March 22, 2012, Toronto – Thousands of chefs, restaurateurs, students
and industry professionals attended the 2012 Canadian Restaurant and
Foodservices Association (CRFA) show over three days of demonstrations,
networking, and exhibits of new products and services.
March 22, 2012, Toronto – Thousands of chefs, restaurateurs, students
and industry professionals attended the 2012 Canadian Restaurant and
Foodservices Association (CRFA) show over three days of demonstrations,
networking, and exhibits of new products and services.
Held from March 4-6 at Toronto’s Direct Energy Centre, 12,000 guests
attended the show, taking in more than 1,200 exhibitors, 32 educational
seminars, six chef demos, competitions and myriad opportunities for new
ideas to help grow and develop their foodservice and hospitality
businesses.
Inspiration and ideas
The Breakfast with Champions on March 6 featured keynote speaker Ron
MacLean and five other industry stakeholders on a panel sharing insights
and inspirational business lessons for real-life situations: Mark
Pacinda, president and CEO of Boston Pizza International Inc., Donna
Dooher, chef, restaurateur and CRFA chair, Kevin Friesen, chief
operating officer of Scores Rotisserie, Warren Erhart, president and CEO
of White Spot Hospitality and John Betts, president and CEO of
McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Ltd.
Show awards
Four exhibitors were honoured with best booth awards: Gala Bakery
received the award for best small booth, Rational received the best
traffic-building booth title, Embassy of Mexico Agricultural office
received the best large booth award, and Delicious World Corp. were
honoured with the best first-year exhibitor title.
Canada’s Bunn-O-Matic Corporation was honoured with a loyalty award, recognizing 50 years of participation at the show.
Brianne Nash, chef at Saucy restaurant in Mississauga, Ont., won the
Discovered Culinary Competition after enduring four months of
preliminary competitions involving more than 50 competitors and 23
judges. Nash beat 15 other finalists, winning the grand prize of a trip
to Spain to train in the kitchen of Michelin-star restaurant Casa
Gerardo.
Special visitors
Ambassadors, commissioners, city councillors, members of parliament and
other government VIPs from across the GTA, North America and New
Zealand, including Ernesto Maldonado, Mexican agriculture minister
councillor; Doug Ford, Toronto city councillor; Andrew Needs, New
Zealand high commissioner, and Maxime Bernier, federal minister of state
for small business and tourism
Giving back to the community
Second Harvest collected an astounding 22,622 pounds of food from
exhibitors at the show, including fresh fruit and vegetables, canned
goods and sauces, snack foods, fresh salads and dips, breads, meat,
cheese, crackers and snack foods.
In addition, the Stanley Cup made an appearance at the show, giving fans
an opportunity to have their photo taken with the Cup in exchange for a
donation to Friends of We Care, a charity assisting Canadian children
with physical disabilities.
“The entire restaurant and hospitality community came together to make
this the most exciting CRFA Show ever,” says CRFA president and CEO
Garth Whyte. “There were more opportunities than ever to do business,
network and learn about the latest trends and innovation in Canada’s
dynamic restaurant industry.”
The 2013 CRFA Show will return to Toronto’s Direct Energy Centre on March 3-5, 2013.
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