Combining Science and Development

We study science and trends to deliver innovative new products to our customers and partners. Occasionally, some of the science is just abundantly clear in its application to appliances development, sometimes it isn’t. You choose.

The winners in the 2009 Ig Nobel science research awards included several food and beverage related projects. Stephan Bolliger along with four researchers in Switzerland proved beyond any reasonable doubt that an empty beer bottle makes a better weapon than a full beer bottle in a brawl. Javier Morales, Miguel Apatiga and Victor Castano won for creating diamonds out of tequila. Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson researched and presented scientific documentation that cows with names produced more milk than cows without names. A team of Fumiaki Taguchi, Song Guofu and Zhang Guanglei demonstrated that bacteria in panda poop can help reduce kitchen waste by 90 percent.

With enough tequila perhaps pandas…never mind. Check out Annals of Improbable Research,


Food For Thought

Over 600,000 tons of glass bottles are discarded in the UK alone, with over 75% ending up in the landfills. (From MADE, the UK publication about materials for design.) Visit www.made.uk.net for more information.

Doodling (which I do in meetings) is now considered a great way to help us absorb information. A study in Applied Cognitive Psychology, reported in Business Week, states that information is retained by 29% more than when not doodling. Why? According to the study, doodling helps prevent daydreaming, so more of the message is received.

Food Equipment Reports is holding an “Innovation Exchange” on August 2-4 in Evanston, IL for food service equipment manufacturers and food service chains. Contact Robin Ashton or Brian Ward at 800-986-9616, or Christine Palmer at 847-336-2049. Mike Colburn and Mary Esther Treat of Ideas Well Done will present a program on “The Process on Innovation Creation.”

One good way to enhance new product acceptance and market success is to involve customers in what we call the “pre-sell”. We advise customers to find ways to involve their best customers in evaluating new developments early in the process. This is really the best market research you can invest in.


Food Dates

Howard Johnson was born on February 2, 1896. At age 27, he launched his career and started selling his ice cream from his drugstore soda fountain. By 1940, his orange roof franchise restaurants numbered 200. The orange roof was selected to catch drivers' eyes and lure them off the road.

Benedetto Capaldo was born in Italy on March 29, 1890. During WWII, he owned a deli near the submarine base in Groton, CN, and prepared 1,000 Italian sandwiches a day for workers at the sub base. The customers name the sandwiches “subs.”


Food Facts

The world's chocolate supply is in trouble according to April 2009's New Scientist. Chocolate is made from fermented, roasted seeds of the cacao tree. A virus in the Ivory Coast and a fungus in Brazil are the culprits. Scientists are sequencing the cacao genome to create resistant varieties, which could take a few years. Visit www.newscientist.com for more information.


Food Trends

We watch trends. One fun collection of what we will eat in 2009 was published on www.epicurious.com. Among the trend gems were Peruvian in the new Thai, noodle bars are the new sushi joints, and ginger is the new mint. For a full set and description, visit the web site. (By the way, smoking is the new frying.)

Restaurant and hotel food trends are published by Joseph Baum & Michael Whitemena Co., creators of high-profile restaurants around the world for hotels, restaurant companies, major museums and other consumer destinations (they also give a trends seminar.) For 2009, they report that new restaurants that recently were hell-bent for opulence and dripping with luxury, will now be part of the cyclical “bistro-ization of America.” And if not bistros, look for “osterias”, which are the Italian equivalent. They also report, that the economic problems of 2009 favor a return to comfort food, featuring macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs (perhaps with some twists), mashed potato variations, all-day breakfast menus, and turkey legs! Visit www.baumwhiteman.com for a full report.


Equipment Trends

Looking to 2010 and beyond, we expect there will be an increased emphasis on the air that vent systems in foodservice facilities vent into the atmosphere. There will be increased focus on outdoor air quality, in addition to the indoor air quality now emphasized.