of Veteran's Day, which was provided to me directly by the Veteran's Administration of the United States of America.

First, I want to thank my father, who fought for our freedom in World War II. Yes, it's true. Billy Booster has a father. I have always been proud of the sacrifices my father made for the many long months he spent in the South Pacific - spending so much time away from his loved ones - all to do right by his homeland. Thank you Dad.

Second, I want to thank PFC, Joe Demler "The Human Skeleton" who recently made the honor flight from Milwaukee to Washington D.C. to visit the WWII Memorial. Joe gave us the saying "Every Day is a Bonus". This is a saying that truly tells all and provides us with a path to live by in life. Thank you Joe. If you want to learn more about Joe's story, log onto www.620wtmj.com and click on Joe's story on the home page.

Finally, I want to thank all our Veterans and wish them well this day. I appreciate all you've done for us.

History of Veterans Day
World War I (known at the time as “The Great War”) officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 in the Palace of Versailles, which is outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France, wait for the end of hostilities. This photo was taken at 10:58 a.m., on November 11, 1918, two minutes before the armistice ending World War I went into effect In November 1919. President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words:

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades, public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m. The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and
Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in the nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated:

"In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible."

President Eisenhower signing HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day. From left: Alvin J. King, Wayne Richards, Arthur J. Connell, John T. Nation, Edward Rees, Richard L. Trombla, Howard W. Watts

On that same day, President Eisenhower sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.

Rib-Ticklers

Happy Hump Day! Need a little humor to start your day? Since I'm a foodservice guy, I can only tell food jokes. Like, "Did you hear about the food that eliminates a woman's sex drive? It's called wedding cake!"

Here a few more food-related rib ticklers....

-Why did the raisin go out with the prune? - He couldn't find a date.

-What's 50 meters high and made of dough? - The leaning tower of Pizza.

-What's smelly, round and laughs? - A tickled onion.

OK, I know those were bad but they get better. Don't give up on me yet.....Here's a few from one of my favorite comedians, Mitch Hedberg:

1) Rice is great when you're so hungry you want to eat 2000 of something.

2) I put instant coffee in a microwave and almost went back in time.

3) I drank some boiling water because I wanted to whistle.

OK, Mitch is a little dry but I love his twist on the ordinary day to day experiences. A few more to make you smile....

-Did you hear about the guy who was half-French and half-pygmy? - He was a great chef but he couldn't reach the grill. Or...

Why did the strawberry cry? - It's mother was in a jam!

Wife: "The two things I cook best are meatloaf and apple pie." Husband "Which is this?"

From Tallulah Bankhead: "I never eat on an empty stomach." Even if you don't find Tallulah funny, perhaps you can relate to it. Nearly finished now...

-Why did the tomato blush? - Because it saw the salad dressing! And finally,

-What's the difference between roast beef and pea soup? - Anyone can roast beef...

Have a great day - hope I made you smile.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

Global energy demand to go up 33% next 25 years

Have you turned on the heat in your house yet? I have. It's a sign that winter is coming and that utility bills will be going up. There's an article in the NY Times today that says Global energy demand will go up by 33% in the next 25 years. Do you know how what will impact you and or your business? I believe it will have a significant impact in many different ways.

According to the NY Times article out of London, "World energy demand will grow by more than a third over the next 25 years, led by increased consumption in China and fossil fuels will still predominate, an influential forecasting agency said Tuesday."

The article went on to say the price of oil will nearly double from $60 to $113 a barrel over the same period. This will be driven by increased demand for cars and airplanes and ever more difficult to reach reserves. While not good news for consumers, it will encourage more energy conservation around the world - electric cars being one of the biggest global movements of all. And, while renewable energy sources will increase in importance, the main fuels will remain oil, coal and natural gas.

The article also highlights China's role in growing energy demand over the next 25 years. According to the same agency, since July of last year, China now uses more energy than the United States. China's demand for energy is expected to grow 75% over the next 25 years - arriving at a point where they will account for just shy of one fourth of all the World's energy consumption.

So what does this mean for you and me - and our businesses? It means you will see more and more electric cars in the parking lot. It means you will see governments continue to invest more money in renewable energy like wind, hydro and solar. It means that innovations in energy saving devices in our businesses and in our daily lives will be ever more popular and important.

Hatco continues to innovate in the area of energy savings and many of you will see many new energy saving solutions introduced by Hatco early next year. In today's business world, if you aren't doing things to reduce energy consumption and offer energy saving solutions - you are will certainly fall behind and find yourself with a competitive disadvantage. Having a "green strategy" won't be enough. You will need to be pushing hard to innovate in all areas of what you do - with energy conservation being the goal.

At Hatco we talk about our three legged stool strategy: energy saving operations, energy saving products and environmentally minded employees. It's not enough to think green at work - but you must do it at home also. What have you done lately to reduce your carbon footprint at home?

I think we all understand the importance of saving energy and preserving our environment. The question is - do you really have a strategy and are you really doing something about it? If so - great. If not, it's not too late to get started.

Have a great green day.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

Healthy Tailgating...is it Possible?!

TGIF to all my dear friends out there. Got big plans for the weekend? I do. Billy Booster is going to the Packer Game! We play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, and I got a bunch of Cowboy fans coming up to watch the game with me. Want to know what we'll be serving at our tailgate party? It will be the latest and greatest in tailgate menu trends. While there will be some of the traditional fare: burgers, brats, chips, etc., there will be a lot of healthy stuff as well. That's right - healthy. It's a trend I've noticed at baseball games and football games over the last few years. People don't just serve burgers and chips anymore. A lot of healthy food is appearing on the scene.

This weekend our menu will include a garnish tray: carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, olives, pickles and low fat dip. We will also have a platter of fresh fruit: grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon, musk melon, strawberries, etc. We will have some sushi made with brown rice. Guests will enjoy an assortment of whole grain breads with low fat cream cheese and cucumber slices. Brats will be boiled in beer (lite beer from Miller), grilled with fresh Vidalia onions, but the brats will be made from turkey and other lean meats - low in fat. Chips will be healthy baked chips and dip will be fresh salsa rather than the usual fat ladened ranch dip.

Some of you may be thinking "yuk"! Why would they destroy the tail gate tradition of eating fatty foods soaked in butter and cheese? Well, we won't be alone. At a recent tail gate event, I looked around the parking lot and found that more than 50% of the fans were chowing down on fruits and vegetables, and lean meats. Yes, they were washing it down with beer, but it was lite beer. Even the hard liquor was supported by diet soda or a nice V-8 mix.

Now, I cannot lie. If you wanted a greasy burger, you wouldn't have to go far to find one. There are donuts around and a chocolate cake or two (no cupcakes). But, in the end, it's impossible to deny the ever increasing amount of healthy food showing up at tailgates around the country. People really do want to eat well and be healthy, even in Green Bay, Wisconsin (the Cheesehead state). (Oh yes, we will have some cheese at our party, but it will be low fat...)

Morale of the story? Have a great time and don't skimp on the good food and the fun. But, it's OK to mix in some wiser choices and challenge yourself to provide great food that's also good for you.

By the way, this week's game is on National TV, so look for Billy Booster amidst some crazy Cowboy fans freezing to death at the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field this weekend.

Cheers - and have a great weekend!!!!

Billy Booster

2011 Food Trends

I was bouncing around the internet today when I came across an interesting article on potential food trends for 2011. The publication was out of San Francisco, so it might not be everyone’s style - but they do know a lot of about good food.

Here are 8 trends they predict will emerge in 2011 (along with a few comments of my own ...)

1) Old Italian is back. Traditional Spaghetti and Meatballs ... Grinders ... Simple old school Italian pasta. My opinion ... this is no trend. It's been popular since the days of the Romans two thousand years ago. Come on - we can do better than that.

2) Gourmet Popsicles? I also thought this was complete crap. However, I heard on the news this morning that President Obama is trying to put together a Slushy summit with the newly elected Republicans. (No - I am not making that up.) If slushy’s are that high profile these days - well then maybe there is something to a craze in popsicles coming our way.

3) Unwelcome customers at restaurants. The theme here is with business being slow at so many restaurants that many have gotten rid of the tradition of taking reservations ahead of time. Does this really mean customers aren't welcome? I'm not buying into this as a legitimate trend either.

4) Grits. You will see more universal use of grits as a base starch on menus across the country - not just in the South. In San Francisco it's popping up on menus next to shrimp and lobster. Not sure about this one either - but I love the idea - because I love grits. Hope they include lots of butter.

5) Kitchen Swapping. This is a trend where big name chefs trade restaurants and cook in their buddy's restaurant for a while as a guest chef. I kind of like this idea. I don't think it will hit main stream America. But, for those haute cuisine snobs it will be fun.

6) New names for gourmet sandwiches. Some new names you might see? Napalito, Dinosour, Cemitas. No idea what these are - but we all know there are infinite names for all kinds of sandwiches. I don't think this is a trend at all.

7) Korean. Korean food will emerge as the new hot Asian cuisine in America. PF Chang pushed Chinese forward. We've all enjoyed the Sushi craze for many years. Korean? I say this one has legs - big legs. And, I love Korean food - especially the BBQ ribs and the kim chee. I hope this one takes off - and I plan to support it everywhere I see it.

8) Death to Cupcakes. Yes - after five years of Cup Cake craziness, it's time to put it to rest. No more Cup Cake Wars on the Food channel? Can we survive without Cup Cakes being in the spot light? Man - I hope so.

So that's it - what the West Coast thinks will be hot in 2011. Not sure if you agree with them - or me - but I do hope you found it interesting "food" for thought.

Have a great day,

Billy Booster.

100 Days Until ... !?

NAFEM! The biennial trade show, which is held in Orlando, Florida, is February 10-12th, 2011, exactly 100 days away!!! This show attracts approximately 20,000 foodservice professionals and features more than 600 North American manufacturers. The place to be in taking your business to the next level in the world of foodservice.

Be sure to check out the NAFEM Scholarship Program Offers Incentives. Be a hero and make your operator customers aware they may be eligible for NAFEM’s scholarship program, offering free show registration and up to $500 for travel expenses if they meet the following criteria:

1- Applicant must be a member in good standing of an allied organization.
2-Applicant must not have attended The NAFEM Show in 2009.
3-Applicant must currently be employed as a foodservice industry professional.
4- Applicant must reserve and stay in a hotel room under his/her name through Travel Planners, The NAFEM Show’s official housing coordinator.

Spread the word! Complete details are available on NAFEM's Web site.

Take it up a notch!,

Groovy baby!,

Billy

What is "Comfort Food"?

Happy Monday. I missed many of you last week. I apologize for my absence but I had a close friend in the hospital. Sometimes foodservice just isn't the most important thing in life. If you believe in such things, please pray for "Diane" this week. She needs your prayers. Now that I'm back, I have a few words on comfort words to share with you all.

Now that we are staring fall in the face, and Thanksgiving is around the corner, I can't help but start thinking about those wonderful family favorites many of us call Comfort foods. Here is what Wikipedia says about comfort foods.

The term "comfort food" (first used, according to Webster's Dictionary, in 1977) refers to foods consumed to achieve some level of improved emotional status, whether to relieve negative psychological affect or to increase positive. More generally, comfort food can be defined as food that brings some form or measure of comfort, sense of well-being, or easy satisfaction. Such food choices may consist of the simple and familiar. Dishes may be warm and filling such as a dish made with a staple food, or basically pleasing such as sweets or desserts. Some definitions suggest that home-prepared dishes are most typical, or consumed in informal restaurants, but according to Wansink and Sangerman, Americans tend to select prepared foods and fast food for comfort uses, with ice cream, potato chips and chocolate ranking near the top. However, the term is meaningful not as a list of particular items, which will vary considerably from individual to individual, as well as culturally and by situation and emotional trigger, but as a psychological category of behavior.

While I have no arguments with the definition of comfort foods, the real question is what are your favorite comfort foods. I found the following poll which listed these favorites. I must say - they work for me!

In a recent reader's poll, we took a stroll down memory lane to revisit favorite American comfort foods. The responses showed distinctive trends relating to age, childhood regional location, and ethnic upbringing. It comes as no surprise that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and grilled cheese ranked highest, but who needs a recipe for those? Those two aside, the next highest on the list were meatloaf, mashed potatoes, brisket pot roast, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, and surprisingly, good ol' tuna casserole.

Of these, I must admit I am very partial to meatloaf. I used to help make it when I was a tiny little booster. We would add eggs, onions, oats, ketchup, pepper, salt and garlic to our version. It was delicious.

Now I see lots of restaurants offering comfort foods on their menus. Is it because these are all foods we love? Is it a hot new menu trend? Or is it because there are foods that can be made and sold at a reasonable price? It really doesn't matter to me - as they are all delicious and bring back wonderful memories.

I hope you all have a great week - and remember, enjoy some comfort foods this fall.

If we've missed some of your favorites, please email with your list at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

Happy Election Day!

Happy Election Day! Get out and vote - it's not only American - it's a privilege. I did - and I was #104 in my ward this morning. Since we've all heard enough political commercials in the last month or more - I won't bore you with political debate today. Rather, I want to share with you my top ten funniest reasons why you should vote today:

1) You find out what Ward you live in. This important location - your WARD - is never of any importance to you before today or after today - but on voting day - it's where you belong.

2) You get to laugh at how people park in a public place. Before you vote, hang out and watch all the people jockey for parking spaces at your voting location. You'd think these people never left their homes until today. Why do people drive so poorly on Election Day? Are they that excited about voting?

3) You get to see some interesting hair and fashion styles. From ages 18 to 80, people watching is always intriguing.

4) You get to use a pen with a spoon taped to it. Why do they tape the spoon to the pen? Is that to keep us from stealing it? They put you in a concealed booth. How hard do you think it would be to steal the stupid pen if you really wanted to. Any women could easily put it in her purse. But then again, why would you - it's only a pen?

5) You get to go to public settings, maybe an elementary school and see drawings in crayon and smell the Elmers glue!

6) You can brag about it for the rest of the day. Wear your "I voted" sticker, and remind others.

7) You get to see your neighbors. Why is it that you can live a stone's throw away from so many people - and never see them.

8) You get to be part of a movement without being arrested.

9) No more political TV commercials!

10) And best of all, you get to exercise your right as an American. You can influence change!

If you have any other fun reasons why you should vote - send them to me at billyb@hatcocorp.com

Have a great day,
Billy

What is "Comfort Food"?

Happy Monday. I missed many of you last week. I apologize for my absence but I had a close friend in the hospital. Sometimes foodservice just isn't the most important thing in life. If you believe in such things, please pray for "Diane" this week. She needs your prayers. Now that I'm back, I have a few words on comfort words to share with you all.

Now that we are staring fall in the face, and Thanksgiving is around the corner, I can't help but start thinking about those wonderful family favorites many of us call Comfort foods. Here is what Wikipedia says about comfort foods.

The term "comfort food" (first used, according to Webster's Dictionary, in 1977) refers to foods consumed to achieve some level of improved emotional status, whether to relieve negative psychological affect or to increase positive. More generally, comfort food can be defined as food that brings some form or measure of comfort, sense of well-being, or easy satisfaction. Such food choices may consist of the simple and familiar. Dishes may be warm and filling such as a dish made with a staple food, or basically pleasing such as sweets or desserts. Some definitions suggest that home-prepared dishes are most typical, or consumed in informal restaurants, but according to Wansink and Sangerman, Americans tend to select prepared foods and fast food for comfort uses, with ice cream, potato chips and chocolate ranking near the top. However, the term is meaningful not as a list of particular items, which will vary considerably from individual to individual, as well as culturally and by situation and emotional trigger, but as a psychological category of behavior.

While I have no arguments with the definition of comfort foods, the real question is what are your favorite comfort foods. I found the following poll which listed these favorites. I must say - they work for me!

In a recent reader's poll, we took a stroll down memory lane to revisit favorite American comfort foods. The responses showed distinctive trends relating to age, childhood regional location, and ethnic upbringing. It comes as no surprise that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and grilled cheese ranked highest, but who needs a recipe for those? Those two aside, the next highest on the list were meatloaf, mashed potatoes, brisket pot roast, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, and surprisingly, good ol' tuna casserole.

Of these, I must admit I am very partial to meatloaf. I used to help make it when I was a tiny little booster. We would add eggs, onions, oats, ketchup, pepper, salt and garlic to our version. It was delicious.

Now I see lots of restaurants offering comfort foods on their menus. Is it because these are all foods we love? Is it a hot new menu trend? Or is it because there are foods that can be made and sold at a reasonable price? It really doesn't matter to me - as they are all delicious and bring back wonderful memories.

I hope you all have a great week - and remember, enjoy some comfort foods this fall.

If we've missed some of your favorites, please email with your list at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

The Halloween Spirit...

Hey, guess what? We love Halloween at Hatco and we do celebrate. Everything gets transformed from office spaces to ourselves. A time to reconnect with our fellow workers and let our “fun personalities” shine.
Here in Milwaukee we have spent the day concocting potions and brews to cast a favorable light to the end of 2010 for all our reps and dealers!
Enjoy the day and Happy Halloween from everyone here at Hatco!,

(Billy in his costume)

You have been BOOED!,

Billy

Coming UP!

What's going on? When are things happening? Where are things happening? I'm getting pretty busy this time of year, and I Love it! I get to see all kinds of places and so many people. Check below for the when and where's for the next few weeks ...

November 3rd - 7th at HOSTELCO in Barcelona, Spain

November 11th - 12th at Food & Hotel China ~ Booth #5F-01 ~ in Shanghai, China

November 12th - 15th at IH/M&RS ~ Booth #1127 ~ in New York, NY, USA

November 13th - 17th at Equip'Hotel ~ Both #K48 Catequip Hall 7/3 ~ in Paris, France

I can't be at all of these great shows myself, but you can definitely see Hatco and talk to our great Representatives there.

Cheers,

Billy

Do You Have an Adventurous Palate?

TGIF. Do you have an adventurous palate? I do. I enjoyed a delicious pheasant pot pie the other night. Have you ever eaten pheasant, venison, buffalo or any other kind of wild game? Did you know wild game is getting more and more popular in restaurants these days?

The interesting thing about Wild Game is that it's very natural and organic. Thus, it's good for you, good for the environment and taste great too. Right?

There are a few things we need to know about "Wild" Game served in restaurants. The FDA has a few rules - like it can't be game harvested by hunters. It has to be slaughtered and inspected within USDA and FDA regulations - just like any other commercially sold foods. So, the "Wild" Game you get in restaurants is not truly "wild" but generally farm raised - although often in a very "free range" environment. Having said that, much of the game is still very much representative of its wild ancestry and offers the same flavor experience you would get from the true wild harvest.

Much of the Wild Game served in restaurants does offer the adventurous palate a reward of both taste and nutrition. While a lot of wild game taste similar to its domestic counterpart (thus the phrase "taste like chicken") it often has an additional element that makes it taste slightly more exotic. And while many think the "exotic" translates into a "gamey" flavor - it's not normally true. Often the meat can be sweet, tender, savory and delicious in new and fun ways. One must experiment in order to discover. Additionally, the game often has a lower fat content and as such can be healthier for the consumer than domestic fare. So, given the opportunity to eat delicious, exotic, fun and healthy food - why not try some Wild Game off your favorite restaurants menu.

Now you may ask, "but who serves this stuff?" Surprisingly, there is an ever increasing numbers of restaurants serving wild game across the country. And while it's ever more popular West of the Mississippi, you can find it in every major city. I did a Google search and found long lists of restaurants serving Wild Game in every major city from New York to Boston to Dallas to Denver to L.A. At the end of this article is a list of ten restaurants that one site claimed to be the best in the US for Wild Game.

Finally, many of you may be asking "what is Wild Game?". I have attached a list of game sorted by flavor. We live in an incredibly rich and diverse environment. The US has so many species to offer it's truly amazing. Below is a list I compiled with a few comments along the way. I hope you enjoy it and that it inspires you to go out and try some truly American fare this weekend.

Have a great day,

BIlly

WILD GAME OPTIONS:

Taste Like Chicken:
Pheasant
Chukar
Partridge
Grouse (my favorite)
Quail
Guinea Hen
Rabbit
Squirrel

Taste kind of Like Chicken (with a touch of swamp):
Alligator
Rattle Snake
Frog Legs
Turtle

Taste Like Duck:
Duck (hundreds of varieties to choose from)
Goose

Taste Like Turkey:
Wild Turkey (only a lot dryer - no fat)

Taste Like Beef:
Buffalo (most people can't tell its not beef - and I think it's better than beef)
Elk (my favorite in this category)
Musk Ox (very rare - only in the Artic)
Moose
Caribou
Ostrich
Kangaroo (OK - not native to the US - but a lot of restaurants have it on the menu - and I think it taste better than venison)

Taste Like Venison:
Deer
Stag (not really from the US - but again - often available in restaurants "Red Stag" - usually from New Zealand - very nice!)
Antelope
Pronghorn
Mule Deer (not much different than regular Deer - but often feeds on sage - so a little stronger flavor)
Reindeer (nothing to do with Santa's team or Rudolph)

Tastes Like Pork:
Wild Boar
Javelina
Bear

Taste Like Crap - run away if they put this one on the menu:
Racoon
Possum
Skunk
Squab
Pigeon
Musk Rat
Nutria

Some well known Restaurants serving quality Wild Game:
Hudson's-on-the-Bend — Austin, TX
Buckhorn Exchange — Denver, CO
Saddle Peak Lodge — Calabasas, CA
State Game Lodge — Custer, SD
Rainbow Lodge — Houston, TX
Gun Barrel Steak and Game House - Jackson Hole, WY
Wild Sage — Jackson, WY
Heathman Restaurant & Bar — Portland, OR
Craftwood Inn — Colorado Springs, CO

Henry's End - Brooklyn, NY (Game is featured prominently during the annual Wild Game Festival, October through March.)

Two Meals for One Price, Great Deals!

Went out for dinner last night and got a great deal - two meals for the price of one. In fact, I'm seeing lots of good deals like this lately, are you? I ate at Maggianno's last night. If you buy one of their pasta dishes, you get a second past dish of equal value (about $10-$12. Not a bad deal in my opinion. And the serving was massive (even for a big booster with an Imperial tank like mine...) and tasted great. I had lasagna, but they have a great fettuccine alfredo, and many other very popular dishes.

I've been seeing a lot of good deals at casual dining chains these days. I did a little research and discovered some of the following great, low budget meals at leading chains that serve great food and good service. Check them out - and try one today. I also want to note, that while this isn't meant to be a promotion for these folks - they do all use Hatco equipment!

Applebee's - get two entrees and an appitizer to share for $20.

Maggianno's - order a pasta entree and get a second serving to take home ($10-$12)

Olive Garden - all you can eat soup, salad and bread sticks (about $10)

TGIF - get a free appetizer if you come in next weekend wearing a Halloween costume

Red Lobster - all you can eat "endless shrimp" (price wasn't noted but I would guess under $15)

PF Chang - Happy Hour from 3-6PM - large variety of drink and food specials priced at $3-$6

There are many more examples. The point is - these days restaurants want your business and they are offering some great deals to get you in their restaurants. What a great way for us all to enjoy some good food while helping stimulate the economy.

I suggest you go out to eat tonight at one of these places - or anywhere else you can find a good deal. And if you know of some other great deals, email us so we can post them for all our Hatco friends. Send it to me at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

What to Do...What to DO?!

A friend of mine called today to say his computer system was down at work and he had nothing to do. What would you do if your computer system went down and you couldn't do your normal work that day? Would you sit on your hands and keep calling your "help desk"? Or, would you find other ways to keep productive? Do you have a plan in place for yourself or your staff regarding what to do to keep business moving…even without the aid of your computer, your database, your key product information? Here are a few ideas from the halls of Hatco and the wisdom of Billy Booster (that's me):

1) Make sure you communicate to your customers and your staff regarding the outage, how long it's expected to last, and what you are doing (or expect them to do) to keep supporting customers until the system comes back on line.
2) Use the remaining tools you have to service your customers and keep productive. A lot of business can be accomplished and a lot of customer service can be provided just by using the phone. Even if you can't enter orders on the computer, you can still answer calls and write down what the customer needs, so you can enter the information later.
3) If your job doesn't require a lot of phone interface, then use this "down" time to do all those other things on your to do list. Clean off your desk, catch up on mail, get that filing done, take out the garbage, go buy supplies, hire a new IT company, do some follow up work with key customers, have an impromptu staff meeting or one to one with a key person you've been meaning to catch up with.
4) Do some planning. Get out a notebook and a pen, and write down some strategic ideas regarding your long-term planning. We can never find the time to work on strategy, and now with this quiet time, it is a perfect chance to catch up on planning.
5) Work on your technical and/or product knowledge. You still have catalogs don't you? Spend some time reviewing the details of your products, your competitor’s products, or any products at all.
6) Read up on your business. You probably have some trade publications in your office. Sit down and read them. Find out what's going on in your industry. Read up on the latest trends. Educate yourself.
7) Brush up on the newest changes to your health care plan. God knows we can never keep up with all that stuff. Read your company's policy handbook or your insurance provider’s latest informational packet.
8) Walk around and tell everyone you work with what a great job they are doing and how much you enjoy working with them. BOOST your morale.
9) Decorate the office. You can always make the place look better.
10) Call your mother, she worries.

Hope these helpful hints will help you get past the slow times in your office. It's too bad we've come to be so dependent on the wonderful tools provided by computers. However, if they aren't available, don't sit on your hands…find other ways to be productive and to service your customers.

Have a great day!,
Cheers,
Billy Booster

And the Award Goes to...

I was thinking about ranting about the terrible loss the Packers endured over the weekend, but I think I'll skip that as most of you probably don't even follow the Packers. Instead, I must update all of you on the honors given out Friday night to the final Hatco School recipients of 2010.

1) The Scrapbooking Award went to our newest Customer Service team member, Ashley Christian, and her new found friend Renee Bolden (Dykes Restaurant Supply Inc.). (This was a new award...)

2) The Stud Award went to French Canadian "Don Juan" Mr. Yves Pelletier (Maison Rondeau). It was very deserving.

3) We had a proud Anti-Valedictorian. Her name was Alice Stipe (PMR, Inc.). She drove Billy crazy always heckling him during his presentation and asking silly questions.

4) We had two runners up for the Valedictorian. Ed Barr (Follett Corporation), who was on a mission of corporate espionage. The other runner up was Mark McGrath (PMR, Inc.) who was always armed with smart responses to all our hard questions. He lost his number one position when he got caught cheating on the final exam.

5) The Valedictorian was none other than David Benz (Dean Supply), the Nuclear Sub Sailor and super honest guy. I hope he's surviving now that he's back with his wife and kids.

6) Last, but not least, was "the One" which went to our Rep from Southern California (The Fishcer Group), Bill Aleksandrian, who earned it for all the usual reasons.

Congratulations to them all!

See ya next year!!

