 Another cool product that's hot from Service Ideas....their Flame-Free Thermo-Urn Ok. So, the new Service Ideas catalog for 2013 is out. Don't have it yet? Get it. And, here's why.....not only is it full of cool beverage service, buffet, and accessory products, it's got lots of great, helpful pieces of information. I mean...who even knew what "ETL Certification" was??? Plus, Service Idea shows off even more by using those fancy QR codes. Ok..ok....we already knew that Service Ideas was a pretty cool company, but now QR codes, too?! Love the QR codes, love the info ( did you know what "agion" is?), ...even love the product diagrams showing about all the replacement parts. Very cool.
Service Ideas 2013 Catalog. Get it. |  2013 Service Ideas catalog |
With Craig Bahl, designer and founder of the Steelforme line on hand, Service Ideas made a great impression at the recent NAFEM Show with multiple new Steelforme pieces. With pieces designed for bar, table, buffet & beverage service, Steelforme from Service Ideas offers a unique look and feel that makes their items great as companion pieces to existing tableware or a wonderful mix & match collection to revamp your serviceware. With new products and a new catalog on the way for 2013, Service Ideas keeps it's brand evolution on the move forward. | | If you are looking for the unique...yet practical....serving solution for either beverage or food, check out Service Ideas as they probably have it! Great people....with great products!
 Have your guests talking with the Metropolis Tuscany Glass™ collection from Lux. With a unique geometric pattern in a variety of chargers, plates, bowls and cups, you're sure to create a setting that will leave a lasting impression. The Rain Collection from Service Ideas comes in a variety of sizes and styles with a pattern that looks just like its namesake – slashed lines. You can plan your entire dinner service with this line as it has bowls, tumblers, plates & trays. It’s an elegant way to take your table service to the next level. Interesting company, that Service Ideas. (and you thought they were only about themal servers!)
They continue to change the conversation......
The love of caffeine that the staff at TabletopJournal has is well documented, but we admittedly tend to focus our caffeine craving towards coffee and we know there's a whole world of tea drinkers out there. And, tea evidently has its own list of benefits. For instance...who knew that green tea has the ability to boost a person’s metabolism by producing heat in a person’s body (thermogenesis). Apparently, drinking 4 cups of green tea burns 50 calories! Well, the good folks at Service Ideas know these things. That's why they are the tea experts. Keep up with the tea experts bygoing to and subscribing to their blog - http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/teas-part-two/And, if you just want to see the cool serving products that Service Ideas has for both tea and coffee, simply go here: http://www.serviceideas.com/  Service Ideas - providing innovative solutions for your service needs since 1946.
Those of us here at TabletopJournal are not tea experts.....but, we DO know there's lots of reasons why more of your customers are ordering and drinking tea. Yes, we have heard about the good things associate with tea like increasing levels of flavonoids, reductions in stress, increased quality of blood platelets, and more. But, what we do know is that more and more of YOUR customers are ordering tea. Yes, we know there's lots of focus on coffee and its growth, but tea sales continue to climb, as well. A recent article at MarketingForecast.com, some 173.5 million consumers drink tea and 183 million consumers drink coffee, according to David Sprinkle, publisher of Packaged Facts, eye-popping numbers that also imply limited usage growth potential. "The challenge for foodservice operators, therefore, involves expanding varieties and occasions for use while converting home and office coffee and tea users into foodservice users." So, Mr. Restaurateur.....what are you actively doing to increase the guest experience of your TEA customers? (along with increasing sales and profits?)  Service Ideas has a wide variety of servers for tea from cast-iron type teapots to traditional plastic thermal servers. We like these colorful teaballs that help to make tea drinking more guest friendly and add big-time to the entertainment factor. TabletopJournal would suggest that a good start might be to make tea more fun and guest-friendly, while increasing the theater surrounding tea service. There are a variety of ways to do that....but simply adding color and entertainment to the process would be a good start. Service Ideas - people who really understand know tea (and, coffee, by the way) - have a large selection of items to help raise the tea customer's guest experience. I'll even bet they have some good, practical ways to educate your staff on tea without breaking the bank, as well. You may want to check them out as a way to increase both your sales and profits. Nice people. Check 'em out.
You can see the entire collection of product from Service Ideas by going here:
http://www.serviceideas.com/Default.aspx
Service Ideas has some terrific colorful thermal servers in their Gusto line. And....like most things at Service Ideas, not only are they beautiful....they're smart, too. Gusto keeps your coffee (or tea) warm for 6-8 hours and their lacquered stainless outside finish minimizes fingerprints, we bet! In addition to the colors you see here, they've got three new colors - Ocean Blue, Purple, and White. See Gusto and all the other cool products at Service Ideas by going to: http://www.serviceideas.com/Default.aspx
In 1946, Art Murray had a vision to improve the service in his own Murray’s restaurant of Minneapolis, and to share those ideas with fellow operators. His ideas, innovation and successes were the seeds of Service Ideas. Today, a half century later, the original Thermo-Serv beverage server and Thermo-Plate platters are food presentation standards, often copied but never duplicated.
