Figure 1. This was the set up I had outside of the cafeteria. I had three handouts, one on benefits of going meatless one day per week, one of the FAQs about the Nutrition of doing so, and the last page was about the Beyond Burger product Hi everyone! My name is Michelle Suriani and I am a dietetic intern at the New Bedford, Massachusetts campus. I recently finished my food service management rotation and I had such a great experience! I was placed at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts. Their cafeteria is well-known for their delicious and high-quality food; people from the surrounding office buildings and members of the community dine at the cafeteria for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
The customer count at this facility is usually around 1000 transactions per day, so I was nervous about choosing an idea for my retail marketing project. I wanted to make sure I picked an item that would be popular, but I also wanted to make sure the theme was something I was interested in. For my retail marketing project, I wanted to focus on going meatless 1 day a week (think Meatless Monday) and the benefits that it can have on your health. It is a topic I feel strongly about and something I encourage others to learn and read about because of the benefits it can have on you, the environment, and on the animals. However, I knew this topic may not be a slam dunk for the hospital goers.
The hospital’s patients and employees includes a large Portuguese population. Portuguese cuisine typically tends to be centered around meat and fish dishes, so I wanted to challenge the community to think differently when building their meals. I talked to the executive chef about what I should do to help build my meal. After discussing a few recipes, we decided to try out a meatless taco. A few months prior, the chef had a vendor visit with a new plant based meat product called The Beyond BurgerTM, which he wanted to try out in the cafeteria. We decided to incorporate the product into the recipe, and my Taco Tuesday idea was born.
The customer count at this facility is usually around 1000 transactions per day, so I was nervous about choosing an idea for my retail marketing project. I wanted to make sure I picked an item that would be popular, but I also wanted to make sure the theme was something I was interested in. For my retail marketing project, I wanted to focus on going meatless 1 day a week (think Meatless Monday) and the benefits that it can have on your health. It is a topic I feel strongly about and something I encourage others to learn and read about because of the benefits it can have on you, the environment, and on the animals. However, I knew this topic may not be a slam dunk for the hospital goers.
The hospital’s patients and employees includes a large Portuguese population. Portuguese cuisine typically tends to be centered around meat and fish dishes, so I wanted to challenge the community to think differently when building their meals. I talked to the executive chef about what I should do to help build my meal. After discussing a few recipes, we decided to try out a meatless taco. A few months prior, the chef had a vendor visit with a new plant based meat product called The Beyond BurgerTM, which he wanted to try out in the cafeteria. We decided to incorporate the product into the recipe, and my Taco Tuesday idea was born.
Figure 2. This is the Theme station where my dish was featured. I decorated the area for the Taco Tuesday theme. I decided I would set up a table by the entrance of the cafeteria to educate the visitors about the benefits of going meatless one day a week. I would then encourage them to try the meatless taco. On the day of the event, some people had mixed feelings about a meal with a meat substitute, however, many people were interested in the educational materials I had and asked great questions about how to implement a meatless day into their week. Although I was initially nervous about the taco, it received many great reviews. The idea of taking a risky product and putting it in a universally loved meal ended up being a smart move. The next day, the chef and I confirmed the recipe's success, we had sold out of the taco at both lunch and dinner. The case of Beyond beef we purchased was estimated to make 53 portions, and we sold 55 portions. In the end, I took a risk, and it paid off. I had a great time talking to the cafeteria patrons and enjoyed the challenge of asking them to think outside of their comfort zone. I encourage you all who haven’t completed this project yet to be creative! If you have an idea you want to try out and you think it’s a risk, take on the challenge! The result may surprise you.
