THE SOUTHEAST FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY GETS READY FOR
THE FLORIDA RESTAURANT & LODGING SHOW
NORWALK, CT, July 30, 2007 – The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show will once again take place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida from September 7-9, 2007. Every segment of the foodservice industry is expected to attend, from fine dining establishments to franchises and everything in between. The lodging arena, national hotel chains, regional operators and privately managed inns will participate. The Show will welcome over 14,000 attendees and showcase approximately 550 exhibiting companies spanning nearly 100,000 square feet.
This year’s Show will launch several new and exciting features – making it the “must attend” event for the Southeast restaurant & lodging industry. One of the newest highlights is the launch of the Ferdinand Metz Foodservice Forum with industry experts handpicked by Ferdinand Metz, Master Chef and head of the Culinary Institute of America for more than 20 years. These sessions will give restaurant owners the keys to all aspects of a successful foodservice business, help uncover hot new trends, increase revenue, loyalty and operational excellence, lower costs, minimize turnover while building winning teams, deliver optimal customer experience, enhance menu, cuisine and profits, minimize risk and legal issues and boost beverage earnings.
“In addition to the Ferdinand Metz Foodservice Forum there will be many other exciting events taking place including, PMQ’s Orlando Pizza Show, Innovative New Product Gallery, Consultant Services Center, featuring FCSI Consultants, World Class Culinary Competitions, Chef’s Table Luncheons, FRLA Events, and the Ultimate Barista Challenge® USA,” said Ron Mathews, Event Director for Reed Exhibitions, producers of the Show. “We hope that attendees will take advantage of all these networking events that can certainly provide terrific business ideas.”
Back by popular demand, the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show will once again host PMQ Magazine’s Orlando Pizza Show. The Orlando Pizza Show will serve as the showcase for pizza-related products and services, attracting owners, operators and managers of pizzerias and other restaurant professionals with a significant pizza component from across the United States and other parts of the world. Products and services ranging from pizza doughs, sauces, cheeses and toppings to ovens, cookware, POS systems, marketing ideas, beverage equipment, apparel, furnishings and architecture/design will be on display. The Orlando Pizza Show will host the annual U.S. Pizza Team Trials competition where dough spinning pizza acrobats compete for a spot on the U.S. Pizza Team. Each year the U.S. Pizza Team selects America’s best pizza makers and pizza-acrobats to represent the nation’s pizza industry in the World Pizza Championships in Salsomaggiore, Italy. The American Pizza Championship will be held during the Orlando Pizza Show and will select America’s “best” pizza maker.
Also returning, the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show will host The Ultimate Barista Challenge® USA taking place on the exhibition floor in a show of coffee creativity flaring, as barista prepare their own inspired espresso beverages for a panel of discerning judges each day of the Show. This will delight audience members in a showdown of three flights of espresso frappe, espresso cocktails, beautiful café latte art and finding the definitive Ultimate Barista! The Ultimate Barista Challenge is organized by Whole Cup Coffee Consulting. A barista is someone who, like a chef with food or a mixologist with cocktails, demonstrates their passion and knowledge for coffee, creativity and customers every day in cafes, restaurants and coffee bars around the world. This entertaining and challenging competition will mix and mingle the excitement of impressive barista skills and exceptional tasting espresso to chefs, restaurateurs and other high profile attendees at the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show.
Returning to the conference lineup this year are three paid sessions presented by The Barfly Group, expert consultants to the industry. The first seminar, Restaurant Rookie Boot Camp is a highly energized session jam packed with a day of learning. Developed for new restaurant operators, the seminar will focus on tricks of the trade that are typically learned through years of enrollment in the “School of Hard Knocks.” The second seminar, Profit and Loss Management 101: Understanding and Controlling the Numbers will offer participants a complete understanding of restaurant Profit and Loss Statements. Attendees can expect to learn and understand where the numbers come from, how they populate into an organized statement and how to get a firm grasp on what they mean. The third seminar is What’s the Trend? Learn what the trends are, where to get information about them, and how best to meet them head on. Pre-registration and an additional fee are required for each Barfly session.
ABOUT THE FLORIDA RESTAURANT & LODGING SHOW:
Registration is now available online at flrestaurantandlodgingshow.com; the fee to attend is $30 until August 3 and $50 there after. Admission to the Ferdinand Metz Foodservice Forum is included in the “Exhibits Plus” pass to the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show. The 2007 Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show will be held Friday, September 7, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Saturday, September 8, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, September 9, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show is organized by Reed Exhibitions, and sponsored by the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association. For more information, please call 888-372-3976 or visit the website.
