Category Archives: My Journal

My – almost daily – journal about my passion and knowledge: Foodservice, Franchising, Hospitality, Ho.Re.Ca and Retail.

Viaggiate spesso per lavoro? Sesso e curiosità vi salveranno

Dopo 19 anni di aerei, treni, navi e macchine a noleggio, a volte ho sognato il teletrasporto. Molte volte! Tanto più che oggi, tra controlli isterici e paura di non essere al sicuro, viaggiare per lavoro non è esattamente il massimo della vita.

Se non avete l’opportunità di cambiare ruolo professionale e starvene davanti a un pc o se, come me, amate ciò che fate e avete deciso che niente e nessuno potrà incidere sulle vostre abitudini e sulle responsabilità, condivido qualche suggerimento per alleggerire il disagio, specie nelle lunghe tratte.

Da viaggiatore a viaggiatore.

Fate sport il giorno prima della partenza, o, se possibile, fate l’amore, che è ancora meglio. Oh, no: non voglio risultare dissacrante e utilitaristico, è un’evidenza scientifica: il sesso favorisce il rilascio di ossitocina, ormone che vi aiuterà a prendere sonno più facilmente, allenerete i muscoli lombari e vertebrali che consentiranno una postura migliore (indispensabile per non morire di mal di schiena), senza contare il rilascio di endorfine, fondamentali per tenere alto l’umore. E, credetemi, vi servirà tutto. (Poi, diciamocelo, per chi è innamorato, salutare il proprio partner così è come prendere una boccata d’aria fresca prima di una lunga apnea).

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Utilizzate i viaggi per imparare a stare da soli. No, non credo sia esclusivamente una questione caratteriale: mi sono dovuto impegnare molto per apprendere l’arte della solitudine. Sopravvivere nello spazio angusto di un mezzo di locomozione, in un letto che non è il tuo, in una stanza d’albergo che ti è estranea, un anno dopo l’altro, non è uno scherzo. Cenare da soli e non poter condividere l’attimo, risulta a volte molto pesante. Avere un ottimo rapporto con sé stessi e imparare a farsi compagnia anche nelle difficoltà, nelle indolenze e nelle fatiche è indispensabile. 

Siete fatalisti? No? Beh: diventatelo. Giusto un pochino. Osservate con curiosità quello che vi capita intorno: chi vi siede accanto (perché c’è questo passeggero e non un altro?), la hostess che sbadiglia e che, come voi, dopo sei ore di volo, si sta annoiando a morte (andate a salutarla?), il libro letto dal tizio una fila davanti (gli chiedete com’è?). Chi di loro potrebbe diventare il vostro futuro migliore amico, partner professionale, piacevole conoscenza? Cosa potrebbe tenervi impegnati per le successive sei ore? Da cosa potreste trarre piacere, informazione, apprendimento?

Sono domande che mi pongo sempre e sempre succede un piccolo miracolo: lo stesso e identico viaggio si trasforma in un viaggio diverso.

Chi vincerà il Foodservice Award Italy 2015?

English version here


Qual è il significato di istituire un premio per la miglior catena di ristorazione italiana?

E quale quello di parteciparvi?

Beh, se si trattasse solo di farsi un po’ di pubblicità, credo esistano altri sistemi, più diretti e con meno incognite.

Mi sono fatto un’idea personale che mi ha convinto ad essere coinvolto come giudice al FOODSERVICE AWARD ITALY 20015

Norman Cescut -BLOG-Foodservice Award Italy

Credo che il punto sia il miglioramento continuo. L’essere sempre sul pezzo, ovvero sul mercato.

So bene che è il pubblico a sancire il successo di una formula e non certo un tizio con una paletta in mano, ma ammiro molto chi si mette in gioco e sembra dirti: “ecco, io sono questo, questo è il mio mondo, questa la mia voce, tu che ne vedi tante, che sei un tecnico, un professionista del settore, che ne pensi?”

E partire da lì per crescere ancora, per trovare spunti, per misurarsi.

Sono, quindi, onorato di essere stato scelto per questo ruolo nella categoria APPEAL INTERNAZIONALE, insieme ad altri professionisti che stimo molto.

Sarà difficile valutare, ma ovviamente cercheremo di farlo al meglio.

Follow the three cyrcles

I am currently working on a new challenging project, at DESITA, merging some of the latest food trends.

Food Retail scenario is changing and we are surfing the big wave.

After months passed studying the market and the food products related to this awsome project, I came across to the following article.