Billy

Hatco School's "Melting Pot"

It is with mixed emotions that I enter the last day of Hatco School for 2010. We've had 6 schools this year with about 250 students attending since we started this regiment in May. Yesterday I spent some time getting to know our students a little better. As always, I was amazed at how interesting they were.

We have a gentleman who's been working in our industry for more than 50 years. He loves the business and he's still learning. He's French Canadian and a true classic gentleman. He can sing, and he can dance. He proved part of that to us last night. I truly enjoyed speaking with him.

We have another gentleman who is a former Navy man. He spent several years living, and working on a nuclear submarine. His stories were fascinating. I thanked him for his service.

We have two kind souls from the Dominican Republic. One, a young man, impressed me by telling me about his healthy regimen; running every day, eating right, not drinking alcohol, and going to bed early. When I asked him why he was so passionate about this, he showed me a picture of himself 100 pounds heavier. He's come a long way, and I respect his discipline and commitment. This old booster could learn from his example, if you know what I mean.

The young lady from the Dominican looks like a super model. She is very pretty. She wanted to visit a light house in the worst way. Yesterday we took her to visit a beautiful old Door County lighthouse. She was very happy. "Those Hatco people will do anything to make their customers happy!"

We have another young man who likes "techno" music. We took him to a local watering hole where the DJ plays that kind of music. He had a good time dancing the night away. He looked a little less happy at breakfast this morning. I imagine he was a bit "dehydrated".

We have one of our own at this school and has been with us for over 19 years. I didn't know much about her despite all her years with the company. Yesterday she came out of her shell. We have pictures of her doing the splits on the dance floor and holding beer bottles in “new, creative ways.”

There are many more fun stories to tell. Tune in Monday to find out who is the valedictorian, who is the anti-valedictorian and who is the "One"...

Cheers,

Billy

Be Passionate!

Today is the first full day of Hatco's October training school. This is our last school of the year. We have about 30 students from around the USA, Canada, Poland, and the Dominican Republic. I just asked all the students to tell us what they are passionate about. Check out their responses.

- getting away from wife and kids
- Tennessee Football
- Visiting Lighthouses and Horror Films
- Baseball and Water sports (yes - this guy was from the Dominican Republic)
- Gastronomy and "butter lips"
- Telling everyone why he left the field of Architecture because "it sucks"
- Surfing
- Scrapbooking (2 responses - yes - there are TWO people who are "passionate" about scrapbooking)
- Making a pool game last more than one hour
- working 50 years in the industry and singing (not sure if the time in the industry drove him to sing?)
- Techno Music (time to get out of the 90's dude)
- Spending time "with all my girl friends" (yes - he's French)
- Changing Diapers (yes - also French guy)
- Deer hunting with my motorcycle
- Making Hole in One's on the Golf Course
- Fast Cars
- "My wife" (suck up)
- Dutch Oven cooking and my Orchids in my Green House (How did you know it was a woman?)
- Feeding Animals (our Rep Dan Green from Western PA who has 17 cats....)
- Canoes, Camping and Target Shooting
- but not all at the same time.
- Dancing....(expecting her to be out late tonight)
- The Bears (lots of boos from the Packer fans in the room)

So - as you can see, we have a big variety of passions here at our 6th Hatco School of 2010. I look forward to seeing what adventures this group takes us on today and tomorrow. Who will be the class Valedictorian? Who will be the Stud? Who will be "the one"? Stay tuned tomorrow for more fun filled adventures from the October Class of 2010...

Cheers,

Billy Booster

Last Hatco School of 2010

Happy hump day! Hope everyone is having a good week. Hatco is about to begin it's final Hatco training school of the year. We have a great class coming. Want to know who's coming and the far away places they are from?

Well, we've got the normal Hatco "new" additions from Milwaukee and a few old timers too (time to retread those tires). We have some great dealers from Illinois, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, California and Florida. We have big dealers and small dealers. We have Reps and Consultants. We even have a vendor this time, our new creative partner - Esrock!

From the Export arena, we are proud to welcome guests from Quebec, New Brunswick, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) as well as Poland (WOW!, they traveled a long way). The Export guests are always a lot of fun, and usually pretty smart too. We always enjoy meeting them and learning about foodservice in their part of the world.

Today will be mostly meet and great, so nothing to laborious. Tomorrow is when the real fun begins. As we gather for dinner tonight Billy Booster will be there to try and unearth lots of little known facts about each student. Tune in tomorrow when Billy (that's me) will tell more about this final Hatco class of 2010.

Who will be the one?????

Cheers,

Billy

Bar Codes

Barcodes rule the World? Is there anything on this planet that doesn't have a bar code? How long before you get one tattooed on you at birth? Do you ever read bar codes? Don't know how? Check out the info below to learn some interesting things about bar codes that will allow you to easily read them.

ALWAYS READ THE LABELS ON THE FOODS YOU BUY--NO MATTER WHAT THE FRONT OF THE BOX OR PACKAGE SAYS, TURN IT OVER AND READ THE BACK---CAREFULLY!

With all the food and pet products now coming from far away places, it is best to make sure you read labels at the grocery store and other retail places, especially when buying food products.

Many products no longer show where they were made. The only give you where the distributor is located. It is important to read the bar code to track it's origin.

This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you. Can you differentiate what is made where?

Here's a general list of countries based on the first few numbers:

00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
30 - 37 ... FRANCE
40 - 44 ... GERMANY
47 ... Taiwan
49 ... JAPAN
50 ... UK
690-692 ... CHINA

Now, please understand. This is not a suggestion to discriminate against products made in other countries. There are many excellent products made throughout the world.

For a complete listing of the GS1 Country codes - check out this list on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GS1_country_codes

Cheers,

Billy Booster

Hello Billy Speaking, How May I Help You?

I got a new cell phone recently. Yes, that's right - Billy Booster uses a cell phone. Don't you? It's amazing how dependent we've all become on this little boxes of joy. Many of us feel completely dysfunctional when we are without one. I know that's how I felt when mine died on my last week.

As I marveled at the new technology installed in my new cell phone, it caused me to think about how quickly our society has become dependent upon this luxury. It seems not that long ago that we were all impressed with nothing more than the introduction of the wireless home phone - or the remote control on our TV. Now, if you don't have a blue tooth headset, a PDA loaded with Apps and mobile email - you ain't got nothing.

With these thoughts in mind, I began to do a little research on the cell phone - and it's growth and popularity - not just in the US - but around the World. Here are some of the cool things I learned.

1) There are 4.3Billion cell phone users on this planet - that's more than 66% of the World's population. (as of 2009)
2) There are 285 Million cell phone users in the USA - that's 91% of the total US population. (as of 2009)
3) The US ranks third in the World in cell phone users. Here is the top 5:

1) China, 800Million (62% of the Chinese population)
2) India, 670 Million (57% of the Indian population)
3) USA, 285 Million (91% of the US population)
4) Russia, 213 Million (147% of the population - so many people have more than 1)
5) Brazil, 190 Million (99% of the Brazilian population)

Interesting to note that Germany (#8) and Italy (#10) also have more than 100% saturation - indicating that most people have more than one cell phone.

4) 273 Million of the 285 Million users in the USA are over 13 years of age. That means there are 12 Million cell phones in the hands of kids 12 years old or younger.
5) 47% of all US teenagers can text efficiently with their eyes closed.
6) Smartphones? Over 200 Million smartphones will be sold in 2010. Up 55% from prior year.
7) Apple has sold over 40 Million iPhones and iTouches. Supporting these devices are more than 150,000 applications "apps".
8) Apps for Apple iPhones and iTouches have been downloaded more than three Billion times since these devices were introduced - their popularity is growing so fast that every day over 250 new apps become available, created by over 30,000 different software developers.
9) Smartphones are sold in at least 77 different countries.
10) 45% of Smartphone users live in a household with a total household income of $100,000/year or more.

So, after doing all this research - what conclusions can we make. Based on what I've learned in my lifetime of International travel - I would suggest that cell phones are more common that toilet paper. Isn't that a fun thought for your Monday!

Have a great week.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

More on "el Natural "

Hey Hatco fans! Did you eat any organic food for lunch yesterday? Did it make you feel better? Did the environment improve? How was it priced? Was it expensive? How do you know it was organic? Want to continue our ongoing discussion on the benefits and or myths about organic food? Read on....

1) Is it good for me?
2) Is it good for the environment?
3) Is it a good value?

To start, please understand these are only the humble opinions of Billy Booster - a simple piece of foodservice equipment with no political agenda. Hatco equipment is designed to keep food warm - and it does a great job on both organic and non-organic food. Billy has nothing for or against organic food producers.

Having said that, here's what I (Billy) have learned about organic foods - and what it leads me to suggest about possible answers to our three questions above.

1) Are "organic" foods healthier for me to consume than conventional foods? Based on the research I did, I cannot say that organic foods are better or worse for you. I could find no evidence of this either way. It might sound better to eat something "organic". It might make you feel better (in your mind) to eat something organic. But, there is no scientific evidence that I can find that says organic food is significantly better for you.

Reuters recently published a report that quoted some English scientists who had studied over 150 articles on organic food. Their conclusion was that "there is no evidence that organic is healthier than conventional foods". I also found a quote by the American Cancer Society stating that there is "no evidence that organic foods demonstrate greater effectiveness in reducing cancer than similar foods produced using other methods." Finally, I found an article on the internet from an organization in the UK which quoted: "They're not healthier or better for the environment, and they're packed with pesticides. In an age of climate change and shortages, these foods are an indulgence the world can't afford", argues environmental expert Rob Johnston.

So, are they healthier? I don't know. I'm not a scientist. I do know there is a lot of chatter on the internet that seems to indicate there is a bit of a myth behind this great organic movement. But why?

I noted some interesting commentary on the economics of organic, and how it is highly profitable for retailers and producers in comparison to traditional food stuffs. Prices of organic foods are often 50% or more than their standard substitute conventional foods. Often the prices are twice to three times as much. One significant retailer of organic foods Whole Foods has significantly outperformed their retail competitors over the recent past. Is it because they focus heavily on marketing these high margin organic foods?

I found another article that argued that the "organic movement" is feeding on the fear people have of cancer. In the UK, the timing of Mad Cow (and later in the US) was timed perfectly with the great organic food movement, allowing producers to feed on people's fears and sell much higher priced organic foods to paranoid consumers.

Is it healthier? Who knows, but it's certainly not to be taken for granted that high priced organic foods are necessarily better for you.

2) Is it good for the environment?

It makes sense to me that things grown without pesticides, herbicides and growth hormones would necessarily be better for the environment. But, here again, there may be some myth building going on. At a minimum, there is likely some green washing going on to the benefit of high priced retailers.

I enjoyed one story I took from Anthony Bourdain's new book "Medium Raw". In his book he talks about a Chef named Alice Walters who promotes organic food at her California restaurant. However, her claims to selling "local and sustainable foods" became somewhat hypocritical when Bourdain discovers most of her organic produce is shipped from San Diego, some three hours drive away from her restaurant. Not exactly "local", is it?

I also read another story about an organic yogurt product made by a US producer that used milk from New Zealand. The producer argued that there wasn't enough supply of organic dairy in the US to meet the demand. Organic production is laborious and resource intensive. So, they buy organic milk from New Zealand that is powdered, flown to the US and then rehydrated in production. Is it me or does that not seem very "green"???

Then, I came across this quote from the UK. This was by far my favorite quote: "Also, organically reared cows burp twice as much methane as conventionally reared cattle http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/the-great-organic-myths-why-organic-foods-are-an-indulgence-the-world-cant-afford-818585.html and methane is 20 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2. Meat and poultry are the largest agricultural contributors to GHG emissions. LCA assessment counts the energy used to manufacture pesticide for growing cattle feed, but still shows that a kilo of organic beef releases 12 per cent more GHGs, causes twice as much nutrient pollution and more acid rain."

So , is it better for the environment? It probably depends on each product, supplier, situation, etc. But again, it doesn't seem to be a "slam dunk"....

3) Is it a good value?

As stated above, organic isn't cheap. It's not the food to feed the poor with. Global food sales are less than 2% organic, so it's not taking over the world in any fast fashion.

Given that it's uncertain whether or not it's healthier or better for the environment, one does begin to wonder why people pay 50%, 100% or 200% more for an organic product than the same conventional product.

Some say organic is just marketing genius designed to feed on those who fear cancer. So, it may not be a good value for consumers. The price range certainly makes it prohibitive to introduce 100% organic meals to school foodservice or even mainstream fast food, price-driven commodity markets.

Having said that, it does seem to be a good value for those who produce it. As stated above, the organic food suppliers are making nice margins. They obviously think it's a good value.

Here's one last fun quote I found on the value of organic foods:

Americans believe that organic food is healthier than conventional fare by a 2-1 margin, reports John Miller of National Review. But Miller's worthy article (link requires subscription) demonstrates that the reverse is far closer to the truth. "Organic foods may be fresh," he points out, "but they're also fresh from the manure fields."
To be sure, there's nothing wrong with buying organic. Miller rightly scorns, however, the "holier-than-thou organic-only" political movement trying to legislate and scare the rest of us into buying their high-priced alternatives.
The discovery of a single case of mad cow disease in the United States provided a perfect opportunity for organic advocates to promote the false belief that conventional foods are excessively risky. As we pointed out in the "Orlando Sentinel": "During the Christmas season, it was hard to open a newspaper without reading assurances from Ronnie Cummins, Director of the Organic Consumers Association, that organic beef provided a safety net from mad cow disease." He conveniently forgets that in 1995, the British had hundreds of mad cow diagnoses on organic farms.

Got to love the British. They are all over this organic thing....

So, in the end, is organic good. I really don't know. What I will say is, don't believe everything you read. Trust your gut and what you can see, feel and taste. Grow your own vegetables at home. Buy locally. Buy economically. Eat fresh as much as possible. And don't spend crazy money on something that isn't completely proven to be massively better.

So....what's for dinner?

Have a great weekend,

Billy Booster.

el Natural

What's for lunch today?  Something organic?  Do you like organic foods?  Do you buy organic foods?  Do you even know what makes a food organic?  I decided to do a little research on all this organic stuff.  What I learned was fascinating.  What it means for all of us is even more interesting.  Today I focus on what organic really means.  Tomorrow I want to talk about the impact of organic foods on our lives and our industry.

So, what the heck is organic anyway?  The Organic Foods Protection Act of 1990 was established to provide guidelines on what is required for a supplier to label a food as "organic".  You might be surprised to find out that only 95% of the ingredients used in a food need to actually meet the organic definition in order for the food to be labeled USDA organic.  Even more surprising, a supplier can use only 70% organic ingredients and still label a food product as "made with organic ingredients".

Essentially, the criteria food must meet in order to be labeled organic includes not using in its production AND not having in its content, any of the following:

- no genetically modified organisms
- no chemical pesticides
- no use of insecticides, fungicides, herbicides
- no irradiation or sewage sludge

Surprisingly, some sprays, chemicals and pesticides are allowed.  While they are very limited and generally natural - there are some gray areas to say the least.

There are also some interesting rules regarding organic livestock.  They cannot use antibiotics or growth hormones.  And, they must have "routine access to pasture" whatever that means...

One also must be warned that "natural" foods are not the same as "organic".  Natural foods - and or foods labeled as "natural", do not have to meet any of the criteria required of foods labeled as "organic".  Essentially - natural foods are nothing more than marketing gimmicks.

As of April 2008 - less than 2% of the World's food sales were from Organic sources.  Organic production is generally done by small family owned farms and is much more laborious and time intensive.  As a result, organic foods are often 50% or more expensive than their non-organic substitutes.

So - now you know - at least generally - what makes a food organic.  Tomorrow we will talk about the practical side of organic foods and how they can and will impact our lives and our industry.

Enjoy your lunch.  Order something organic.

Cheers,
Billy

Business Planning? It's That Time of Year!

Happy Wednesday. Hope you are well. What's on your mind today. I'm thinking about business plans. Many businesses are doing planning for the future this time of year. I recently saw a presentation by Bob Segal, Frank Lynn and Assocates, who suggested you have your dealers / distributors write business plans for their manufacturer parnters. Do you think that's possible? Have you ever done this?

Mr. Segal spoke to a group of Foodservice Equipment Manufacturers at the MAFSI Conference in San Antonion, TX on September 22nd. In his presentation, he said a key practice to managing your distribution involves developing a business plan with your distributors and or dealer partners. He surprised many of us when he suggested that you have the distributor write the plan and submit it to the manufacturer. Most of us manufacturers are used to it being done the other way around.

Mr. Segal's suggested having the distributor write the business plan will help create buy-in with the distributor and stregthen the relationship between the manufacturer and the distributor. He understood it wouldn't be possible to do this with everyone - but suggested that working with your most important and or largest distributors in this way is very feasible and rewarding. He also said creating a template that's easy for them to complete will further help the process. Finally, he warned that filling out the template for them yourself will undermine the entire process.

Here are some of the things he suggested you should include:

Company History
Financial Summary
Owner's / Company Top Line Objectives
Product Mix / Strategy
Customer Mix / Strategy
Sales Methodology
Timing of key initiatives
Promotional Strategies / Schedules
Training Strategies / Schedules

Segal suggests that if you can get the top 20% of your key dealers to work with you on writing these kinds of business plans, your sales will grow faster and your distribution channel will strengthen quicker than you ever imagined.

I enjoyed this presentation and the thought process. I still have my doubts about our ability (or any manfacturer's ability) to get enough time from a dealer to complete this process. Hatco may give this a shot this year - if Billy Booster has his way. In the meantime, I'd be curious if any of my loyal listners out there have tried this strategy and or had any success with it. If you have thoughts on this topic - send me any email at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Have a great day.

Billy

Spec Credits?

We are seeing more and more dealers, and even consultants, that want to get a specification credit on jobs they design. Their logic is this... If they put our products on the job, then we should pay them for that service. They have a choice regarding whose product they put on the job, so if they put our product on the job rather than one made by our competitors, we should compensate them for this preferential treatment.

Does that seem fair to you? Does that seem wrong to you? I would love for you to email me your opinion. You can do that at any time at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Let me give you my opinion. I think it's very wrong for a consultant or a dealer to demand a spec credit from a manufacturer for simply recommending that company's product within their kitchen design. Here's why I believe it’s wrong.

I believe design work is different than straight equipment sales. Design work is paid for (generally) by the end-user customer. They are paying the consultant or designing dealer for their expert opinion. The consultant is supposed to recommend to them the best possible piece of equipment for their application, not the one that they make the most money on. The end-user customer is paying them for their advice. If the manufacturer pays them to always recommend their product, then the customer really isn't getting the consultant or the dealer's best advice. Sure, there are instances where more than one product will work. However, the consultant and the dealer still have an opinion about which product is the best value. If they spec what's most profitable for them, then I believe they have brought corruption into their service to the end-user customer.

Let me give you an analogy from another industry, the medical field. What if doctors were given a "spec credit" by drug companies for writing prescriptions for their medications? Would that be OK? Would you continue to seek medical attention from a doctor, if you learned he was prescribing meds for you just because he got a 5% kickback on every bottle of pills you purchased?

Look, I know times are tough out there and everyone in the distribution channel needs to work harder than ever to survive. But…there are some actions that just go too far, and I believe paying spec credits to have your product recommended to a customer (and the customer is paying for design services) is wrong. I am sure there are other opinions on this topic - so I encourage any and all to email me their thoughts at:

billyb@hatcocorp.com

Thanks,

Happy Tuesday!
Billy

Where is the Beef?

Are you a vegetarian?  Or, do you enjoy a big juicy hamburger as much as the next guy or gal?  Are burgers being evolved in the same way Starbuck's evolved coffee?   Does anyone really care?

I've been reading Anthony Bourdain's new book, Medium Raw.  Bourdain, a well known chef and author, puts forth an interesting theory on hamburgers in America.  First, he provides some interesting research on the perversion of the hamburger as food companies seek to make more money per pound.  He claims there is strong evidence that the quality of meat being put into this great American tradition is decreasing rapidly.  He illustrates that scraps of meat that weren't used to make hamburger in the past are now being used in order to improve big meat processor's margins.  He says its "unAmerican".

While this idea is somewhat disturbing to me, I found his further commentary on the evolution of the hamburger even more interesting.  Bourdain argues that hamburgers are evolving much like coffee did under the Starbuck's brand.  He points out that not more than a decade ago, if someone asked you to pay more than a dollar for a cup of coffee - they were looking for an argument - in the least.  However, Starbucks proved that given a fancy name like Mocchiato and clever cup size like "venti" - and suddenly people are willing to hang out in lounge like settings paying $5 for a cup of joe.

Is this what is happening to hamburgers these days?  And, does it fly in the face of the corner cutting cost savings measures of the big meat processors like Cargill?  Bourdain says it does.  He cites many major high end US restaurants now serving Kobe beef burgers or Wagyu beef burgers for $20 or more.  While he doesn't come right out and say it - he implies that eating a hamburger from a Japanese cow that's been feed beer and given daily messages might be - well - "unAmerican".  Bourdain argues that a simple pure American, unadulterated, beef patty between two halves of a quality bun ordained with some lettuce, tomato and ketchup is truly American - and best graces our beloved hamburger (salt and pepper to taste of course).

Do you agree with Bourdain?  What about the Hot Dog?  (Oh my God - don't go there.....)

Send me your thoughts - or better yet - your vote for your favorite hamburger.  Email me at billyb@hatcocorp.com

Cheers,
Billy

Is Our Economy Improving?

Is our economy getting any better? Yes or No? Does anyone really know? I sure as heck don't have all the answers.

I was reading Ron Paul's Technomics' monthly newsletter yesterday. He makes some interesting points. Basically Mr. Paul points out that there are not a lot of positive signs on the economy right now. GDP is weak. Employment is flat. Disposable income isn't growing. Confidence is low. Government policies on immigration, taxes and healthcare don't seem to be solving our problems. Stimulus spending is shot. But, President Obama promises us that the recession is over.

Moving onto the foodservice industry, we see some very small nominal growth in lodging and limited service / quick service restaurants. We note that full service restaurants are still in decline - albeit minimal. Mr. Paul predicts that Total Foodservice will grow only 0.3% this year - essentially no growth at all. He predicts next year will be only slightly better - with about 1.7% overall growth. (Note that he thinks full service restaurants finally start seeing positive comps next year - I guess if you go down long enough you can't help but go up eventually.)

Most other industry data I've seen lately says that foodservice will be pretty flat again next year. This always invokes the "is this the new normal" conversation. Will there be a double dip? Is the recession over?

I don't know what the future will hold. I suspect next year will look much like this year - maybe a little better. In the end, those of at Hatco have a philosophy we've held onto throughout the recession: keep your head down, work hard, don't worry about what you can't control - and service the hell out of your customers.

What's your opinion? What do you see out there? Send me an email with your opinion:

billyb@hatcocorp.com

Keep the faith,

Billy Booster

Friendly Rivals

I am writing this before the big game - the Packer Bear's game on Monday Night Football, so I don’t know the outcome. As a loyal Wisconsin Cheesehead, I hope Packers were victorious. If not, I wish to congratulate the Bear's fans who might happen to read my blog.

Yesterday, everyone in the Hatco office was dressed up in Green and Gold. A few people (at least one) were wearing Bear's apparel. We spared their life - but it wasn't easy. Everyone was talking about the big game - who would win - who's defense was better, would Brett Favre retire at the end of this year - all the stuff football fans love to talk about.

I began to wonder, what makes long-time sports rivalries such a passionate thing. Why do people get so much more emotional about playing a team that's only 90 miles away versus a team that's 1000 miles away? Here are my top ten reasons why I think people get so passionate about games or events involving their "rivals" versus those "non-rival" games.

1) It's all about bragging rights. You want to be able to hold your head high in the neighborhood. You can't do this if your next door neighbor beats you.
2) It's tradition. Rivalries are usually built over decades. The Bears and the Packers have been playing since the NFL was born - about 80 years and over 200 total games. There's a lot of tradition and history of great games played in the past.
3) We know each other. They are people you work with and socialize with. If you’re from Milwaukee, you know lots of people from Chicago. When you know their fans personally, it makes it - well - PERSONAL.
4) It's fun. Rival games are a reason to get dressed up, throw a party, have a casual day at work. There’s lots of fun and excitement that’s brought to the table that doesn't happen for a normal game.
5) It's an excuse to drink too much. People always like an excuse to party - to let their hair down - to get crazy. Thus, a good rivalry game means a darn good party.
6) It's a reason to wear all that team sports memorabilia you purchased at the last game - and that Grandma gave you for Christmas.
7) It's a good opportunity to call in sick to work the next day and have everyone be sympathetic - we all know you were at the party last night.
8) We love to see our team's on National TV. Any good Rivalry game is always on National TV. Who doesn't like their 15 minutes of fame.
9) It's an excuse to eat anything we want. The food at football parties is always bad for your diet.
10) Nothing feels better than beating the crap out of your rival. I don't know why - but it's one of the greatest feelings on earth.

If you have other reasons you can think of - please email them to me at: billyb@hatcocorp.com.

If you think the Packers are going to the Super Bowl - also email me at: billyb@hatcocorp.com

If you think the Bears are going to the Super Bowl - email Dan Frigo at: dfrigo@hatcocorp.com

Have a great day.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

"Remember the Alamo"

Last week I attended a really great MAFSI conference along with all those great Hatco sales reps. The conference was in beautiful San Antonio, Texas – a fascinating city. It was the first time I really took the time to learn about San Antonio. I was truly surprised what a historic and beautiful city it is. Did you know that San Antonio is one of the nation’s fastest growing cities in America – and the 7th largest city in America? It is!

What most amazed me about San Antonio was its history. Below I have attached some interesting “Wikipedia” history on San Antonio’s most popular historical site, The Alamo. The Alamo is where Texas defenders fell to Mexican General Santa Anna and the phrase Remember the Alamo originated. The Alamo is considered the cradle of Texas liberty. It’s a beautiful old mission with an incredible story of American sacrifice and bravery.

I was also amazed by the beauty of San Antonio’s downtown gem – The Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is a commercial area full of shops, hotels, restaurants and amusements. It’s built around a scenic park with a relaxing river running through its midst. It almost has the feel of a Venice style culture.

What most impressed me about the Riverwalk was how strong foodservice is thriving there. I counted more than 40 restaurants and bars along the Riverwalk. You can walk to all of them within about 10 minutes. I walked the area on a Friday evening and was pleased to see the area thriving – full of customers and people fighting to prove the recession is behind us. There were a strong show of independents (lots of Mexican food) and a healthy dose of casual and fine dining chains, including: Morton’s, Chili’s, Hooters, Fogo de Chao, Rainforest Café, Joe’s Crab, Hard Rock, Dick’s Last Resort, Landry’s and Pat O’Briens. It was great to see so many restaurants so full of customers and all enjoying a healthy dose of real business.

Overall, I found San Antonio to be a very nice place to visit. I am not surprised it’s been noted as one of the best places to live in America. If you go, make sure you brush up on your Spanish, as 58% of the population is Hispanic. And if you go, don’t worry about the weather; it’s almost always warm and sunny. And for sure – visit The Alamo and The Riverwalk!

