2010 Top Restaurant Trends include Locally Sourced Food & Drink!

I received this information via e-mail today and thought it was interesting enough to share. It's a Chef Survey from the National Restaurant Association, and shows the top 20 trends of 2010. The latest survey, conducted in 2009, was based on the input of more than 1,800 Chefs.Respondents ranked 214 items by how trendy they would be in 2010. What's interesting is that over 50% of the trends listed relate to locally sourced food & drink, sustainable sourcing and nutritionally healthy menu choices. It looks like local food producers will continue to see an upswing in consumer interest in their products. We hope this translates into higher business profits for you in 2010!

Here's the link to the entire list: http://www.restaurant.org/pdfs/research/whats_hot_2010.pdf

Top 20 trends:

1 Locally grown produce

2 Locally sourced meats and seafood

3 Sustainability

4 Bite-size/mini desserts

5 Locally-produced wine and beer

6 Nutritionally balanced children*s dishes

7 Half-portions/smaller portion for a smaller price

8 Farm/estate-branded ingredients

9 Gluten-free/food allergy conscious

10 Sustainable seafood

11 Superfruits (e.g. acai, goji berry, mangosteen, purslane)

12 Organic produce

13 Culinary cocktails (e.g. savory, fresh ingredients)

14 Micro-distilled/artisan liquor

15 Nutrition/health

16 Simplicity/back to basics

17 Regional ethnic cuisine

18 Non-traditional fish (e.g. branzino, Arctic char, barramundi)

19 Newly fabricated cuts of meat (e.g. Denver steak, pork flat iron, Petite Tender)

20 Fruit/vegetable children's side items

Top 5 Kids Trends:

1 Nutritionally balanced children's dishes

2 Fruit/vegetable children's side items

3 Kid cuisine/gourmet children's dishes

4 Children's entrée salads

5 Ethnic-inspired children's dishes

Happy Holidays from Eat Local Food!

We would like to extend our appreciation to everyone who stopped by our booth at the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market Expo. Bob and I really enjoyed the week - it's always enjoyable to visit with friends, meet new people and share ideas about how to market local food.

To help with your marketing plans for 2010, we are offering a special discount for 10% off any order from now until February 28, 2010. Please see the coupon below for details. Our banners, tote bags, reusable price cards and posters are all proven marketing tools to show off your locally grown fresh produce!

Place any order through our Eat Local Food on-line store and receive 10% off your total bill (excluding shipping costs). Just enter EXPO09 (all caps) in the discount coupon box during the checkout process. Shop on-line at ww.eatlocalfoodstore.com.

You can also enter our on-line store through our web site at www.eatlocalfood.com. In the upper right hand corner, just click on "Shop Online" to get started.

This offer cannot be combined with any other discount offer - in other words, only one discount coupon can be applied to an order. But please feel free to share this coupon with your friends!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Holiday Season

and the best of luck in 2010,

Joan Tobin Rozelle

Eat Local Food LLC

734.341.7028

jtobin@eatlocalfood.com

Creative Marketing for CSA Farms

Michelle and Danny Lutz are great examples of farmers who know what it takes to run a successful farm direct marketing endeavor. They routinely examine their business and resourcefully come up with new marketing ideas to keep their CSA members coming back each season. If you operate a CSA farm, we recommend you visit www.maplecreekfarm.com for some excellent marketing ideas. If you are looking to become a CSA Farm member, we can personally recommend Maple Creek Farm – we have been members for 3+ years.

New in 2010, Maple Creek Organic Farm is offering a smaller 3/4 bushel weekly share option at a reduced price. It's a great alternative size for anyone who has a smaller household or who travels during the week.

From Farmer Michelle Lutz, Maple Creek Farm:

We are excited about our new share size for the 2010 season. We could really use some help getting the word out. If you've had friends or family that were interested in getting a share before, but found it was too much produce for them on a weekly basis our new share sizes have perfect options for everyone.

CSA Memberships also make perfect gifts for your loved ones-a season of great food

Maple Creek Farm wants to be a part of your healthy lifestyle. By redesigning our membership, more people can enjoy the benefits of eating local organic produce and experience the satisfaction of supporting a CSA

Our plans are to offer 2 types of supporting memberships for the 2010 season.

The new box size is 3/4 of a bushel-it's a reduction from the 1 1/9 box we've been using. One 3/4 bushel box will be considered our Single share size. This share will be perfect for 1-2 people. We're offering it for $400 for the 20 week season. Renewing members will be offered this options for $380 if they pay in full by 12/31/09.

Two 3/4 bushel boxes will be called our Family Share. This share will be perfect for a family of 4. We're offering the family share for $750 for the 20 week season. Renewing members will be offered this option for $710 if paid in full by 12/31/09.

As a renewing member you will need the following discount codes. Please keep in mind the renewing member discount will only be valid for membership paid in full by 12/31/09.

Single Shares: One 3/4 bushel box per week for 20 weeks use code: 2010SINGLE

Family Share: Two 3/4 bushels boxes per week for 20 weeks use code: 2010FAMILY

We hope you find our new size of share is accommodating and affordable. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Our web site address is: www.maplecreekfarm.com.