Maeve Pesquera

Over 10,000 jobs lost in the QSR/fast food space in California alone according to the California Business and Industrial Alliance (CABIA) Operators needed to raise prices and lay off workers to avoid shutting down Some still shut down These 10,000+ workers need to be repositioned in the workforce because QSR/fast food operators will turn to automation to stay afloat Food/beverage operators can't fight economics and math with heads in the sand Any job or repetitive task that can be automated will be so let's focus on how we can leverage workers in other roles that can't be automated #automated #repetitivetasks #workforce #operations

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I can think of no better trend than culinary professionals, influencers, and tastemakers finally saying out loud that high-quality processed foods are as good, if not better, than made-fresh-from-scratch ingredients. Just as I don't expect others to agree with me on politics, books, and movies, I don't expect everyone to enjoy repetitive cooking tasks. What I find meditative and satisfying others find tedious, boring, and pointless. Fair enough! We need high-quality processed goods so that everyone can enjoy exceptional food every day for every meal. IT IS POSSIBLE! It's time to demand that our food processing infrastructure deliver fresh, flavorful, nutritious ingredients that are both affordable and save time. https://lnkd.in/gCcwZBPY

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In recent years the beverage industry has witnessed a remarkable shift driven by the preferences of younger consumers. Two emerging trends, non-alcoholic spirits, and boba, have captured the attention of younger folks and are experiencing significant growth as a result. According to the article, one-third of consumers ages 18 to 24 abstain from alcohol altogether. This shift in drinking habits has paved the way for the emergence of non-alcoholic drinking options, providing consumers with sophisticated and flavorful alternatives to traditional alcoholic beverages. #DrinkingTrends #YoungConsumers #Boba #NonAlcoholicSpirits

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The U.S. wine market is poised for continued growth in 2024 🍷 The market accounted for $10.4 billion in sales through September 9, 2023, according to Nielsen. California is by far the most significant contributor of dollar value in the U.S., generating over $9.1 billion in sales to take up a 90% market share. Washington, the second largest wine-producing state, takes up a 5% share, reaching $486 million, while Oregon claims a 3% share at $261 million. The remaining U.S. states combine for $240 million in sales and a 2% market share. For more resources on wine, visit https://hubs.li/Q02CflDd0 🍇 #WineIndustry #WineProducingStates #FutureOfWine

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Market Watch Magazine unveiled its annual list of “Hot Brands” award winners, recognizing the fastest-growing brands across the wine, spirits, and RTD categories. Tequila and whiskey dominate the spirits field, making up 80% of this year's Hot Brands roster. Tequilas like Don Julio, Lunazul, Teremana, Milagro, and Espolón stand out, alongside American whiskeys such as Woodford Reserve, Ole Smoky, Buffalo Trace, and Old Forester. Tito’s vodka leads with over 12 million cases, followed by Aperol and 99 whiskey. In the ready-to-drink category, 20 brands earned Hot Brand status, with High Noon Sun Sips topping the list. California table wines dominate, with Josh Cellars leading the pack, followed by brands like Vendange and La Marca Prosecco from Italy. 🔗 Read the full list >> https://lnkd.in/dficTbDT #LiquorLawyer #Entrepreneurship #LegalServices #Law #DrinksIndustry #Regulations #AlcoholCompliance #WineIndustryAdvisor #AlcoholIndustryAdvisor #BeverageIndustry #SpiritsIndustry #AlcoholIndustry #MarketWatch #HotBrands #WineAndSpirits

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The Mezcal sector has been growing at an annual growth rate of 10% compared to tequila’s 7% increase. According to The Spirits Business, “In 2022 Tequila accounted for 96% of total agave spirits volume. Mezcal was responsible for a mere 3%, but it’s making headway – growing by 23% in volume between 2021 and 2022.” Sasma is pleased to offer several different types of agave-based spirits including 100% Smoked Agave Spirit, a mezcal alternative. Learn more about our agave-based offerings on our website, or inquire at sales@sasmabv.com. To read more head over to ➡️ https://bit.ly/4c2Yeag #Mezcal #AgaveSpirits #SpiritsIndustry

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latest Snaxshot are you even ready?! 🌶 Momo-fuk-u takes everything back, best naive acting goes to Momofuku and marguerite mariscal just agreeing to everything, WOW! 📈Boisson retail is no more but NA continues to grow 🛒 Erewhon's RTD is apparently debuting in over 100 stores in SoCal 🍻Liquid Death, Not Beer and the vice-fication of water 👀Dr Smood Group's doubling down in CPG CURATION OF NEW BRANDS + MORE! immi's ramen-ventions: a category outlook

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You may order sauce on the side but it's still the main attraction. 🎡 Don't take it from me! Peep this Nation's Restaurant News article highlighting the QSR sauce BOOM 💥 → According to Innova Market Insights, 39% of consumers are most likely to try new flavors through sauces, seasonings + toppings. → Technomic, Inc. reports that 34% of consumers consider what sauces are available before deciding on a place to eat. → And Datassential shows that more than half of consumers have purchased a new sauce or condiment from a restaurant in the past 3 months. In a foodservice climate starving for new traffic, sauce-centric LTOs featuring new + exciting flavors on familiar menu items (e.g. 🍗 + 🍟 + 🍔 + 🌮) can be your most operationally friendly + craveworthy solution. Something I know for sure: There is one midwesterner who will *always* drive through for a new ranch flavor extension. 🙋‍♀️ -- What's your go-to, gotta-have-it, will-go-out-of-your-way-for-it sauce? 👀👇