Have a great day and – “Remember the Alamo”.

Billy Booster

The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas). All but two of the Texian defenders were killed. Santa Anna's perceived cruelty during the battle inspired many Texians—both Texas settlers and adventurers from the United States—to join the Texian Army. Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the revolution.

Several months prior, Texians had driven all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas. Approximately 100 Texians were then garrisoned at the Alamo. The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis. On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexican troops marched into San Antonio de Béxar which is now named San Antonio as the first step in a campaign to re-take Texas. For the next 12 days the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies, but fewer than 100 reinforcements arrived.

In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repulsing two attacks, Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian soldiers withdrew into interior buildings. Defenders unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape. Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed. Most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 Texians dead, while most historians of the Alamo agree that 400–600 Mexicans were killed or wounded. Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked a panic and the Texian army, most settlers, and the new Republic of Texas government fled from the advancing Mexican Army.

Within Mexico, the battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican–American War of 1846–48. In 19th-century Texas, the Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle site rather than a former mission. The Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings in the early part of the 20th century and designated the Alamo chapel as an official Texas State Shrine. The Alamo is now "the most popular tourist site in Texas". The Alamo has been the subject of numerous non-fiction works beginning in 1843. Most Americans, however, are more familiar with the myths spread by many of the movie and television adaptations, including the 1950s Disney miniseries Davy Crockett and John Wayne's 1960 film The Alamo.

TGIF to all my Hatco Friends!

Personally, I don't want this week to end! I've been inspired by all the great presentations that I've seen at the MAFSI Conference in San Antonio this week. The presentations by John Henderson from Frank Lynn and Associates were amazing… all about performance-based compensation, internet sales, and industry pricing policies. Sounds like dry stuff? - not so! This is all about MONEY. Read on if you want to know how to get more from your money.

John Henderson, President and CEO of Frank Lynn and Associates spoke to a group of manufacturers and reps about the challenges we have with channel conflict in the foodservice industry. I will try my best to summarize his key points.

1) Rebate programs need to be more performance-based. The traditional volume and growth based programs we have in our industry actually encourage behavior that does not match market demand. They also are the primary reason for channel conflict in our industry. We need to change our programs to make the channel do what we and our customers really value. In general, our industry needs to move more towards a performance-based approach that rewards the behaviors we and our customers value. Frank outlined several methods that can do this: a menu approach, a tiered approach and a combination approach. I won't get into the details here - but it was very inspiring and made a lot of sense. The bottom line is that rebates in the foodservice industry are the highest of the more than near one hundred industries that Frank Lynn and Associates have studied. It's time for all of us to begin defining new programs that are designed to save our industry from the perilous journey it's currently on.

2) Internet sales are the greatest source of channel conflict in our industry today. The internet dealer has a much lower cost structure than the full service dealer - so they sell at much lower margins (prices). This behavior is putting our full service dealers at risk. Worse - manufacturers are contributing to this demise by supporting policies like drop ship, free freight, and no minimum order requirement. While internet sales are probably less than 10% of total industry volume, they are eroding dealer margins by as much as 25%. With reps losing commissions, dealers losing margins and manufacturers paying the highest non-performance related rebates in human history - it's time for a change.

3) In addition to the performance based incentives discussed above, Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) and Minimum Resale Price (MRP) policies may be an important part of the solution. MAP policies encourage dealers not to advertise on the internet at such low prices. This helps dealers maintain reasonable margins and manufacturers to protect the integrity of their brands. If dealers do advertise below a manufacturers MAP prices, they can lose rebates or even have their accounts closed with the manufacturer. MRP policies go one step further and ensure dealers cannot sell below a minimum price level. MRP policies provide dealers with the margins they need in order to provide customers with much needed and valued services. If manufacturers implement more of these MAP and MRP policies, the industry will be healthier (due to better margins) and customers will be better served. There are a lot of things we need to learn about pricing policies such as these - but if we don't start moving in this direction - future business behavior will be even more destructive than it is today.

I want to thank John Henderson for a great series of presentations. He was joined by two of his collegues, Bob Segal and Gene Zelek, who were also inspiring and made significant contributions to the overall presentations. I want to thank them as well.

Great job and great message. Now let's all act upon what these fine men have taught us. Seize the day!

Respectfully,

Billy Booster

Sales Reps Important Part of Distribution Channel

Happy hump day to everyone. Billy Booster (that's me) is in San Antonio, Texas this week. I'm attending the MAFSI (Manufacturer's Agents for the Food Service Industry) Conference. It's sure to be fun and educational. Sales Reps are a super important part of our distribution channel. That's why Hatco hasn't missed a MAFSI conference since the beginning.

About 20 years ago, a well known dealer from Texas predicted the demise of the Independent Sales Rep within the next 10 years. Here we are 20 years later - and MAFSI and the role of the Independent Rep is still going strong. I believe 20 years from now - the Independent Sales Rep will still be playing an important role in our industry. Here is why.

1) The Independent Rep is a great economic model. It's hard for many manufacturers to justify the salary of a full time sales person in each of the major US regions. Sharing this cost of a local sales team with a few other non-competitive manufacturers allows all of us to leverage the return on this investment. Instead of each company paying rent for an office, hiring a sales team, paying travel costs, computer costs, sales support staff, etc., we share these costs across a number of companies. This is a super efficient way to service the market with a strong local sales presence.

2) The customer gets a lot more value from a Sales Rep who can talk to them about several product lines than just one. By having a number of different product lines, a Rep can bring a large variety of solutions to their customer. Of course they will start out talking about the tremendous food warming, merchandising and sanitizing solutions available from Hatco. But, the customer may also need an oven, a fryer, a dish washer or a refrigerator. By being an independent sales rep with a variety of product lines, you can solve all the customer's problems at once. You are a one stop shop!

3) Independent Sales Reps spend all their time with their local customers. In this way they develop very close, valuable and long-term relationships. This is hard to do if you are a factory rep who travels in and out of the territory. Many Independent Sales Reps have worked their territories for many years - even decades. They know their customers very well. They know their families. They socialize together on weekends. They are part of the same community. These deep ties work well in developing meaningful business opportunities and creating a customer relationship where the end-user knows you (Hatco) really care about the success of their business.

They are many other reasons why the Independent Sales Rep is an important part of our distribution channel and is here to stay for many, many years to come. Hatco has maintained many of its rep relationships for as much as 40 years or more. Our company was founded by an independent sales rep and we remain true to the value of their role in our industry.

I look forward to a successful MAFSI conference. I plan to share all the fun and educational experiences I enjoy while I am here.

So, check back with Billy later this week and see what's happening in San Antonio - and what those clever Reps are saying now.

Cheers,

Billy Booster,
Hatco Booster Heater

Who will be "THE ONE"?

We just finished our fifth Hatco Training School this year. It was so much fun! The people were really nice; so many of them were very interesting and impressive people to know. All of us at Hatco continue to be amazed by the tremendous people we have in our industry.

This month's class was no exception. They were a great group: smart, fun, hard working and full of surprises. We tried to sum it up with some recognition during the closing dinner on Friday night. We gathered at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. We asked each student to come to the podium so we could reward them with their diploma and share a few things we'd learned about each of them. Here are a few of the highlights.

The "Stud Award" went to Michael Tabert from EPI in Texas. He won our appreciation by turning his trip to Hatco School into a weekend getaway for his entire family. He bought tickets to the Packer Game on Sunday and flew his family to Green Bay to enjoy the Packer experience to its fullest. We liked Michael's style. We felt his passion for the Pack was worthy of a Stud award.

The Anti-valedictorian went to Linda Hale - Neira, also from EPI in Texas. She earned this dubious honor by asking an amazing number of questions. Most of them were good questions - but there were just enough stupid questions to earn her the anti-valedictorian award. The story about how she licks soap off her arm put it over the top for all of us.

The Valedictorian was earned by none other than the reputable consultant Robert Nyikos. Robert impressed all of us with his in depth knowledge of concrete and how it should not be confused as a synonym for cement. Robert was a wealth of knowledge and clearly a very, very smart man. We honored him with the traditional cheese head crown. He wore it proudly. We thank Robert for his wisdom and his sense of humor.

Finally, we had to give the award for "the one" to a young sales rep from Tennessee. He asked to remain nameless, but his initials rhyme with Jim Van Vleet. This young man did himself proud on the first night of school and paid dearly for it on Thursday morning. While pale and heavy with sweat during the class photo - he toughed it out and made it through the entire day's lessons. We salute him for his willingness to inflict pain upon himself - and to endure the ridicule of others. He was a great sport and took "the one" trophy home with great pride.

There were many other note worthy classmates. We loved them all. They inspire us and they remind us why we love this industry.

We have only one school remaining for the 2010 season. Tune in next month to see who the final winners of 2010 will be.

Have a great week.

Billy Booster

Learn and Play the Hatco Way

Here are some aspects of our Hatco U school that still hold true.  Check in tomorrow for some scoops at the students at this month’s schools - and some predictions about who will be "the one"....

Ok friends – it’s that time again – Hatco University is about to begin. It’s time to learn and play the Hatco way. I am excited to greet the 30 reps and DSRs from around the world that are about to descent on the innocent and unprepared city of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
I always enjoy these schools as there is so much predictable fun which lays ahead, yet so many discoveries to be made in the coming days.
Here are the universals I can always plan for at every Hatco school. There will be a DSR that misses their flight. There will be a Rep who has been with us for years and still misses the easiest question on the final exam. There will be someone who’s late for the bus every morning. There is someone who will drink too much and embarrass themselves. There will be an incredibly brilliant and driven individual who jumps out as the class valedictorian. There will be dozens of moments where people say or do things that make me laugh.

I enjoy all the universals described above. As Billy Booster – with 60 years in the industry – I’ve seen it all. Having said that – I still make discoveries at each and every Hatco University. There will be someone who’s insight and experience teaches us all new things. There will be new friends that appear unexpectedly and remind you of how wonderful it is to meet new people. There will certainly be memories created that you will cherish for life. There will be new friends made that lead to life-long relationships. All of this makes each Hatco school worth more than any Imperial Booster – or Human Being – could ever hope for.

Are People Afraid to Eat Gulf Shrimp After the Spill?

Hatco is getting ready to host another dealer school this week. Looks like another great class. Who will be "the one"? Will this class have a stand out valedictorian? Check out my blog tomorrow and Friday to find out.

As we prepare for this week's class, we pause to reflect on some important developments in foodservice - like the impact the oil spill in the Gulf is having on seafood consumption in our industry. Are people afraid to eat Gulf Shrimp after the spill? Should they be? Are there even any Gulf Shrimp left? These are all great questions.

The reality is that the impact of the Gulf oil spill will be felt for years. One cannot deny that such a massive spill damaged the Gulf ecosystem and much of the seafood product that the Gulf provides to US foodservice needs. While it is a resilient fishery and there is still a good volume of quality product coming out of the Gulf, the public perception is a very negative one. People don't trust the quality of the food or the dependability of the supply coming from the region. It will take years to overcome the damage to the Gulf - and it may take even longer to overcome the negative perceptions placed upon fish and seafood coming from the Gulf.

The bottom line for US consumers is that there are safe and good quality fish and seafood being harvested from the Gulf. You can still safely eat Gulf Shrimp and many other species of fish. There is ongoing rigorous testing to ensure the products are safe to eat. Even greater efforts are being put forth to regenerate species that were badly harmed - like Oysters. The people who live in the Gulf have suffered much and endured great challenges. They are a very resilient bunch and will overcome this trial as well. However, let us show them our support and not discriminate against products from the Gulf. The economic turmoil they are suffering in the Gulf is more from lack of demand than crop damage. We can all help by continuing to eat fish and seafood (tested and proven to be safe) as much as possible - keeping demand up - and income flowing for this already hard hit region of our country.

Tell me what you think! billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Have a great day.

Billy Booster

Foodservice and Politics?

Happy Primary Election Day - that's right - time to vote! Don't forget to go out and vote today - Tuesday, September 14th, 2010. Even I, Billy Booster, voted! Remember, primary elections are just as important as regular elections - so get out and vote today

How is politics tied to foodservice?

I did a search on all the famous people in US politics that were a Chef or someone influential in the foodservice industry. I am sorry to say - there really weren't any. Yes - that's correct. No US President came from the restaurant business. Those of us in foodservice need to change that. If Colonel Sanders were still around - perhaps we should have nominated him as a Presidential candidate?

I did find a few past Presidents with a somewhat indirect connection to foodservice. Most recently, former US President Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer - so, indirectly also a member of the food chain and thus a supporter of foodservice. Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson and former President Pierce were all gentlemen farmers as well. Other than that, it seems you must be a lawyer or a career politician to become President. There were a few soldiers and of course one famous Hollywood actor - but no Chefs or toaster manufacturers.

I expanded to search to include just famous people who may have worked in foodservice, and it was equally disappointing. The best I could come up with was Michael Dell (Dell Computers) used to be a dishwasher, Sylvester Stallone a Deli Clerk, and Colonel Sanders did a variety of Blue Collar jobs. The best one of all was Bill Murray, who apparently used to sell chestnuts outside a grocery store.

The only Famous Chef I could find that had anything to do with politics was former culinary great, Julia Child. Apparently she started her working life as a Government Spy. Go figure?

So - despite that lack of famous foodservice professionals who went on to rule the world - it's still important that we all go out and vote today

Don't delay, vote today.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

Voting: An Honor and a Privilege

Happy Monday. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Did you know that tomorrow is when you need to vote on primary elections for the Wisconsin State election this fall? That's right - we all need to go and vote tomorrow. Tomorrow's vote is as important as just about any vote we've ever had. Not only is the Governor and Lieutenant Governor's offices open for the first time in a long time, but also about 20 seats in the legislature are open as well.

Voting is an honor and a privilege. It's disappointing that more American's don't see it as a duty and a gift. Some many lives were lost in the Revolution so that we could have the right to vote in this country. But it goes far beyond that, voting is the only true way we have direct impact on the leadership and governance of our public lives. If you want to impact your life in this land of freedom, you must start by voting for your government.

I did some research this week, and discovered that Americans (or at least those from Wisconsin) think it's far more important to vote in a Presidential election that a local election. Nothing could be further from the truth. Choosing the leaders of our state and our communities is just as important as electing the President of our Nation. We must remember that the United States is a collection of federations that have a great deal of influence of their local laws, budgets, taxes and governance. Selecting the Governor of Wisconsin is just as important as selecting our Nation's President. The Governor can impact taxes, state spending and every day legislation as much or more than our Nation's president.

As I said, I did some research this week that surprised me. According to the Government Accountability Board, 69% of Wisconsin's voting age population voted in the Presidential election in 2008. However, only 9% of that same population voted in the primary elections in September of the same year. In 2006, a year like this year, with a non-Presidential general election, only 51% of Wisconsin's voting age population voted in the General election while, only 15% of that same population voted in the primary elections in September of the same year. This is becoming an alarming trend. In the 1950's more than 25% of Wisconsin's voting age population voted in primary elections. In the 1960's, more than 20% Wisconsin's voting age population voted in primary elections. In the 1970's the number was closer to 20%. And since then, the numbers have declined slowly over time. As a society, we are becoming increasingly apathetic towards State elections.

This year the Government Accountability Board estimates that 28% of Wisconsin's voting age population will vote in the primary election because so much is at stake and there is so much new interest in the office of Governor and creating change in our legislature. Looking at the trends in the numbers over the last 50 years - I think there is a high probability that the Government Accountability Board estimates will be wrong. However, I hope that it's Billy Booster that is wrong on this estimate.

Please get out and vote tomorrow. It's so important and there is some much at stake. We all need to do our duty and cherish the gift of freedom and democracy that makes our country so unique and so great.

Cheers,

Billy Booster

Friday Humor

Since many of us will be going out for dinner tonight, I thought a little restaurant humor might be appropriate for my Friday blog. In the spirit of Hatco's fun corporate culture, here a few "rib ticklers" from the restaurant industry...

A chef flew into a rage at his new assistant. "Didn't I tell you to notice when the soup boiled over?" he yelled.
"I did," said the assistant. "It was half-past eleven."

Two customers were sitting in a shabby restaurant.
"What can I get you to drink?" asked the waiter.
"A Coke please," said one customer.
"And I'll have the same," said his friend. "And make sure I get a clean glass."
The waiter took the order and a few minutes later returned with the drinks.
"Right, now which one asked for the clean glass?"

A man went to a chicken restaurant. He asked the manager: "How do you prepare the chickens?" The manager said: "We just tell them straight out that they are going to die."

A customer wanted to ask a pretty waitress for a date but couldn't get her attention. When he was able to catch her eye - she quickly looked away. Finally, he followed her into the kitchen and blurted out his invitation. To his surprise she accepted. When he asked why she kept avoiding his glances she replied "Sorry -I thought you wanted another cup of coffee."

A man and a women were sitting in a restaurant when the waitress noticed the man sliding down his chair and under the table. The waitress said to the women "Excuse me - but I think your husband just slid under the table." To this, the woman replied coldly, "No, my husband just walked in the door!"

Have a great weekend!

Billy

Working Together

Do you want to know how foodservice manufacturers can improve dealer profitability in the foodservice equipment and supplies industry?  Check out the attached article that was recently written by Michael Whiteley, VP Sales and Marketing, Hatco Corporation.  This article was published in FEDA News and Views in July of this year.
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Channel conflict is not new to the foodservice equipment industry.  Food equipment manufacturers and dealers have experienced many challenges over the years. 

I recently attended FEDA’s Annual Convention in Indian Wells, CA.  During the convention dealers and manufacturers held an open forum to discuss Opportunities to enhance channel partnerships and reverse the erosion of the dealer profit model.  There were excellent points made by both dealers and manufacturers.

During this open forum, the results of a recent FEDA survey were shared.  The survey identified that 47% of all dealers believe inconsistent pricing and discount structures to be the greatest conflict between themselves and their suppliers.  Many manufactures had similar responses, while also noting frustration over rebate and price negotiations.

Manufacturers have an excellent opportunity to influence positive change relative to these key issues.  This change must begin by shifting our focus away from the buy side of the equation and refocusing our energy on the sell side of the equation.  For years dealers and manufacturers have been seeking to increase margins by shifting profitability from one end of the channel to the other.  It’s time for channel partners to focus on increasing margins by selling products and services at more profitable levels.  This can be accomplished and justified with the appropriate discipline and value equation.  It cannot be done without communication, strong partnerships and significant policy change on the part of manufacturers.

The first step is for manufacturers to embrace pricing policies that allow quality brands and full service dealers to charge a fair price for the products and services provided to end-use customers.  Since June of 2007, the laws of this country have allowed for vertical pricing agreements where it is in the consumers best interest to have a high quality product supported by a full range of services.  Manufactures must begin to enforce a pricing policy that ensures dealers can provide much needed services to the end-user while still making a profit.  The proverbial “race to the bottom” must stop.

Relative to pricing policies, I am not referring to “MAP” or Minimum Advertised Pricing policies that many manufacturers have recently adopted.  However, I am referring to MRP “Minimum Resale Pricing” policies – which only a few manufacturers have chosen to adopt and enforce. 

Pricing policies are powerless if they only dictate at what price you can advertise a product.  MAP policies will not stop the race to the bottom.  They only makes the race less visible.  In the end, a dealer can still drop his price if a MAP policy is the only guidance offered by the manufacturer. 

In comparison to MAP policies, MRP policies impact the final resale price a dealer can charge.  Unlike MAP, MRP has teeth.  It stops the race to the bottom.  The dealer can now make a profit  on the sale of the equipment while providing much needed services to the end-user.  Manufacturers must begin to adopt MRP policies or margins will continue to decline and channel conflict will continue to increase.

There are some challenges to implementing and enforcing an effective Minimum Resale Price policy.  There are also some legal requirements that each manufacture must understand and evaluate.  However, if you talk to companies and or other industries that have embraced MRP (consumer electronics and sporting goods for example), you will find that the benefits to the channel and the end-user far outweigh the challenges. 

None of this commentary is meant to suggest that MRP is a silver bullet.  It’s not.  Change will not come without understanding, dialogue and commitment to long-term partnerships.  We must look at the partnerships we have today that are working well – and identify the unique positive characteristics of those relationships.  Then we must ask ourselves; “how do we take what’s working well with our very best partners and transfer it to all our channel partnerships?”  It won’t be easy.  Change is never easy.  But then again, most good things don’t come easy!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

I am finally back in the USA after two weeks of doing research for Hatco in China. While I truly enjoyed spending time there, and learning more about that great country, I am happy to be back home.

I had many good things to say about traveling. However, I also missed so many things about being home. Today, in the spirit of patriotism and the love of one's homeland, I give you my list of the top five things I missed most about the USA. If you like my list - or if you read any of my reports on China, please let me know that I'm not writing all these blogs for no good reason and email me at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

TOP FIVE THINGS I MISSED ABOUT THE USA
5. English speaking television, it’s great not to have to translate
4. ESPN Sports Center
3. Milk, cheese, butter, or (insert your favorite dairy product here)
2. Air Conditioning (man it's hot in Shaghai in the summer)
1. All my friends, family, and co-workers - those little boosters I love so much.

Have a great day - and remember - send me an email. I want to know you are there
billyb@hatcocorp.com

Cheers,

Billy

Heading Home!

Billy's manager apologizes for not posting since last Thursday. Unfortunately Billy and crew got detained going through security on his way home from China (the metal detector kept going off). Here's the latest from Billy...

This last weekend was especially sweet for this Hatco Booster. I'm on my way home after two weeks in China. I can't wait to kiss the ground in my home country. Before I arrive, I offer you some closing thoughts on the foodservice trends I've observed in China. The Chinese cook, eat and enjoy like no other place on earth. I've enjoyed nearly 35 unique dining experiences over the last two weeks. Here's what I find interesting about the foodservice industry in China.

1) Variety - there is a tremendous amount of variety available to the consumer. It doesn't matter how big or small the restaurant is, you will have more choices than you know what to do with. The Chinese make fun of how the Americans eat. They don't understand why we limit our palette to only one protein, one vegetable and one starch at each meal. The Chinese prefer to experience dozens of flavors, textures, temperatures and sights at each meal. They will order 10 to 15 dishes and make an adventure out of the meal - eating for enjoyment as much as sustenance. I like the Chinese way better - its more interesting and lot more tasty.

2_ Quality - the Chinese take great pride in the quality, taste and presentation of their food. The use lots of fresh ingredients and lots of fresh spices. The hot food is so hot you can't touch it when it hits the table. The cold food is equally cold. The presentation is almost always careful and artistic. The food is always prepared fresh and to order. Service is generally quick and pleasant as well.

3) Healthy - the Chinese steam or boil nearly everything they eat. You find almost no fried foods unless you visit an international chain like McDonald's. They eat lots of green vegetables, fish and seafood. While you will find some pork, beef and chicken, fish and vegetables are the true staples of their coastal diets. Of course tea is the primary beverage of choice along with lots of fresh fruit juices. Cheese, dairy, fats and oils are rarely seen, served or eaten.

4) Sociability - the Chinese are friendly. Meal time is a time to talk to friends and family. The fact that nearly all their tables are round is good evidence of this. They love to socialize over a meal and, as such, they are in no hurry to finish. Several times we had to take a late meal due to travel and or business meetings. It was very common to find a restaurant completely packed at 1AM in the morning. You could tell by the mess on the tables that these people had been there eating, drinking and talking for a long time. I like this part of the Chinese culture. Americans need to slow down and enjoy their meal times together. Relax, enjoy and laugh more often. It feels great.

5) Smoking - the Chinese smoke too much. I must admit this is one thing I hate about China. The Chinese smoke way too much. They especially like to smoke at meal time. And like the US, in the decades now gone by, you will find ash trays and complimentary matches on every table. By the end of most meals, my hosts had "smoked me out" worse than the best boy scout campfire that I can imagine. The Chinese are way behind the rest of the world when it comes to educating their population on the perils of lung cancer caused by smoking. This is one thing about China I did not like.

6) Smiles = the Chinese people are a happy people. They are comfortable with their existence and they enjoy life. They smile at you and they laugh with you. Every where I went to eat I felt at home and I felt the atmosphere was positive and joyous. I like being around happy people. Chinese people are generally happy. This makes the foodservice staff work better. This makes your service experience more enjoyable. This makes you feel better.

These are my primary observations on the foodservice experience in China. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed eating out in China.

Have a great week and glad to be home!.

Billy

Past, Present and Future of Nanjing, China

Have you ever been to Nanjing, China before?  We'll I'm there today - selling lots of Hatco equipment to needy five star hotel projects going up all around the city.  What's Nanjing like?  Kind of like Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzen, Guangzhou and all the other Chinese cities I've visited this week.  It's hot and humid.  It's crowded.  It has lots of traffic jams.  The national bird (the crane) is seen everywhere in high places.  There is a McDonalds on every corner.  And there are 1000 Chinese restaurants for every McDonalds.

Why go to Nanjing?  I'm in search of the Chinese Holy Grail - new business.  What does this have to do with Hatco and the foodservice industry?  I'm learning what US manufacturers need to do to develop the secondary markets of Greater China.  Outside of the big cities of Shanghai and Beijing, there are 39 cities in China with a population of 2 million or more people.  That's a lot of restaurants in need of holding, warming, serving and sanitizing equipment.  Hatco fits right in with this kind of environment.

But, not to bore you to death with all this business development stuff - let me share with you a little bit of the history of Nanjing.

Nanjing is located about 200 miles North West of Shanghai.  There is a large modern highway that takes you there - and it only takes about two and a half hours to drive it.  The cost to use the highway is about $20 USD (a fortune in China) so nearly no one uses the highway - making for a quick drive if you can pay the tolls.

The city itself has a very modern sky line with lots of newly erected tall office buildings.  It has a beautiful and very clean looking lake and park right in the city center.  There is a very beautiful train station providing access to the rest of the country on the South end of the lake / city.

Nanjing is a very modern, healthy and growing city today.  But it wasn't always like this.  In fact, Nanjing was host to one of the greatest tragedies in Chinese history.  During World War II the Japanese invaded China and occupied the city of Nanjing for several years.  During that period the Japanese massacred more than 300,000 Chinese residents of Nanjing in a hideous genocide campaign - similar to what the Nazi's did to the Jews in Poland during the same era.  Only the Japanese did it in much shorter fashion - carrying out the massacre in the space of a few hours or days.  The Chinese have not soon forgot this bloody history and many locals remain very sentimental about the massacre to this day.

Despite this terrible history, Nanjing is thriving and growing today.  All the people I met with were very friendly and anxious to do business with Hatco.  I found the city of Nanjing to be welcoming, friendly, clean and relaxed.  As I have gotten to know the Chinese people throughout this country, I've realized more and more how resilient they are.  The Chinese are a people that always find a way to survive and to succeed.  Nanjing is just another great example of the Chinese will to overcome and to do great things even in the face of incredible challenges.

If you haven't been to Nanjing, put it on your bucket list.  You won't regret it.

