Best ideas and products from Fine Foods ‘09

Pizza operators are busy people and getting away from the shop for a few days is not always an option, that’s one reason why PMQ’s Pizza Australia attends the premier food show each year for you. It’s at these shows where you find new products and services along with the chance to view and discuss products and equipment from companies that you see right here in this magazine. Many times the first look at new equipment is on the floor of the Fine Foods show.

This year’s show took place in Sydney’s Convention Centre between the 7th and 10th of September. In addition to new products and equipment, National Foods crowned the 2009 Best of the Best pizza maker after two action packed days of Australia’s top pizza makers rolling and stretching out the best pizzas Australia has to offer. To learn more about this year’s winner, have a read about Roaring 40s Café in this issue.

While at this year’s show, we walked the entire floor twice talking to exhibitors and discovering new products for those who could not be there. Some of the things you will see in the next few pages are new ideas from some existing advertisers who were launching new services at the show and some are from companies you may have never seen. So let’s take a look at what you missed. If you see something you like and give the company a call, tell them you saw the idea in Australia’s best and longest published pizza magazine…PMQ’s Pizza Australia.

Combi Chef

Falo Portable Outdoor Gas Heater and Gas Flare Illumination

Peter Arnold

0400 055 045

Peter@falo.com.au

www.falo.com.au

Many operators have outdoor/patio seating and use portable gas heaters, but many heaters are, shall we say, not so appealing to look at. Combi Chef’s Falo portable gas heaters provide warmth in cold months as well as an appealing aesthetic element to patio seating in summer and spring…simply remove the heat deflection dish at the top for ambiance without the heat. The flame, which provides plenty of warmth when needed, can be adjusted with a remote control while the housing is cool to the touch even when at high temperature. We even had the representative hug the heater while at full heat just to prove the point. Falo heaters have ‘tip over’ switches and ‘flame failure’ safety protection and can come in custom colours and stainless steel.

Carmel

Coated Table Cloths

Kevin Fine

04 1616 1440 or 1300 9600 37

kevin@handpaintedbycarmel.com.au

www.handpaintedbycarmel.com.au

If your restaurant uses table cloths then you know how much time it takes to clean up and redress the tables after each customer. Carmel offers a solution that speeds this up along with cutting down on laundry costs. Carmel – The Coated Table Cloth Company is a world renowned company that produces coated table cloths which are totally wipe clean due to their eco-friendly patented coating process known as Textile Shield. Mustard, tomato sauce, wine and wax are no challenge as wait-staff merely need to wipe food, sauces and liquids away. These table cloths are 100% cotton that require no laundering and can be ironed if needed. You can even customise them with your own designs, colours and logos and their unique lease system offers substantial savings in time and laundry costs.

Long Range Systems

Guest/Waiter Paging Systems

Peter Stathopoulos

02 9955 5700 or 04 4899 1184

peter@lrsaustralia.com.au

www.lrsaustralia.com.au

The Pizza Pager is one of the ideas we found that we really like. This wireless paging system allows customers to visit the bar, walk around other shops or simply step away for a bit while waiting to be seated. When their table comes open you simply page them and the Pizza Pager’s red, yellow and green LED ‘topping’ lights illuminate letting them know it’s time to be seated. This saves time and the hassle of trying to locate that party of 2 when you are ready to seat them. They also offer other paging systems such as mobile phone paging with customised messages, Coaster Call coaster pagers and the Adverteaser, which is a pager where you can insert business cards or specials to maximise you marketing potential.

C-POS

POS Systems Made For Pizza Shops

Joe Muratore

04 1950 1010

sales@cposaustralia.com

www.cposaustralia.com

POS systems can be a vital part of your restaurant’s success, but finding one designed for pizza shops is not an easy task. We found C-POS and they gave us a demo of their pizza module for their POS system. Their intuitive on-screen ordering accommodates the most complex pizza combinations and special orders. The C-POS system also offers online ordering and order tracking along with delivery management that includes elapsed delivery times and driver directions. It has advanced ordering to store and send orders to the food prep area and other options such as fingerprint recognition for clocking employees in and secure order deletions as well as the ability to page you when the numbers are off mark when you are away from the shop.

Paesanella Cheese Manufacturers

Joe Somma

+61 2 419 221 704 or 02 9519 6181

joe@paesanella.com.au

www.paesanella.com.au

Everyone has a pizza cheese they use on pizza, but for those looking for an authentic Italian cheese for their gourmet menu items, buffalo mozzarella can be the perfect ingredient. The first pizzas created in Italy used buffalo mozzarella. Locating a supplier for buffalo cheese is now easier with Paesanella. In addition to buffalo mozz, they also offer pizza boxes, smallgoods, flours and yeast to cater to every pizzeria’s needs. Their Leonardo brand of buffalo mozz is made at the Vanella cheese factory in Cairns North Queensland and the owners have vast experience in buffalo milk cheese, previously owning a production plant in Campagnia, Italy. In addition to cheeses, they also offer a variety of ages hams and deli meats.

