The Businesslike Gourmet:
Karen Page on America's
Foodservice Industry
|
|
|
|
© Beth Green Studios |
How did you get professionally involved with
food?
In college, I ran a company that delivered
birthday cakes ordered by students' parents. After HBS, as a
consultant to the food and beverage industry, I became fascinated by
the culinary profession. I saw that leading chefs are artists whose
innovations and creativity greatly influence the direction of the
industry.
How big is the foodservice industry?
Sales for restaurants alone are projected to
top $320 billion in 1997. Restaurants are a hot entrepreneurial
growth area, and the chef's profession has been designated one of the
top ten careers for the 1990s, with 50,000 to 85,000 new chefs needed
annually.
What's behind this boom?
A big factor has been women entering the work
force; they don't have as much time for shopping and cooking. Today,
that traditional nurturing role of women - preparing family meals -
has increasingly been taken on by the restaurant industry. Americans
now spend more meal occasions eating out (or eating take-out) than
they do consuming home-prepared meals.
How else is food's role in our culture
changing?
Beyond sustenance, food is always central to
culture because it's so wrapped up with memories, feelings, and
self-image. Food is like clothing or shelter: you can get by with the
basics, or you can aspire to some aesthetics. The new insistence on
food quality may be an outgrowth of a larger need to put more meaning
and satisfaction in our lives.
Is mainstream American cuisine improving?
No and yes. With less time to eat, many
Americans rely on fast food and have no real knowledge or expectation
of quality. But many other Americans - consumers and chefs - have
traveled in recent years to places where food is celebrated.
Diners now have heightened demands to which the industry has responded, as have entrepreneurs. Thus you see the emergence of craft-brewed beers, gourmet coffees, breads, and so forth, in addition to fine restaurants. Increasingly, chefs and restaurants are starting joint ventures with small, local outfits to ensure quality supplies.
If you were a CEO, would quality in the
company cafeteria be a priority?
I recently had lunch in a Fortune 500 firm's
cafeteria. A pasta with balsamic vinegar sauce was recommended to me,
and it was delicious! The place was filled with employees enjoying an
inexpensive, well-prepared, and morale-boosting menu while networking
among themselves. Productivity was enhanced because employees weren't
making off-site luncheon excursions. What CEO wouldn't like all that?
How much do the giant food companies influence
American tastes?
In their marketing and production, companies
have been lazy. They've continued to rely on fat and salt to impart
flavor to food despite grassroots demand for reductions in additives,
fat, and salt. In our book Culinary Artistry, we have an extensive
list of healthy ingredients that, when combined, enhance taste
through flavor compatibility without the need for salt or fat. It can
be done! Incredibly, no such guide to flavor compatibility has ever
been published before.
Do restaurant chef/owners have management
lessons for the rest of business?
Absolutely. One acclaimed owner assigns a mood
rating on a scale of one to ten to every patron he seats. Every diner
must be in a nine or ten mood when they leave; the restaurant will do
whatever's necessary to ensure that. A qualitative experience
measured quantitatively - it's a case study in successful customer
service and service management.
What's the most memorable meal you've ever
had?
It was at the establishment I just mentioned -
The Inn at Little Washington, in Virginia, which some rate among the
best restaurants in America. The food, wine, ambiance, and service
combined to form a sublime experience. It's the only restaurant where
I've ever felt unconditionally loved - and that's not an
overstatement. I can't wait to go back!