Have a great day,
Nee how,

Billy

Visit to Ningbo, A Tiny Village of 4 Million People

Hatco sales are booming in the small Chinese city of Ningbo. Billy Booster (that's me) visited some of Hatco's most important Chinese customers in Ningbo this week. If you aren't familiar with Ningbo it's a tiny village of 4 Million people about 150 miles South East of Shanghai on the Central Coast of China.

The trip from Shanghai to Ningbo used to require a boat. Today you can drive there from Shanghai. That's right - the Chinese built the Hangzhou Bay Bridge across a 25 mile stretch of the South China Sea - connecting the Shanghai peninsula to the Ningbo peninsula. The bridge is an incredible display of human engineering. It's six lanes wide and features long sections of suspension bridge that are interconnected to traditional sections supported from the sea floor below. In the center they are building a giant observatory complete with a tall space needle from which you can see both ends of the bridge. Of course the building is shaped like the wings of an eagle with the head of the eagle being the top of the space needle. Is there any limit to what the Chinese are willing to build?

I've been coming to China for 15 years but this was my first visit to Ningbo. Like everywhere in China, Ningbo is growing fast. The Executive Chef at the Marriott told me they have 20 new five star hotels currently under construction. I didn't stay at the Marriott - but I did enjoy a wonderful lunch there. The city of Ningbo is mostly an industrial center with a large river (leading to the ocean) flowing through the center of the city. There are lots of modern buildings and wide avenues as well as plenty of old sections yet to be modernized.

As with most places I've been in China, the people are very friendly. My host told me at least 20 times how happy he was that I came to visit him and his company. He treated the Hatco gang to a very nice dinner which included many toasts over several glasses of cold beer. Needless to say, my low water cut off was not getting much work in Ningbo. The food was mostly seafood. We sampled some local fish and seafood, including shrimp, crab, sardines, jelly fish, and another creature that seemed to be as much eel as fish. Most of it was very good - especially the shrimp which were steamed and then covered with a sauce made from horseradish, mayon and sesame seeds. While it may not sound great - it was very tasty to this booster.

We visited six different companies during our 36 hours in Ningbo. All of them spoke about the growth they are seeing in their business and in the region. I couldn't help but wish some of this growth and prosperity could be exported back home to all my fine American friends. Many fear that China is headed for an economic "bubble" in the near future. However, from what I saw and heard - there's no "bubble" looming at the moment.

Tomorrow we're back in Shanghai and then off to Nanjing. I hope to send you all a report from there.

God bless America,

Billy

Happy Feet

Greetings from Ningbo China, where Hatco is developing some great new markets. If you've ever been to China - then you know one of the best things is a traditional foot massage. After a long day of pioneering new markets for the worlds greatest foodservice brand, HATCO, a Chinese foot massage is one of life's greatest luxuries.

There are massage parlors all over China. From big elaborate spas to tiny little massage parlors no bigger than a hotel room. I venture to say there are more massages parlors in China than there are gas stations in the US. The quality of these parlors is universally high, and the prices are universally low. For a 70-80 minute foot message, I paid between 50 RMB ($7) and 140 RMB ($20). A fantastic value and, most importantly, I always left with happy feet.

The parlors are always very nice. They feature air conditioned rooms (super important when considering the 100 degree heat outside), with large comfortable chairs - bigger and better than any "lazy boy" you have at home. They decor is always low lighting, lots of plants, marble, stone, and of course, tons of candles and incense. These places are designed for relaxation, and they do a great job of it. You’re served a cup of tea and fresh fruit before you even begin to decide from the menu of massages available.

The traditional foot message (my favorite) features three main elements. The first element (about 10 minutes) is soaking your feet in a large tub of very hot water. The tub may have mint or eucalyptus in it to add some additional aroma and sensation. Then, the massage therapist removes your feet and places them on an ottoman covered with fresh, soft towels. However, before she begins to massage your feet, she will rub your back, your shoulders, and your neck to "loosen and relax you". This is the second element and is nearly as good as the foot message itself. This can last as much as 15 minutes. Don't be afraid to tell her to "go softer" as some of them are willing to rub your bones right out of your skin if you let them. I frequently have to tell them "ouch - too hard" to get them to meet my preference.

Then the foot massage begins - the final element. She starts with your calves and ankles and then slowly transitions to your feet. She will use a lot of lotion and or oil so your skin is soft and her hands move smoothly across your skin. She will always start with your left foot - I'm not sure why. She will begin with the arch of your foot - pushing hard with her thumb to loosen the tendons between your toes and your heel, then the balls of your feet and then your toes, working on each toe individually - top, bottom and in between. She may spend as much as five minutes on the big toe alone. From time to time she will pause and apply pressure to certain points on the bottom of your foot. This is called reflexology, and the belief is that there are nerves in the bottom of your feet that are connected to key organs of the body. By relaxing nerves in your foot she will make your lungs breath better, your heart beat better, and your liver process toxins better. I can't confirm or deny this, but I've never felt better than after a foot message.

The foot message is nearing the end when you hear a series of claps as she "chops" at your feet like beating a drum with the sides of her hands. You feel no pain - but rather you feel relaxed and the rhythm and sound of the "chops" is like beautiful music and gentle massage simultaneously. It's truly wonderful. Then, of course, she repeats the whole process over again on the right foot.

Finally, when the feet have been sufficiently jellified, she produces some very damp, hot towels and cleans your feet and legs of the oil and lotion by gently rubbing and massaging the hot towels from your knees to your toes. She then bundles your feet in dry towels, bows with grace, offers you a salutation of "chee chee nee" ("thank you very much") and disappears to let you relax a while longer in your chair as you finish your tea and enjoy this catatonic state.

A Chinese foot message is something all of you should truly try at least once in your life. It's a wonderful thing - and the best part of visiting China, in my opinion.

Have a great day - and remember - keep those feet happy.

Nee how, BIlly-gra-la

Tea is Woven into the Fabric of Chinese Tradition

Today begins my second Hatco week in China. I spent last week in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. This week I'm headed to Ningbo and Nanjing. I've become overwhelmed with observations, thoughts and things I want to talk about. I'm not sure where to begin. As the one thing that's universal and current throughout China and each moment of each day is tea - I think I'll start there. Yes - I said tea.

Tea is like a fabric or glue that holds China together. It's a common thread that connects each person and each moment of every day. No matter where you go - the first thing people greet you with is a cup of tea. To the Chinese - offering a cup of tea is equivalent to a hand shake in the US. Every restaurant you visit will put a pot of tea on the table before you even get a menu or speak to a waitress. When visiting a customer, a vendor or a partner - they will start the meeting by sharing a cup of tea with you. Every hotel room is equipped with a tea pot and an assortment of tea. You cannot avoid tea when in China - it's everywhere - all the time.

Tea is not only a beverage and a greeting here in China, it's also an art, a ceremony and at times - a religion. In Southern China, where I spent several very hot days last week, China is served in a very ceremonious fashion. Each manager's office is equipped with an elaborate tea set. Here they call the best tea set / and brewing process - Kung Fu Tea. Your host will seat you on a couch in front of a long coffee table equipped with his tea set. The tea set is often displayed on a very elaborate tray that may be made of stone, wood or marble and feature carvings of dragons, animals or other traditional elements. The tray will have a drain on it as part of the tea brewing process seems to include lots of water being splashed and spilt all over the tray. First the water is boiled and then poured into a container full of high quality tea leaves. The tea leaves may be black, green, brown, gray, white, yellow, etc. Each office I visited on behalf of Hatco had a different flavor or color of tea. After the boiling water is married with the tea leaves, its manipulated in a very skilled fashion before being strained through a screen into another container. It is allowed to cool in this third container before finally being poured into very tiny cups for consumption. You might get about two or three sips of tea before you find the bottom of your tea cup. Then the host begins the whole process over again so you can enjoy another two or three sips five or ten minutes later. This process is repeated time and time again until the business discussion concludes - some times as much as one or two hours later.

The ceremony of making the tea is only half the show. It's also the way your host interacts with his tea and his tea set that also speaks volumes of a person's personality and status. Some of my Hatco customers executed the process without much ceremony our thought. The experience was fairly mechanical. Others were very careful in their preparation - going to great lengths to stir the tea and the water, to clean the cups and the utensils and to pour the tea with drama and grace - you felt like a gift was being given to you. Other hosts actually summoned a helper or staffer (always a young woman) to prepare the tea for us. In these instances the process was even more carefully and gracefully executed. At times it was hard to pay attention to the conversation as the ceremony of the tea was captivating.

Finally, one also has to recognize the value of the tea - the quality of the tea. Many people go to great lengths to explain the origin of their tea and why it is superior to anything else you've ever had. One host offered us "the same tea that's reserved only for the highest government officials". Another host gave me some of his tea telling me "if you keep it for 50 years it will age and be worth as much as $50,000 dollars - like a fine wine". (I've stored this tea in a safe place just in case he's right.) The packaging of the tea also tells you a lot about its relative value. If it's wrapped in paper or plastic it is much less quality than the tea packaged in ornate tins. The decoration on the packaging can be very simple or extremely elaborate as well.

Lastly, unlike the English, the Chinese have discovered that ice tea is just as good as hot tea. In most of the C-Stores you will find an endless variety of cold tea, milk tea, sweet tea, black tea, green tea, sugar free tea, etc. Starbucks would be jealous of the varieties and options available - as well as the profitability I imagine.

Tea is a wonderful Chinese tradition. Oh, and in case I failed to mention it - it also taste good.

So - next time you have a cup of tea - don't just take it for granted. Put it in its proper context and enjoy a little Chinese tradition.

Nee how,

Billy-gra-la

Shenzhen to Shanghai to Guangzhou

Greetings from a high speed train traveling between Shenzhen (75 miles NW of Hong Kong) and Guangzhou (just north of Hong Kong) China!

The planes and trains in China are made for Chinese people, not big boosters like me. My "tank" is a little too wide for the seats and even my "compact" legs can't seem to stop cramping from being horizontally challenged. Thank goodness the people are nice and smile a lot - it helps me forget about the pain.

Yesterday I flew to Shenzhen from Shanghai, where I entered the country the day before. The new Pudong airport in Shanghai is as nice and as modern as any I've ever seen in the World. I flew into Pudong from the States but my flight to Shenzhen departed from another new airport that is located in the city center, the Hongqiao airport. This was also a very modern and very impressive new facility. Other than the seats being small on the Chinese airlines, I can't complain about the airports.

I've been coming to China since 1995, and the country continues to evolve very quickly. I can't get over how modern everything is today compared to 15 years ago. The number of new cars driving on the streets is amazing. There is new construction going on everywhere you look. Even in Shenzhen (a "secondary" city - not as modern as Shanghai or Beijing), the hotels and restaurants are modern, clean and very nice. My hotel has wireless internet, flat screen HD cable TV, mini-bar, English speaking staff, etc. You feel very comfortable here, as long as you can get used to the humidity and the temperature (over 90 degrees F or 32 degrees C).

The business people are very friendly and anxious to work with you. The Chinese are traders, and as long as you have something to trade, they are interested in talking about it. Despite the size of Shenzhen (15 million people), our business here is still relatively underdeveloped. The foodservice industry is modernizing quickly, but we still must provide a lot of product education regarding food holding, food safety, kitchen design, etc. The business meetings in Southern China are more social than they are in the "primary" markets like Shanghai and Beijing. In each meeting we must sit with the owner of the company in a large office with big leather chairs and share lots of tea, while we make endless small talk. After a few glasses of "kung fu" tea (famous in this region), we finally talk business. They take their business very seriously, and are quick to tell you what they think and what they want. However, don't underestimate the cultural subtleties in the body language, and the hierarchy. Everything must be put into context to be fully understood.

One of the things I enjoy most about the business meetings in China is the long responses that I get to my simple questions. I will ask the owner of the company how they see the market and their competitive position in the market. They will talk in Chinese for 15-20 minutes, while I pretend to hang on every word and understand every phrase. Finally, when he stops for a breath and allows the translator to do his job, I will get about 2 minutes of explanation: "he says the market is growing and there is lots of opportunity. They are very customer focused and think Hatco is a good brand". I wonder why it took 20 minutes to say this, and how much I must be loosing in translation.

I also like how Chinese business men always have Chinese phrases hanging on their walls in big, beautifully-framed pictures with fancy script underneath the glass. I always ask what it means, and they always struggle to translate the meaning. I believe sometimes it’s very cultural and difficult to translate into Western context. Other times I think it’s patriotic, and they are trying not to offend me by translating the "China rules!!!" slogan in their office.

Of course the best time of the day is dinner, when we get to sample all these interesting and delicious Chinese delicacies. Unlike Americans, who pick one protein, one vegetable and one starch and call it a meal, Chinese prefer to order 10 or more dishes at a meal to create an adventure of flavors, aromas and textures to sample. Last night I enjoyed some moon cake (a pastry stuffed with bean curd) and a cold beer as an appetizer. Dinner included some nicely steamed vegetables and a creamy broth from a pork based soup. We enjoyed some BBQ pork and some crisply fried chicken (with the heat and feet still on the chicken of course). The main plate of the meal was pig’s lung and a white fungus that looked like a translucent rubbery cabbage of some sort. The lung was without much flavor until you dipped it into the chili paste, and then it got back to rather exciting. Rick, noodles and fresh fruit came towards the end of the meal to provide for some starch (to kill any remaining hunger) and some sweet (supposedly “good before sleeping”)… and of course some tea.

Speaking of tea, it's very complicated here and could be the source of an entire blog. So look for more info on that next week!

For now, I will enjoy the rest of my train ride and get ready for the heat at the next train station.

I hope my friends are well in all parts of the world!

Nee how!,

Billy

I’ve Tried … Have You?

Hello from China! I am having fun thinking about all the delicious Chinese food I get to eat in China.  Want to know more about what they eat in China - check out the list below.  This is all the stuff I ate last time I was in the region.  Enjoy!

Interesting things I ate & drank in Asia – (not necessarily in this order)
Dubai

• Raw lamb
• Shrimp as big as a lobster
• Chili Crab (lots of work, good taste, not much crab)
• Lebanese wine – much better than I expected
• Beef bacon (no pork is eaten in Muslim countries
• Prickly Pear (cactus fruit)

Singapore

• Albacore
• Steamed Mussels
• Clams
• Fresh Refrigerated Coconut (drink / eat)
• Chicken Sausage

Malaysia

• Geouck
• Hairy Crab
• Chinese Grouper
• Abalone
• Pencil Clams
• Fish Balls
• Shrimp Balls
• Superb fresh mango / papaya
• Various unnamed fish
• “Steam Boat” – take everything above + noodles, vegetables and peppers and boil it in a stew
• “Rib Soup”  - Malay specialty – pork ribs in spicy broth – only served in dive restaurants street side

 China

• All the same fish and shell fish from the Malaysia list – cooked and raw
• Duck Feet
• Chicken Feet
• Pig stomach and intestines
• Chicken liver
• Goose liver
• Beef tounge
• Every kind of rice and flour noodle imaginable
• Sushi and Sushimi  - but in some unusual flavors like clams, abalone, pressed fish eggs
• Duck Skin
• Sea weed
• Bamboo
• Congee (porage with soy sauce and vegetables)
• Mushrooms that look like flower petals marinated in wasabi
• Fish heads
• Eel

More Interesting Facts About China

There is 13 hours difference between where I call home (good ol’ Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and China. As I am getting used to the new time zone, I hope you enjoy a few more interesting facts!

1. Chinese is spoken by 92% of China’s population. There are at least seven major families of the Chinese language, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Hakka, Gan, Xiang, and Min.

2. Red symbolizes happiness for the Chinese and is commonly used at Chinese festivals and other happy occasions such as birthdays and weddings.

3. The Chinese have made silk since at least 3,000 B.C. The Romans knew China as “Serica,” which means “Land of Silk.” The Chinese fiercely guarded the secrets of silk making, and anyone caught smuggling silkworm eggs or cocoons outside of China was put to death.

4. According to a Chinese legend, silk was discovered in 3000 B.C. by Lady Xi Ling Sui, wife of the Emperor Huang Di. When a silk worm cocoon accidentally dropped into her hot tea, fine threads from the cocoon unraveled in the hot water and silk was born.

5. The oldest piece of paper in the world was found in China and dates back to the second or first century B.C.

6. The Chinese were the first in the world to use stirrups in the third century A.D.

7. China’s “one child” policy has contributed to female infanticide and has created a significant gender imbalance. There are currently 32 million more boys than girls in China. In the future, tens of millions of men will be unable to find wives, prompting some scholars to suggest that this imbalance could lead to a threat to world security.

8. During the first half the twentieth century, Shanghai was the only port in the world to accept Jews fleeing the Holocaust without an entry visa.

9. Originating as far back as 250 B.C., Chinese lanterns were an important symbol of long life. Lanterns were once symbols of a family’s wealth, and the richest families had lanterns so large, it required several people with poles to hoist them into place.

10. In 1974, a group of farmers digging for a well in the Shaanxi province uncovered some bits of very old pottery. They discovered the tomb of Qin (259-210 B.C.) the first emperor who united China. The tomb contained thousands of amazing life-sized soldiers, horses, and chariots.

11. China’s Grand Canal is the world’s oldest and longest canal at 1,114 miles (1,795 km) long with 24 locks and around 60 bridges.

12. The bat is a traditional good luck symbol that is frequently depicted in designs for porcelain, textiles, and other crafts.

13. The bicycle was introduced into China around 1891 by two American travelers named Allen and Sachtleben. The bicycle is now the primary transportation for millions of Chinese. The last Qing emperor (Puyi) rode a bicycle around the Forbidden City in Beijing.

14. Suspension bridges were invented in China in 25 B.C, 1,800 years before such bridges were known in the West.

15. The carp is a symbol of strength and perseverance. The scales and whiskers of the fish make it resemble a dragon, the greatest symbol of power in China.

16. In some parts of China, “pigtails” were associated with a girl’s marital status. A young unwed girl would wear two pigtails, and when she married, she would wear just one.

17. In ancient China, mirrors were believed to protect their owners from evil, making hidden spirits visible and revealing the secrets of the future. Mirrors were often hung on the ceilings of burial chambers.

18. The horse most likely originated in Central Asia and became very important in China. A horse is considered to be associated with the masculine symbol, yang, and with the element of fire. A person born in the Year of the Horse is considered cheerful, indeand mpendent, clever, talkative, quick to anger, and able to handle money.

19. The phoenix is the most important bird in Chinese legend and represents the feminine power of the empress. The graceful crane, which is a symbol of long life, is the second most important bird in Chinese legend. Ducks are also important symbols and represent happiness arital faithfulness.

20. While the dragon is typically seen as an evil creature in Western culture, it holds first place among the four greatest creatures in Chinese mythology, including the phoenix, tiger, and tortoise.

21. China’s national flag was adopted in September 1949 and first flown in Tiananmen Square (the world’s largest public gathering place) on October 1, 1949, the day the People’s Republic of China was formed. The red in the flag symbolizes revolution. The large star symbolizes communism and the little stars represent the Chinese people. The position of the stars represents the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party.

22. China has the world’s oldest calendar. This lunar calendar originated in 2600 B.C. and has 12 zodiac signs. It takes 60 years to complete.

23. The consumption of mushrooms was recorded in Chinese historical documents more than 3,000 years ago. In 1996, China produced 600,000 tons of mushrooms, making it the world’s leading producer, and it has 60% of the world’s mushroom varieties.

24. In 2007, dog food and toothpaste products made in China were recalled because they contained poisonous ingredients. In July, China’s head of the State Food and Drug Administration was found to have accepted bribes from pharmaceutical companies. He was executed.

25. Famous Chinese and Chinese-American actors include Jackie Chan (Hong Kong), Chow Yun Fat (Hong Kong), Bruce Lee (San Francisco), Jet Li (Beijing), Zhang Ziyi (Beijing), and Lucy Lui (New York).

I'm on my way!

I'm on my way to China today. As you read this I am on a flight to Shanghai. I will visit a bunch of Chinese cities on my top secret Hatco sales mission over the next two weeks. I will do my best to keep in touch with you all – depending upon the great fire wall of China. Over the next couple of days, I wanted to share some fun facts on China to get the adventure started…

1. China is often considered the longest continuous civilization, with some historians marking 6000 B.C. as the dawn of Chinese civilization. It also has the world's longest continuously used written language.

2. China is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, and the U.S.). It has an area of 3,719,275 square miles (slightly smaller than the U.S.) and its population is four times that of the United States.

3. One in every five people in the world is Chinese.

4. Fortune cookies are not a traditional Chinese custom. They were invented in 1920 by a worker in the Key Heong Noodle Factory in San Francisco.

5. Toilet paper was invented in China in the late 1300s. It was for emperors only.

6. The Chinese invented paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

7. The Chinese invented kites (“paper birds” or “Aeolian harps”) about 3,000 years ago. They were used to frighten the enemies in battle. It was considered bad luck to purposely let a kite go.

8. Cricket fighting is a popular amusement in China. Many Chinese children keep crickets as pets.

9. Despite its size, all of China is in one time zone.

10. Many historians believe soccer originated in China around 1000 B.C.

11. Ping-pong is one of the most popular games in China, but it was not invented in China. It originated in Britain, where it is called table tennis.

12. The number one hobby in China is stamp collecting.

13. Giant Pandas (“bear cat”) date back two to three million years. The early Chinese emperors kept pandas to ward off evil spirits and natural disasters. Pandas also were considered symbols of might and bravery.

14. Though Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is credited with designing the first parachute, Chinese alchemists successfully used man-carrying tethered kites by the fourth century A.D. Parachutes were not used safely and effectively in Europe until the late 1700s

15. Historians speculate that as the Chinese population grew, people had to conserve cooking fuel by chopping food into small pieces so that it could cook faster. These bite-sized foods eliminated the need for knives and, hence, chopsticks were invented.

16. In A.D. 130, Zhang Heng, an astronomer and literary scholar, invented the first instrument for monitoring earthquakes. The machine could detect and indicate the direction of an earthquake.

17. China invented ice cream, and Marco Polo is rumored to have taken the recipe (along with the recipe for noodles) back with him to Europe.

18. A civil servant named Su Song built the first mechanical clock between A.D 1088 and 1092. It could tell the time of day and also track the constellations so that accurate horoscopes could be determined.

19. The Chinese were the first to invent the waterwheel to harness water in A.D. 31, 200 years before the Europeans. China was also the first country in the world to use an iron plow. Europe didn’t begin using the iron plow until the seventeenth century.

20. It was customary for wealthy men and women in the late empire to grow the nails of their little fingers extremely long as a sign of their rank. They often wore decorative gold and silver nail guards to protect their nails.

21. By the fourth century B.C., the Chinese were drilling for natural gas and using it as a heat source, preceding Western natural gas drilling by about 2,300 years.

22. The Chinese were using the decimal system as early as the fourteenth century B.C., nearly 2,300 years before the first known use of the system in European mathematics.

23. According to popular legend, tea was discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong in 2737 B.C. when a tea leaf fell into his boiling water. 24. Martial arts are practiced throughout China and were largely developed from ancient farming and hunting methods.

25. The most important holiday in China is the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. Chinese traditionally believe that every person turns one year older on the New Year and, thus, that day is considered to be everyone’s birthday.

Hatco U Recap – Another Great Dealer School!

Hatco had another great dealer school last week. We had 38 smart bright and talented foodservice professionals pass the ever challenging Hatco school final exam on Friday. We gathered at the National Rail Road Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Friday night. It was here that we celebrated their success with a memorable commencement ceremony. There were many notable graduates.

First, there were many honorable women of note. We had a world champion set of painted nails. You’ve never seen nails like these before. They had precious stones glued to them. They were painted multiple colors and were longer than the Brooklyn Bridge. So, we had to give our first ever “World Class Nails” award to Yvette Duran.

Another notable lady was mi bon ami de Quebec, Melanie Roy. Billy Booster said he wanted to marry Melanie and become a Canadian citizen. Not only is she beautiful, but she’s also smart and rich (owner of her own business…)

Speaking of beautiful women, the Hatco team nominated Emily McDonald as future Ms. Wisconsin – even though she doesn’t live in Wisconsin. We decided her new Hatco education would be more than enough to help her win the talent competition. She then confirmed our decision by telling us she was a former Ms. Indianapolis 500.

While we had many impressive women in the group, we also had a few bright men. We enjoyed spending time with the future Governor of Arizona, Brian Bauer. We also laughed with the man who won the “suck up award”, Carl LaChance. How do you win the “suck up award”? You marry the sister of the President of Hatco just to keep the Hatco line.

We also celebrated some new awards. We created the “Super Stud” award. The trophy is a football made of cheese. We gave it to Steve Dorval for finding more pretty women at the bars in Sturgeon Bay that all the other guys at Hatco school combined. Apparently Steve decided to leave the other guys and venture out on his own – hitting “pay dirt”. Good for you Steve.

Raulie Treadway was granted our traditional “Anti-Valedictorian” award for being boring and cautions and doing nothing note worthy or academically impressive.

The highly coveted Valedictorian award went to Ryan Norman for asking so many good questions and for his leadership during the final exam. We were even happier with our decision to give Ryan this award when we realized his father had won the same award at a Hatco school a few years prior. What a family – wow!

Finally, the highest and most coveted award of all – “THE ONE” award, was given to a fine young man who over slept and missed the bus. While he denied many of the theories behind his tardiness – he was a good sport when the class saluted him with a standing ovation when he finally arrived at class on Friday morning. Because of his actions, his humility and his great sense of humor, Vince Simms finished our ceremony by accepting “THE ONE” trophy.

All in all, it was another great school. We all learned a lot of good stuff about foodwarming and merchandising. We all became good friends – and made many new friends. And, we had a lot of fun doing all of it along the way.

Cheers!

Billy

August Hatco Training School

This week Hatco is hosting 38 dealers and consultants, as we enjoy our fourth Hatco training school this year. As usual, this class has provided us with a bounty of new insights and experiences. And, as is so often the case, this group also has a very unique personality - an atmosphere and attitude that is exclusive to this collection of foodservice souls.

I must first note the interesting demographic of the August 2010 class. We have 13 Canadians in the group - 8 of which are from Quebec (and most of them are not strong English speakers, if you know what I mean....). There are four Brits from the UK (although the guy from Wales swears he's Welsh and most certainly NOT English). We do have a few Americans, including residents of Florida, California, Texas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, and New Jersey. We have a few young people, and a few old people. We have a few young women, and a whole lot of old men.

As usual, all of our guests are very smart and very interesting foodservice professionals. They share a common passion for serving our mutual customers and providing best value quality products - like those made here at HATCO.

The class is mastering the art of foodwarming, merchandising hot foods, and sanitizing dishes. Of course, there are some excellent jokes, humorous photos, and outlandish videos mixed in to keep things light. So far all the presenters have kept a pulse and avoided embarrassment. We've also avoided injury and arrests.

In the evening, the personality of the class really begins to shine. This group is abnormally well-behaved. So far we've seen nobody over serve themselves, get sick, or fall down. Not to disappoint, I can confirm we did have one person miss the bus on Friday morning. As most of you know, there is always "the one".

