Category Archives: My Journal

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

Anuga, the Fair

Anuga, the world´s leading food fair for the retail trade and the food service and catering market, will take place in Cologne (Germany) from next October 8 to 12. My scheduled attendance has been cancelled because I have been urgently required to fly to Dubai to discuss new DESITA and ECOFFEE projects.  As I wrote to all those who contacted me privately to set up meetings at Anuga, I will be more than happy to meet you during the upcoming events, just contact me at norman|at|ecoffee.it

Anuga this year this fair is expected to be very interesting not only for the many – 6.500- exhibitors but for the collateral events that will take place during the 4 days. I am particularly interested in the Wellfood Forum – showcasing the latest trends and the newest developments from all over the world in the areas of Wellfood and Functional Food – and the Fully Organic Special Show.

Organic foods will be expertly presented for the fourth time since Anuga 2003, in cooperation with the editors of bioPress. In addition to the approximately 1,600 exhibitors offering organic products and the more than 300 exhibitors of exclusively organic products in the Anuga Organic hall, visitors will also find more than 2,000 organic products for the food retail trade concentrated in the “Fully Organic” special show.

“Fully Organic” is now becoming the future agenda of food retail traders. And nothing reflects the latest developments in the organic product range of the retail food trade as clearly as the special show at Anuga Organic.

I will follow the Anuga Fair via web, but feel free to comment, send updates and news regarding the show posting comments on this post. Thank you!

Welcome to the Organic Academy among ECOFFEE’s partners!

I am glad to announce that another great partnership has been recently signed between ECOFFEE by DESITA and the Italian leading project about Culinary Knowledge and Environmental Respect, the Organic Academy.

The Organic Academy is based on the foundations of a respect and nurturing of one’s self, others, and the surrounding Nature, which can be found also in its willingness to elevate the vegetarian cuisine to its best thanks to the incredible receipts of Executive Chef Simone Salvini, whose amazing curriculum shows experiences at the Joia Restaurants (Michelin starred), at the Italian Camera dei Deputati (Parliament) and at the Italian Association of Vegetarians.

The Organic Academy is supervised by Chef Pietro Leeman, Joia restaurant owner.

This respect and nurturing is also manifested by development and practice of culinary arts, nutrition, and hospitality, development skillfully managed by Organic Academy’s Managing Director, Enrico Buselli, successful restaurant owner and sustainable tourism consultant.

ECOFFEE and the Organic Academy are also collaborating to develop the Organic Bistrot, following the ECOFFEE’s protocol.

I am sure that this partnership will lead to great innovative –and delicious- projects having sustainability at its core!

ECOFFEE and DESITA on air!

For those of you who do not follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut and have not yet been notified about this great news, I am very glad to inform you that last September 4th I was interviewed by Vincenzo Argante of Ferry Boat, a successful radio program broadcasted on Italy’s Radio24.

Ferry Boat deals with issues such as responsibility and sustainability applied to many fields, from education to automotive to fashion and..Retail. During the interview I was asked to introduce ECOFFEE and to explain why the ECOFFEE approach is such an innovative one in the Retail business.

The whole interview is available here, unfortunately Italian only!

Upcoming Events: our agenda

Here’s a list of all the leading events that we will follow in the next months.

8th-11th September, 2011: Sana, Bologna IT.
15th-17th September, 2011: FCSI FAME Conference, Stockholm SW
8th -12th October 2011: Anuga, Cologne D
16th – 18th October 2011: Qatar International Environment Protection, Doha
17th-19th October 2011:  Green Middle East, Sharjah, UAE
21th -25 October 2011: Host Milan, IT
4th-7th November, 2011: Salone Franchising Milano, Milan IT
9th-12th November, 2011: Ecomondo, Rimini IT
16th – 18th Nomber: Mapic, Cannes FR
22nd-24th November: Diyafa, Qatar
24th November, 2011: Green Awards, London UK
5th-7th December: World Green Tourism, Abu Dhabi

Meeting you will be a great pleasure: just sent me an email norman(at)ecoffee(dot)it to synch our agendas.

Norman Cescut’s Tweets: August 2011

In case you missed my tweets, here’s a summary of the most important ones.                  You are more than welcome to follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut to get real-time updates. Enjoy!