You will not read about the project (next time) or about something trendy but you should read it to understand yourself, if you wish to live in a better way:

“The universe really is amazing. There are cycles in everything in the universe. There are cycles in weather, the seasons, the economy, wars, moon, sun, animal populations, geological formations, sea, physics, clocks and a million others I don’t have room to mention.
But did you know that your body also has a cycle?
And I am not talking about the obvious, nor am I talking just to the ladies here. This information is important for Everyone, so listen up! If you are not familiar with body cycles yet, so much is about to make sense…
Your body runs on 3 eight-hour cycles per day. Formally referred to as the Circadian Rhythms, and known for thousands of years via Ayurvedic teachings, to me understanding and applying these body clock principles has been the reason behind enjoying easy digestion, keeping my weight from fluctuating, never experiencing fatigue and maximizing my metabolism.

These are the cycles:

4AM-12PM Elimination
12PM-8PM Appropriation
8PM-4AM Assimilation

During the hours between 4AM and 12PM, your body is in the Elimination Cycle. It never stops to work on your digestion and you can still eat or drink or whatever at this time, but understanding that this is the period most important for cleansing and releasing toxins (‘Eliminating’), we can make the right food choices if we are going to eat. It is best to stick to liquids and most hydrating living foods, as we let our body shed the toxins (think how you wake up tired, sweaty, headachie and with bad breath- all are signs of detox symptoms).

So if you do choose to eat during this period, it is important to go for anything that will require minimal digestion and supFreshiiGreenport this cleansing cycle, such as fresh fruit or green juices.

This is why you often hear experts refer to breakfast as ‘the most important meal of the day’, exactly so you can make a careful choice on what’s light on digestion, not so you can eat the most gigantic feast. You are breaking the fast (break-fast), so do it right or proper elimination won’t get a chance.

“The elimination cycle is without question your greatest ally in the preservation of health and prevention of disease”; “If a blood test was to be taken every hour for 24 hours, it would show that the bloodstream is most heavily burdened with the by-products of metabolism during the hours between 4am-12noon, indicating the stepped up elimination cycle, because it is the blood that carries waste material to the four channels of elimination: bowels, bladder, lungs, and skin”- Harvey & Marilyn Diamond, Fit for Life

During the hours between 12PM and 8PM, your body is in the Appropriation Cycle. During this period, we are most awake, active, present and therefore efficient at digesting, metabolizing and burning through the majority of our heavily concentrated foods. This is why the majority of meals (lunch, dinner and snacks) also occur during this cycle. The most important thing to do during this period however IS NOT to be dictated by the clock or so called ‘norms’ of mealtime, when we are too starving to care what we have for lunch and tend to shove so much food down ourselves too quickly, that by the time the body registers what happened, it is too late and we overeat, get bloated and ‘too tired’ to digest. The most important thing to do then IS to eat only when hungry and in smaller portions, so you give your body plenty of breaks and chances to break down through the food with the least required effort, so it reserves the energy for everything else you need doing, not merely wasting it on digesting your meals.

During the hours between 8PM and 4AM, your body is in the Assimilation Cycle. This is the time you are most likely to be relaxed or sleeping. This period is when all the ‘assimilating’ or absorbing of nutrients and minerals from your food occurs and gets transported to your organs, bones and cells via the blood. It is when all the rebuilding, renewing and healing takes place. It makes sense to eat dinner early, so that the foods you eat are digested and out of the stomach in preparation for this phase. As all the goodness gets drawn from the food for you to strengthen, the remains get ready for Elimination, the start of the next cycle all over again.

Freshii-WarriorBowl

Try this for yourself and be mindful of these three cycles for 10 days. Once you learn to pay attention to them, it will become second nature and your body will reap the bounty of benefits.

I wish to thank Tanya Alekseeva for the above great article!

Israel and Palestine

.… and then you pay a call to “there”, just to know how some friends feel like.

This is the answer I got:

israeli-palestinian-conflict“Well, we are all fine. Everything is normal here. Sunday night we had a big party with some friends to watch the final game of the Brazilian World Cup. We had fun. We are ok, don’t worry”.

It sounds a different world from the one you are used to hear from the TV, isn’t it? It sounds like nothing is happening, except normal life.

So please my friends, next time you share a video or a news about Israel & Palestine conflict just be sure to know what there is behind it and who made that video or news and why. Before you take a side, study the history and then try to know them personally on each sides. You will discover a lot of your own country life, city and even your neighborhood. Good and bad things are everywhere.

In that conflict there is much more politics then you think. It is not a religious problem, not only. And this it means that also YOUR politicians are guilty.

I’ve been “there”. I’ve been also in the countries that surrounds, where people look at “there” with hatred. I met those people and I’ve understood things. Not all but many.

People have friends on the other side, people have lovers on the other side. People don’t care about the race, about the religion. Not all but many.

So please, again, next time you think to share, like or post on the social media about that battered place, think twice and one more. Because it is easy to share but it is very difficult to recover a potential devastating butterfly effect.

Don’t take side if you don’t know but if you want take it just be with who wants to stop it!

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Food, time and business. All good!