Today the class will finish strong with some exciting classes on drop-ins, toasters, and drawer warmers. And of course, the most exciting class of all - taught by Billy Booster (that's me) - is the Booster Heater Class and always a class favorite. We'll finish the day with a fun and interactive final exam (Jeopardy game), and then off to our graduation banquet at the National Rail Road Museum (highlights in the next "Hot Bytes").

At the end of the day, I am sure we'll all be better for the experience, and the new friendships we form. We'll rest up for a few days, before we do it all again in September.

Tune in on Monday to hear about the graduation awards, such as, class valedictorian and class anti-valedictorian.

Finally, as a quick "heads up" to the two or three regular readers of this blog - Billy is off to China next week. While the goal is to provide some exciting updates from the foodservice industry of the Far East, it will all depend on the "great firewall of China".

Until then, enjoy your weekend!

Billy

The Spice of Life

Why do we like spicy food so much?  Is it the burst of surprising heat that we get from spicy food?  Is it the intense flavor that comes from a truly delicious hot pepper?  Is it the challenge of swallowing something that is on fire in our mouth?  Why do we like hot foods so much?  They transcend all cultures.  Japanese have their wasabi.  Mexicans have their jalapenos.  Chinese have their red peppers and their hot mustard.  Germans and French have their hot mustards and horseradish.  No matter where you go in the World - people like to add heat to their food.  Why?

Hatco School is up and running again this month.  We all went out to the infamous Nightengale's Supper Club last night - in beautiful Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.  Many of us enjoyed their "to die for" Prime Rib.  I smothered mine in Horseradish.  Why?  I don't know.  But it prompted me to do a quick study on spicy foods - and why we like them so much. 

There are many theories on why people put hot spices in their food.  Here are a few of the more popular theories:

1)  Spice, hot spice, was an inexpensive way to improve the flavor of less than desirable foods.  Cajun cooking, for example, used black pepper to improve the taste of less desirable cuts of meat.  Spice (and heat) may have originated as a way to make low cost foods taste better.

2)  Heat may have been a defense against bacteria.  Some spices (especially hot peppers) have been shown to have a certain anti-microbial quality.  The strength of the spice was sufficient to kill potential harmful bacteria in the food.

3)  Flavor - it's that simple.  Hot spicy peppers are a way to add a burst of exciting flavor to any dish. 

4)  Cost and availability - peppers are easy to grow in all parts of the world.  They are readily available and cheap to produce.  No surprise they find their way into so many of our dishes.

I don't know which, if any of these theories, are true.  But, I imagine there is a little truth in all of them.  As I contemplated why people like spicy food so much, I began to how hot spice can get.  At what point do we say "too hot"?  Is there a "flash point" that exists in the world of culinary spice?  Well, check out this list of the World's hottest peppers.  And, notice the ever popular jalapeno doesn't even make the list.....

Hotness in peppers depends on the amount of SHU (Scoville Heat Units) it has. The higher the SHU, the hotter the pepper. If people think the Habanero is the hottest pepper, they are terribly wrong. Keep on reading to see the 5 Hottest Peppers in the world.

5. African Birdseye Pepper (175,000 SHU)
This pepper from Africa is extremely spicy and is usually used in Portuguese Cuisine. The pepper is also widely known as the Piri-Piri pepper. In East Africa, African Birdseye Pepper Sauce is used almost daily on food, such as chicken and other hot meals. These peppers can be red, yellow, and even purple.

4. Datil Pepper (300,000 SHU)
This Pepper is often compared to the Habanero Pepper, but it is much more fruitier. According to some people, the Datil Pepper has no heat difference to that of the Habanero Pepper, but studies show that the Habanero Pepper has slightly more heat. The Datil pepper is usually produced in Florida, where it has been used in sauces and other products for over 20 years.

3. Habanero Pepper (350,000 SHU)
Not exactly the hottest pepper, but it’s pretty darn hot! These peppers are usually orange or red, and have a citrus-like flavor to it. People usually mistaken the Habanero Pepper for being the hottest pepper, this may be because Supermarkets have it listed down as the hottest pepper Available for purchase.

2. Red Savina Habanero Pepper (580,000 SHU)
The Red Savina used to be the hottest pepper in the world, but it lost its title to an even hotter pepper. It is also a hotter variant of the Habanero Pepper. Some Red Savina Peppers couldn't even reach 250,000 SHU, but others can reach a SHU level as high as 580,000.

1. Bhut Jolokia Pepper (1,041,427 SHU)
This Pepper has many names, including Naga Jolokia, Ghost Pepper, and the California Death Pepper. This pepper replaced the Red Savina pepper as the hottest pepper in the world. People need to have a lot of Pepper Experience before they can handle the heat of this Pepper!

Is there anything funnier that a good office prank?

The Hatco sales team has pulled off some of the best in office prank history. Hoping to inspire some new pranks, I've collected some great new ideas. Check them out below. Now I'll find out if anyone actually reads my blogs or not! By the way, if you have some additional ideas - send them to me at billyb@hatcocorp.com. Better yet - send me your vote for your favorite idea on the attached list - and I promise you will put it to work at Hatco in the very near future....

And, of course, please recognize that none of these pranks were endorsed by the employee owners of Hatco - and especially not endorsed by Hatco's Human Resource department.

OFFICE WATER COOLER PRANK
You will need a water cooler in your office to have fun with this next set of pranks. These gags are pretty safe pranks to pull and shouldn’t get you fired. The first revenge idea is to simply add salt to the water cooler. Sure you will ruin a whole jug of water but it will be worth it for some fun.

EVIL WATER COOLER PRANK BONUS
Another version of this prank is to salt the cups. If the cooler has a sleeve of cups pull them all out. Load the bottom of the cups with salt and put the sleeve back in place. Most victims won’t even check their cup before filling it up. Sit in the break room and watch the parade of victims spit salt water everywhere.

GETTING EVEN WATER COOLER PRANK BONUS
If the sleeve of cups are cone shaped, poke very tiny holes in the bottom of them. When the victim fills up the cup it will soak them. Another prank you can use is to switch the hot and cold water buttons, these should pop right off most old coolers. If the buttons don’t come off just paint the buttons blue and red. If your cooler gets really hot you might not want to do this and burn some someone's mouth unless they deserve it.

COPIER PRANK
The copy machine is fun to mess with too. Of course the classic prank is to copy your butt. A word of caution, if you weigh too much you will fall through the glass and hurt yourself. Another fun prank is to use a dry erase marker or a permanent one if you know you are getting fired shortly. Write a funny message like "Lance likes your grandmother" on the glass of the copier. Most people don’t even look at the glass before they use the copier. If you are really lucky they will copy a whole stack of papers by using the document feeder treys. They will probably walk off while the copier goes to work and will be pretty mad when their entire stack of copies has your message all over it.

GETTING SERIOUS REVENGE COPIER PRANK BONUS
If you want to be even more stealthy you can add just a few selective sheets of a funny message into the copier’s stack of blank supply papers. This way when people copy a whole stack of stuff, just a few gag sheets will be hidden in the stack. They probably will be discovered much later and it will be impossible to pin it on you. If you get really lucky your company will fax those copies out without seeing the messages and they will spread to another office like a virus.

PHONE PRANKS
Screwing with a coworker's phone can be great fun. Office phones are the last bastion of land line phones. Unfortunately cell phones have ruined these pranks in the private world. Here are some safe pranks that should not get you fired. A classic prank is to wrap the phone in tin foil or plastic wrap. Another safe prank is to screw with co-worker’s phone buttons. Take off the buttons that transfer calls and switch them around. Whenever the victim transfers a call it will be directed to the wrong extension or the caller will be disconnected.

EVIL PHONE PRANK BONUS
You can glue the receiver to the base so it rings and rings and they can’t pick it up. Or just steal the receiver cord so when the phone rings they will pick up a receiver but there will not be any sound.

GETTING EVEN PHONE PRANK BONUS
You can use the receiver to attack your victim. If you want to be sneaky put self tanner on the ear piece. Every time they pick up the phone their ear will get a little darker. If you want real fun and their phone is black, use shoe polish. This will be hard to get off their hair and ear.

GETTING SERIOUS REVENGE PHONE PRANK BONUS
The best office phone prank should be used on new employees. The first day when a new person is hired volunteer to show them how the phone works. Tell the new employee they must hit the intercom button in order to dial out of the office. The new employee will probably call out sometime that day. If you are lucky everyone in the office will get to share his personal phone calls. If you can get everyone in the office in on this prank it can be extremely funny.

MOUSE PRANKS
These are fun pranks to do to people who are not real computer savvy. You would be amazed at how technologically dysfunctional some people can be. You would be stunned at how dumbfounding this first prank can be to someone. Simply pull the mouse cord out a little so the mouse no longer works. I did this to an employee that worked for me and she seriously was stumped for almost 10 minutes. She had no idea how to interface with a computer without a mouse.

EVIL MOUSE PRANK BONUS
Torturing this employee became my new entertainment. She finally got smart enough to check the cord so I had to use a new idea. I decided to attack the track ball in the mouse. I replaced it with a gum ball that I licked and chewed a little on one side. The mouse barely worked and then became very sticky and made a huge mess. She figured this one out pretty quickly so I put the original track ball back. Since the mouse was almost ruined from the gum I decided to just glue the ball down, she was not amused.

GETTING EVEN MOUSE PRANK BONUS
The gum ball and glue destroyed the mouse so I purchased a new optical one for the office. I left her alone for a day or two and then I put a piece of tape over the optical light. It took her a very long time to figure this one out.
The final thing I did was to go into the mouse settings and change them. I reversed her mouse directions, made it super sensitive and changed the buttons around. Since she understood nothing about computers she just gave up and moved to a different computer.

GHOST COMPUTER PRANK
I also used this prank on my employees, why anyone would work for me I have no idea. This works best if your employee who has very little computer knowledge. The easiest thing is to just change the victims screen saver or wallpaper. I put up a very unflattering picture in which a female employees thought she looked extremely fat. You can imagine how mad she was when that picture was the wallpaper on all the office computers and she had no idea how to change it.

EVIL GHOST COMPUTER PRANK BONUS
I decided to continue torturing this employee by messing with her screen saver. You can make a dirty screen saver or I would make it say mean things about her fellow employees. So the office would go to lunch and the screen savor would kick on and say something insulting. The message would be like “Jennifer really thinks her new haircut looks good, Ha Ha ….. Meg.” Jennifer got pissed off at Meg but it was great fun.

GETTING EVEN GHOST COMPUTER PRANK BONUS
I then decided to convince her that her computer was haunted. In order for you to pull this off you have to get the computers close enough to each other. Side by side cubicles work the best for this prank. Get the computers close enough to switch the monitor cords. Jennifer would sit down and I could see her move the mouse on my screen. I sent a message to her screen saying “STOP TOUCHING MY MOUSE"!. Then I would write “Touch my mouse slower and softer, yeah that’s it baby!” . Use your imagination and have some fun with this one. By the way those are not really my employees names. I changed their names to protect their identity.

DESK PRANKS
Some of these ideas are pretty safe and shouldn’t get you fired. Be aware that some people REALLY love there desk chotchkies or trinkets and it can really make them angry. Feel out your victim first. Here is a very safe prank idea that won’t damage anything. Wrap your victim’s desk in paper, plastic shipping wrap or tin foil. Make sure you wrap up every single item and then tape it up with packing tape so they take forever to open.

EVIL DESK PRANK BONUS
The next step in this prank is to get extra strong glue and glue everything down. Be creative, when you glue the stapler down, glue it to the side of the desk. Only glue the bottom so the stapler still works.

GETTING EVEN DESK PRANK BONUS
Have some real fun and piss the whole office off by gluing everybody’s stuff to your victim’s desk. Make sure to include a few of your own things to throw the blame off you.

GETTING SERIOUS REVENGE DESK PRANK BONUS
This last prank is so famous I actually saw it in an episode of NBC’s “The Office” recently. Even if it is famous, it is still worth doing because it causes a great laugh around the office. Steal an item off the victim’s desk that they really like or work with everyday. Take it home and make a bowl of clear Jello. Suspend the object in the Jello by making the Jello first and then cutting it open and placing the object in the middle. After it freezes bring it back to the office and return it to the desk.

CUBICLE REVENGE
Screwing with your co-worker's cubicles help pass the time. These pranks are safe to pull and should not get you fired. Lets start with a basic cubicle prank. Just use plastic or paper to completely wrap the cubicle up.

If you want to take it one step further you can wet the paper down with glue and water. Take your time and make a huge paper mache desk. If you are talented enough you can cut the desk out and remove it. The victim will think their desk is just wrapped with paper. They will be shocked to find out it is only a paper shell.

EVIL CUBICLE REVENGE PRANK BONUS
Build a cubicle robot out of office boxes. Have some fun and make a huge robot or and Easter Island one.

GETTING EVEN CUBICLE REVENGE PRANK BONUS
Get a bunch of packing peanuts and fill the cubicle completely full. This will a huge mess to clean up so try to remain anonymous. You will have to probably do this over a weekend when you can get the office to yourself for a while. If you want to be a big jerk put a bunch of the peanuts through the shredder first. shredded peanuts are almost impossible to pick up because they cling to the everything and get mashed into the carpet easily.

GETTING SERIOUS CUBICLE REVENGE PRANK BONUS
A fun cubicle prank is to lay little cups of water all over the the cubicle floor. If you use enough cups it will make it impossible to get to their desk without knocking some of the cups over and spilling a bunch of water.

Linguistics

Ok - What's up with these linguistic geniuses from Europe? Are they just naturally smarter than we are?

The Hatco gang and I had dinner with one of our European friends last night. I noticed that he speaks 7 different languages while we struggle with English. Why are European's so good at speaking multiple languages while American's struggle to pick up Spanish as a second language? Is it because they start learning at such a young age? Is it because they have so many different countries and cultures that live in such close proximity to one another? Is it a genetic ability that's been developed over centuries of practice and or necessity? Is it a mix of all of these things?

Honestly - I really don't have a good answer. I just know that it often frustrates me to see how easy it is for so many Europeans to speak multiple languages while a so many Americans have failed to learn good English grammar.

I spent some time doing some casual research on the topic. The obvious answer is that Europeans learn more than one language from a very young age. It's part of their educational curriculum. They also learn out of necessity. In order to travel, live and work in such highly diverse regions, being multilingual is an essential survival technique. One also must consider the thousands of years of history in Europe that have promoted development of so many languages, dialects, and cultures.

So I began to wonder, if the US was settled one thousand years earlier, and each State had developed its own unique language and dialect - would our linguistic requirements and abilities be distinctly different? What if Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota all spoke different languages? I bet kids growing up in Chicago would be fluent in more than one language. No? The need to travel, live and work in the region would require it. The only reason our language skills are underdeveloped is because we live in a somewhat homogeneous society. That's not to say our country doesn't offer us a broad spectrum of dialects. We all are quick to notice the subtle differences in vocabulary and pronunciation between New York and Texas. And certainly the choice of words in each state reflects what's unique about the local culture. Now imagine if those places were highly isolated for a thousand years or more - and one can quickly imagine how different these dialects would become over a long period of time.

Anyway, I share all this with you for two reasons. One - I want to convince myself that Europeans are not really smarter than we American's - rather they had a much different historical development and distinctly different set of needs. Second, I want to encourage all of us to spend some time learning another language. Language is an important part of how we differentiate ourselves from others. It's how we develop our own unique identity. Learning another person's language helps us understand that person and their culture. It makes us work and live better together.

Finally, in the spirit of worthless trivia, here are a few interesting things I learned from my European friend. First of all, in his country there are three official languages. In fact, in Europe overall there are 40 different recognized languages. My European friend told me that one of the many languages he speaks is Romontsch. Who's ever heard of Romontsch, let alone knows how to speak it? If you can email me the origin of Romontsch before anyone else does - there may be a valuable prize in your future. Email me at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Cheers,

Saludos,

Au revoir,

Arrivederci,

Billy

2010 Football Season is Kicking Off

Football is such an important part of our culture. This weekend I attended my first game of the new season. The Packers hosted the Cleveland Browns at Lambeau field. It looked like the Pack had it under control until Cleveland kicked two long field goals in the closing minutes to steal the victory. They kicked a 59 and 47 yard boot - wow!

Anyway, I woke up on Sunday thinking about how integral football is to American Culture. It is our most popular game - with more American's claiming it as their favorite professional sport to watch and follow by a significant margin. We construct parties around it and we mark the start of our fall season with it. It turns into a social event for our local high schools each Friday night. It turns Sunday afternoons into acts of worship throughout the winter months. As I scanned the internet for some insight as to why this game captures American Society in such a powerful way - I ran into the following article written by an anonymous writer. I think this author captured my sentiments well.

Enjoy,

Billy

Football in America is now interwoven into the American psyche. Its appeal to Americans is broad based, but it has eclipsed baseball for several reasons.

American's like things big, loud, and strong. Americans find intimidation in this fashion appealing, from our military to our entertainment -- "biggest, and best." We have big cities, big cars, and lots of open spaces.

Football plays well into that mentality. It is played by big people who run fast and hit hard. The stadiums are large, loud and raucous. As American culture has become less subtle and more "in your face," football has thrived.

Additionally, football has become an avenue for social bonding. Flag football can be played socially, and a football can be tossed around in an open yard without the need of a basketball goal. While tossing the baseball is still probably king here, football has gained a lot of ground in the last few decades.

Football lends itself to bonding through the game experience as a fan as well. College football is an integral part of large university life, and that atmosphere extends to professional football as well, particularly in the Northeast.

Fans go to game early and "tailgate," which is essentially a big cookout.cocktail party before games. Thus football has become for many a social event as well as an athletic one.

Lastly, football is an excellent avenue to channel the competitive American spirit, as soccer does in other countries. Many fans live and die by their team's performance.

Professional sports gambling has exploded as well over the last few decades, and football lends itself well to sports gambling. Gambling on the Super Bowl is approaching a billion dollar enterprise.

In the last several years, this competitive aspect has grown exponentially as the game of "Fantasy Football" has exploded in America.

Fantasy football is played now by over 30 million Americans, and the numbers are increasing. This game is played by a group of fans (usually 10) getting together and drafting real NFL players on their make-believe "team." Teams play each other weekly, and earn points based on the individual successes of their players (scoring touchdowns, for example). The team with the most points wins the "game".

To summarize, football has become an integral part not only of American's leisure time but also the American spirit and mentality.

Top Ten Ways to Improve Traveling

This week I dragged my tank from Milwaukee to Minneapolis to Salt Lake to Denver to Spokane and back to Milwaukee. I enjoyed five fun-filled flights and the same number of hotel rooms. While my tank didn't spring a leak, it did take a beating. I know we all share these same travel woes: delayed flights, crowded planes, no space for bulky luggage, rude service, long hours, bad food, etc. Having said that, I took the time this week to think of a few simple things that we can all do to make travel easier on us all. Here is my top ten ways to improve the travel experience in the USA.

10) Check your luggage - enough is enough - there isn't enough room for all these bags in the overhead. I know the airlines want to charge you extra to check your luggage - but pay the $25 - it's worth it. I watch people drag monsterous bags for miles through terminals, only to frustrate themselves with lack of overhead space and the battle of bag vs. bin. The pain, the agony, the frustration - all could be eliminated from our stressful lives for $25. Spend the money people…please!
9) Print your boarding pass before you get to the airport. It's not that hard, it's free and it saves time. If everyone showed up with a boarding pass in hand, the airlines would only have to take your bags and send you off to the gate - cutting check in time in half or more.
8) Assume all other travelers are crazed killers and be as nice to them as possible…act as if your life depends on it. There are some very strange and unstable people out there. The stress of travel brings them right to the razor's edge of their boiling point. I see people say some very rude and potentially dangerous things to very scary people, each and every day. I'm amazed disaster doesn't strike more often. Usually its only insults and hurt feelings, but it wouldn't take much to ignite the fuse. My advice is to be as nice as possible to everyone - and proceed with caution.
7) Eat before your flight, not on it. I don't want to smell your lunch while I'm sitting in a small steel tube. Most flights are three hours or less. We can all go without eating for three hours, can't we? Show some courtesy to your fellow traveler and leave the tuna fish at home, or in the waste bin at the airport.
6) Let someone cut in-line in front of you - try it - you'll be surprised at how much fun it is. People will thank you, they'll give you a smile, and the line will move faster. Trust me, I do it every day and it's like a tiny victory for civilized life.
5) Smile, say please and thank you. I am stunned how few people thank others for their services. I am even more stunned by how few servicers acknowledge those who do thank them. Let's bring this nice, polite tradition back to our country. It's nearly effortless, and it makes us all seem like nice people. Thank you.
4) Dress appropriately, you know who you are. I'm not going to describe you. Just ask yourself, would my mother approve of me being in public dressed like this?
3) Expect delays and celebrate the victory of "on time" anything. Most travel results in delays. Don't let it surprise you. Learn to expect the delay. And, God willing, if you are blessed enough to depart on time, arrive on time, not get stuck in traffic, miss a turn, etc.... Celebrate the Victory! Don't let the fact that travel isn't perfect frustrate you. Find the opportunity to recognize the unusual moment when a plan is executed without a glitch, and the celebrate the moment! Yeahhhhhh!!!!!!
2) Write the airlines a letter requesting they make seats bigger - OK, I'm an "IMPERIAL" Booster - so I'm bigger than most, and a little biased on this topic. However, it seems like 9 out of 10 flights is on a "regional jet". There is nothing regional about these jets. The airlines call them regional because it sounds better than saying the truth. These are micro jets… very, very small tiny airplanes. When I was a child, I built model airplanes that were larger than these jets. I recently saw too small children sitting side-by-side on a "regional jet". I overheard them complaining about the lack of space. If they feel cramped, imagine what an Imperial Booster tank feels like? Would someone please invent a “shrink ray” so we can all use it before we board the plane.
1) Stay home. Yes, this is by far the best strategy to improving the overall travel experience. Just say no. If you don't enjoy travel, try staying home for vacation this year. Go explore those museums in your home town. Take in a movie. Throw a party for all your friends in the neighborhood. Sit in bed and watch TV all day. Just stay home. If those few select travelers who have no business traveling at all - would just stay home - it would be so much better for the rest of us.

I hope these helpful tips are embraced by millions and the world is a better place because of it. If not, I hope it at least made you laugh and reminded you that misery loves company.

Have a great weekend!

Billy

Your Meal is Just a Click Away

How often do you use the interent to find a restaurant or a place to eat?  How often do you book / reserve a restaurant on line?  Reading a recent report I was surprised to find out what a high percentage of our population is booking restaurants on line these days.  Want to know how high the number was?  Read on.

I had to fly out West to visit some Hatco customers this week.  On the plane ride out, I  read an article about restaurant websites in the Wisconsin Restaurant Association's July newsletter.  The article stated that 83% of people surveyed say they have used the interent to find a place to eat.  More surprising to me was that 50% say they have used a restaurant's website to make a dining reservation.  Is it just me?  Or, does that seem like a high number?  Now, I must admit that I have booked a restaurant online before myself.  But I can safely estimate that one out of 50 reservations I make are done online.  Am I old fashion?  Are there no others that still call the restaurant to make a reservation? 

What I gained from this article was the reality that more and more dining reservations will be made online in the future.  As our population relies more and more on mobile devices, hungry Americans will likely look up a restaurant on their PDA or iPhone, getting all the information they need online and ultimately confirming a reservation the same way.

Thus, the quality and content of a restaurant's website is ever more important.  The Wisconsin Restaurant Association article did a good job summarizing the key elements a good website should have.  Here is what they said:

• Photos - make sure they are high quality and that they reflect the attitude and spirit of your restaurant
• Words - you have a nanosecond to make an impression - keep it short and to the point but engaging
• A short fun video on your home page can help tell your story in an entertaining way
• Music - also a good way to portray the ambiance and attitude of your business - but make sure you offer the viewer a mute button
• Online Reservations - as we talked about above - half the population out there is booking online - make sure they can do it on your site
• Contact Page - make sure your customers can contact you by phone or email
• Customer comments - nothing works better than testimonials for previous customers that have enjoyed your menu
• Menu - this is a no brainer
• Gift Certificates - offer an online coupon they can print out for a free drink or discounted entree.  This will help you track the impact of your site
• Links - make sure they can follow you on your facebook page and or on twitter

If you got all this going on - you are in good shape - otherwise - don't delay - start today.

Hopefully some of this information is helpful to you.  Eitherway, get with the program and go book a restaurant on line for dinner tonight.

Happy trails,

Billy

billyb@hatcocorp.com

Billy's Travel Log – Salt Lake City, Utah

Sorry I failed to update my blog yesterday. Travel got the best of me. In the last forty eight hours I've been in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and Denver. I've visited all these places before. (I know you're thinking it's amazing how a Hatco booster can travel around like that - but I retired a few years back so I could travel. It's not that sanitizing dishes isn't fun - it was just my time to move on....)

Anyways, I was busy traveling yesterday and ran out of time to write my blog. I arrived in Salt Lake late Monday and had an early start on Tuesday. That said, it's been an interesting trip thus far.

This wasn't my first trip to Salt Lake City, Utah - but it has been quite a few years. Last time I was here the lake wasn't salty if you get my drift. The modern Salt Lake is quite impressive - and much different than I remember. I can't say enough good things about the people.

Salt Lake City obviously lies along the Great Salt Lake - but there is much more to the geography here. The city has an impressive range of tall mountains that line its perimeter. There are beautiful colors that change throughout the day due to the mountains and the beautiful valley that lies below. Much of the city stretches into the hills and the Capital is impressively installed on the slopes above the city. And of course you have the impressive cathedrals of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Salt Lake is the biggest city in a State the boasts only slightly more than 2 million people in the entire State - yet it is majestic and large in so many ways.

I truly enjoyed the people of Salt Lake City. They are very old fashion and strongly conservative in their values. It reminded me of what home town America was like in the 1950's. Salt Lake is a place where people are patient and kind. The use of profanity and anger is almost non-existent. The emphasis on religion and family values runs incredibly deep. Everyone around town makes you feel welcome and valued. I've never felt safer in a U.S. city than in Salt Lake. Everything is peaceful, clean and safe. I understand there is a large population of Mormon's here in Utah - but from my perspective they were just good old fashion home town Americans.

The weather in Salt Lake City was very nice as well. The city was warm and sunny - but without the terrible humidity we suffer with in the Midwest. I also noted the lack of bugs and mosquitoes - a benefit of a dry and mountainous climate. We ate outdoors at lunch and at dinner. It was incredibly pleasant and a welcomed change from the steamy state of Wisconsin.

Having said all this, Salt Lake is not without its own peculiar paradox. In a city rich with religious tradition, I noticed a fair number of strip joints and drinking holes. I understand that for many years these were considered clubs where a membership was required. But, I couldn't help but find it curious that so much piety lived so close to so much sin. Of course we cannot toss stones at Salt Lake for having a bit of an "underground" - as nearly every American city can offer you the same vices. What was unique about Salt Lake was the extreme paradox it offered relative to its long held strongly promoted traditions.

