MEDIA RELEASE
27TH JUNE 2005
Menus Of The Future Arrive In NZ
A world-first online recipe development site that allows chefs to analyse the nutritional value of meals could change
the way in which menus are developed and presented in restaurants to rest-homes.
MyRecipes (www.myrecipes.co.nz) was developed by Auckland-based menu consultancy company Menu Du Jour which specialises in maximising profits through
menus. The new site offers chefs a safe and secure environment to input recipes down to the smallest measurement while
tracking ingredient costs and availability. Ingredient pricing is updated directly from nation-wide suppliers who are
also linked to the site.
MyRecipes is the brainchild of former chef and Menu du Jour owner Gavin Lovett. Lovett worked closely with Dunedin-based
dietitian Amber Strong to develop the site which also features a unique Menu Guide labeling system. The labeling system
allows chefs to identify items and suppliers matching special criteria like organic, GE Free, Kosher, sugar free, low
fat and gluten free. These can then be incorporated into menus and recipe cards.
Lovett believes everyone from restaurants, cafes, fast food chains to schools, rest-homes and hospitals will one day be
required to provide more nutritional information to diners – particularly in light of the mounting obesity debate.
“Currently the American Congress is considering whether or not to adopt the Menu Education and Labeling Act which would
require menus to list calories, fat, carbohydrates and sodium levels,” he says. “The aim is to curb the rising cost of
obesity in the States which is estimated to be US$117 billion in health care and related costs each year. A third of
Americans aged 20 plus are obese while 15 per cent of children aged six to 19 are overweight and unfortunately, a
similar trend is occurring in New Zealand.”
The Americans have identified restaurants as playing a crucial role in food education given they are dining out twice as
much as they were in 1970 when going out to dinner was considered a ‘treat’.
According to the Restaurant Association of New Zealand there are now close to 10,000 food outlets nation-wide with 48%
of total meals being dinner and 80% of annual sales in the restaurant, café and takeaway bar areas.
Lovett says incorporating a nutritional component in MyRecipes was vital given the increasingly important role diet
plays in overall wellbeing.
“It was great to have Amber’s input in terms of the nutritional component of food as she has specialised in nutritional
issues for corporates and non-corporate groups, as well as the food industry, for several years. She also has a
particular interest in allergy, intolerance, nutrition and diabetes.”
“What we eat plays a direct role in overall wellbeing,” adds Strong, “and through my dietitian work I am finding an
increasing number of people are struggling with restaurant menus or finding it hard to get food at the supermarket that
meets their dietary requirements. That is why MyRecipes is such a great tool for those working in the area of menu
development or preparation. It not only allows them to cost entire menus in a few hours, it also allows them to easily
develop menus that meet a wide range of dietary needs.”
Lovett says MyRecipes was born after he took a head chef role at a Dutch café during his OE. “The café I was working in
was having a rough time with a succession of owners over a short period of time,” he explains. “I was passionate about
the business and wanted it to work so I went about costing a new menu I was introducing. I realised then that costing
and creating recipes for menus is a time-consuming task that can tie up chefs for sometimes days. But it’s an essential
job given the most critical consideration in running a profitable business is appreciating your recipe costs and pricing
your menu accordingly.
“When I returned to New Zealand, I established Menu Du Jour, which is essentially a menu consultancy company offering
everything from menu development and analysis to menu design and covers. But my goal was to create an online recipe
costing and analysis service to streamline the process. MyRecipes is the end result and gives chefs the ability to cost
their entire menu in one evening which is a huge saving in both time and money. It’s like a cookbook accessible from
anywhere in the world with up to the minute ingredient costs. There is no time spent setting programs up or entering
ingredient costs, yields or seasonal availability, you simply login and cost your entire menu in a few hours.”
COMPANY BACKGROUNDER
MENU DU JOUR
Menu Du Jour is New Zealand's only menu consultancy company providing tailored solutions for food service establishments
seeking maximum profit from their best in-house marketing tool – their menu. Menu Du Jour is also the provider and
creator of MyRecipes – an innovative and easy way for chefs to cost and analyse menus, and find nutritional information,
online.
With a specialised team of consultant chefs, a menu designer and a registered dietitian, Menu Du Jour work with
establishments from a la carte restaurants to cafes, pubs, caterers and institutions New Zealand wide.
GAVIN LOVETT
Gavin is the founder of Menu Du Jour. He is the driving force behind the business and referred to by some as the ‘menu
doctor’. Gavin is an entrepreneur with a passion for cooking and great menus which he believes are the secrets behind
every successful establishment. He graduated from Manukau Institute of Technology with a Trade Certificate in
Professional Cookery and has worked in diverse and interesting operations from airline kitchens to hotels to small cafes
and bars both locally and overseas. Gavin was cooking in a café in the Netherlands when he identified a need for an
online system which assisted operations of all sizes to cost and develop profitable, nutritional menus. The end result
is Menu Du Jour from which MyRecipes was born – creating an international first.
AMBER STRONG
Welllington-based dietitian Amber Strong developed the nutritional components of MyRecipes. She has a special interest
in diabetes and allergy and intolerance. Currently Amber is completing a MSc at Otago University. She also writes for
Allergy New Zealand magazine Allergy Today and assists clients with a range of allergy and intolerance conditions.
PAUL MASKERY
Consultant chef Paul Maskery has over 12 years experience in New Zealand and overseas including a number of senior roles
in award winning restaurants such as Harbourside, Orbit and the Relish Group establishments. Paul was also executive
chef at leading restaurants like Auckland’s Soul Bar and Bistro, the Hunting Lodge, Novotel Rotorua and Novotel
Auckland. Paul has led a team of chefs in Noosa at a famous Hasting Street restaurant. He currently teaches cooking at
the Auckland Fish Market and acts as a consultant chef to Menu Du Jour.
NICOLA LOECKMANN
Before joining Menu Du Jour as menu designer, Nicola worked in various full service advertising agencies in Europe
specialising in event and architecture design. This experience in advertising, along with study in communication
sciences involving marketing, statistics and research, makes Nicola uniquely qualified for menu design and Nicolas
designs are said by many to be the best in New Zealand.
ENDS