Just received our own copy of the new 2012-13 catalog from Service Ideas and I can tell you.....it's not your father's Service Ideas anymore. Probably hasn't been for a while. Very nicely done. We continue to see Service Ideas as a company that is working hard to remain competitive - and relevent. Anyone who has known this company for any length of time would expect to see the types of products shown below:  The wide range of thermal servers has been a signature product for Service Ideas for many years. In fact, the company has a timeline showing the copper-colored version shown on the left page above was introduce in 1956! That's staying power. But, in recent years, Service Ideas has become much more than thermal serving carafes. For instance, the catalog pages shown below show how Service Ideas has adjusted with the times and offer tabletop products now that you might come to expect only from "traditional" tabletop companies. Staying relevent, indeed. Flipping through the Service Ideas catalog, one could even make the argument that this sometimes "below the radar screen" company is a bit cutting-edge as they have a large array of tea-related products. Recent studies have shown that while coffee is already huge, tea may be the next big boom. If so, Service Ideas will be more than ready. And, this is just the products. Collateral materials - especially the new catalog - are well designed and appropriately matched with the brand's position, using colors popular today. New social media programs are being utilized that also support the Service Ideas efforts to keep current. Personalizing the company by introducing company employees via their website add to the notion of Service Ideas as a customer-friendly company. (how many company websites do you know where there's not so much as a single person's actual name on it?? we can think of a bunch)
We're not trying to make Service Ideas out to be cutting-edge in the same way we see a Raynaud porcelain or Sambonet flatware. But, this IS a company that is working hard to make itself attractive to today's hospitality tabletop decision-maker....without sacrificing its heritage of good value, friendly service, and quality for money spent. We speak to lots of companies that worry about the economy, so they play it safe, take minimal risks, and hope that the market comes back around to their type of products or company. Typically, the only way these companies compete is to lower prices in one form or another until there's no margin left. Service Ideas doesn't seem to be waiting. With an apparent vision of who they intend to be, this company continues to evolve, grow, and remain as relevent as they were back in 1946 when Art Murray began it all. So, get your copy of Service Ideas' new 2012-13 catalog. We think you will be impressed. P.S. Restaurateurs and tabletop dealers.....think this lesson on staying relevent only applies to suppliers? Wrong....as wildly successful as the original Spago was up on Sunset, it was closed and moved in down into Beverly Hills. The rest is history as today Wolfgang Puck is likely the most prolific chef in America...possibly the world. (ok, Bocuse, fans....you may have something to discuss, but who else?)
Service Ideas new catalog is HOT! off the presses and everybody's got their nose buried in it! Get your 2012 Service Ideas catalog by going here: http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/
 In 1946, Art Murray had a vision to improve the service in his own Murray’s restaurant of Minneapolis, and to share those ideas with fellow operators. His ideas, innovation and successes were the seeds of Service Ideas. We've talked about Service Ideas before and how we like so many of their branding concepts like deliverying great value in their products, honoring their strong heritage and being known throughout the industry as a friendly, easy-to-work with company. Service Ideas is one of those companies that certainly has been around long enough to be an "old school" thinking (and acting) company that is evolving to be what we think of as more of a " new generation" of foodservice tabletop companies. Too often, we see tabletop companies taking the same old approach to branding - and sales & marketing activities - and expecting different results. Service Ideas is a company that seems to understand and honor the past but is changing - evolving & adapting - and staying current to today's marketplace.  While mostly known for their Classic Server (left), Service Ideas has introduced a variety of new, design driven products such as their Lava Red (we love the color description) Kugel Ball server (right) to keep their product line current and relevent. Beyond traditional methods of "change" such as adding new products, new sales programs, etc., Service Ideas is utilizing social media through their blog - http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/. We love how Service Ideas uses their blog to introduce us to members of their staff and Michelle L. is the latest staff member at Service Ideas to be profiled:  Check out Service Ideas blog at: http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/ Meet… Michelle
Name: Michelle L
Title: Package Handler? But I do lots of other things.
Years of Service: 5 in June
What are some changes you’ve noticed in the warehouse since you first started?
Lots of system upgrades to help better the flow of things. Also the new additions like the thousands of feet in warehouse that was added!
Do you have a favorite product? If so, which one and why?
I don’t have a favorite but I enjoy seeing the new products come in.
How do you describe our company to people who are unfamiliar with our name and our brand?
I start with the history of Murray’s restaurant and how we started from there and what the Murray family has made, done and where we are now and what we are doing.
What’s one of your most memorable moments here at Service Ideas?
When the openings came down between the new and old warehouse.
If you could live somewhere else for a year, where would you go?
I would love to live somewhere where I could ski and snowmobile most of the time.
Want to learn more? Be sure to stop back to meet others in the team that are committed to “service ideas.” (check it out.....you will love the size of the fish that Julie has caught!) Many companies have Facebook pages, blogs....some even Tweet....but often they go stale with long lags between updates or they only post when they are doing a trade show or have a totally new product. These companies don't realize that customers aren't interested in simply a product. Yes, it's true that customers are buying products.....but cusotmers also want a relationship. And relationships are with people. Service Ideas gets that. Too often when We go to various company websites, you can't find an actual person's name to contact at that company. It simply says "to contact us, fill out this form" or the email address is sales@xyz.com or customerservice@xyz.com. If you check out the Service Ideas website, it's very personalized and their blog - http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/ - reinforces that persoanlized approach by profiling their employees, along with pictures. Having been around for over 60 years, Service Ideas qualifies for "old school" status and certainly selling thermal servers might not be considered sexy by some. But, don't tell Tina Brandt that. She and the team at Service Ideas are working hard at staying "new school" and one of the premier suppliers in the hospitality trade. Well done. Very well done. You can see the entire line of Service Idea products by going here: http://www.serviceideas.com/AboutUs.aspxOr, you can learn more about the team at Service Ideas by follwing their blog at: http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/
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