1-800-265-5663 customer.service@mortonfoodservice.com FOOD DAY CANADA: CELEBRATING LOCAL FOOD AT YOUR INDEPENDENT RESTAURANT July 29, 2021 Food Day Canada is an annual celebration of local cuisine that will be taking place on July 31, 2021. As a longtime supporter of independent restaurants across the province, Morton Food Service is proud to play a key role in their access to incredible local food through our Ontario Grass Roots program. Today, we’re going to identify some of the reasons buying local matters, from quality to community and your bottom line. When you obtain meat, produce and other food products from local sources, you’re rewarded with exceptional taste, yield and value as well as increased marketability. There is an inherent value and appeal associated with farm-to-table cuisine, and customers understand that local food delivers on taste while stimulating local economic cycles. Restaurant patrons in Ontario have developed seasonal palettes. Many customers look forward to local seasonal delights such as corn on the cob, fresh garlic or Ontario strawberries in the summertime. And with good reason! It just takes one bite to recognize what a treat these local products really are. There is an ease of use when incorporating local ingredients into your menu. Your chefs will be excited and inspired by fresh local ingredients that present endless possibilities. Not only will your business benefit in the form of marketability and quality, but you’ll be better equipped to satisfy customers craving fresh, seasonal delicacies. COOK WITH THE SEASONS AND REAP THE BENEFITS Cooking with the seasons results in premium dishes and is better for the environment. There’s less travel involved, so the environmental impact is lessened and expenditures related to food costs are reduced. More so, the flavours are incredible. Morton Food Service is known for sourcing high quality international ingredients year round, but the appeal of local food cannot be understated. Local asparagus is crisp and beautiful to work with on the grill, a saute pan or the oven. A strawberry that has ripened on the vine has exceptional texture, flavour and colour. When you consider the quality of taste and cost savings together, it’s an easy decision to buy local whenever you can. Showcase that strawberry in a salad with some baby spinach from your restaurant’s own garden, or purchased from a local farmer. It’s simple, but it creates some real culinary magic! “Using local food is important for so many reasons aside from taste and freshness. Buying locally also helps support and build communities. It connects you to your farmers, the seasons, the soil and your food. Supporting small farmers that grow many different varieties of crops for a long harvest season, helps to keep local food on the tables and helps preserve diversity in the crops available to chefs locally.” – Chef Shea Robinson, The Neighbourhood Group SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS — AND WATCH THEM SUPPORT YOU BACK In many cases, local restaurants are the fabric of their community. By supporting local business, you engage in this sense of community and contribute to keeping the turns of the economic cycle close to home. Your actions support farmers and local producers in your area — people that your customers might even know. Even if there isn’t a personal connection, customers appreciate seeing a local food producer’s name on your menu. This reciprocation drives relationships. Simply put: by cooking with the seasons, you can reduce your bottom line and increase the quality you are offering your customers. Everyone wins. HELP SUPPORT A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT By utilizing a local first, farm-to-table approach, you can feel good about your restaurant’s sustainability practices while helping other local businesses flourish. More and more diners care about sustainability practices and do their research on local dining options. In fact, a 2020 report showed that 76% of adults will go to a restaurant because they serve locally-sourced food. Sustainability is a topic that is increasingly more critical to our planet and our future. Ocean Wise Seafood is a sustainability conservation program created to educate consumers and businesses about the issues within the world’s fisheries and aquaculture operations and empower them to make informed decisions when purchasing seafood. Ocean Wise Seafood works directly with businesses along the seafood supply chain to ensure they have the most current scientific information regarding their seafood so they can make ocean-friendly buying decisions. TIP: USE A BLACKBOARD TO HIGHLIGHT LOCAL INGREDIENTS THROUGH SPECIALS Cooking with the seasons leads to some incredible meals and flavours. In addition to your print menu, consider using a blackboard to promote features that change with the seasons. Utilize ingredients that have strong marketability and align with seasonal local products that customers look forward to. Typically, supply is higher on these products when they are in season, which translates into lower ingredient costs. This allows you to offer great value to patrons and incentives to them for ordering off the specials blackboard (plus, the quality will be amazing). Make sure to communicate with your customers about any upcoming seasonal specials. A regular newsletter that promotes dishes that are in season is a great way to market your locally-sourced initiative and effectively draw customers in. DON’T FORGET THE DRINKS! Do not limit locally-sourced products to your food menu — make sure to incorporate your locally-sourced items into your drink menu as well. How about a summery strawberry mojito made with fresh local berries? Just add some fresh local mint and you’ve got a signature drink that wows! You can put a fresh spin on any number of traditional classic drinks to give them fresh new life on your farm-to-table menu. Start with the best local ingredients and let inspiration take over. DREAM BIG, BUT START SMALL It is important to embark on a locally-sourced menu initiative with realistic expectations. Do not try to convert your entire menu to local overnight. Start slowly by incorporating small items into the menu that leverage local products. Two easy products to incorporate into your menu this summer are strawberries and garlic. Let’s start with garlic. Local garlic is delectable and a simple garlic bread makes for a great appetizer or complement to an entree. Advertise on your menu that you are using local garlic — you can even highlight the farm you’re sourcing it from. Similarly, Ontario strawberries are incredible and can be incorporated into a number of dishes including salads, beverages and desserts. By incorporating these local products into your menu you could be saving money, increasing the quality of your menu items and giving your customers more reason to choose your restaurant. If you’d like recommendations for your restaurant or help sourcing incredible local foods, please reach out to Morton Food Service or your local rep. We’re here to help. © 2021 Morton Food Service. All rights reserved. Adobe Reader · Iconic Group