At the end of the day, I was sad to leave this beautiful place and I hoped to return soon. For now I am off to Denver - where I hope to report to you again tomorrow.

Best wishes to all and to all a good day.

Billy

billyb@hatcocorp.com

Favorite Casual and Family Restaurant Chains

Did you go out to eat this weekend? Where did you go? What is your favorite casual dining restaurant chain? I read a recent survey where American's voted on their favorite casual dining chains. Cheesecake was #1. Many other notables made the list - some surprising - some not so surprising. What I found interesting is why people chose their favorite place to eat. The fast and quality of food was the primary reason. Atmosphere and cleanliness were also very important. Friendliness of service and speed of service also carried a lot of importance. And, of course, price always has something to do with it. People also sorted convenience (location) as well as special occasion for reasons they chose their restaurants.

It got me to thinking about my favorite places to eat - and why I eat there. I know quality of the food is very important - and of course - they must use HATCO's world class foodservice equipment in their kitchens. But atmosphere and friendliness of the staff are really important to me. Depending on my mood - I may pick a place just because the atmosphere fits my mood. I also find myself to be very loyal to places where the staff is friendly and remembers me (who could forget a handsome booster like me). I place less emphasis on price, convenience and speed of service. I'm also very fond of the "independent" restaurants - the neighborhood "hole in the wall" kind of place. Having said that - I have eaten at all of the restaurants listed below and I have enjoyed all of them. While my own personal ranking would vary slightly from the list below - I wish to keep my "fav five" a secret - so as not to upset any of my valued Hatco customers. However, if you want to chime in and tell me which ones you agree with and disagree with - send me an email at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Have a great week everyone - and hey - go out to eat tonight - here are 15 good suggestions.

Cheers,

Billy

View PDF of Top 15 Chains

Click for Source Link

Food on a Stick

The Wisconsin State Fair Opens this weekend.  It's a truly unique foodservice experience.  With over 60 things you can eat on a stick - and a new Crispy Cream Donut Cheeseburger - what more can you want.

I found the following article from the Milwaukee Journal Online.  It does a great job of telling you everything you can eat at the Wisconsin State fair on a stick.  I also must warn you that a good portion of these are being kept warm by Hatco foodwarmers.  I see them all over the fairgrounds each year.  Check out the list and then come meet me at the fair later today.  If you're going - email me at billyb@hatcocorp.com.  Or - email me later and tell me what your favorite food on  a stick is  - mine is the old fashion Corn Dog - mmmmmm good!

Have a great weekend.

Billy.

If it's at the Wisconsin State Fair and you can eat it, it's on a stick.
OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration - no cream puffs on a stick here - but not by much.
This year's fair has about 60 kinds of food on a stick, from the obvious (caramel apples, corn dogs) to the popular if perverse (chocolate-covered bacon on a stick) to the gravity-defying (Irish stew, new this year at the Slim McGinn's stand).
Here's a list of food-on-a-stick items at the fair (with new items in bold) this year, according to the fair's website. You can tell you're in State Fair country - note the frequent parenthetical use of the phrase "deep fried."
Apple pie (deep fried)
Bacon-wrapped shrimp tempura
Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts
BBQ pork chop
BBQ pork
Brat
Butter cream cookie
Caramel apples
Cheddar cheese
Cheese & hot dog
Cheesecake
Cheesesteak (deep fried)
Cherry pie
Chicken nuggets
Chicken wings (boneless)
Chili cheese dog
Chipstix
Chocolate-covered bacon
Chocolate-dipped frozen bananas
Coconut shrimp
Cookie dough
Corn dogs
Corn nuggets
Cotton candy
Cow pops
Cream cheese (deep fried)
Cream cheese with bacon
Crueller (chocolate dipped)
Deep-fried crab cakes
Deep-fried PB & J
Dove bars
Frozen, assorted, mini candy bars
Fruit kebab with or without chocolate
Frozen grapes
Hand-dipped ice cream bars
Irish stew
Lamb medallions
Lollipops
Macaroni & cheese
Meatballs
Mickey Mouse bars
Mini burgers
Pork shish kebabs
Pork tenderloin
Rice Crispy bar
Ravioli (deep fried)
Rock candy
Reuben
Sausage kebabs
Scallops (hand-battered)
Shish kebabs
Shrimp cocktail (blackened)
S'Mores
Spaghetti and meatballs
Swiss and Colby cheese
Swiss cheese
Tater totUltimate Cashew Rods
Ultimate Pecan Rods
Xango on a stick (deep-fried cheesecake)

Technology-What's Up?

Holy Cow Man! - what's next in the world of technology? I know I'm a highly innovative Hatco Booster, but I think I am beginning to pale in comparison to some of the new tools, apps and devices on the market these days. As a 60-year-old foodservice veteran, it's not been easy to embrace Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It's also been a leap of faith just to start writing this blog. I now have an iPod and an iTouch to go along with my laptop. I navigate around town using my GPS and I goggle all night while I shop for a new XBox and the new iPad. I have more cords, chargers and devices in my briefcase than I have pens and pencils. It's crazy out there these days.

So yesterday I'm flying home from my most recent Hatco adventure, and I'm reading an article about all the great new internet tools out there. I was already familar with "Tweetdeck", but now I'm learning about budurl.com, CrowdSpring, GoToMeeting, WebGrader-HubSpot and how you can create your own video library on YouTube (I knew about that one too - as Hatco already has a HatcoYouTube video library - check it out.)

Bud URL is interesting. It's a tool that allows you to shorten extra-long Web addresses that link to things like an article or your blog. You can use the new URL to track who's clicking on your link and find out something about your customers. CrowdSpring is also interesting. It's a site that provides creative designs for you to use for your blog, website, ebook (whatever that is) and even printed books. It's like a bunch of artists and graphic designers all consolidated into one place. Not sure if there's a cost involved - so you can check it out and then tell me. GoToMeeting is a (free trial) virtual meeting service. You can even conduct your own webinars with it. WebGrader-Hubspot provides the best tool for grading websites, blogs and twitter accounts - and it's free. I guess the idea is to find out how you can improve what you got on the internet - making your resources more effective. It's all way over the top of my 16 gallon tank - but you smart people out there will "get it".

Anyways, I got to thinking - is there anyone or anyplace that keeps track of all these innovations, apps, devices and tools? Is there a "consumer reports" for new geeky computer, web, iTune, or Twitter stuff? How do you know what to learn about first? How do you know where to get the information on what's the hottest, most productive tools and resources? Who are these people that know about all this stuff? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I am going crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So - here's the deal - if you know of a good source for all this stuff - a way to cut a path through all these tall weeds - can you please send me an email: billyb@hatcocorp.com. I need your help.

If I get enough feedback from all my loyal readers - I will make a list and share it with all of you.

Thanks and have a great day!

Billy

What is a Partnership?

Do you believe this word is abused it today's society? Do we really know the true meaning of partnership? What do you think it means? Do you know who your partners are? Want to know all the answers to these tough questions? Read on...

I've been attending some meetings this week with Hatco's "partners". Some of these "partners" are Reps, some are Consultants and some are Dealers. I notice that business people love to refer to each other as "partners". However, I've begun to wonder if "partner" just means someone that you do business with - regardless of how much support is provided on both sides of the equation. I find myself pondering about the true meaning of "partner" and thinking to myself it's something much deeper than just "selling to or buying from" another company. What do you think? I would love for you to send me your description and or definition of the concept of "partner". Send me your thoughts at: billyb@hatcocorp.com.

For my part, I will do my best to describe to you what I believe a partner truly is.....

1) A partner is someone you can rely on in good times and bad
2) A partner is someone who is willing to do as much for you as you are willing to do for them
3) A partner is a trusted and tested friend - someone you depend upon to survive, grow and succeed
4) A partner is someone who truly wants you to be successful - and who you truly want to see succeed as well
5) A partner is those that give and don't just take
6) A partner is someone who does more for you than for your rivals
7) A partner is a familiar, comfortable and reliable friend - someone who makes you smile when you are together
8) A partner is someone you are willing to make a sacrifice for - and someone you would turn to when you need help
9) A partner is someone who knows your name and number - without having to look it up
10) A partner is someone you speak to more than once or twice a year
11) A partner is someone who shares knowledge with you

The next time someone says they are your partner - see if they meet all the criteria above. If they don't, chances are they are only a customer, an associate, or an acquaintance. Maybe they are even a good friend or a great supplier. However, if they don't meet any of the criteria above - I venture to say they are not a partner.

But please - tell me what you think. Am I missing something? Is there more to this story? What's your experience?

Send me your thoughts: billyb@hatcocorp.com

Have a great day - partner!

Billy

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee... Gotsta Have My Coffee

What's up with this country and it's addiction to coffee? American's spend crazy money on coffee each day - and consume even crazier amounts of coffee day and night. This stuff will kill you if you drink too much. How do you know if you are drinking too much coffee? Here's Billy's Top 10 signs that you are drinking too much coffee.

10) You get a speeding ticket when you are parked
9) You haven't blinked since the last lunar eclipse
8) You grind your coffee beans in your mouth
7) The nurse needs a calculator to determine your pulse
6) You can jump start a car with your teeth
5) Cocaine is a downer
4) You go to AA meeting for the free coffee
3) Your named your dogs Star and Buck
2) You nervous twitches register on a Richter scale
1) You walk 20 miles on a tread mill before you realize it's not plugged in

Hey - I know coffee is an institution. If you enjoy it - keep pumping that brown stuff into your system. Just remember that some people - and especially Hatco Boosters - consume water - not coffee. Try to talk slow enough that we can understand you.

Cheers,

Billy

Billy Booster and the Great Cancer Shootout

Cancer impacts nearly every human being's life. If you haven't endured a battle with Cancer - you certainly have friends and family who have. Cancer impacts everyone's life - even Hatco's Billy Booster!

This weekend Billy Booster had the pleasure of attending the Great Cancer Shootout. This was a unique event targeted at wiping out cancer. The Hatco team showed up in force to support the event and enjoy the festivities. Let me tell you a little about the event and how so many wonderful people at Hatco showed up to make the event a great success.

This was the 7th annual Great Cancer Shootout. It was started by a friend of ours, Steve Williams. Steve won his own battle with Hodgkins disease 7 years ago - and decided he wanted to "payback" his survival by starting a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Over the last 7 years the Great Cancer Shootout has raised nearly $250,000 to fund Cancer research and the American Cancer Society.

The event is a unique fundraiser in that "shooters" enter a clay pigeon shooting competition in order to raise money for the event. Each shooter gets one raffle ticket for each clay pigeon they "break" during the shoot. The raffle tickets can be placed in various prize buckets in an attempt to win a big selection of prizes that are donated by event sponsors and participants. This year's event featured over 780 shooters over the course of three days - culminating on Saturday, July 31st at Wern Valley Sportsman's Club in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin.

It was a beautiful day and all the shooters had a great time. While Michael Whiteley and his won WIlliams were the only Hatco family to participate in the shoot - a bunch of great and generous Hatco people volunteered to work the event. Mike and Rhea Whiteley helped with a variety of tasks both before and during the event. Rick and Elizabeth Anger were seen tending the outdoor bar for about 8 hours until they were relieved by the power house duo of Robin Alfano and Sue Merschdorf. Robin and Sue worked the "rush hour" during the live auction and the live music portion of the event. "4 on the Floor" played a variety of classic Rock and Country hits while nearly 1000 people enjoyed some great food and drink. Rick, Elizabeth, Robin and Sue raised over two thousand dollars while working the bar under the big top all day and all night. Steve Williams and his staff went out of their way to recognize all the wonderful help they got from the Hatco staff - and the Company (who donated over $1000 to the event). Everyone was rewarded at the end of the night by an incredible fireworks show donated by the Bartalotta family - the same folks that put on Milwaukee's lake front fireworks show on the 4th of July.

In addition to all the hard working volunteers, many Hatco people donated money and prizes to the event. Lou Anich donated a great pheasant sculpture that was bid on by many of the avid outdoorsman - ultimately bringing in around $300 for the event. Dave Rolston, Dan Frigo, Mark Ecker, Debby Kopcznski, Gary Kramer, Sue Merschdorf, Charley Brenneis and Michael Whiteley also donated money and items towards some of the raffle prizes - including a Browning Shotgun that was one of the top prizes for the clays shooters.

Once again, Mr. WIlliams, Wern Valley Sportsman's Club and The American Cancer Society can't thank all these wonderful people enough for their hard work and generosity. The goal of the Great Cancer Shootout is to raise $1Million towards Cancer Research and completely eliminate the pain and suffering cancer causes in so many of our loved ones. There is no doubt that we will all be back again next year - so feel free to join in the fun in July 2011.

Have a great week.

Billy

A Salute!

Have you ever been involved in a team building event? Did you like it? Did you learn from it? I'd love to hear about it. Send me an email at billyb@hatcocorp.com if you want to share.

Hatco held a team building event in Green Lake, Wisconsin this week. The team included the top sales, marketing, advertising and customer service leaders in the company. They also let a couple of odd balls join the group - like an engineer, a credit manager, a service manager - and me, Billy Booster.

The event was held in a "barn". It was an old barn that had been converted into a residence. It was supposed to sleep up to 20 people. After we arrived, we discovered 10 was a more realistic number. So the 15 of us had to figure out some less than ideal sleeping arrangements, but thanks to roll-aways and hide-a-beds, we made it work.

The one thing you always notice about team building events is that they are always met with a bit of skepticism on the front end. This group has done these events more than most, but there was still a bit of that "do we have to" attitude at the start. Things quickly changed, once we got settled and got going.

Hatco team building always seems to revolve around three themes: 1) We like to have Fun,-so there is lots of silly games to be played, pranks to pull on others, and good laughs all the way around) 2) food, -we organize ourselves into teams, spend long periods of time preparing food together and consuming food together. Nothing brings people closer then bumping elbows in the kitchen, followed by high praises for the delicious food we prepared together, and it’s the most fun when it hits the level of being competitive, and 3) serious reflection-there must be times to discuss how we do things, how we can do things better, and what we truly appreciate about one another. At Hatco we use a device called a "Hot Card" to provide praise to one another. It's a chance to write down something good that someone else did for you, and present it to them in front of the group. This meeting saw a record number of hot cards, and it had a powerful effect on a many of us. Then there are just those quiet moments around the campfire when people just get to know each other better. Never under estimate the power of a good campfire.

The big highlight of this team building event was three great team building exercises. The group divided itself into three groups, and each group presented a team building activity for the whole group to compete with. The first event was a game where we were each given a bag full of supplies, and out of these supplies we had to build a device that could knock over soda cans at a distance of about 15 feet. Sounds easy? Well when armed with a stick, some duck tape, a few rubber bands and a bag of M&Ms, it's not so easy. It got even harder when they put the blindfolds on us!

The second event was an exercise in creativity. Each team had to "invent" a new foodservice product, draw it, brand it, develop a marketing plan (including a TV jingle) and then "sell" it to their peers. What was the winning product? The Meat Beater Chicken Choker Pop Sideways Roaster. I won't even try to explain it, but the drawing was very funny and the jingle brought the house down.

The final event was a race, of sorts. We were given half pipes of PVC in various sizes, and then had to figure out how to move golf balls and marbles down our "gutters", passing them from player to player in a race down a crooked course, armed with obstacles and unexpected complications. Billy Booster's team came in last, sorry to report, something about 14 penalties. With so much plumbing in my past, you would think I'd be better at moving things along a pipe!

Overall the team building was great. It was great, because the people involved have a sincere desire to improve and to help each other. Their enthusiasm and energy was amazing and uplifting. Hatco is an amazing company because of the people and their commitment in everything they do. Billy gives the Hatco team a big salute for the effort this week - and thanks for including me!

Have a great weekend!

Billy

Team Building

I know that I promised you stories of the team building exercises for today, but my tank is running on empty. It was a great experience and I will tell you all about it tomorrow. For today, I am going to take it a little easy and just talk about team building.

Team building refers to a wide range of activities, presented to businesses, schools, sports teams, religious, or nonprofit organizations designed for improving team performance. Team building is pursued via a variety of practices, and can range from simple bonding exercises to complex simulations and multi-day team building retreats designed to develop a team (including group assessment and group-dynamic games), usually falling somewhere in between. Team building is an important factor in any environment, its focus is to specialize in bringing out the best in a team to ensure self development, positive communication, leadership skills and the ability to work closely together as a team to problem solve.

Work environments tend to focus on individuals and personal goals, with reward & recognition singling out the achievements of individual employees. Team building can also refer to the process of selecting or creating a team from scratch.

Reasons for Team Building include

• Improving communication
• Making the workplace more enjoyable
• Motivating a team
• Getting to know each other
• Getting everyone "onto the same page", including goal setting
• Teaching the team self-regulation strategies
• Helping participants to learn more about themselves (strengths and weaknesses)
• Identifying and utilizing the strengths of team members
• Improving team productivity
• Practicing effective collaboration with team members

Enjoy the day!

Billy

"Close" Encounters at Green Lake

The Hatco "SMACS" (Sales, Marketing, Advertising and Customer Service) team is doing a little team building today. We rented a barn in Green Lake, Wisconsin. It's a beautiful place - but the air conditioning isn't working - so everyone had a tough night. But isn't that what team building is all about? We have split the group up into three teams. Each team is responsible for preparing a meal and also for leading the group in a team building exercise. Each group has no idea what the other group has prepared. It always leads to lots of laughs, and certainly some added strength to our already great team.

The Barn is a very nice place - perched on a hill above the lake - lots of nice breezes and majestic views. The barn has been renovated into a living space, and is very pleasant place to be. We only have 8 beds for 15 people - so there were lots of people sleeping on couches and roll-aways - but it's only two nights - so nobody complained (at least not loudly).

Breakfast this morning was biscuits and gravy, egg casserole and something our Croatian friend called Zucchini egg stuff.... It was all delicious.

Today we will dive into our regular business meetings and some fun team building events. Tune in tomorrow to find out what the events were, how were the winners and losers, and what key lessons we learned.

Have a great day,

Billy

How are you doing?

How's your business? Do you think things are getting better out there? Hatco's enjoyed a few good months in a row lately. We are being cautious but optimistic. What do you think?

It's so hard to tell which way the economy is going these days - isn't it? The stock market seems to have fallen into a stalemate of some sort - never making big improvements but not falling off the end of the earth either. Restaurants are reporting a mix bag of same store sales comps. Some of my friends say their business is getting better - others say things are still declining. I see lots of people eating out and traveling around - but I read that unemployment is still high and consumer confidence isn't improving.

So - which way is the market and the economy going? I don't know. What do you think? Send me an email with your opinion at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

From Hatco's perspective - we see things improving. We've enjoyed several good months and we see lots of our chain customers pulling the trigger on a variety of projects. We hear that consultants are busy again - which bodes well for the future. We also see that some areas of the country are doing much better than others (Texas is doing well for example - AZ and NV are still struggling - LA and MS too.)

Our strategy for the recession was (is) simple: work hard, don't worry about what you can't control and service the heck out of our customers. It seems to be working.

But, with nobody to turn to for the real truth - I've taken it upon myself, BIlly Booster, to take an informal poll of friends around the industry. So tell me how you see it and drop me an email at billyb@hatcocorp.com.

Have a great day!

Billy.

How We Love Our Pets!

At HATCO we make foodservice equipment. However, many of us also have pets. I'm always amazed at the amount of money pet owners will spend on their pets. I am guilty of it myself. I love my dog. I have spent way too much money on doggy beds, fancy collars, special grooming brushes - and of course - doggy treats. I recently came across a truly "rich" example of people spoiling their canines. But before I share that with you, I thought I'd reflect a little on all the silly ways we can spend money on our pets.

Of course there is the pet grooming option. Who doesn't think it's worth it to spend $50 or more on a haircut and shampoo for his or her puppy or kitty cat. And if grooming isn't enough - you can send them to the spa for a full day of hygienic health care. The pet spa goes beyond just grooming and can include a pedicure, a styling and even a message. My dog hasn't had a message yet. I guess I thought if I haven't had one - why should she get one?

Then of course there is the pet sitter - that person who keeps your critter company while you are away. Some people take their pet to the vet for this service - that way you can take care of your vaccines and pills while also getting a nights lodging. The more "well to do" will take their pet to a pet hotel - where their animal gets overnight lodging - but is also entertained, exercised and perhaps groomed for a few extra dollars.

My favorite pet extreme is the pet psychologist. Yes - the person who is concerned about the mental health of Fido or Felix - they spend serious cash having a trained "professional" provide some mental therapy to their critter to keep them from going crazy. You tell me who the nut is here?

Finally, there is the money we spend on feeding our little friends. In the good old days, it was OK to buy Purina Dog/Cat Chow and fill up their bowl. That's not good enough anymore. Now days you must mix wet with dry and poor gravy over the top. Maybe you splurge on some fresh organic mixture of the finest hooves and ears. Better yet - spend the big money and get some "Snausages" or "Kibbles and Bits" - whatever that stuff is - God only knows. But of all the pet cuisine I've seen, none top the "K-9 Ice Cream Truck" that is cruising around the UK. Yes - an ice cream truck that drives from house to house, town to town, selling a cool beef or pork flavored ice cream cone to cool off your puppy on a hot summer's day. Don't believe me? Click here for the link.

While it certainly is crazy how much we spend and do for our beloved pets, we cannot deny the pleasure they provide to us: their loyalty, their love and their playful entertainment. They are part of our families and our personalities - and we love them.

So in conclusion, as a Hatco Booster - I find myself wondering just one more thing.... if people spent as much time and money on caring for their foodservice equipment as they do for their pets - I wonder if Hatco would ever get another warranty claim?

Happy Monday,

Billy

"My Best Friend"

Well, we made it through another busy week, and a lot of rain here in the Midwest. My poor fellow Milwaukeeans are all suffering from a 100 year storm last night - over 8 inches of rain. I hope all those who are suffering from flood damage recover quickly.

Me, being the smart booster that I am, built my castle on a hill, so no flood damage. I will be able to relax this weekend, instead of bailing water out of the basement. As I said on facebook, this morning I plan to relax with friends and family, and take the dog for a walk. Now some of you may be wondering - what business does a booster have owning a dog? Billy Booster loves animals, especially dogs. My dog is a Golden Retriever, but I love all dogs. This morning a co-worker of mine at HATCO brought her dogs into the office. She has Giant Schnauzers. They are really big dogs and very beautiful as well. Sometimes our President, Dave Rolston, brings his dog into the office, and lets him run around the building all day. He's a nice little dog named “Boomer”. I think he's a terrier of some sort. He's all black and hates it when my pressure relief valve opens up and whistles.

The great thing about pets is how they help us relax. They are a great form of entertainment, and also provide excellent companionship. I especially like dogs for this reason. Let me give you a more detailed explanation.

Dogs are wonderful companions for many reasons. Here are my top ten reasons why everyone should have a dog to keep them company:

10) They are easy to cook for.
9) They love to listen to you - no matter how much you talk.
8) They don't care how much money you have.
7) They always want to be by your side - even if you haven't bathed lately.
6) Almost anything you give them to eat makes them happy.
5) They never argue with you or talk back.
4) They will sleep anywhere, at anytime and never complain about the bed.
3) You never have to go pick them up, because they got too drunk to drive.
2) No matter how bad your day was, they are always smiling at you, and begging to play.
1) As a friend of mine said once, "I've been married and divorced twice, but I still have the same dog".

Have a great weekend, and tune in next week when we talk about some interesting trends in pet foodservice.

Billy

Best and Worst of Food Television - Continued

Hello Hatco fans, this week I've been reviewing the best and worst television has to offer in terms of shows about food, cooking, and the foodservice industry.

Americans love to watch television - and Americans love to eat.  So for decades, it's no surprise that Americans love to watch television shows about cooking food and eating food.  It goes back to those pioneering days of Julia Child and Betty Crocker. 

Things have really changed since those days.  With the Food Network, the Travel Channel, and the Home Cooking Network - there seems to be an endless limit of cable and network programming around the art of food.  Some shows have become World famous, like Hell's Kitchen.  And many Chefs have become World famous along the way:  Gordon Ramsay, Emeril Lagasse, Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, and Anthony Bourdain to name a few.

While you won't see me, Billy Booster, on any of these shows - you might see a few of my favorite HATCO products.  I thought I'd share with you my thoughts on the best and the worst you will see on food shows these days.  Yesterday I gave you my list of the "worst".  Today, I give you my thoughts on my favorite (my best) five.

Favorite Shows:

5.  Chowdown Countdown, Travel Channel
This is a show about the best 101 places in the country to "chow down".  We aren't talking the best food, the best value or the best service – we are just talking some serious "chow" - like food was meant to be - satisfying.

4.  Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Food Network
You have to love any show that tells you where the best dives are to eat.  I enjoy fine dining as much as the next person.  I love great service and the atmosphere of the latest theme restaurant.  I love the reliability of a good chain with a well executed menu.  But nothing intrigues me as much as those little "hole in the wall" dives that you find in small town America.  The location and the decor may not "wow" you - but the food is surprisingly good and/or unique.  These places are full of personality and I commend the Food Network for helping us find them.

3.  Man vs. Food, Travel Channel
The ladies may not like this one as much as the men. I like Man vs. Food because I love a good competition - and there is something strangely entertaining about watching someone hurt themselves.  I don't know whether I enjoy watching Adam slurp down 15 dozen oysters in 60 minutes as much as seeing him catch fire as he tackles the world’s hottest hot wings - but it's all good.  The places and restaurants he visits are fun to see as well.  You have to love any joint that offers a 6 pound hamburger or an 8 pound burrito - along with the ever popular wall of shame.

2.  Bizarre Foods, Andrew Zimmer, Travel Channel
This nearly made my number one.  As a world traveler, I've enjoyed many an opportunity to sample the strange and unusual.  Most of the time, I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality and taste of the food.  The experiences of trying new things and visiting far away places are high on my list of things that I most enjoy.  Watching Andrew Zimmer take it to a whole new level is awesome.  There is no cuisine he won't try: intestines, lungs, hearts and other strange inside parts, bugs, bees and other creepy crawly things, flaming hot peppers and sauces, funny looking fish and seafood - slimier and slippier the better.  I commend him for his adventurous nature and the entertainment of watching him try it all.

1.  No Reservations, Anthony Bourdaine, Travel Channel
Anthony Bourdaine is my hero.  Is there anyone cooler than this guy?  Not only is he a great author (if you haven't read Kitchen Confidential go out and get it today) - but he's also got a great show that combines travel and cuisine to all the world’s most interesting places.  His experience as a chef who's "seen it all" combined with his not exactly politically correct personality - make this show a pleasure to watch week after week.  Anthony Bourdaine looks at the world the way the average man does.  He is easy to relate to and a pleasure to listen to.  He always makes me wish I was visiting the place he's filming - and the food - how does he find these treasures week after week.  I most love his passion for pork.  He's not a pretentious chef like so many others on TV - this is a guy who likes pig’s feet, a good pig roast or just some nice pulled pork - and he'll wash it down with a cold beer.  As a world renown chef of French cuisine, he also has the experience and knowledge to accurately review the finest five star restaurants in the world.  What I love about Anthony - is he will follow it up with a Cuban sandwich at a gas station in Miami.  The man has no limits. 

