Floored! NRA Show 2008 News

Exhibitors exalt ‘humble tuber’

As rice, corn, wheat and soybean prices soar across the globe, the United Nations is calling attention to an age-old staple. By naming 2008 the International Year of the Potato, the UN hopes what it calls the “humble tuber” will ease food-price inflation and help feed more people.

From the Idaho Potato Commission to vodka companies, NRA Show exhibitors this year showed many uses for potatoes. “Potatoes are one of the most nutritious vegetables you can eat,” says Nancy Schlegel, food safety/human resources manager, Sterman Masser Potato Farms. “They’re full of potassium and vitamin C, and they keep you full.”

In fact, one medium-sized potato contains half the recommended daily dose of vitamin C and a fifth the daily recommended dose of potassium, according to the UN. Potatoes also are rich in carbohydrates and have the highest protein content of all root vegetables and tubers.

Plus, potatoes are extremely versatile. They take the flavor of spices and sauces and go well with meat, fish and cheese, says Schlegel, of the Sacramento, Pa.-based potato-packing company.

The people of the Andes have been growing and eating potatoes for 8,000 years and introduced them to the Spanish in the 16th century. The Spanish took potatoes back to Europe, and the crop’s popularity spread quickly around the world. Today, it’s the world's No. 1 non-grain food commodity, topping 320 million tons in 2007, according to the UN.

Like other staples, the potato has been used to distill alcohol for centuries. The makers of Zodiac Vodka, one of 60 exhibitors for the NRA’s International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event, say the potato is the best source of alcohol. “There’s a huge taste difference,” says Tom Benson of Zodiac Spirits, which uses only Idaho potatoes for its luxury vodka. “There’s no back-of-the-throat burn. If you stood here all day, you’d hear the word ‘smooth’ over and over.”

Bugging out

"Hey would you like to feed the bedbugs?"

A grinning man man excitedly offered us a white box about the size of a deck of cards as if it were a new iPod instead of a tiny cage full of live insects that feed on the blood of humans.

"See?" he said, rolling up his sleeve and putting the box on his bare forearm, "the warmth of my blood wakes them up."

We're thinking... who let this guy loose on the NRA Show floor?

The mad scientist turned out to be Robert Klein of APTIV whose line of eco-friendly insect control products had people buzzing around there booth like...

"Flies," Klein said. "Fruit flies. They get into your liquor, your salad, annoy your customers."

APTIV's products use no active ingredients (that's poisons, to you and me), and are made of the same materials used to package medicine. They're not bad too look at and completely safe to have around the food.

Sales are taking off for these green products, but it hasn't always been that way.

"Fifteen years ago we developed these products and we were laughed out of the stores," Klein insists, his bedbugs now napping on the table and safely away from our arms. "They said there was no need."

The time definitely seems to be right now. "We're having a hell of a show. It's been really, really good for us."

If you get tired of nibbling and feel like getting nibbled on for a change, or if you want to find out more about controlling pests and insects, head to APTIV's booth or one of the other pest control exhibitors at the NRA show.

Saving money = saving planet

One thing we keep hearing at the NRA show is the economic advantages of going green. So we talked to a few exhibitors who make eco-friendly lighting.

Take William Stauffer, vice president, Eco-Story, Portland, Maine, who describes a 12-month surge in interest in the company's LED-based lighting.

Eco-Story's products promise 90 percent energy reduction when compared with traditional lighting, last 20 to 45 times as long, don't contain the mercury or harmful substances you find in fluorescent bulbs, and fit in existing fixtures. They cost more per bulb but pay for themselves in a year and a half, Stauffer says. Eco-Story's website offers a calculator to determine how much you can save.

Luma Vue is out to get more people using LED technology as well, calling the NRA Show a "coming out party." Their ultra-thin LED panels power eye-catching message boards, signs, posters, hi-tech chalkboards, and other displays that last much longer and use substantially less energy than those powered by traditional lighting technologies.

