Chef Jason Zimmerman made Mexican dishes better using U.S.-grown rice
Oct 31, 2022
ORLANDO, FL – Earlier this month, USA Rice kicked off a partnership with the Performance Foodservice Group (PFG) and attended the PFG FoodCentric Marketplace conference and trade show as part of the organization’s foodservice distributor engagement program.
At the show, USA Rice hosted an educational session featuring a chef-led culinary demonstration and discussion on how U.S.-grown rice can help foodservice operations increase profits and provide labor saving opportunities while still delivering authentic flavors and dishes. The forty-five-minute Authentic Flavors to Maximize Profit & Labor session with Senior R&D Chef Jason Zimmerman was open to all 2,000 PFG customers and associates in attendance.
During the session, Chef Zimmerman promoted the importance of U.S.-grown rice for any menu spotlighting relevant foodservice statistics, discussed the power of rice to boost profit margins and offset back of house labor issues, and highlighted the versatility of rice through a live cooking demonstration on the event stage. Zimmerman prepared two rice dishes using domestic long grain rice, a Mexican Chili Crunch Rice Bowl with Salsa Macha and Mexican Breaded Rice Patties with Salsa Borracha. The audience received recipe cards for both dishes that also contained information on the U.S.-grown difference and partnership opportunities with USA Rice.
“At a time when foodservice operators are still dealing with rising prices, decreased customer traffic, unavailable ingredients, and labor concerns, the USA Rice session on how operators can use domestic rice to address those issues was spot on,” said Cameron Jacobs, USA Rice senior director of domestic promotion. “Our educational session showcased everything U.S.-grown rice can bring to an operation and positioned USA Rice as the ultimate resource for all things rice-related to an engaged audience of industry insiders.”
USA Rice was promoted on signage throughout the FoodCentric Marketplace, prominently displayed in the Hispanic food brands sections of the show, and included in all rice category informational brochures.
“Working with PFG, one of the largest distributors in the country with a proven track record of lifting sales on a spotlighted commodity, allows the domestic rice industry to increase exposure, education, and growth opportunities internally and with operator customers,” Jacobs said. “And at the FoodCentric show, we were able to engage directly with PFG customers, make valuable connections within the distributor and supplier network, and check-in with member brands.”
Performance Foodservice Group is the number two foodservice distributor in the U.S. with 65 operating companies, 3,000 sales associates, and 150,000 customers. PFG sells 1.9 million cases of rice annually, ninety-seven percent of which is U.S.-grown.
“We have plans for continued engagement with foodservice, including ad placements, sales team and customer promotions, coverage in internal and external newsletters, and the addition of USA Rice resources to the PFG digital resource library used by 3,000 distributor sales and marketing professionals,” Jacobs concluded.