COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Mid-America Restaurant Expo ended its annual two-day run at the Greater Columbus Convention Center this week. It’s a chance for restaurant-industry folks to glean advice through educational seminars but also for companies and individuals to pitch products.
Companies touted everything from olive oil to exit signs, cooling systems to ovens, insurance forms and culinary classes. And pizza. Lots of pizza.
Here are five products that caught our eye:
Bac Nguyen of Ninja City is out with a line of Ginger Ketchup.
Ninja City’s Ginger Ketchup
Bac Nguyen of Ninja City is out with a line of Ginger Ketchup. It's in a dozen stores, including Cosentino's, Zagara's Marketplace, Murray Hill Market and Nature's Oasis.
The ketchup is vegan, gluten-free and contains no corn syrup. It's billed as "all natural ketchup with an Asian kick." Bottles are 12 ounces.
Stay tuned for Wasabi Mustard and a mayonnaise, he said.
This device detects bacteria on the hands of restaurant workers.
Technology + cleanliness
PathSpot offered a device for restaurants to guard against foodborne illness by tracking the cleanliness of employees' hands.
Workers put their hands under the scanner, which checks for bacteria levels. Each employee has a code so the device will remember how many times they have washed their hands and know whether it is satisfactory.
It also is a data tool. It can show which stores in a restaurant chain are underperforming, for example, even targeting the time of day where washing may dip.
Allergy Sticky Notes aim to alert kitchens about customers' allergies. Matthew Halbrook, 10, and his parents were promoting them at the Mid-America Restaurant Expo.
Allergy Sticky Notes
One of the few kids at the expo was Matthew Halbrook, who with his parents was hawking allergy alert notes for restaurants to give to customers. They can check off what allergies they have, give the note to their server, who would then pass it to the chef. It serves as a reminder for the kitchen, which may be dealing with peanut oil and other ingredients that can be harmful to some people.
An initial $15 fee covers a window sticker and two packs of the notes. Individual pads also can be purchased.
They are in restaurants in 25 states and Canada, though none in Cleveland yet, they said. Halbrook and his family live in Eastlake.
Several vendors displayed dishes made from palm leaves. This is from Reeden in Indiana.
Natural dishes
Several vendors hawked natural dishes made of areca palm leaf. They are made entirely from recycled material with no chemicals or coating, and no trees are cut down to manufacture them.
“You can throw it on the ground; it’s a leaf,” said Ulysses David of Indiana-based Reeden, a company whose tagline is “sustainable stewardship.” “It’s completely organic.”
Leaves are washed, heated, pressed, scrubbed and formed into dishes for restaurants.
His company also is marketing durable paper straws.
"It's definitely a big market," he said. "The opportunity is there. People are definitely noticing and trying to make changes."
His line of products is called Zelah, which translates in the Indian dialect of Tamil to “little bird” and is named for his late daughter.
Duck Island Cocktails of Cleveland had a presence at the Mid-America Restaurant Expo in Columbus.
Cheers!
This year, a section featuring alcohol was cordoned off with the hopes of breweries and others trying to gain accounts for wider distribution of their suds and drinks.
Jim Waltz of Forest City Brewery in Cleveland attended with the hopes of gaining wider distribution for Duck Island Cocktails. His pre-made cocktails are served from taps and save time for bartenders.
Related coverage: Here's more on Duck Island Cocktails
"We took last year and proved that it works," said Waltz, who went through a lot of trial and error before he began marketing the cocktails. "Now it's about getting the word out."
Waltz is a rare brewer who also can make wine and distill. The skills he uses to create the line of cocktails "puts all three together," he said.
Saucy Brew Works and Great Lakes Brewing Co. also had space at the expo.
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