You are more than welcome to follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut to get real-time updates!

DESITA and ECOFFEE at 2011 Meeting Rimini

DESITA and its ECOFFEE partner Serint Group Italia are pleased to announce the partnership reached with the Fondazione Meeting, the organizing committee of Meeting Rimini (Rimini, Italy 21-27 August 2011), event which is recognized as one of the most important festivals in Europe collecting great political personalities, managers, representatives of different religions and cultures, intellectuals and artists, athletes and protagonists of the world scene. It offers stories of men and women through conferences, exhibitions, shows, and sporting events.

The partnership signed among DESITA, Serint Group and Fondazione Meeting concerns the development and creation of a long-term and ambitious project, called “Il Parco del Meeting (The Meeting Park)” which will be disclosed to a large number of invited companies at the Rimini Meeting next Friday, August 26 during a day-long meeting together with the Fondazione Board of Directors. In the next following months, the project will be implemented involving companies, local authorities, institutions and schools belonging to the province of Rimini (Italy)

The project aims to gradually introduce sustainability in the MeetingRimini event, thus creating a tighter bond between the city of Rimini and the event and allowing the Parco del Meeting to become a place for dissemination of the best sustainable practices related to culture, products, technology , projects and services. The Parco del Meeting will become the park of the city of Rimini, a place of reference and aggregation active throughout the year, with restaurants designed according to our ECOFFEE guidelines, event areas and much more.

Other collateral projects are under development, including the design of sustainable exhibition areas of a pavillon of the RiminiMeeting offering to those exhibitors attentive to environmental issues the opportunity to participate actively in the Park project, as early as next year.

With this great news, we are going to take a little rest from a period of intense and successful work, wishing you a wonderful holiday time. We will be back on September or, if you are spending your holidays in Italy, we will be more than happy to meet you at the RiminiMeeting on Friday August 26th

For more information norman [at] ecoffee.it

PS. Have you already voted for the Green Sheikh, Ambassador ECOFFEE, who has been nominated as Best Green International Celebrity at next Best Green Awards? Do not hesitate to vote for him! Vote for Green Sheikh!

Fairtrade Italia and ECOFFEE: a sustainable partnership for a better future

I am very happy to announce that last Tuesday, July 19th DESITA and Fairtrade Italia have signed a bilateral agreement providing mutual support for the dissemination of the principles of environmental sustainability, fair trade and social responsibility on the entire Italian market  through a focus on in-store actions.

DESITA, thanks to its ECOFFEE project, will promote Fairtrade products and will support  Fairtrade licensees through its wide range of retail-oriented services and solutions: from architectural design, branding, process analysis, franchise creation. The Fairtrade certified products will also find a privileged placement among the products available at the ECOFFEE franchise cafés.

On the other hand, Fairtrade Italia has committed to share with its stakeholders- Retail business licensees, Association members and consumers – all the services offered by DESITA and   ECOFFEE.

“I am very happy to have reached this agreement,” states Paolo Pastore, Managing Director of Fairtrade Italia “This agreement is very different from the usual one and I am  sure that it will bring a much wider scope and visibility to Fairtrade certified products, the only Fair Trade certification that has deserved consumers’ trust all around the world. “

Being supported by such an important organization as Fairtrade Italia has once again confirmed that what I have created, the ECOFFEE service platform, is a requirement for a better future.This gives me the strength to keep on working in what is still an immature industry, that of sustainability in the Italian Retail and Horeca panorama. I am convinced that this partnership will actually contribute to the creation and dissemination of a more responsible consumption on the Italian market.

The Green Sheikh is ECOFFEE’s worldwide Goodwill Ambassador

Following the meeting with the Green Sheikh (see “Amazing Meeting with the Green Sheikh”) we are very happy to inform all our readers that HH Abdulaziz bin Al Nuaimi, also known as the Green Sheikh, offered to become ECOFFEE’s Goodwill Ambassador worldwide and, as stated in an official letter,  to support ECOFFEE “wherever our activities will bring me, accordingly to your values and mission”.