Yesterday I had the possibility to do what I like the most; combining business with pleasure.

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I was meeting with a very important and great person to discuss about business and we choose the lunch time instead of any other time in the day in order to relax a bit and not to be bored by the usual meeting in the office. Yes, nothing so new or special maybe but trust me if I tell you that sometimes combining good food, good persons and good times, it really makes your day.

We went to one of my favorite fish restaurant right on the beach which is luckily not observing the season timing. It’s always open and with fresh or quality food. As you can see from the above photo, shot upon arrival, the beach was almost empty and the general atmosphere was really quite. Perfect temperature to eat outside.

Well, we ordered “Passatelli with seafood”. Tasting, light and delicious. And we start talking about business. No wine was requested just to keep the mind clear and to pay full attention to the important subjects.

Yes, one day I will move my office in a restaurant or in a coffee shop.

So, at the end of the story, in few very pleasant hours I’ve been commitment for one project in Canada and one in France. What’s first?

When good food, good persons and good times makes also good business.

Let’s talk about food sustainability

First published on ICOLORI (Interview with Norman Cescut at TedXBocconiU)

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How and when did you get to know about TED?

I have been acquainted with TED for a while no but I never saw myself playing a main part in a TED conference. So when I received an invitation to be a speaker at TEDx suddenly before last Christmas, I was quite surprised. I didn’t expect it at all.

How did you prepare for the talk?

In this period of the year I am very busy business-wise. So I tried to prepare myself in the limited free time I had available. In my presentation I managed to condense three years of experiences in 15 slides. Something crazy.

The topic of the conference is ReThink. Reinvent the World around you. How would you reinvent the world around you?

I would try to change the mentality and the culture of people when it comes to sustainability. You will see exactly how later today! (Laughing)

I see that you are passionate about food service and franchising and sustainability. How did these passions come to be?

For me business and passion is the same thing. I am doing what I like. Food service and franchising are part of my core business. Sustainability became part of my business almost three years ago. I am trying to do business in a responsible way because I trust that that’s the future, not because there is a trend of green business.

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The utopia of sustainable business seems is appealing. But it seems to me, especially from the perspective of a business student, that for now sustainability is just a market trend.

That is why tomorrow in one slide I will talk about the revolution. If we treat sustainability as a trend, it will end. If we instead treat it as a revolution, the revolution has to be irreversible, without any turning back.

Do you see a future where sustainable and responsible will be equally important as profitable?

Yes.

Even for big profit-oriented bureaucratic structures?

Yes. That is a dream but…

You are a dreamer.

Yes. (Laughing) Otherwise I wouldn’t be here!

Your TEDx profile summarizes your philosophy in the following quote:

“Who’s masters of the art of living, does not make a distinction between work and leisure, body and soul, education and recreation, love and faith. S/he simply pursues the highest standards of excellence in anything s/he does; whether s/he is working or playing is for the others to decide. S/he always strives to do both at the same time.”

What is the path to becoming a master, at least the one that you took?

Just put the heart in everything you do. You have to feel it.

How do you push people to trust their heart and pursue their passion? Especially, young people.

We can only show the way, we don’t have to push people. We have to show the correct way and let the people follow if the people are willing to follow. I am not a person who is willing or able to push people. It has to be your choice, not mine. Otherwise, it is not real.

I saw that you keep your own blog on design, innovation, trends and responsibility. You seem to have a broad range of passions and interests. What was your latest source of inspiration?

Oh, too many. Travelling is inspiring. I love travelling for leisure and business-wise. The entire journey is inspiring- meeting different people and cultures, eating different food (Laughing). Inspiration is in the complexity of things, not in single acts.

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Thanks to Kalina Lukanova – ICOLORI.org – for the great support and pleasantness.

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Sostenibilità: la mia verità

Si, la verità. Nient’altro che la verità. Perlomeno la mia, ovvio.

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L’idea mi venne in mente lo scorso gennaio, quando alle prese con la presentazione per il mio intervento al TEDxBocconi, ho dovuto ripercorrere a ritroso più di 3 lunghi anni. Al TED, avrei dovuto parlare delle mie esperienze professionali in relazione con la sostenibilità, partendo dal progetto di ECOFFEE. Chi ha parlato in pubblico, senza essere un oratore e chi ha domestichezza con le presentazioni in Power Point, sa benissimo quanto sia difficile riassumere e racchiudere più di 3 anni di esperienze in 15 minuti e 15 slides a disposizione. Se poi, come detto nel post relativo, oltre all’emozione, ci si mette anche l’influenza …

Comunque, l’idea maturata nel tempo, è quella di scrivere per benino le mie esperienze, i progetti, le persone e le aziende incontrate e tutto quello che mi è accaduto nel bene e nel male, fino a questi giorni. In poche parole, esplicitare al massimo il mio intervento al TED, raccontando aneddoti e dettagli. Si, come detto, nel bene e nel male.

