Culinary Center of Monterey promotes team building
Culinary Center of Monterey promotes team building
MONTEREY, CA " The Culinary Center of Monterey, here on Cannery Row, is gaining recognition not just for teaching budding chefs how to ply their craft but also for bringing a sense of togetherness to visiting businesses.
In its four-plus years, CCM?s corporate team-building service has attracted clients as diverse as the Pentagon, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc. Mary Pagan, executive chef and owner of CCM, figures that more than 15,000 people have cooked in CCM?s kitchens.
The three- or four-hour hands-on team-building classes " which include instruction, demonstrations and presentations by professional chefs " have a way of fostering communication, cooperation and team spirit for the company?s involved, according to Ms. Pagan, who said, "One of the most social things we do is sit down and eat together."
The team-building classes allow bonding to occur in a way that might not happen in the workplace, Ms. Pagan said. CCM uses recipes as a tool to teach people about food and cooking, she said.
?The students have a lot of tasks and they have to make a lot of decisions," Ms. Pagan said.
For a produce company providing its own items for a dinner, there?s the opportunity for the staff taking part in the team building to return to their workplace "enthused about their own product and their workplace," Ms. Pagan said.
In the case of employees who typically work together, they get to interact with each other outside the workplace. For workers within a company who typically don?t work with each other, the team-building exercise can draw them closer.
Masterfoods " which owns "Uncle Ben?s? rice " has even brought in people who handle public relations for the brand for the team-building program. "They?re not necessarily foodies, but they care about it," Ms. Pagan said.
The dishes and special touches that CCM chef?s create also can teach the visiting company about the potential of their product that they may not have fully realized, Ms. Pagan said.
Driscoll Strawberry Associates " which has participated in the team building for several years " is putting foodservice emphasis on its entire Berry Patch program, which includes its blueberry and blackberry programs. Berries have been incorporated in all phases of the team-building menu: sauces, salads, entrees and desserts.
?The first year there was a rice dish with blueberries folded in," said Randy Benko, Driscoll?s foodservice sales manager. "The berries were heated, they swelled up and the flavor was incredible. We would never have thought of it."
The team-building attendees each received a copy of the recipes that were added to Driscoll?s foodservice recipe bank.
Mr. Benko said that the team-building classes at CCM have helped Driscoll "deliver on our corporate mission to strengthen the alignment of growers, customers and staff," adding that the company wants "to focus on the people who are consuming our products."
Ms. Pagan and her staff collaborated with Driscoll on the recipes. The team-building attendees each received a copy of the recipes that were added to Driscoll?s foodservice recipe bank.
CCM has brought together a cross-section of Driscoll?s customers, some distributors, operators and other foodservice executives. Driscoll will be going back to the CCM for the third year this coming July.
Team-building classes at the 10,000-square-foot facility overlooking Monterey Bay cost around $125 per person and include syllabi and complete meals.
In August, CCM became a state-accredited vocational school. It also offers one-day, hands-on classes for the general public and cooking aficionados, and also hosts special events.
In addition, produce companies bring in their customers to sample their wares as prepared by CCM?s chefs. Greg Reinauer, vice president of sales and marketing for Seattle-based Amerifresh Inc., and Gina Nucci, director of foodservice marketing for Salinas-based Mann Packing Co. Inc., have jointly coordinated events for such purposes.
?When companies bring in a targeted audience at CCM events " such as foodservice companies " it can go a long way toward giving their products exposure," Ms. Pagan said.
In its four-plus years, CCM?s corporate team-building service has attracted clients as diverse as the Pentagon, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc. Mary Pagan, executive chef and owner of CCM, figures that more than 15,000 people have cooked in CCM?s kitchens.
The three- or four-hour hands-on team-building classes " which include instruction, demonstrations and presentations by professional chefs " have a way of fostering communication, cooperation and team spirit for the company?s involved, according to Ms. Pagan, who said, "One of the most social things we do is sit down and eat together."
The team-building classes allow bonding to occur in a way that might not happen in the workplace, Ms. Pagan said. CCM uses recipes as a tool to teach people about food and cooking, she said.
?The students have a lot of tasks and they have to make a lot of decisions," Ms. Pagan said.
For a produce company providing its own items for a dinner, there?s the opportunity for the staff taking part in the team building to return to their workplace "enthused about their own product and their workplace," Ms. Pagan said.
In the case of employees who typically work together, they get to interact with each other outside the workplace. For workers within a company who typically don?t work with each other, the team-building exercise can draw them closer.
Masterfoods " which owns "Uncle Ben?s? rice " has even brought in people who handle public relations for the brand for the team-building program. "They?re not necessarily foodies, but they care about it," Ms. Pagan said.
The dishes and special touches that CCM chef?s create also can teach the visiting company about the potential of their product that they may not have fully realized, Ms. Pagan said.
Driscoll Strawberry Associates " which has participated in the team building for several years " is putting foodservice emphasis on its entire Berry Patch program, which includes its blueberry and blackberry programs. Berries have been incorporated in all phases of the team-building menu: sauces, salads, entrees and desserts.
?The first year there was a rice dish with blueberries folded in," said Randy Benko, Driscoll?s foodservice sales manager. "The berries were heated, they swelled up and the flavor was incredible. We would never have thought of it."
The team-building attendees each received a copy of the recipes that were added to Driscoll?s foodservice recipe bank.
Mr. Benko said that the team-building classes at CCM have helped Driscoll "deliver on our corporate mission to strengthen the alignment of growers, customers and staff," adding that the company wants "to focus on the people who are consuming our products."
Ms. Pagan and her staff collaborated with Driscoll on the recipes. The team-building attendees each received a copy of the recipes that were added to Driscoll?s foodservice recipe bank.
CCM has brought together a cross-section of Driscoll?s customers, some distributors, operators and other foodservice executives. Driscoll will be going back to the CCM for the third year this coming July.
Team-building classes at the 10,000-square-foot facility overlooking Monterey Bay cost around $125 per person and include syllabi and complete meals.
In August, CCM became a state-accredited vocational school. It also offers one-day, hands-on classes for the general public and cooking aficionados, and also hosts special events.
In addition, produce companies bring in their customers to sample their wares as prepared by CCM?s chefs. Greg Reinauer, vice president of sales and marketing for Seattle-based Amerifresh Inc., and Gina Nucci, director of foodservice marketing for Salinas-based Mann Packing Co. Inc., have jointly coordinated events for such purposes.
?When companies bring in a targeted audience at CCM events " such as foodservice companies " it can go a long way toward giving their products exposure," Ms. Pagan said.
