Day 1 – Tuesday, May 9, 2023

9:00  Welcome (Back from the Pandemic)

We'll share an overview and engage with you in small groups to share your pandemic challenges, victories and best practices. With a mind toward every challenge being an opportunity, we'll help you imagine a new and fuller vision of your operation’s potential.

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10:00  Fresh Ideas & Trends: Post-Pandemic, Recession-Proof Winners

We'll explore a variety of fresh ideas to inspire your product development plans, and infuse your program menus with some fresh flair. 

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11:00  Developing Successful New Products 

We'll share a 20-step process from which you'll be clear and confident of being able to quickly develop successful new high-margin products. 

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12:00  Catered Hot Lunch 

Dining al fresco, on the bay. 

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1:00  Staffing: Doing More with Less Labor

We'll help you analyze your own department’s program sales and labor data to optimally structure and organize responsibilities for your operation's best success.

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2:15 Making Grab & Go, GO!

Explode your sales with a full exploration of this critical and versatile program. We’ll dig deep into the nuts, bolts and nuances – from category and product plan-o-grams, to portioning, packaging and pricing. You'll leave with ideas and plans for upgrading your G&G program. 

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4:15 Beautiful Boxed Salads

Whether your salad bar is open, closed or non-existent, there's never been a better time to expand your selection of healthy, delicious portion-controlled boxed salads. We'll share a process, document and specific ideas for revolutionizing your selections and sales in this high-margin product category. 

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5:15  Wine & Cheese Reception / Evening Break

Relax with colleagues at Acqua Hotel’s wine and cheese reception. Or, hop on a free bike for a ride along the adjacent waterfront path.

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6:30  Dinner & Store Tour

Enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour through the bustling prepared foods operation at Good Earth Natural & Organic Foods. This best-in-class operation features a vast array of all-organic prepared foods programs.

Day 2 – Wednesday, May 10, 2023

9:00  Good Earth Store Tour Q&A

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9:30  Foodservice Financials 

Working through a prepared foods case study we’ll deepen your financial skills and give you tools to better teach your team about sales, margin and labor. We make this interesting for leaders of all financial skill levels and no one leaves this segment without better understanding and/or enjoying numbers.

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11:00  Recipe Costing & Margin Pricing  

Food costs continue climbing and you need an efficient way to make sure your products are priced to generate  appropriate margins. Costing “beginners” will explore a variety of recipe costing procedures, discuss tips and tribulations, and complete a recipe costing exercise to ensure everyone leaves clear, confident and capable. "Advanced" costing system participants will explore variable margin pricing techniques and strategies, and pro tips to ensure you're working with clean data, conversions and shrinks, and achieving precise inventory counts.  

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12:30  Catered Hot Lunch 

Dining al fresco, on the bay. 

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1:30 Beautiful Boxed Salads Costing Exercise

We'll fine-tune and complete yesterday's creative program and recipe development work, ensuring our pricing achieves healthy margins. 

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2:30  Snappy Sandwiches 

Strategies and pro tips for developing delectable menus of sandwich products. And, a hands-on, small group product development game that will leave you inspired and confident of bringing your new ideas to fruition.

4:15 Huddle Up!

The single-most efficient and effective staff communications plan is also your best platform for raising the bar and creating an environment of growth, opportunity and excellence. And, a template and guidelines for making the most of weekly team leader meetings. 

5:15  Wine & Cheese Reception / Evening Break

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6:00  Adjournment

Dinner is on your own. We'll share recommendations from among the dozens of fantastic nearby restaurants.

Day 3 – Thursday, May 11, 2023

9:00 Essential Systems for Production Planning & Analysis

We'll share our simple, scalable and highly effective process for optimizing your production planning – to master the art of maximizing sales, minimizing labor and waste, and all while never running out of your top-sellers. It's actually science more than art and you'll be amazed at how easy our system can work for you. 

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10:15  Making the Most of Movement Reports  

Learn how to organize, analyze and act on your department's sales and margin data to ensure you achieve your margin goals.  

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11:15 This & That, Etc.: Signage, Manuals, Forms + More!  

A menagerie of pro tips for upgrading your service mojo, creating merchandising magic, and systems for running a smooth and highly communicative best-in-class operation.

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11:45 Catered Lunch with (Optional) Break-Out Conversations

Dining al fresco, on the bay. Choose from any of several conversations, with topics nominated by participants.

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1:00 Reimagining Hot Foods  

With many hot food bars remaining pandemic- and/or labor-handicapped, we'll share creative ideas and options for making the most with what you have -- and adding more hot food products to your repertoire.   

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2:15  50 Ways to Grow Sales by $50 a Day  

Easy ideas for incrementally growing and improving any prepared foods operation. 

4:00  Plans For Change 

Breakthrough strategies to help you identify priorities -- from which you’ll develop an agenda, timeline and plans for making the most of your seminar experience.

4:45  Endings & Evaluations 

5:00  Wine & Cheese Reception / Evening Break

6:30  Dinner At Avatar’s

Your tastebuds will dance on flavor-packed Indian-Caribbean fusion sensations, made with organic and local ingredients.

Updated 9/6/22