The Green Sheikh is certain that ECOFFEE “will help our youth and entrepreneurs worldwide to approach what both of us decided to call sustainable entrepreneurship” and honoured us by considering ECOFFEE and Norman Cescut  “… as a gateway to be my representative in sustainability business”.

Our industry is experiencing a time of general change originated by the recent economic crisis and by new trends: sustainability and technological applications first. ECOFFEE integrates these new trends within a platform of services, products and projects that generate new jobs and a better future, starting with the idea that a more participatory, more accountable and sustainable shopping experience is the key for being able to spread the sustainability and responsibility culture.

This is why the Green Sheikh is supporting all our activities and services, whether they are for entrepreneurs willing to develop new concept stores or to create a franchising of ECOFFEE cafés. There are also many other projects to come, but we will disclose them later on.

In the meanwhile, the Green Sheikh has just come back from Brasil  where he supported the environmental cause, but before leaving he make a speech during a convention of Young Entrepreneurs, presenting the ECOFFEE project. A great speech that created enthusiasm and generated a strong interest, testified by the many requests that followed.

For those of you who would like to contact the Green Sheikh, please write to:
greensheikh@ecoffee.it

A new shop concept by DESITA and …ECOFFEE

I am glad to announce that DESITA is planning a shop concept for the new image of the Saadeddin pastry shops chain located in many states and cities of the Arabian peninsula, whose first restyling project has been planned for one of its Riyadh branches.

After having spent a couple of months briefing with the client in Italy and in Saudi Arabia and after having visited the shop location in Riyadh, we are now defining its layout following the client wishes and our already confirmed inputs about the sale process. The chain’s new brand image will be a young, fresh, trendy and European one.

The pastry shop project will be developed over an area of about 350 square meters and will include an innovative sale formula, for the Saudi habits, which we are sure will generate great interest and attention not limited to the Arab area only.

Thanks also to our fortnightly experience in the foodservice business, to our knowledge of the Arab culture and customer behavior and to the unlimited trust from our Client, we will merge the local traditions and habits into a new shop concept, designing innovative interiors and also a new way to intend the coffee shop area along the “single” (reserved to men only) and the “family” rooms areas.

It is in fact required in Saudi Arabia that food shops with catering facilities have specifically reserved entrances, men-only sitting rooms and other ones for women and families.

Furthermore, in agreement with the client, the concept is going to be developed following, where possible, the ECOFFEE guidelines as per the use of materials, equipment, products and sustainable solutions.

This important client has been collaborating with us for many years and his trust has always been rewarded allowing his company to be a trendsetter one in his area of business. His willingness to embrace sustainability in this new sales formula will grant him a sure competitive advantage. It is a honor for us to collaborate with such of farsighted and open minded client.

The combination of the new business formula and of the ECOFFEE guidelines applied to this first pastry shop will be next used in all the other chain branches, so that to make it a point of reference for the sustainability trend in a geographical area more and more sensitive to this issue.

Another great goal achieved: FCSI membership

After fifteen years of international experience in the foodservice business, I have achieved the status of consultant member of the FCSI – FoodService Consultants Society International. It is a great honor to me to be able to connect and interact with all other FCSI professionals all over the world.

Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI) is the premier association promoting professionalism in foodservice and hospitality consulting. With over 1300 members in over 46 countries, FCSI members offer a wide range of consulting services including concept development, feasibility studies, food safety, design, marketing, operations and training. Membership requirements are stringent and FCSI members are recognized as industry experts. We Share, We Support, We Inspire!

Generally speaking, a foodservice consultant is an independent professional advisor who, for a defined scope of work and related fee, works as an advocate for their client in achieving their goals through the design and implementation of foodservice facilities and/or operations/management systems. Consultants provide expertise, knowledge and experience to provide assistance that does not exist in-house, or by providing resources not available at the time. As independent professionals their primary focus is the welfare of the client organization that they serve.

When considering a foodservice project, a FCSI consultant should be your first choice. FCSI is the only such consulting society that operates on a worldwide basis. FCSI maintains a global focus with members in over 45 countries dedicated to providing the highest quality of service. FCSI consultant members must abide by a strict Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. They work efficiently to achieve total client satisfaction and always maintain independence from the supply side of the industry.

For further information: http://www.fcsi.org/ – http://www.fcsi-italia.org/