Now, if you don't like my list - check out what Esquire magazine has to say. According to Esquire magazine, these are the best on TV these days:

1.  Lidia's Italy, PBS
2.  Made in Spain, Jose Andres, PBS
3.  God Eats with Alton Brown, Food Network
4.  Everyday Italian with Giada DeLaurentiis, Travel Channel
5.  Ciao Italian with Mary Ann Esposito

I'm not sure I agree with them - but it's an interesting list.  I haven't seen all these shows, but I intend to.  The only obvious question is - "What's the obsession with Italian food?"

Have a great day,

Cheers!

Best and Worst of Food Television

Over the next few days - I plan to review the best and worst television has to offer in terms of shows about food, cooking and the foodservice industry.

American's love to watch television - and Americans love to eat. So for decades, it's no surprise that American's love to watch television shows about cooking food and eating food. It goes back to those pioneering days of Julia Child and Betty Crocker. In those days - it was simple "how to" shows - sharing of recipes and teaching the most basic techniques of cooking.

Boy, have things changed since those days. With the Food Network, the Travel Channel and the Home Cooking Network - there seems to be an endless limit of cable and network programming around the art of food. Some shows have become World famous, like Hell's Kitchen. And many Chefs have become World famous along the way: Gordon Ramsay, Emeril Lagasse, Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, and Anthony Bourdain to name a few.

While you won't see me, Billy Booster, on any of these shows - you might see a few of my favorite HATCO products. Those of us in the foodservice equipment industry can't help but search for our favorite equipment on the sets of these shows. I'm proud to say I see some Hatco peeking out from the TV kitchens on a regular basis.

But while I love Hatco and our equipment, I thought I'd share with you - my friends - my thoughts on the best and the worst you will see on food shows these days.

Let's start with some of the worst (and of course, these are only the humble opinions of Billy Booster).

First we have my least favorite – "Hell's Kitchen". Am I the only one tired of this Chef Ramsay yelling at all these poor young chefs just trying to find their way. OK - I get it - the kitchen is a tough place and there are a lot of people that don't belong there. However, I can't take his ranting and raving any more. I'm sick of looking at him and listening to him. I know he's a great chef - but angry people make me uncomfortable. Life's too short - why don't the start a show called Heaven's kitchen - where the Chef is a kind and understanding mentor who expresses love towards all?

Second we have "Throw down with Bobby Flay". This is a show where a world famous chef rounds around the country challenging other chefs to a cook off in their own restaurants - telling them he can make the dishes that made them famous better than they can. What an arrogant man. Why can't he just leave these nice people alone? They have successful businesses with happy customers. Why the hell would they want him coming around trying to do them one better in their own house. Leave them alone!

Third - how about "Cupcake Wars". This is a show that has teams competing for who can make the best cup cake. Do I really have to say anything more for all of you to understand why this is a dumb show?

Fourth - "What would Brian Boitano make?" Shouldn't every Olympic Ice Skater have a show on the Foodnetwork. We all want to cook and eat like a figure skater right? I want to know when Anthony Bourdain is going to have a show with his best tips on how to pull off a triple sow cow...

Fifth and finally, we have "Guy's Big Bite" - with Guy Fieri. This is a guy who seems to be a chef - who's been cross bred with a skateboarder and a NASCAR fan. He dresses more like a night club gigalo than a chef. I have no idea what his show is really about - or what he's trying to accomplish. I just can help but think this is the last man I would want to make my dinner.

There are many other shows to make fun of. Some how I am going to look past Rachel Ray, Paula's Kitchen and Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee - all top 5 worst picks by Esquire magazine - only because it's late and I want to go to bed.

Come back and check out Billy's blog tomorrow when I count down the five best foods shows on TV today.

Cheers,

Billy

Summer Grilling

The only thing better than that perfect hot summer day - is grilling out on a hot summer day.  The great thing about being Billy Booster - is all my Hatco friends that I get to grill out with.   I've been grilling out more than ever this summer.  With my big 16 gallon Imperial booster tank - I got a lot of space for all that great grilled food.  Here are some of my favorite dishes - and a few great grilling tips.

Steak - nothing beats a good grilled steak.  I like to use a dry rub on my steaks.  My favorite dry rub uses an even mix of these spices: fresh garlic, fresh ground black pepper, a touch of Lawry's season salt, some dry sage and most importantly - extra virgin olive oil.  

Burgers is also a great choice.  At Billy's house - burger meat needs to be mixed with a few special ingredients before the burgers hit the grill.  I like to mix in some freshly diced Vidalia onions, a fresh egg, some oatmeal, some steak sauce - a touch of Worchester sauce - and of course, some fresh ground pepper.  For a little zing - give it a hit of Tabasco.  Then, make sure to toast the buns using your Hatco toaster.

Chicken - just say wings and hot sauce - and lots of it.  Remember to bake the chicken in the oven first - otherwise you will burn the hot sauce before the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Fish is also popular with us boosters.  You see we have that big old pond out back we call Lake Michigan - and it's got some great salmon to eat.  I like to fillet my fresh caught salmon and then marinade the fillets in milk.  Before grilling, I paste the fillet with mayo and dill.  I then cook my salmon on a sheet of aluminum foil.  I put the skin side down on the foil and then drop the foil on the grill.  After about 20 minutes - the fish slides off the foil leaving only the skin behind - awesome.

Now - we must understand that grilling isn't just for meat, poultry, and fish.  Some of my favorite foods to grill are vegetables.  Some people limit themselves to the "kabob" - but I like to take big chunks of vegetable and put them right on the grill like a big old steak.  However, be careful to par boil your potatoes, carrots, beets, or any other thick root vegetable before you put them on the grill.  I find onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes cook fast - and need to hit the grill just before dinner is served.  All my vegetables love to swim in extra virgin olive oil before they hit the grill.  And my olive oil gets lonely unless it has some garlic and a hit of salt to keep it company.  My best discovery of late is that you can take a big bunch of broccoli and slap it right on the grill (after a dip in the olive oil) and cook it up in only a few minutes.  Even the stems taste good.  Awesome.

The bottom line is that everything tastes good grilled - experiment.  I started grilling beets this year - they are delicious - to my surprise.  Try some fruit as well – they can be really good with fish and poultry.  And most importantly - make sure you enjoy your meal in the great outdoors with a quality bottle of vino.  Yes - even Hatco boosters like a nice Cab alongside their grilled steak.

So go home and grill out tonight.  And don't be afraid to experiment with some new ingredients and flavors.  Surprise yourself - and then send me a note to tell me what you made and how you liked it.

Happy Grilling.

Another Class of Hatco Alumni

Wow - we can't believe another Hatco training school is in the books. This class, like so many others, had a very unique personality. We had lots of fun together - and we also learned a great deal about Hatco equipment, foodwarming, merchandising, and my favorite subject - the booster heater!

It's the people that make our business great. This group had a real passion for foodservice. They worked hard at learning and then played hard late into the night. They all made a great impression upon us. Today, I wish to reflect on this great group and people. I want to share with all of you what I learned about these people.

Let me start out with the most prestigious members of the class. We enjoyed time with the Mayor of Sturgeon Bay - OK - not the real mayor - but one of our reps has been to the class so many times we call him the Mayor of Sturgeon Bay. Once again, he failed the final exam. We expect he'll be back soon. We had World Class cliff divers and cyclists. The cliff diver couldn't tell us how high his highest dive was (a bit suspicious) and the cyclist's nick name was crash. We had a couple of World travelers - one who came all the way from Singapore hoping to land a job with Hatco - and another who likes to travel to China - seeking to source from Hatco's China factory. And of course, the most prestigious of them all is the class valedictorian - which this month was a young man named Christian. He went home proudly wearing his newly crowned cheese head. Congrats to Christian.

We also had some not so prestigious members of this class. Our favorite award we call the "anti-valedictorian". Or sometimes, we call it "the one" - as there is always "one" who does those things one must do to win such an award. This month we were not disappointed. We had a young man who had way too much fun on Thursday night. Our staff carried him home and then helped him locate his room (after several failed attempts and a trip to the front desk). He further impressed us by missing the "bus" the next morning and arriving somewhat late to class on Friday - only to find his desk had been relocated to the very front of the room - facing all his classmates. We welcomed him with a big round of applause - and then crowned him the "anti-valedictorian" on Friday night. We had a few others were acknowledged for their Thursday night dance moves, their body guards, their hair style (or lack thereof). We roasted some others for their many years in the industry and or their lack of passion in anything meaningful.

We also had some people who won awards for their names. We like to call these "there name is their resume" awards. This month we gave one to a man named "Wimpee" and another to a lady named "Payne". You can figure the rest out.

Hatco training can also be a family affair. We had an entire entourage from Miami arrive with strikingly similar Cuban sounding last names. Sure enough - we had father, son, son-in-law - and of course, the guy who wasn't related but carried their bags and did all the work. They treated him well - as if he were family - so we acknowledged them as a group. They were great fun - and also clever dancers on Thursday night.

Of course, we also noted the geographic influences in all of us. We liked the good old boy from the South with his charming accents, his love of Cajun fishing and his disdain for British Petroleum. We enjoyed a Southern Belle as well - with her Texas Long Horns and her NASCAR affiliation. The North was also well represented as a few "yah der heys" confirmed we had friends in from Canada - our Northern most state.

At the end of the day - we enjoyed all these people for their passion and commitment to foodservice and Hatco. We are grateful to have spent a few days in their lives and know we are better for their experience. In the off chance they actually read this blog - we wish them all the best and ask that they write often and come back and see us soon.

Best wishes to all.

Billy Booster

Is it Over Yet?

Not too long ago I fell asleep during a presentation. This presentation was part of a very large national conference attended by hundreds of executives. I was not ashamed by my actions, as the presentation was so bad that dozens of people fell asleep. The presenter spoke in a monotone voice while using some monochromatic slides - small print, black text and a white background. No color, no humor, no enthusiasm, and no interest from the audience. It was death by power point, at it's worst.

Why do people do this? Do they simply not prepare? Do they not care? Or maybe they just lack skill, training and/or know-how? Bottom line is, it's not hard to do a good presentation. I will share some simple secrets with you, which, if used, allows anyone to give a good presentation.

Today is the last day of Hatco's training school. Many of the attendees have told me that Hatco has the best training school in the industry. They tell me (Billy Booster) this time, and time again. So why is Hatco's training school so good? We have a few simple rules we follow when making presentations:

1) Humor - put humor into your presentation. Even if you are not a funny person, find some funny pictures, a funny video, a joke or a story. Giving your audience something to laugh about helps everyone relax and makes the whole experience much more enjoyable. Few things make people smile more and feel better than laughter. In all our Hatco presentations we add lots of funny pictures and videos, and our customers always thank us for keeping them entertained throughout the day. Further, once you teach the class that funny things are popping up in your presentation, they start to pay attention because they don't want to miss the next bit of humor.

2) Color - add color to your presentations. Full-color pictures, color text, color backgrounds, any kind of color, anywhere you can. Don't just slap black text on a white background. That's a terrible thing to do to any audience.

3) GO BIG with anything you present, and make it big enough for everyone to see. If you have any doubts, put your samples, products, slides, etc. in the front of the room (before the presentation), and then go sit in the back of the room. If you can't see it, how can your audience?

3.5) Hands On - make sure you get the audience involved. Ask them questions. Pass around samples. Invite them to come up, and touch your products or samples. Do a demo. Throw stuff at them, if you must, but make sure they are involved and actively participating in your presentation. It forces them to pay attention, and it makes it more fun for the audience. With a large audience this is a little harder, but still possible with a little creative effort.

4) Speak up - if you tend to talk softly - get a microphone. If you don't believe you are talking loud enough – ask your audience to confirm it. If they can't hear you, you might as well talk to the wall.

5) Know your audience - make sure what you are presenting is something they actually want to hear about. This may seem obvious, but I recently watched an American give a presentation on his US distribution network to an audience in London. At first I thought it was his attempt at humor, but later realized he was serious. The audience ignored the rest of his presentation, as they had already checked out and decided he was an idiot.

6) Know your material - do your homework, your research, and put in enough time to be prepared. Don't try to wing it, as people will know better, and you will make a fool of yourself.

7) Rehearse - practice your presentation before you present. Give your presentation to your peers, your wife, your boy friend, your dog (the mirror in your bathroom) anyone or anything that will listen. Make sure that when you step up to the podium, it's not the first time you've given the presentation. It's a simple little thing, but a little preparation goes a long way.

8) Review - when you're done, ask yourself, your audience and/or your peers "what can I do to make it better?" This way, every time you present, you will give the best presentation you've ever done. It will make you feel better, as well as your audience.

Trust me friends, these few tips can help you greatly improve your presentations.

How do I know this? I listened to dozens of students at this week’s Hatco U tell me how much they appreciated the quality of our presentations, and how much they suffered when experiencing some terrible presentations they endured at other training schools.

How did our students perform this week? Very well - I believe they will all pass the final exam later today, despite the fact that they stayed out late drinking, dancing, and realizing that tequila can cause memory loss.

I hope you all have a great weekend!.

Cheers,
Billy

First Day of School

Hatco University is up and running for the third time this summer.   This class, like all those before, has a unique personality.  It's the people in this industry and their passion for foodservice that makes it unique.

As Billy (that's me) met the new class last night, here were some of the most notable peculiarities of this group:

We have Cubans (from FL), Singaporeans, Canadians, Texans, Ohioans, Californians, Floridians and people from Maryland - as well as a few other unique places represented in our student body.  We have industry vets with more than 40 years experience and some with less than one year in the industry.  We have young and old, short and tall, outspoken and quiet - a true melting pot of people, places, and personalities.

On the first day, we always ask people to introduce themselves and then tell us what they are "passionate" about.  Here are some of the best responses we got this morning:  "not public speaking", "my husband's kilt", "shaving my head", "living in the slurpee capital of the world", "working for my father-in-law" (father in law in class room at the time...), "playing with my little husky" (funny at first - until we confirmed this was his dog), "cliff diving", "cheering for Lebron James" (man from Miami), "hating Lebron James" (man from Cleveland)....and the list goes on.

The company names in our industry are also so interesting.  Sometimes they are very descriptive about what the company does.  These are names like "Chefs Toys" or "Saratoga Restaurant Equipment Sales" or "JV Restaurant Supply"....

Then there are the company names that say nothing about what the company does:  "Hawk", "A-Plus", "Dubick Fixture" or "The Wallin Group".

I also love people's names.  Some are very traditional - and other's make you wonder about the history of the family.  In the surname category, I'm enjoying:  Pendergrass, Mooney, Dy, Harvey, Wimpee and of course, Payne (first name Imma).

All in all - this is a great group of people and I know they will be brilliant students.  We appreciate their time and interest with Hatco.  I look forward to telling you all about their first day of class and their evening misadventures tomorrow.

Have a great day.

C-Store Foodservice Interesting Facts

Tune in tomorrow to learn about all the nice students that just arrived at Hatco School today. For today - let's talk C-Store. Did you know that American's ate more than $22 Billion worth of prepared foods at C-Stores in 2009! That's a lot.

Convenience Stores have been selling more and more prepared food each year. In fact - it's such an important category that a lot of C-Stores are only in business today because of the growth they've enjoyed in their foodservice business. Here are some very interesting statistics:

C-Stores experienced their first decline in industry sales in 2009 in more than 35 years. Revenues droped 20%. However, fuel revenues dropped more than 29% If it wasn't for an increase of in-store sales (merchandise and foodservice) of about 4.2%, the decline in overall sales would have been much greater.

Sales of fuel are still the most important contributor to revenue - producing 66% of total sales compared to only 34% for in-store sales. However, gross profit margins on fueld sales is only 6.4%. Gross profit margins on in-store sales is 26.7% - a big difference.

Foodservice sales for all American C-Stores was $22.5 Billion in 2009 - up 5.3%. Prepared foods generated 75% of that revenue - with the rest coming from dispensed beverages (hot and cold). It's also interesting to note that in-store merchandise product an average gross profit margin of just 23.9% while foodservice was far more profitable at 45.7%. Got to love that foodservice business if you are a C-Store operator.

The only in-store category that produces more revenue than foodservice is cigarettes - but because of their lower gross profit margin, they produce only 19% of gross profit dollars compared to 22% for foodservice.

Finally, it's interesting to know that the top five foodservice categories (in terms of revenue) are as follows: Sandwiches (27%), Hot Dogs (18%), Pizza (15%), Chicken (12%) and Bakery (6.6%).

In conclusion - American's like to eat on the road. We eat at C-Stores as much as any country on earth. The great recession has helped spurr this trend forward as people trade down in their foodservice purchases. The C-Store operator in turn continues to invest more in their foodservice operations as it's one of the only high-margin business segments they can count on for continued growth and profitability.

So - next time your at the pump - go check out those hot sandwiches - and drop us a note to tell us how good they tasted coming out of a Hatco Heated Merchandiser!

Cheers

Source: Convenience Store News.

Training School

Have any of you ever attended a factory training school? Do you remember what you liked and disliked about it - I bet you do. Better yet - do you remember what you learned while at that school? You probably remember a few things - but I bet you've forgotten the vast majority of what you learned. That's the challenge of every school and every teacher. What can you do to help your students retain what they've learned. Thus the importance of testing. At our Hatco schools - we pride ourselves on the creative quality of our final exam.

As we prepare for yet another Hatco school this month - I find my own memory banks reflecting back on how my own teachers warned I would retain only 20% of the information they provided. I wondered - well then why not drop the other 80% out of the class lesson. Or - why not double the information provided so we can retain 40%? In the end - they were right. I learned a lot - but I remember only 20% of it.

At Hatco school we work hard to provide a lot of reference materials for students to take home with them. We don't expect them to remember everything - but if we can arm them with the information - we have good chance of success. As long as people can go back and find the information they learned in class - even when it's months after the class - then they have the knowledge and power to succeed in their business. This isn't to say that we give up on the traditional brain washing of a good corporate training school. We do our best to help them remember the key points of the class. We even reinforce all of it at the end of class - with a challenging yet fun final exam. Occasionally - we even get a student to study for the final exam - not too often though. But we do make sure they leave our factory loaded with the reference materials they need to wow their customers with detailed knowledge of foodwarming, merchandising, sanitizing and many other foodservice techniques and topics.

Of course - Hatco school isn't just about learning - it also about having fun! Each class has it's own personality and some characters that stand out on their own. Tune in over the next few days for the usual funny stories of mis-adventures and the new friends we make throughout our schools.

Happy learning.

Summer Camp Cuisine

A friend of mine recently sent his son to summer camp for three weeks of fun in the sun in Northern Wisconsin. I had the chance to speak with this young man on the day of his return home. I asked him about camp and he told me about all the usual activities: hiking, camping, swimming, camp games, etc. I asked him to describe the food he ate for the week. To this he replied "it was OK - I guess". When I probed further, I found out that campers eat some very predictable cuisine - but also some very unexpected cuisine as well.

While staying in the main camp - the boys had the usual menu of camp food: Cold cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, mystery meat for dinner. I learned that cold cereal wasn't the only thing campers can eat for breakfast - but that most campers don't like cold, runny eggs made from powder - just as they don't care for sausage that has more fat than meat.

Lunch seemed to be a non event - probably not taken every day due to fun activities going on elsewhere. I did learn of a salad bar that surprisingly was used daily and was unexpectedly one of the most popular features of camp food.

Dinner was by far the most interesting meal. I was told that Salisbury steak is not really steak and that camp hamburgers don't taste like real hamburgers either. Noodles - and most importantly - lasagna were clear winners and many boys mentioned this to be their favorite meal of the three weeks they spent at camp. I also know that a lot of singing goes on over these meals - and I wondered why adults don't do more of that. Wouldn't it be fun to go out for dinner at a restaurant where every table had to sing a song?

Then there were the meals eaten while out of camp - while wilderness camping. The kind of food you eat when you have to carry it with you for days on end in a back pack. These meals seemed to be much less appealing. I learned about eating burnt pancakes for three days before the camp cook finally got them "right". A lot of canned food is eaten on the "trail". In fact - my favorite story was about the meal they called "hobo" night. This was a meal that you chewed up raw and then spit it into a tin foil wrapper - which was subsequently tossed into the camp fire for cooking - and then eaten. Yes - I also thought it to be disgusting - and so did the campers.

In conclusion - all I can say is God bless summer camps. The kids learn a lot and they grow up a great deal. While the food isn't as good as Mom's cooking at home - that's OK - as it gives them at least one reason to miss their parents and to return home happy.

Have a great week - and enjoy your dinner tonight.

Top 10 Worst Trends in the Foodservice Industry - Wrap Up

Recently the Chicago Tribune identified the top 10 worst trends in the foodservice industry in the last decade. I was reading thru these recently and found them to be fascinating. I didn’t agree with all of them – but I enjoyed reading about each. Today we finish the count-down beginning with number three and going all the way to number one.

3. THE MENU AS BOOK
There is nothing wrong with "artisanal" or "local," or " Vermont-raised," and nothing wrong with identifying the source of the goat milk you are being served, but when menu items grow to entire paragraphs, it's a bit much.

This one Billy agrees with. It’s like all those Greek diners I love to visit for lunch. I tell people – don’t even bother reading the menu. Whatever you want – it’s in there somewhere. Just tell the waitress what you want to eat – trust me – it’s on the menu somewhere. The other one I dislike is the menu that becomes the history book. OK – give me a few sentences on the history of the building or the ancestry of the chef – but for goodness sake – limit it to a few words. Nobody wants a reading assignment on the history of colonial buildings in Easter Nowhereville just before dinner.

2. THE CHEF AS MEDIA WHORE
They cook, of course. They also sell shoes and star in reality shows. Sometimes they cook. Rocco Di- Spirito, a middecade pan flash, is arguably the finest example. "There are celebrity chefs who manage to stay chefs and run excellent restaurants," said Zagat, "but there are times when you wonder what a chef is supposed to be doing. TV brings people into their restaurant. But when do they find time to cook?"

As a big fan of Anthony Bourdaine – I like celebrity chefs. I think it’s good for the industry and I believe this trend is here to stay. If there cooking was good enough to get them out of the fire and onto TV – God bless them – they deserve it. We should applaud their work and encourage them to enjoy their success.

1. DECONSTRUCTION
Said Joyce Goldstein, a San Francisco-based chef, cookbook author and restaurant consultant: "I do not want a poached egg on top of carbonara sauce and the pasta on the side. I don't want the ingredients laid out before me anymore. I want a chef to show me how it is brought together. Cooking has become an intellectual thing, but it's not a sensual thing. We have all gotten so smart about food, we are losing touch with sex appeal. Everything else is getting so exhausting – a lot of chefs saying, 'Look at me,' and 'Look at this technique,' and, next decade, I would prefer not to look at them for a while."

Don’t know if I would have picked this one as the worst trend in foodservice in the last decade. Perhaps I would have picked foodservice writers who insist on publishing top 10 lists. Having said that, I do agree that some foods belong together and not apart. How appealing would a cheese burger be if you had to eat the lettuce, tomato, cheese, burger and bun separately. This is just foodservice stupidity at its best. I am sure this one is fad – and I am glad it’s over.

Have a great weekend everyone. Tune in next week for more fun foodservice topics from your friend, Billy Booster.

Source: Chicago Tribune.

Top 10 Worst Trends in the Foodservice Industry - Cont.

Recently the Chicago Tribune identified the top 10 worst trends in the foodservice industry in the last decade. I was reading thru these recently and found them to be fascinating. I didn’t agree with all of them – but I enjoyed reading about each. Today we continue the count-down beginning with number six.

6. PROUDLY OBNOXIOUS FAST FOOD OPTIONS
Carl's Jr.'s Big Carl burger (920 calories). Hardee's Monster Thickburger (1,420 calories). KFC's Double Down (bacon and cheese between fillets of fried chicken serving as bread). A dare? A brazen red-state response to blue-state delicateness? The genius was to market them not as mere meals but extensions of your civil rights.

Billy definitely doesn’t agree with the Tribune writers on this one. Is this a bad trend in that it’s bad for you – certainly I agree. Is this one of the decade’s worst trends – no way. This is not a new trend – it’s not even a trend. It’s a reality. People like big fat bacon and cheese smothered burgers and sandwiches. This one is here to stay – like it or not. It’s also making me hungry.

5. KNEE-JERK ONLINE REVIEWS
Extreme Yelpers and likewise. "In particular, the opening-night blog reviewers," said Don Lindgren, co-owner of Rabelais, a food-centric bookstore in Portland, Maine. "You can't judge a restaurant from its opening night. It may be exciting to be there early. But to review it based on that first day is crazy and wrong."

OK – this one Billy’ agrees with – mostly because I don’t like restaurant reviews and rarely read them – but also because I don’t have any knees and I don’t like jerks.

4. FOAM
It's suds. We guess we taste the kiwi-caramel tones. (Wait, no, we can't.)

For those of you who don’t get this one – I applaud you. This means you didn’t fall victim to the fad of Molecular Gastronomy. The whole “foam” thing was a close relative to the trend of Molecular Gastronomy and the universe of the unusual taste, texture and combination. Foam is something I associate with soap or the beach – neither of which tastes good.

Tune in tomorrow when we finish the top 10 worst food trends of the decade.

Source: Chicago Tribune.

Top 10 Worst Trends in the Foodservice Industry

Recently the Chicago Tribune identified the top 10 worst trends in the foodservice industry in the last decade. I was reading thru these recently and found them to be fascinating. I didn’t agree with all of them – but I enjoyed reading about each. Over the next three days we will review each of them and I will share with you a few of my own opinions about each.

10. FRIED ONION BLOSSOMS
A "personal pet peeve," said Rita Negrete, senior editor at Technomic, a food industry research firm. The Tribune writers wrote: Oh, Rita -- that is so far from personal. We like to believe the fried onion blossom could be done right -- i.e., not sweaty, or greasy, without slivers of onion behind monstrous tan shells, served like county fair food on porcelain -- but we haven't seen it yet.

Personally, I don’t agree with this one. Onions are delicious – and anything deep fried is even better. This one doesn’t make Billy’s top 10 list. I say rock on bloomin onion!

9. MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY
As Chang pointed out, not all trends start bad. That said, "few chefs know how to do (Molecular Gastronomy), to make food fascinating and delicious at the same time," Steel said. "Do I see it as a trend that will last? No. As inspiration, maybe. But something feels disconnected when a chef has to buy a machine costing tens of thousands of dollars to cook. If anything, it's ebbing and will spark a return to beautiful and simple ingredients."