Perchè? Perchè la sostenibilità, quella vera, non è quella che si pensa o quella che si legge sui giornali o su internet. Non è quella che vi propinano le aziende dagli slogan tutti “green oriented” o i manager dai titoli inventati e posticci. Probabilmente non sarà nemmeno quella che vi racconterò io. Starà a voi giudicare, ma vi assicuro che scoprirete cose interessanti.

Quindi? Se avrete pazienza e voglia di leggere il mio punto di vista, prossimamente pubblicherò “svariati capitoli” sulle mie esperienze personali e la sostenibilità. Spero di riuscire ad essere abbastanza costante, perchè fino a febbraio ho già l’agenda abbastanza fitta di impegni importanti e viaggi all’estero e soprattutto, spero vi interessi.

Un ultima premessa: il mio blog è impostato sia per l’italiano che per l’inglese, a seconda di cosa voglio pubblicare e del pubblico a cui mi rivolgo. I post sulla sostenibilità saranno in italiano. Capirete da soli il perchè.

Buona lettura.

Business Retail Tour e fiera del Franchising di Dubai

Vi piacerebbe sviluppare il vostro business in un mercato in crescita?

Se pensate che il vostro Franchising  sia adatto al mercato degli Emirati Arabi Uniti e/o quello del Medio Oriente in generale, la prima esplorazione da compiere è proprio nella città più in fermento del mondo: Dubai.

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Se stavate pensando di andarrci per prendere i primi contatti con il mercato locale, vi sarete sicuramente chiesti:

– Come faccio ad ottimizzare la mia permanenza e di conseguenza i miei costi?

Come faccio ad organizzare le visite e gli incontri dall’Italia?

– Chi può darmi strumenti ed informazioni per prendere la decisione giusta?

Riuscirò a conoscere gli investitori locali?

L’importante occasione è in concomitanza con la 5° Franchise UAE EXPO, la Fiera Internazionale del Franchising e del Retail, di cui DESITA è promotore esclusivo per l’Italia, che si svolgerà a Dubai il 25 e 26 settembre prossimi.

Recenti studi hanno dimostrato che il 97% dei fallimenti è derivato da una mancanza di attenzione verso i mutamenti del mercato. Questo significa che lavorare in un determinato settore senza conoscerne e anticiparne in maniera approfondita le dinamiche evolutive espone il business a rischi sostanziali, fino a minacciarne la profittabilità e la sopravvivenza. Chiaramente questi rischi risultano accentuati in un periodo di crisi. Chi desidera superare questo brutto periodo deve innanzi tutto lavorare su un elemento di discontinuità culturale, modificare il proprio approccio al mercato.

DESITA, società di consulenza e progettazione di spazi Retail con forte know-how nel settore della ristorazione e nello sviluppo Franchising, presente a Dubai da oltre 10 anni, in collaborazione con Milano Retail Tour, l’unico format rivolto alle aziende per esplorare le tendenze emergenti nei luoghi del Retail milanese ed internazionale, vi propone un viaggio alla scoperta del cambiamento in atto nel mondo del Retail di Dubai, nonché la possibilità di incontrare selezionati investitori arabi, tramite meeting B2B dedicati ed esclusivi.

Per scaricare la presentazione: Business Retail Tour

Per maggiori informazioni, scrivere a info@desita.it

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“How to make everyday a sustainable one”

TEDxBocconiU – ReThink: ReInvent the world around you!

2013-02-23 11.19.21First of all, I wish to thank all TEDxBocconiU team for the great event organised and in particular a BIG thanks to Ivana Istochka and Eraldo Cavalli.

I have been one of the 14 selected speakers of TEDxBocconiU and had the pleasure to connect with very interesting and inspiring people from all over the world.

That day I was very sick with temperature and a big cold; even the adrenaline was soft due the very bad feeling. What a bad luck. Invited to that special and prestigious stage and not be able to be at 100%. Trust me, I couldn’t slept the night before. Nightmares.

It was February and Milano was freezing while expecting the snow but thanks to the good marketing actions, lot of people came to the event.

In my speech I’ve tried to summarize three years of activities related to sustainability: the ECOFFEE project, couple of case histories on my daily business, the Progetto ParCO2 project and the Eco Mindful Message Attached t-shirts project. It has been very hard to squeeze everything in about 15 minutes.

Hope you will enjoy the video and the speech in terms of contents and the related meaning. 

And some nice photos.

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La sostenibilità in pratica (nel Franchising)

Intervista pubblicata su AZ Franchising di maggio 2013.

Ringrazio i colleghi di AZ Franchising, Media partner di Iref Italia, per la gentile e sempre professionale collaborazione.

la sostenibilità in pratica