National Restaurant Association Announces 2013 Operator Innovations Awards Finalists

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Mar 28, 2013, 03:27 ET

Final Contenders Highlight Ingenuity that Helps Advance Industry

CHICAGO, March 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An independent panel of foodservice operators from the across the industry has selected the finalists for the 2013 Operator Innovations Awards. Three finalists in each of five categories: Food Safety, Health and Nutrition, Menu Development, Sustainability and Technology will be brought to Chicago for the 2013 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show this May. The winners in each category, as well as an Innovator of the Year selected from all finalists, will be announced live in Chicago during the Destination: Celebration gala on Saturday, May 18.

"Restaurant operators are coming up with new and better ways to do business every day," said Jeffrey W. Davis, Convention Chair for NRA Show 2013 and IWSB and CEO of the United States Beef Corporation. "The prestigious Operator Innovations Awards celebrate and drive continued advancement industry-wide, fueling customer satisfaction and profitability. We recognize their achievements with the Operator Innovations Awards. Earning one of these highly sought-after awards means bragging rights and publicity for years to come."

The 2013 Operator Innovations Awards finalists are:

Food Safety

HMSHost (Bethesda, Md.)
A comprehensive food safety approach, featuring an audit process that goes beyond evaluation to integrate consultation and training. The program enables the company to ensure strict, uniform food safety across a widely varied and rapidly evolving portfolio of brands/concepts.

Ninety Nine Restaurants (Woburn, Mass.)
An allergy alert system that combines staff training and involvement with clear communications via ordering, display systems and tracking, ensuring awareness and proper preparation for everyone who touches a guest's food and minimizing risk for all.

Potawatomi Bingo Casino (Milwaukee, Wis.)
An internal education and standards program for cook chill systems, the effectiveness of which has not only improved costs, safety and efficiency – but also led to on-site workshops for local, state and federal inspectors that support better food safety for the greater community.

Health & Nutrition

Overlook Medical Center (Summit, N.J.)
The Summit Fit Club program rewards customers for healthier food choices via Fit Points ranging from 1 to 3 displayed on menu items. Customers swipe their membership card on check out to accrue points, and receive a $5 meal voucher for every 200 points earned.

Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.)
The Performance Dining program, which has six performance categories, was developed in cooperation with Stanford Athletics, the Stanford School of Medicine and the Culinary Institute of America, and takes a holistic approach to nutrition which, instead of counting fat and calories, focuses on food's positive influence in the six performance categories, helping students, faculty and staff to perform at their mental and physical peak.

United States Air Force (San Antonio, Texas)
Food Transformation Initiative (FTI), revolutionizes Air Force food selections, cooking methods, meal availability, and merchandising to guide customers toward healthier choices. When comparing participating with non-participating operations, performance metrics confirm FTI elevates healthfulness, energy and alertness through optimal nutrition, without sacrificing flavor, taste and satisfaction.

Menu Development

ARAMARK Higher Education (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Based on extensive research and feedback, this well-received menu was developed from the ground-up, and features 100 new menu items inspired by the latest trends including healthy options, seafood, vegan/vegetarian entrees and international cuisine.

HMSHost (Bethesda, Md.)
The Freedom To Choose Web portal is an internally developed, custom online tool for the company's 100+ airport operations and is designed to give local operators access to hundreds of menu items, allowing them to quickly and easily tailor menus to keep up with traveler preferences and regional trends.

Taco Bell (Irvine, Calif.)
The Doritos Locos Tacos features a shell made out of Doritos chips on the outside, with the classic tastes of the Taco Bell crunchy taco on the inside, combining two well-known brands to create the most successful new product introduction in the chain's history.

Sustainability

Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw, Ga.)
The University's 5,000 guest/day dining operation incorporates a comprehensive, closed-loop waste management program through a variety of efforts including a robust organic "Farm-to-Campus-to-Farm" program, water reclamation, aerobic digestion, composting/recycling programs, oil-to-biodiesel conversion and more to significantly reduce costs, minimize environmental impact and qualify the facility for a gold LEED certification.

Pret a Manger (New York, N.Y.)
Worked closely with third-party experts to research and develop a comprehensive sustainability program which they openly share with the industry. The program features four-stream front-of-the-house recycling, plus additional recycling, waste diversion and composting process for back of the house – the resulting program diverts 55% of waste from landfills, and results in 40% of excess food being donated to the homeless.

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (Oshkosh, Wis.)
Implemented a kitchen and dining recycling program that combines a food pulper with an innovative dry fermentation anaerobic biodigester that digests food waste to produce methane gas that is used to generate electricity that meets up to 10% of the campus' needs. Other byproducts include rich compost and space heat.

Technology

Canteen (Charlotte, N.C.)
Avenue C is a self-checkout micro-market with more than 300 installations, and features remote temperature monitoring, multiple payment methods, biometric thumbprint security and RFID tag product identification to offer a wider variety of food selections, including better-for-you and fresh product options, without the cost associated with a full-service dining solution.

Mainstreet Ventures (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
An interactive tablet menu that has completely replaced paper menus at 11 restaurants, going beyond item presentation to deliver additional information including customized wine pairings and nutritional information, for a more sustainable and efficient system that has increased check averages up to 10%.

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (Lake Buena Vista, Fla.)
The Be Our Guest Restaurant utilizes a unique fast-casual restaurant system capable of automating elements throughout the operation, including RF table locators, ordering, checkout, back-of-the-house workflow and more to deliver a personalized, streamlined experience for guests that allows the operation to serve more than 3,000 meals at lunch each day.

All nominations for the Operator Innovations Awards have been reviewed by the judges' panel of industry leaders consisting of Joe Alouf (President & Chief Financial Officer, Guckenheimer), Patricia Bando (Associate Vice President, Auxiliary Services, Boston College), Scott Barton (President, Fine Dining Division, Lettuce Entertain You), Jeff Broadhurst (President & CEO, Eat 'n Park Hospitality Group), Jean-Marie Clement (Director Food & Beverage Concept Development Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Worldwide), Douglas Davis (Sr. Director, Global Food Safety, Marriott International), Chris Demery (Vice President, Applications, Bloomin' Brands, Inc.), James Houser (Vice President of Administration, Delaware North), John Metz, Jr. (Executive Chef, President and Co-Founder, Sterling Hospitality), Christopher Pappas (CEO, Pappas Restaurants, Inc.), and C.W. Craig Reed (Director of Food & Beverage, Broadmoor Hotel).

The annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show is the largest single gathering of restaurant, foodservice and lodging professionals. NRA Show 2013 will be held May 18-21 at McCormick Place in Chicago, and the 2013 International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event held in conjunction with the NRA Show will take place May 19-20. The events attract 61,000+ attendees and visitors from all 50 states and 100+ countries, and showcases the latest products, services, innovative ideas, up-to-the-minute information about trends and issues and more growth opportunities than any other industry event. For more information, visit the Show and IWSB websites at Restaurant.org/Show and WineSpiritsBeer.org, and find the NRA Show on Twitter @NRAShow, Facebook, YouTube and its widely read NRA Show blog.

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 980,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of more than 13 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry's largest trade show (NRA Show May 18-21, 2013, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart, including the National ProStart Invitational April 19-21, 2013, in Baltimore, Md.); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids' menu options. For more information, visit www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.