Cuisine Solutions' Osso Bucco Wins 1999 IFCA/IFSA Mercury Award; Company Created Innovative Model to Tackle Industry's Logistical Challenges
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Cuisine Solutions (Nasdaq: CUIS) received the prestigious bronze IFCA/IFSA Mercury Award for its success in transforming a labor-intensive celebrity chef recipe into an efficiently manufactured, upscale entree for Continental Airlines Business First worldwide. Cuisine Solutions demonstrated its expertise in providing upscale products in a seamless worldwide fashion with complete product consistency, high quality and cost-effectiveness. The award was announced at the International Flight Catering Association Conference on Feb. 18th in Nice, France.
"We wanted to create a model which would enable us to take a celebrity chef's recipe and make it available to any passenger in the world," said Mike Aevermann, vice-president of Cuisine Solutions' Onboard Services division. "Our customers face tremendous logistical challenges in consistency and quality when introducing new products to their menus, particularly in the global setting. We provide tailored solutions to help our customers in delivering high quality meals that are guaranteed safe and completely consistent."
The award-winning Osso Bucco is a 9.5 ounces, fully cooked center cut veal shank simmered in its own stock with roasted vegetables. Cuisine Solutions' special sous vide cooking process helped maintain the quality integrity of the original recipe. Sous vide cooking is an upscale cooking method whereby food is slow-cooked in a sealed package with its own natural juices. The results are increased food moisture, guaranteed safety, greater holding times and almost no product shrinkage. The original recipe belongs to Chef Paul Minnillo of The Baricelli Inn Restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio. Chef Minnillo is a member of Continental Airlines' Congress of Chefs.
"From a consistency perspective, Cuisine Solutions faced the challenge of the product's bone height and ratio of meat to bone," said Siegfried Lang, corporate chef of Continental Airlines. "Through tremendous research in raw material suppliers and stringent computer monitoring of the cooking process, Cuisine Solutions achieved success. They also implemented an impressive quality control process with 20 checkpoints."
The Mercury Award is the most prestigious honor in the onboard services industry. The coveted recognition is awarded jointly by the International Flight Catering Association (IFCA) and Inflight Food Service Association (IFSA). Judges from throughout the industry assess entries by the criteria of innovation, quality and application.
Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., Cuisine Solutions is an award-winning innovator of chef-created, fully cooked entrees and sauces. With production facilities in several countries, the company provides quality solutions worldwide to the banquet, transportation, restaurant and home meal replacement industries. |