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We made this Baked Rigatoni dish at the School Food Rocks® Training and Innovation Center this weekend, it is a delicious and hearty dish that combines rigatoni pasta with a flavorful sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes, basil, béchamel, ground beef, and pork. Here's how you can make it at home: Ingredients: - Rigatoni pasta - Canned San Marzano tomatoes - Fresh basil leaves - Béchamel sauce - Ground beef and pork (or you can use either one) - Mozzarella cheese - Olive oil for cooking Instructions: 1. Preheat your oven to 375°F 2. Cook the rigatoni pasta according to the package instructions until it is al dente. Drain and set aside. 3. In a large skillet, heat some olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and pork to the skillet and cook until browned and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 4. Add the San Marzano tomatoes to the skillet, crushing them with a spoon. Stir in the fresh basil leaves and let the sauce simmer for about 10-15 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld together. 5. In a separate saucepan, prepare the béchamel sauce. You can make it by melting butter, adding flour to make a roux, and then gradually whisking in milk until it thickens. Season the béchamel sauce with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. 6. Combine the cooked rigatoni pasta with the meat sauce and then add the béchamel sauce. Mix everything together until the pasta is evenly coated. 7. Transfer the mixture into a baking dish and top it with shredded mozzarella cheese, ensuring the pasta is fully covered. 8. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown on top. 9. Once baked, remove the dish from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before serving. The result is a mouthwatering baked rigatoni dish with a rich and flavorful sauce, tender pasta, and a golden brown, bubbly layer of melted mozzarella on top.. Enjoy! 🍝🧀

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16 sentences of wisdom from bond trader turned restaurateur, Sean Feeney, that will make you a better person, friend, and leader. 1. The most important ingredient is the one that’s left out. 2. The greatest gift is courage. Give someone the courage to be themselves. 3. Success is doing something every day for the rest of your life, happy to do it. 4. Everyone has genius inside them. 5. Truly showing belief in others will buy them a ticket to someplace they never knew. 6. Hospitality is creativity plus compassion. 7. “That’s just the way it is,” tells you there’s money to be made. 8. It is tempting to have something for everyone but there is preciousness in not filling demand. 9. Create a brand that people chase, don’t chase people with your brand. 10. Make others feel a part of something. 11. You are one of us, whether you work with us or you're dining with us. 12. Treating others well is good for business. 13. Finish the day, asking, “How did I impact someone in a positive way?” 14. Know what works and be honest with what doesn't and don't do that. 15. Block out all the noise and keep it simple. 16. Believe every day is a good day. But don’t think it’ll be easy.

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A Compelling Comparison of uFoodin Platform and Food Trade Shows for Professionals and Companies Developing International Sales and Purchases 👇 #foodtradeshow #b2b #ufoodin #sales #purchases

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Distilled spirits lead American alcohol sales. In 2023, spirits sales (42 percent of market share) outpaced beer sales (41.9 percent of market share) for the second straight year. Newer products like spirits-based hard seltzers and ready-to-drink cocktails have fueled growth, while also blurring the lines of a categorical tax system. The result has been a spirited competition throughout the alcohol industry for market share, including calls to reform tax policy. Distilled spirits face the stiffest tax rates of all alcoholic beverages. These high tax rates are a combination of greater alcohol content in spirits than wine or beer and higher tax rates applied per alcohol content to spirits. A one-ounce shot of 40 percent alcohol-content spirit (0.4 oz of alcohol) carries greater taxes than an identical 12-ounce beer with 4.8 percent alcohol content (0.4 oz of alcohol). Read more: https://hubs.ly/Q02ypyNY0

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People ask me all the time how they can learn the foodservice business. My answer is: #1 Dive in and start doing #2 Find a mentor with experience (5% of the cost of strategy consultants) #3 Listen to the Titans of Foodservice podcast. Where you can hear directly from both industry vets who know the business, and folks like First Bite trying to change it. Thank you so much Nick Portillo for having me on to talk about how our data and workflow tools are helping sales teams execute in foodservice! Episode link in the comments.

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In today's CBD: Two of the largest Black-owned breweries, California's Crowns & Hops Brewing Co. and Full Circle Brewing Co., have struck a watershed alliance to leverage its members’ strengths and show up at market in a much bigger way. The new shared resources platform is dubbed “Circle of Crowns Beverage Group” (CCBG). The alliance “combines two leading Black-owned brands and centralizes production, sales and marketing between the two companies,” per announcement. Production will be centralized at Full Circle. Currently, the brands produce about 10,000 barrels collectively. It’s about “unlocking untapped opportunities” in the craft market, by "leveraging retail and venue diversity programs." Historically, Black suppliers have lacked the infrastructure to address these opportunities on a wide scale. CCBG also includes the historic Speakeasy Ales & Lagers brand, one of the oldest in San Francisco, and Sonoma Cider. "As you know, there's 9,000-plus breweries out there, and there's only 1% that are Black-owned," Arthur Moye, Full Circle founder, told CBD. "And I think, during a good period of the last half a decade or so, people have wanted to support Black-owned businesses. So you have major retailers reaching out to those 1%; you have distributors reaching out to those 1%; but then there hasn't been a structure by which they could significantly respond, because that 1% is mostly represented by people that don't have production facilities and can't create the margins and the economies of scale to sit on the shelves throughout the distribution networks of the chains." This starts to solve that. More here, we left the story open to all. https://lnkd.in/gsHErbeK

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My new Pairing Beer & Chocolate book (grab it on the Bean to Barstool site or on Amazon) is great for both casual enthusiasts and professionals who want to add pairings as an event option—breweries, chocolate shops, beer or chocolate educators, etc. I talked with Andrew Coplon at Craft Beer Professionals last year about how brewery taprooms can put on successful chocolate pairings, which you can watch here: https://lnkd.in/erKrwRJh

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