Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
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NON-GMO GLUTEN-FREE 800.372.6808 Seattle, WA 2017 franschocolates.com Gold Bars A Fran's Classic Soft butter caramel and roasted almonds enrobed in 70% single-origin dark chocolate. Certified Organic and Fairtrade. Macadamia also available. Summer Fancy Food Show Booth 5518 Do MiumMium chefs leverage any economies of scale in their meal prep, or are they shopping at retail for meals? Most of them shop at retail stores. Our chefs are spread around the world and offer a wide range of dishes, so it would be difficult to find sources that could meet all their needs. What type of growth rate have you seen? When we launched in late December 2015, we had three bookings for the month. I felt discouraged. In January, we had 10; then things got better. For the first year, our goal was to avoid all debt and become profit- able as soon as possible. We have achieved what a minuscule number of startups have done—breaking even without any external capital within 10 months. We just finalized a distribution agreement with homeaway.com, and are well positioned to experience expo- nential growth going forward. We are now exploring opportunities to raise capital that will be used to increase our brand awareness. What are your views as a chef on ingredient and food trends? What do you see making the biggest impact right now? Eating local ingredients is hopefully here to stay. As I travel the world, I observe chefs going back to their roots and adapting yes- terday's flavors to today's cuisine. What I am most fascinated by pres- ently is a new approach to designing reci- pes. New startups, such as foodpairing.com from Belgium, are using science to analyze and determine on a molecular level the degree and compatibility between differ- ent ingredients. Their research is provid- ing chefs around the world with pairings we had never imagined before. I am also involved with a Canadian startup called alfredsommelier.com, which is working on a similar approach to wine pairing. Alfred has developed an algorithm that can predict the optimal degustation period for each vintage. The possibilities are endless when you marry science with food. Do you see your company dis- rupting the status quo in the foodservice industry or simply adding to it? With the proper capital, MiumMium could sign up 100,000 chefs and become a major disruptor in this ever-changing economy. We believe that more and more people will look at entertaining in their home, and MiumMium is perfectly positioned to profit from that trend. You've worked in several hotels, most recently the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Beach & Hilton Dubai The Walk. In five-star hotels, how much does the cost of ingredients affect menu decisions? The cost of ingredients will play more or less of a role depending on the type of institu- tions. For a large five-star hotel with volume and an à la carte menu, food costs may not be the main driver in setting up menus. On the other end, for an all-inclusive hotel, it plays an important role. "With the proper capital, MiumMium could sign up 100,000 chefs and become a major disruptor in this ever-changing economy." Emily Crowe is a regular contributor to Specialty Food Magazine and Specialty Food News. SPRING 2017 53