The Food Scout

In many ways, 2008 was the coming out party for tea - both iced and hot - and now the question is how much hotter the tea trend can get.  Tea has long been the "alternative" beverage: It was just the right compromise when you didn't want just water or a sweet beverage with your restaurant meal. And if you weren't a coffee lover, but wanted to partake in the coffee culture, tea was there to provide a cup of status that was more drinkable than a stout cup of java.  But thanks to the time-honored tradition of pre-sweetened iced tea in the South, which was institutionalized and spread by McAlister's Deli chain ...

I'm on a Food Scout mission right now, visiting some supermarkets in the Chicago area. Today at Dominick's new Lifestyle store downtown, I noticed this big kiosk with dozens of different gift cards from all kinds of companies, inviting you to put some money on some and give them as gifts. One whole side was dedicated to "dining out" gift cards from companies including PF Changs, Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, California Pizza Kitchen, Starbucks, and McDonalds.   For someone who wants to give away money to everyone , and wants to ensure that the recipient actually treats themselves to a gift, rather than spends the money on groceries or gas, this is ...

You may have heard in recent news that Spain is now producing "ethical" fois gras to help sidestep some of the controversy that caused fois gras to be banned in Chicago restaurants a couple of years ago. Times have obviously changed, as this is one of the many concerns that has fallen to the very bottom of the priority list, now that consumers and restaurants alike have gone on an "eating out diet." Foodservice was growing in recent years on the assumption that eating out had become a way of life--not just a special occasion--for consumers living in a time-crunched, convenience-driven world. But as gas prices rose and the stock market fell, ...

Raise your hand if you weren't eating at least a bagel a day in the early 1990s. If you lived or worked in an urban area, chances are you bought that bagel from a specialty bagel shop, where bagels were made fresh (gasp) daily. And you had numerous varieties to choose from, like chocolate chip, spinach asiago, blueberry, multigrain, cinnamon sugar, etc. Bagels were a DESTINATION, and bagel shops proliferated around the country. But it wasn't long before every restaurant from Burger King to Pancake House was selling bagels, and bagels stopped being the gourmet, fresh-baked delicacy they started as, and instead became more of a mass-produced bread staple to accompany ...

When it comes to quantifying environmental savings, the impact just from food industry changes boggles the mind. But these numbers don't impress everyone, however. The proliferation of Green claims in the media has inspired a term called “greenwashing,” and now sustainability efforts are being measured and judged for their significance and authenticity before being endorsed. The risk that companies now face is potential consumer backlash for efforts that are deemed misleading or unworthy. Here’s the rest of the list of the major types of initiatives and the reactions they have inspired: Recycled News:  It’s getting easier to source cups, napkins and other paper goods that have some recycled materials in them, ...