Goodman Fielder

Food Distribution with Points Rewards

Andrew Bell

0401 701 052 or 1800 705 426

Andrew.bell@goodmanfielder.com.au

www.foodservicerewards.com

Goodman Fielder is a food distributor you may already know, but did you know about their Foodservice Rewards program? Now ordering food can earn you, your customers or employees some great prizes. Joining the Foodservice Rewards program is free and so can be some great products, such as plasma screen TVs, DVDs and CDs, computers, kitchen equipment and even golf clubs. Simply go to www.foodservicerewards.com and register and then continue to order specially marked products and redeem the points. You can use this as a sales incentive for employees…if you want to push a specific qualified product, you can offer the prize redemption to the employee. Earn enough for a digital camera or TV and you can offer it as a free prize to a customer who registers for online ordering.

Mario’s Smallgoods

Skinless Chicken Cabanossi

Tracey Marandola

1300 876 158 or 0418 524 422

tracey@mariosscc.com.au

www.mariossmallgoods.com.au

I normally don’t like picking out a specific food item to showcase as one of the best ideas but Mario’s Chicken Cabanossi grabbed me by the taste buds. Mario Marandola, creator of Mario’s Skinless Chicken Cabanossi, has successfully run his own family business in Glen Waverley, Victoria, for the past 19 years from where the demand for the Cabanossi grew. This Cabanossi works great as a pizza topping and in many other dishes such as Seafood and Cabanossi Paella and other pasta dishes, risottos, or simply used on an antipasto platter. Mario’s Chicken Cabanossi has reduced fat (under <1.0g saturated fat per serve), no MSG and is Australian made and owned.

Ozibadge

Unique Illuminating Promotional Products

Ajan Khanna

04 1962 0539

info@ozibadge.com

www.ozibadge.com

Now here is a new idea. We stopped by this booth to look at something as simple as a “Welcome” mat that was illuminated and animated, but stumbled across several other products and potential uses. One is a small 2.8 inch portable display with rechargeable battery. This small screen can be used at the register or at tables and can have video or images you load in to showcase specials or dishes being made, promote desserts or any other thing you want to promote using video and images. They also have a paper thin display board that you can change and reload any image you like…think about having an animated menu board. And they also have the illuminated and animated “Welcome” mats and other very cool digital signage.

Transplumb

Teal “No Plumbing” Handwashing Systems

Tim Hodges

1300 WASH HANDS or 1300 927 442

thodges@transplumb.com.au

www.transplumb.com.au

Sanitary conditions are a must for pizza makers, but in most shops the handwashing station is nowhere near the area where you assemble pizzas. If you are making pizza and have to step away to help a customer or answer the phone in the middle of a big rush, getting to a sink to wash up is not always convenient…until now. Transplumb offers several models of self-contained handwashing systems that allow you to install a sink to clean up without having to install new plumbing. These systems can be installed as self-contained units or have water lines hooked up in addition to providing portable hot water. Some models even offer handsfree activation in addition to wall mounted units and stand-alone units.

Friul Australia

Paul Johnson

0438 550 724

info@friulaustralia.com.au

www.friulaustralia.com.au

In late October Friul will be introducing a new combination mixer/divider/rounder…simply put the dough ingredients in, hit the button and out comes perfectly consistent dough balls at a fraction of the time and cost. Even better is the fact that is a compact unit that doesn’t take up all of your kitchen space.

Spyral

Andrew Morris

07 3632 1800 or 0413 703 360

amorris@spyral.com.au

www.spyral.com.au

Spyral launched a new eco-friendly fryer at the 2009 Fine Foods Show. Pitco is well known in the industry for its high efficiency fryers and their new series is no exception. The Solstice Supreme, a major breakthrough in fryer design, has the highest gas efficiency rating and the lowest cost of ownership in the industry. Call Spyral for more info.

Ozganics

Annie Brownjohn

0414700214

info@ozganics.com.au

www.ozganics.com.au

Ozganics offers a line of Australian certified organic, gluten-free and dairy free products. Among their offering are organic pasta sauces, Instant Thai meal solutions, Indian Simmer sauce, sweet chilli sauces, barbeque and tomato sauces and dairyfree and oil-free dressings. In addition, they also have organic Australian Bush Honey and several varieties of fruit spreads.

The Plenty Food Group

Marshall Dwyer

03 9217 2148

marshall@plentyfoodgroup.com.au

www.plentyfoodgroup.com.au

The Plenty Food Group is a food manufacturing industry network for companies entirely focused to assist small, medium and large companies in supplying products/services to the food industry. They have over 100 food manufacturers varying in size and type, producing a range of product for the food service and hospitality industries both locally and internationally.

First Pack Pty. Ltd

Ben Kamer

3 9586 9000

ben@firstpack.com.au

www.firstpack.com.au

When you are a smaller independent pizza operator, getting custom-made boxes usually isn’t an option unless you want to pay heavy upfront cost and stock 10,000 or more, but now First Pack has an affordable option for low-cost, customized, short run pizza boxes they introduced at the show. Give them a ring for details.