Market basket

edited by Diane Ridge

Cargill Foodservice North America is rolling out the fourth installment of its popular MenuBoard 360 promotion. Operators can enter to win a FREE professional restaurant consultation from Master Chef Ken Arnone, worth $8,000! Chef Arnone specializes in identifying unique uses for ingredients and products that can help operators take their ideas and concepts to the next level. The spring 2012 promotion offers up to $2,500 in rebates to operators and allows customers to save as much as $4.25 per case when they purchase all six participating brands during the promotion period. For details, visit foodservicepromos.com.

Every chef knows customers first eat with their eyes. As an artist's medium, the graceful slices, colorful dices and impressive half-shells of Fresh California Avocados add visual appeal, along with smooth, rich flavor, to any dish. A swirl of slices frames the other ingredients in a Fresh Avocado and Mango Salad, while vivid chunks of Fresh California Avocado brighten the filling of an Avocado Flatbread Sandwich. For artful menu applications featuring Fresh California Avocados, visit CaliforniaAvocado.com/Foodservice or call 800-370-3782.

Anjou Pears from Truitt Bros. enhance any menu and add premium appeal and variety for customers. Perfect as an ingredient in bakery items, salads, side dishes, desserts, garnishes, sauces, glazes and more, the subtly-sweet and firm juicy slices are perfectly ripened and available year-round. Sliced (with the skin on) and packed in resealable shelf-stable jars, Anjou Pears are incredibly easy to handle and serve. No worries about bruising, no waste and no ripening required — just delicious pears, ready to be enjoyed. Call 800-547-8712 or visit www.truittbros.com.

RC Fine Foods introduces their new line of Smart Sodium 400 reduced sodium food bases in chicken, beef, vegetable, and seafood varieties with no added MSG or potassium. With 400 mg of sodium or less per 8 fl. oz. serving, RC has set the bar in providing the best-tasting, reduced-sodium product for kitchens everywhere. For more details including free recipes and a free sample, visit www.rcfinefoods.com or call 800-526-3953.

Sweet Street Desserts introduces Salted Caramel Vanilla Crunch Cake to their portfolio of luscious cakes. This on-trend dessert offers supernaturally light, but buttery, vanilla-flecked pudding cake that holds waves of rich caramel cake topped with a salted caramel crunch layer, a creamy custard layer and sexy caramel finish. Visit www.sweetstreet.com, for more.

Computrition's Point-of-Sale (POS) solution is here! Break away from the “traditional” cash register and process your customers' transactions with ease and full integration into Hospitality Suite products. Our comprehensive, PCI-compliant and cost-effective POS solution streamlines the entire financial transaction process and offers countless payment method options. Call 800-222-4488 or email us at [email protected].

MARS Foodservices introduces its Grain Notes e-newsletter developed to provide operators with insights and inspirations for menus and matching up today's food trends with popular Uncle Ben's products.

Topics range from the new MyPlate food icon, to better-for-you alternatives for fighting childhood obesity. This monthly e-newsletter starts with a current trend or insight then follows with an “Offer of the Month” rebate and special offers from Uncle Ben's. To sign up for Grain Notes or for additional recipes, insights and information, visit www.MARSFoodservices.com or call 800-432-2331.

McCormick & Company, Inc. is taking its Flavor Forecast, a catalyst for innovation among foodservice professionals, to the next level in 2012. For this milestone report, an international group of McCormick experts — including chefs, sensory scientists, trend trackers, marketing experts and food technologists — collaborated to identify global trends that will continue to shape the future of flavor. McCormick delivers custom presentations to more than 100 foodservice operators providing recommendations on how to best incorporate the flavors into their menu offerings. To explore the future of flavor with recipes, photos and video, visit www.McCormickForChefs.com/FlavorForecast.

Bush's Best has long been known for high quality, superior bean products. And now our rich, plump and flavorful kidney beans are available for foodservice. Large in size, bright in color and solid in texture these Bush's Best Kidney Beans work well in a variety of different types of cuisine and can be used to make anything from soups and chili to casseroles and salads. For more information, visit www.wepickthebest.com.

Tyson Deli, a division of Tyson Foods, Inc., has released new information to help drive retailer success: wing and tender merchandising is the key to building top line deli sales. While fall football and tailgating have typically kicked off wing season, retailers who use visible merchandisers have found success selling wings year-round due to growing popularity of wings for snacks and dinner. Tyson offers an array of Crispy Glazed wings including flavors such as Buffalo, BBQ, Hot Pepper, Teriyaki and Caliente. Visit www.TysonDeli.com, for details.

Food trends guru Andrew Freeman lists “Health Conscious Menu Items” among his 2012 food and beverage predictions, which puts fruit in the menu development spotlight. Dole Fresh Frozen Fruit allows operators to menu fruit-forward dishes in any season, while www.dolefoodservice.com supports culinary creativity with a database of fruit recipes in every menu category and inventive fruit pairings that match popular fruits with emerging flavor profiles. Call 800-723-9868 for more.