But what might be sometimes missed is the strength of the Steelite sales organization and just how the company maintains that organizational strength. And, like the investment it makes in new products, Steelite also invests heavily in its organization as evidenced at Steelite USA’s recently completed sales conference in Chicago.
Fiennes provided big inspiration to start the sales conference as a man who, in May 2009, at the age of 65, climbed to the summit of Mount Everest (oldest from Great Britain to do this) and was named by Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s greatest living explorer. Fiennes is also the first person to climb Mt. Everest and cross both polar ice caps.
The education on trends within the hospitality began early the next day, kicked off by Melissa Abbott of The Hartman Group who spoke among many trends, including transitioning to “an eating culture vs. a cooking culture” led by social media. Andrew Klimecki, Head of Design at Steelite/Royal Crown Derby continued on with why forming an emotional connection with restaurant guests is so critical to the success of Steelite’s products. From there, the baton was passed to food and beverage expert Patrick McDonnell, from McDonnell Kinder & Associates in Kansas City. McDonnell and his firm help develop growth strategies for large chains and other select clients in the foodservice and retail industries. McDonnell illuminated on the major influencers that guide today’s multi-unit operators and what drives menu development for many large chains. Echoing many of many of these same sentiments from the operator side was the next speaker, Jason Lapin from Blau and Associates. From scalable restaurant concepts to food & beverage renovation at hotel chains, Las Vegas based Blau and Associates is at the forefront of many new emerging F&B trends.
Presentations by experts from leading market research firm Technomic and mixologist Freddie Sarkis closed out the day and provided great information on both macro menu trends and where beverage service in restaurants might be heading.
Leaders are expected to do just that…lead. A better informed, better educated team no doubt helps Steelite lead by bringing more value to hospitality operators by providing tabletop products to help those operators differentiate their individual guest food & beverage experience. In an industry with plenty of great products, it’s refreshing to see a company continue to invest to insure its team stays educated, finely tuned, and relevant to its customer’s needs.
Nice job, Steelite.
Well done.