What does Billy say? OK – this one may have a point. While I’ve enjoyed some very interesting Molecular Gastronomy cuisine at a few very expensive restaurants in Chicago – it’s nothing I crave for. After 60 years on this earth – I know what people really like: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, chicken, steak and mom’s apple pie. Molecular Gastronomy was definitely a fad. This one makes Billy’s list.

8. THE $40 ENTRÉE
This one also makes Billy’s list. No Entrée should cost more than a temperature pressure relief valve or tickets to a Brewers game. In today’s economy – there’s no room for over priced chunks of beef.

7. THE COMMUNAL TABLE
Said Michael Schwartz, the chef/owner of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in Miami: the communal table "assumes people who don't know each other want to sit together."

This one doesn’t make Billy’s list. What’s wrong with Mr. Schwartz and other’s that don’t care of the communal table? This is how food was meant to be consumed – as a group – in community. I believe even cave men probably had a group rock where they broke bread together. Families and communities need to share food together more often. It builds character and provides an opportunity for people to get to know one another. If we all become isolationists – I believe the world is doomed. So go out there and eat together. You’ll meet some nice people and develop a sense of community – two things we all need more of.

Source: Chicago Tribune.

Fun Food Facts about the 4th!

This last weekend in America was 4th of July. In celebrating America's independence, the weekend has become a tradition to get together with friends and family and Bar-B-Que! Here are a few fun facts to ponder:

-Americans eat 20 Billion hot dogs a year - and more hot dogs are eaten in July than any other month of the year - 155 million to be exact. That's enough hot dogs to stretch from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., more than five times. Which state eats the most dogs in July 4th? Roughly, one-fourth of all citizens of Iowa ate hot dogs and pork sausage on July 4th, 2008.

-1 billion dollars result from the total revenue of boiler chicken form six of the nation's states: Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas.

- 2/5 of the baked beans we eat come from North Dakota, which produced about 39% of the nation's dry and edible beans in 2008.

-Another popular side dish for Independence Day is corn on the cob. Florida, California, Georgia, and New York in total produced 61% of naturally grown sweet corn in 2008.

-Potato Salad and potato chips are popular food items at any 4th of July barbecue. In 2008, half of the nations come from Idaho or Washington.

- 3/4 of the nation's lettuce in 2008 is produced in California, which makes it most probable that California supplies our salads and burgers.

- 96% of ketchup was made in California in 2008.

-The state of Florida lead watermelon production last year, totaling 861 million pounds.

Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and National Hot Dog & Sausage Council.

Celebrate with Us!

In honor of America's Independence Day – here are some simple historical facts regarding our Nation’s Birth Day:
• The major objection to being ruled by Britain was taxation without representation. The colonists had no say in the decisions of English Parliament.
• In May, 1776, after nearly a year of trying to resolve their differences with England, the colonies sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Finally, in June, admitting that their efforts were hopeless; a committee was formed to compose the formal Declaration of Independence. Headed by Thomas Jefferson, the committee also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman. On June 28, 1776, Thomas Jefferson presented the first draft of the declaration to Congress.
• Betsy Ross, according to legend, sewed the first American flag in May or June 1776, as commissioned by the Congressional Committee.
• Independence Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.
• The Liberty Bell sounded from the tower of Independence Hall on July 8, 1776, summoning citizens to gather for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.
• In Williamsburg, the colonial capital of Virginia, Independence Day is actually celebrated on July 25, because news of the adoption of the Declaration in Philadelphia did not reach Williamsburg until three weeks after July 4, 1776.
• The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the signers. If independence had not been achieved, the treasonable act of the signers would have, by law, resulted in their deaths.
And so it began…..
Celebrate with us this weekend. Happy Fourth!

The Real Meaning of Independence Day

Many of us are getting ready to leave town for the holiday weekend.  We are stocking up on burgers and beer.  We have to run down to the corner to purchase a few bottle rockets for the kids.  We are busy planning our picnics – praying for good weather.

Pause for a minute with me – and reflect upon the real meaning of Independence Day.  It’s not about burgers, beer, and fireworks.  It’s about a fight for freedom, equality, and justice.  It’s about the thousands of young men and women that have died in defense of that freedom.  It’s about the pursuit of simple truths and respect for your fellow man.

If you really want to celebrate the 4th of July this weekend, make a visit to Arlington National Cemetery in our Nation’s Capital.  There you will find the burial place of over 300,000 war heroes from the Civil War until present day.  These brave people made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy a life of freedom where all of us are treated as equals.

If you can’t visit Arlington this weekend, at least take a few minutes to pray, reflect, and/or meditate on the tremendous sacrifice that others have made so that our families may enjoy those burgers, beers, and bottle rockets this weekend.

God Bless America.

Smoked Salmon Vodka Anyone?

Americans love variety - especially when it comes to what we drink. I won't even attempt to summarize all the kinds of juices, soft drinks, flavored waters and brands of beer you can find at the local grocer. The list is astronomical. It's also ten times what it was only a few years ago. Was it Snapple that got this "any flavor goes" trend started? I'm not sure. But it seems any fruit, vegetable or spice is free game for your favorite beverage. To illustrate the point, I did a little research on a very limited category - VODKA. Can you guess how many flavors of Vodka there are? I stopped counting at 35. Want to know how they break down. Here we go:

First you have fruit flavored Vodka's. Not just your highly predictable lime, lemon, orange, pear, cranberry or raspberry. Oh no - we go much farther into the tropical jungle than that. How about mango, coconut, pomegrantate or passion fruit. All very good indeed. But then there is the more obscure fruit like tangerine, blueberry, ruby red grapefruit, white grape, currant, citrus or "blood orange".

But let's not forget the vegetable - they deserve some attention too - and we all know how good vegetables are in our summer drinks - right? Need some fixings for your next Bloody Marry, try some of these vegetable flavored vodkas: Tomato, Cucumber or Pepper. If you like a little sweet in your drink you can always add some Vanilla or some Chocolate - both of which sound disgusting to me.

Then there is the "holy crap" category - where you wonder what was someone thinking. These are flavors that no one in their right mind should ever have invented. How about root beer, for example? Adds a whole new meaning to having a root beer float – doesn't it? Or what the heck is "Los Angeles" flavor. Yes, there is a vodka from a leading brand that just says "Los Angeles" on the bottle. It isn't saying it's made in LA - just that it has the essence of LA. Does that mean you feel like joining an East LA gang after you drink it? Or does it make you want to be all "Hollywood"???? There is also "oak" flavor - which I find very uninspiring. And let's not forget Green Tea flavored Vodka. I once tried to mix ice tea and vodka - it was terrible. Why anyone would brand such a product is a mystery to me. There is also a "blue" flavor - which I guess can be fruit, sadness or a mixture of both.

Finally - we come to the crowing victor of all strange vodka flavors: smoked salmon. Yep - that's right - there is a distillery out of Alaska that produces and markets a smoked salmon flavored vodka. They suggest it goes great in a bloody marry. Personally, I like my fish on a plate and not in a glass.

So - there you have it - and wide world of flavors just waiting for you to trial and enjoy (maybe). By all means, if you do try any of these strange beverages - always do so in moderation.

Happy Hump Day!

Tips on Tipping

How much do you tip when you go out to eat? Do you tip more now than you did ten years ago? Do you sometimes wonder if you've given too much or too little? Here are a few thoughts on the subject - and a few tips (no pun intended) ...

Current rule of thumb is to tip from 15-20% at a full service restaurant. The range can vary depending upon the quality of the restaurant and how happy you are with the service. Being a famous booster heater like myself - with step loaded elements and all - most restaurant operators always give me great tables and great service - making me feel obliged to give a big tip. In fact, I almost always tip about 20%. However, I never used to do that - I used to think 15% was a good tip. I don't know if I've gotten soft in my old age - or just sympathetic to the staff because of my years of foodservice experience. The bottom line is - tipping is getting more expensive - and many of my friends share the same experience.

Ron Paul wrote an article about foodservice in the UK in his monthly Technomics newsletter this month. He noted that in the UK, tips are automatically included - and they are only 10-12%. The foodservice staffers as well as the customers are happy with this system. So we are American's such big tippers? Why do we pay more? Are we getting better service? Are we just more generous? Was it always like this?

I can say from experience that the service in the US is much better than you find in the UK and Europe - in most instances. I can also suggest than making tips "voluntary" puts more pressure on the customer to reward their server with a good tip. Again - the key drivers in our decision making will always be the quality of the experience and the perceived value we get from our servers. There is also a bit of a double edge sword related to the economy. You want to help people out in hard times - so maybe you tip your waitress a little more. At the same time - we're all trying to hold onto our money when times are tough - so maybe you tip a little less. In the end - it's a personal decision that we all make every week. It is also often complicated by the variety of tipping circumstances we encounter in today's service orientated environment.

Here are a few added complexities to the world of tipping. #1 - alcohol. Do you tip on the value of the food and the value of the drinks? What if the wine is very expensive? Some experts suggest tipping the normal amount of the food but only 10% on a high end bottle of wine. So know you need a calculator or a spreadsheet - and who has that at the dinner table? What about tips at the bar? If you just have a quick beer before dinner - at it's a $3 beer (remember I live in Wisconsin) - do you tip 15% (that's only 45 cents). I found a website (www.itipping.com) that suggest you tip $1 for beer and $2 for drinks. I think it depends where you live. Obviously beer is more expensive in NY City than in Milwaukee.

And then there are all those special tips: Parking Valet, Coat Room, Bathroom attendent (one I really don't like - nobody wants help in the bathroom - do they?). How much should you tip all these people. Can I even afford to go out after I get hit up by all these folks? The experts suggest giving each one about $1. That's $3 bucks before I even get a drink or some food! Is it worth it - again - it depends on the service and the experience.

At the end of the day - eating out is still a luxury and an event to enjoy and share with others. Tipping is the right thing to do - and I suggest you all do it. Make your own decisions and reward those who take good care of you. And remember, these people you are tipping are the same ones who handle your food and your drink - treat them well - if you know what I mean.

Valedictorian For a Day

We've had some very famous people attend Hatco School in the past - but last week we had the most famous attendee ever!  Bill Murray was at our school.  OK, maybe it wasn't Bill Murray the famous actor - but this Bill Murray is famous to the foodservice industry as the consultant from Murray-Corban Consultants of Vadalia, LA.  And it was this very same Bill Murray who became our class valedictorian.  Bill's inquisitive nature combined with his quick responses on the final exam led him to lead our class in all things academic.  We crowned him with an authentic Wisconsin Cheesehead at Green Bay's National Rail Road Museum during our commencement ceremonies on Friday night.  Bill was proud of all he accomplished and wore his cheese head with great pride.

Once again we'd like to thank all our Hatco school attendees for the time, energy and commitment to learning about all things Hatco.  It was a great class and many learned more than they ever thought imaginable about food warming, merchandising, booster heaters, toasters and a vast assortment of buffet solutions and applications.   They even learned the "North Woods" culture of Northern Wisconsin and delicious treats like cheese curds and Door County cherry pie.

We hope everyone had safe travels home - and that their livers and their brains are recovering comfortably in their homes and their offices this week.  And for our young friend from the Dominican - we hope your lip feels better.

Tomorrow we will dive back into the business of the foodservice industry overall - but for today - we thank everyone for yet another successful Hatco school.

"Home Schooling" at Sturgeon Bay

I want to thank the thirty-five people who attended Hatco School this week. Some were dealers, some were reps, and some were consultants. All have had lots of fun thus far. While my booster tank isn’t as shiny as it was when I first came off the assembly line 60 years ago – there are a lot of things about our industry that haven’t changed. Dealers, Reps and Consultants, all still bring value to the foodservice equipment business. There are veterans and there are rookies – and all work hard to help each other and to learn from one another. It’s great to see the commitment of professionals who really want to be knowledgeable experts in their profession. It’s great to know all these people truly care for their customers. This has been the most significant impression I’ve had during this week’s training school.

Our class of professionals included a young man from the Dominican Republic who had less than 4 months in the industry and a massive hunger for knowledge. We also enjoyed the wisdom of two Hatco reps who have successfully represented our beloved company for more than 30 years each. Combine this with Texans, Canadians, Brazilians, Floridians and "good-old boys" from the Midwest – and you’ve got some great networking going on. And then, of course, there all the fun stories about their travels to and from home.

The highlight of the day is always our plant tour. It’s great to see people's jaws drop as they realize how extensive our product line is and how clean and modern our factory is. They always remark “I had no idea Hatco did all this.” I’ve always said – if you want to really know someone – visit their house and see how they live. At Hatco – showing people how we keep our house is our pride and joy.

Finally, as you are all wondering – who was this week’s Valedictorian? We haven’t decided yet. We’re waiting until graduation tonight. Check back on Monday for the final verdict.

Have a great weekend!

Tricky Travels

Well today is the first day of Hatco training school.  My friends at Hatco are hosting thirty five dealers and consultants from around the world.  We are grateful for the commitment of these brave souls.  We admire their willingness to travel to the end of the earth (Sturgeon Bay, WI) just to learn about food warming, food merchandising, sanitizing, and other important industry topics.

It was a tough trip for most of them.  We suffered from some strong storms around the mid-west yesterday.  The result of these storms was many stranded and delayed passengers.  More than half of our friends spent a good part of their day wandering the hallways at O’Hare Airport in Chicago.  We had one Canadian customer sequestered by Customs and is still missing in action.  We had about ten friends who arrived without luggage and are now sporting the same apparel today as they wore yesterday.    The perils of travel never cease to amaze us.  But, gratefully, by the end of the day, all our eager students arrived in Sturgeon Bay in time to enjoy some food and drink before getting some much needed rest.

Today the learning will begin.  Everyone is anxious to get started.  What the day will hold for each of them nobody knows.  It’s always fun and it’s always interesting.  One has to love the opportunity to make thirty five new friends. 

Tomorrow we’ll report back to you about the adventures and experiences the class enjoyed.  Enjoy your Thursday!

Learn and Play the Hatco Way

Ok friends – it’s that time again – Hatco University is about to begin. It’s time to learn and play the Hatco way. I am excited to greet the 40+ reps and DSRs from around the country that are about to descent on the innocent and unprepared city of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

I always enjoy these schools as there is so much predictable fun which lays ahead, yet so many discoveries to be made in the coming days.

Here are the universals I can always plan for at every Hatco school. There will be a DSR that misses their flight. There will be a Rep who has been with us for years and still misses the easiest question on the final exam. There will be someone who’s late for the bus every morning. There is someone who will drink too much and embarrass themselves. There will be an incredibly brilliant and driven individual who jumps out as the class valedictorian. There will be dozens of moments where people say or do things that make me laugh.

I enjoy all the universals described above. As Billy Booster – with 60 years in the industry – I’ve seen it all. Having said that – I still make discoveries at each and every Hatco University. There will be someone who’s insight and experience teaches us all new things. There will be new friends that appear unexpectedly and remind you of how wonderful it is to meet new people. There will certainly be memories created that you will cherish for life. There will be new friends made that lead to life-long relationships. All of this makes each Hatco school worth more than any Imperial Booster – or Human Being – could ever hope for.

Working together for everyone

I've always assumed that Europeans are more concerned about the environment than Americans. I've also assumed that Americans are behind when it comes to developing sustainable practices in their businesses and at home. Boy was I wrong.

The Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI) in the UK hosted their Annual General Meeting in London last week. Seeking a speaker from the US (and lacking any other better candidates) they invited my tired old Castone lined tank to speak at their meeting. What was the topic? You guessed it - sustainability.

I was stunned to learn that the UK - and Europe - really don't have a standard for approving the energy efficiency of their foodservice equipment. While the US is struggling with expanding and improving the Energy Star label and certification effort - it seems to be more than the European equipment manufacturers have to fall back upon. With CE as the only European standard relative to foodservice equipment - they are desperately seeking an better standard by which to measure the energy efficiency and sustainability of European foodservice equipment.

I enjoyed the chance to learn about how important these issues are to Europeans - and how surprised they were with how much effort the Americans have put into addressing these same issues. While we all know there is much more work to be done - it's nice to know that both sides of the "pond" are working hard at preserving our environment.

Is Energy Star the "cure all" to this issue? Certainly it is not. As I told my friends at FCSI in London -"it's like drilling oil in the Gulf of Mexico" ... "Energy Star seemed like a good idea when it started - but now we realize it's not without some challenges". I'm not sure they enjoyed the analogy as much as I did (BP being a highly coveted asset amongst the English) - but I think they got the point.

Give Them Burritos...

Last week I was dragging my step loaded Imperial tank around London. They love anything Imperial – so lots of people talked to me. When I asked them why they don’t like Mexican food – they told me this has changed over the last year. Chipotle, Taco Bell and other independent Mexican restaurants are popping up around London and across England and Europe.

What changed I asked them as my pressure relief valve was about to pop? Have I misinformed my American friends? It seems I have. As budgets have been squeezed and taste buds have gotten more adventurous, the “peasant food” (their description – not mine) has become more popular. It seems that Mexican and other Latin foods are quickly growing in popularity.

As my temperature rose – and I worried I would trip my high-limit – I asked “what changed – why now – is it just economics?” The answer I got was consistent. When Mexican food was introduced to the UK and Europe in the past – it was not executed very well. Chains like Chipotle are doing a better job of delivering high quality Latin food – and this has been the difference.

I am not sure that the “Queen Mum” is quite ready for a burrito suiza or a chimichanga just yet – but there are plenty of Brits lined up on the street to get some quick, cheap and delicious cuisine de Mexico. What say Billy about all this – “CHEERS!”

P.S. The answer to Friday's riddles are "Silence" and "Nothing".

Riddles and Brain Teasers

Don’t you all love a good riddle? The fun of a riddle is to realize that moment of brilliance when you solve it all by yourself. It’s also good fun to watch your friend suffer while they try to solve the riddle. Let them enjoy the ride – and don’t give them the answer too quickly. If you saw my face book page earlier today – there was following riddle:

What’s so fragile that when you say its name you break it?

I promised you the answer if you came to my blog. And I will give you the answer – but not just yet – you’ll have to work on it over the weekend and see the answer on Monday. Here’s another fun one to work on over the weekend:

What’s greater than God, more evil than the devil, the rich need it, the poor have it, and if you eat it you will die.

For those of who have attended Hatco University – you may be familiar with these riddles – and even remember the answers. If you do – great – but remember, don’t tell your friends. Make them figure it out. Have a great weekend. And remember, the brain is a gift – don’t waste it!

Un Margarita Por Favor!

Mexican food is extremely popular across the good old USA.  You can find a good Mexican restaurant in just about any city in America.  Taco Bell alone has about 7,000 locations in the USA.  Noting our proximity to Mexico and the ever growing Hispanic population across this great country of ours, it’s no surprise that good Mexican food is readily available.  What’s peculiar is why Mexican food isn’t very popular outside the USA.

If you travel to Europe, the Middle East, or even Asia – you will be hard pressed to find a Mexican restaurant.  Why is that?  Is it the spices they can’t handle?  Not likely – as many Mediterranean, Asian, and Middle Eastern cuisines are rich with hot peppers, tangy spices, and the like.  With over one billion Hindus munching on curry across India – you certainly can’t say it’s the spices.  What about the Hispanic influence?  Is it the lack of Hispanics in these countries?  That could be a possible explanation – but then again, in Europe you have the Spanish and the Portuguese, in Asia you have a large Spanish population in the Philippines.  It’s not like there is no Hispanic influence in the rest of the World.  And then we have Latin America.  Why don’t the Brazilians, Chileans, or Peruvians embrace Mexican food?

Perhaps it’s the strong affiliation each nation has to their own indigenous cuisine.  And as America is such a melting pot – we didn’t have a strong enough affinity towards our own native foods to prevent the Mexican diet from invading.  But then again, American’s embrace all cuisines of the world:  German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, French – the list goes on.

In the end, I don’t know why Mexican food lacks popularity outside of North America.  Maybe that will change over time.  In the meantime, you certainly can’t fault the French, the Columbian, the Italian, or the Chinese for enjoying the amazing traditional dishes you find in their homelands.  And for us – we’ll just keep all those Margaritas to ourselves!

Mid-Week Levity to Brighten Your Work Day!

A little boy asks his dad at the dinner table “Father, are caterpillars good to eat?” To this his father replies “Boy, I’ve told you before: don’t talk about such things at the dinner table.” His mother inquisitively asks the boy “Anyway son, why would you ask such a silly question?” To this the clever boy responds: “Because there was a caterpillar on daddy’s salad a minute ago – but now it is gone!”

Rice is great when you are so hungry you want to eat 2000 of something.

Why did the tomato blush? It saw the salad dressing!

Well that’s all I got for this Wednesday. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Adventures Across the Pond

Today I've managed to launch my Imperial Booster Tank all the way across the Atlantic Ocean and into jolly old England. I'm attending an FCSI meeting over here. Supposedly they don't like us stand-alone boosters much in England. They like to build us into their dish machines. That's OK as I'm claustrophobic and prefer to stand on my own. The English foodservice industry is unique for sure: warm beer, jacketed potatoes, mushy peas, fish and chips. We say beer - they say pint. We say appetizer - they say starter. We say equipment - they say kit.

But, although English foodservice is different in many ways - there still are some common denominators. The English love to eat out. They have lots of the same quick service chains that we do. They have too many manufacturers and too many dealers competing for business that is less and less profitable each year. They are focused on energy savings, food costs, safety and sanitation. They are introducing new technologies that cook faster, use less energy, and take up less space.

While the US and the UK are two different Nations separated by a vast Ocean - we all have the same challenges when we get up and go to work. We need everything faster, better and cheaper. God bless the Queen!

Lights, Camera, Action…

Have you seen the cool Hatco product training videos my pals in the Hatco Sales Department are cranking out these days? They’re educational and entertaining. You can watch the ever famous Chef Brad party with penguins or even see Rick Anger talk about swans. And, you might see some cool new Hatco products in there too. Best of all, the Hatco super star Maxwell Watt has his latest spy thriller out on video as part of the Hatco video package. You can see them all at http://www.youtube.com/user/hatcocorp. Check it out today!

Happy Friday Friends!

Some fun food facts to carry you into the weekend: Ice Cream was introduced to the Western world by Marco Polo, who brought the recipe back from China and introduced it to the Italians in 1295. Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries and, the onion is named after a Latin word meaning large pearl. But wait, there's more. Instant coffee has been in existence since the middle of the eighteenth century and frankfurters were first created in China.  

Do you know what was the first breakfast cereal ever produced? It was Shredded Wheat. And my favorite worthless food trivia of the day: over 1000 liters of beer are drunk in England's House of Commons each week. So go out and have a cold beer tonight and toast English government. Have a great weekend!
Happy Friday Friends!!!

The Good, the Bad, and the Tuber

What do you think is the best food for you?  It's not Brussels sprouts or spinach like some may think.  It's sweet potatoes - according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest - whoever they are.  These "experts" say because of all their vitamin C, potassium, and fiber - sweet potatoes is one of the best foods you can eat.  They are also very high on grape tomatoes, skim milk, and broccoli - in that order.  My cheese head friends will be happy about the milk thing. 

What are the worst foods according to these guys?  Processed foods are the worst.  I won't name the brands but the top four worst foods were all packaged, processed foods.  In order, they are a chicken pot pie, a lasagna, a canned soup (yes soup - because of all the salt), and ice cream.   No surprise - it's better to eat natural foods you pick yourself vs. packaged foods.  Now get out there and weed your garden today!

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat, but should he eat it on Mondays?

Hey friends - would you eat fish at a restaurant on a Monday? Some people say you should avoid eating fish on Monday's because it's probably 4 or 5 days old. Several restaurant writers have documented that most restaurants get their fish delivered on Thursday or Friday in order to stock up for the weekend. By Monday, they put it on special to try to sell what they have left.

On Monday of this week I went to a nice restaurant. They had a special on "butter fish" on the menu. I didn't order it - but two of my friends did. They both said it was delicious and neither of them felt ill afterwards. Does this mean it's safe to eat fish on Mondays? I suggest you give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Going Up, Blacking Out and Nothing on the Plate... Unusual Dining Experiences.

Welcome to my second installment of Billy Bits. Today I find myself perplexed by some of the most unusual restaurants in the World. Did you know that in Brussels, Belgium there is restaurant called "Dinner in the Sky" which suspends tables and chairs from cranes hundreds of feet up in the air. Apparently being terrified makes the food taste better.

Then there is Dans Le Noir in Paris. This restaurant makes you eat in complete darkness. I'm not sure why you would want to do that - but they say it heightens the senses. I say it heightens the dry cleaning bill. Nobody wants a dirty jacket - not even a booster.

But, my favorite is the now defunct restaurant in Israel called Cafe Ke'ilu. At this restaurant they charged you $5 to pretend you were eating. It certainly kept the food costs down - but apparently it's hard to get repeat business from customers who go home hungry.

Welcome to my first installment of Billy Bits!

Here you will find daily words of industry wisdom, bits of restaurant and food trivia, or perhaps just some fun facts, jokes or a riddle. I hope you find them inspiring, informational and fun. I also hope you send me your own ideas for Billy Bits. You can do so by sending me a message or posting a comment on my facebook page.

For my inagural first day of "Billy Bits", I offer you this. If American's spend approximately $25 Billion on beer each year - and they consume an average of 51 pounds of chocolate each year - why don't the beer companies invent a chocolate beer?

Yes / Melville Marketing Presented with a Check for the Winning Q1 Entry of Billy's World Tour Contest!

At the National Restaurant Association (NRA) trade show in Chicago this May, Justin Thompson (left) and Wade Kram (center) of Yes / Melville Marketing (one of Hatco's awesome rep associations) were presented a check by Billy Booster (me) and Brad Stoeckel (Dealer Sales Manager). See the winning piece of equipment in the post below! Way to go Yes / Melville Marketing and Grace Lutheran Church for your entry!

And the Winner of Q1's Billy's World Tour Contest is...

Yes / Melville Marketing with their 47 year old Model PM-12 Booster Water Heater at Grace Lutheran Church in Albert Lea, MN! Thanks Tarah Steinert for posting the photo up on Hatco's Facebook Fan Page. Congratulations Wade Kram, Ed Jameson, and Justin Thompson for submitting the entry.

Hatco did some checking in the Hatco Parts and Service and sure enough, this PM-12-220 was hand written in the ledger, dated 09/13/1963.... making this "blessed" PM-12 operating for 47 years...WOW!

Q1 Entry "ChuckWagon Restaurant - Miami, Florida"

Rey Sanchez, Tepper & Associates Inc., was the first to enter an installation shot for the Q1 Billy's World Tour Oldest Working Equipment Contest. The 22 year-old Glo-Ray Strip Heater (GRAH-48) is still operating in the ChuckWagon Restaurant in Miami, Florida! The restaurant serves good homestyle cooked meals for breakfast and lunch and has the best Sausage Gravy and biscuits and eggs benedict according to Rey Sanchez.

My Public Debut!

I had a great time visiting with my friends and colleges at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) trade show in Chicago this May. I will seeing all of you again in Orlando at the National Foodservice Equipment Manufacturers Association (NAFEM) in February 2011!