FLORENCEVILLE-BRISTOL, N.B. — McCain Foods has been working with hotel operators to reinvent their menu options, stressing the importance of foodservice relative to general guest satisfaction. In fact, 34 per cent of consumers state that a hotel’s overall foodservice plays a crucial role in their hotel selection.
Although the company already offers more than 200 food products, to deliver a food program that’s truly custom-tailored to each hotel’s needs, McCain works with its expert chefs to create new menu items suited to each property’s guest demographic. Furthermore, the company observes each property’s kitchen staff and facilities to offer products that won’t disrupt or hinder back-of-house operations.
“We work with hotel operators — from small independents all the way up to large chains — and we really take the time to get to know them and their operations,” explains Greg Boyer, Marketing director at McCain Foods. “We get to understand what their challenges are — what their back-of-house looks like and what equipment they’re using, where their space constraints are or their labour challenges — basically where the bottlenecks are in their kitchen that would prevent hotel operators from executing an incredible food program.”
To develop the food programs, McCain conducts its own market research focused on hotel guests. Based on that research, the company determined that breakfast is the meal most important to hotel guests as more than 60 per cent of McCain’s respondents indicated that they nearly always have breakfast onsite. When it comes to that morning meal, customers are looking for three things: above all, guests want variety. But they also want food that’s familiar and delicious. Unfortunately, McCain discovered in its 2016 research that when hotels redo their menu, 80 per cent of it remains the same.
“That’s where we come in,” says Boyer. Among the items McCain offers hotels are its twisted potatoes, French toast sticks and grill-top shredded hash browns. One breakfast idea McCain shared as an example is diced potatoes, mixed with sautéed onions, red peppers, peameal bacon, fresh herbs and poached eggs on top, served in a cast-iron pan.
“Appetizers and small plates continue to be really popular items and this also holds true in breakfast,” says Boyer. A hand-held concept our chefs came up with is the bacon and hash brown grilled cheese — you make two golden triangle hash browns and sandwich cheddar cheese between them, add a slice of bacon, some fresh basil and put marinara sauce on the side for dipping. It’s basically a hand-held sandwich made with hash browns.”
Written By Eric Alister