"The new trend is moving into sustainability products. You can save a lot on energy costs and at the same time be environmentally conscious," said Luma Vue's Steve Schotta. "The whole green movement is happening, and the NRA is a leader in that."

LEDgen told us why conventional rope lighting starts looking yellow after a few years. It's not the age or the sun; it's the heat of those tiny incandescent bulbs cooking the plastic. That's not where restaurant operators want to be doing their cooking, so LEDgen offers LED versions of those lights, along with retro-fit screw-in LED bulbs and LED tubes to replace neon lighting.

The energy savings, durability and safety of their products are a hit at the NRA show this year, which LEDgen's David Fred knows spells even more success in the future. "Interest at the show always translates into what will happen in the actual business very soon."

Check out these and other companies offering LED technology at the NRA show.

NRA launches Conserve initiative

Restaurateurs joined National Restaurant Association President and CEO Dawn Sweeney to announce the launch of Conserve, the National Restaurant Association's initiative to help restaurateurs reduce their impact on the environment.

"Our customers and our employees expect us to do the right thing," said Tom Coba, chief operations officer for Subway. His company's market power — 29,300 locations in 86 countries — means even small changes have big results. "Every time we do a little thing, it begins to have a big, big impact." Subway is building Eco-Stores and also has taken a series of steps through its supply chain to conserve resources.

Gale Gand, an award-winning pastry chef who co-owns Tru and several other restaurants in and near Chicago, spoke about the changes she's made in her operation over the past four years. She said the resources at conserve.restaurant.org "gives us a way to start chipping away at environmental issues."

Niki Leondakis, chief operating officer of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, leads the Green Task Force of the NRA's board of directors that was instrumental in launching the initiative.

Floor talk: Attendee seeks green, nutritious solutions

Antonio L. Moore, Taher Inc., Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Mich.: I’m here to check out going green. And because I work with food services at the school of nutrition, I wan to to look at different, healthier approaches on how to cook. We’re interested in using more organic and green ingredients.

I’m also looking at new products and methods for frozen vegetables. Because food prices have been rising so much, we’re looking at ways to control costs. Anything we can do to make food healthy and cost less, we’re doing it.

From the floor: Attendees talk

We’ve been having a blast meeting some of the thousands of attendees at the NRA Show this year — and we wanted you to meet them, too. That's why we'll be posting quick interviews from the floor.

Here’s what some of you have had to say about the show itself, what you’re doing here, and what you’re learning:

Lou Ayers, Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, Ariz: We haven’t been to the NRA Show for four or five years; this year, my managing director and my food and beverage manager came. We wanted to see what’s new.

Our hotel is making a big effort to be green, so I’m looking at a lot of the recycling equipment. We’ve bought some glass washers and a glass mulcher, so we’ve already spent some money. In Arizona, we recycle plastic and aluminum, but there isn’t a great need for glass. We go through a few hundred thousand bottles a year, so the glass mulcher will help us save landfill space – it grinds up the bottles so they take up less space.

I’m also looking at green paper products, as well as a lot of the banquet items, like props and display items.

Extra, extra, read all about us

In case you didn't see Friday's USA Today, we're alerting you to a great article about Conserve, the NRA's new green initiative.

The article profiled restaurants that are becoming more environmentally friendly and how Conserve is helping restaurants reduce the industry's carbon footprint. The initiative will be unveiled Monday at the NRA Show, but you can get a sneak peek at the Web site at conserve.restaurant.org.

The site offers the top 10 tips for restaurants to conserve energy and reduce carbon footprints, statistics about energy costs and water supply and an interactive model of a "green" restaurant.

Check out other green education sessions at the NRA Show this week, such as Marketing to Conserving Customers: A Guide to Operating Green with a Triple Bottom Line at 10 a.m. Monday and Lean, Green, & Clean: Environmental Practices in Collegiate Foodservice at 10 a.m. Tuesday.