F&B
Corin Hirsch
Ask about food
prep and storage
— and the water
system.
Whether your attendees are from Shanghai or Madrid, Dhaka or Des Moines, they all
have at least one thing in common: They
need to eat. But where, how, and when
you seat them, and what you feed them,
can vary tremendously from country to
country — meaning that North American meeting professionals who work
globally must navigate a maze of local
food-and-beverage practices, pricing
structures, expectations, and customs.
KEEPING IT SAFE
Before anyone takes that first sip of coffee, you need to know that on-site food
and drink are safe to consume. “You
certainly need to have an understanding
of the regulations around the food that
you’re going to eat,” said Phelps Hope,
CMP, senior vice president of Kellen,
which oversees 400 global meetings
each year, 50 of them outbound from
the United States. “Let’s say there is
no indication of the quality standards
behind [a venue’s] food prep, storage,
and so forth. Then you really want to
dig deep on everything from ordering
the food and how they store the food, to
how they prep the food, to how they mix
their raw meats with their vegetables, all
those kinds of things. When you do the
site inspection, go look at their walk-in
cooler, and look at how the food is stored.
Go on the back [loading] dock and look
for rats, or spilled food, or whatever else.
Go watch the prep kitchen. Have them
escort you through that area.”
And don’t overlook your water sup-
ply. If municipal water is untreated, as
in parts of Mexico and South America,
rote acts such as brushing one’s teeth
or eating a piece of rinsed fruit could
have unwelcome health consequences.
“Water is critical all over,” Hope said.
“Ask, where is the water coming from?
What are the pipe systems like? Are
there nasty bacteria in the water? And
if you’re going to have an open bar and
you’re going to have mixed drinks and
ice, where is the ice coming from? Is it
purified water or not?”
ALL ABOUT TIMING
Breakfast at eight, lunch at noon, dinner
at six — not everyone adheres to these
traditional North American mealtimes.
“Timing is something that a lot of asso-
ciations that aren’t naturally global
sometimes forget about,” said Michelle
Crowley, PCMA’s director of global
development. “When they plan a meet-
ing in Europe, will they schedule lunch
to start at noon, or more like 1 [p.m.]? If
[lunch is] at one, what does that mean as
far as your breaks before and after, and
so forth?”
In parts of Latin America and Europe,
lunch is often the longest meal of the day
— and that time needs to be built into the
schedule. “In Latin America, lunch is
usually a sit-down, full meal with wine,”
Crowley said. “If your lunch is at 1: 30
p.m., it’s going to be 3: 30 p.m. before
you’re done.”
Also know when it’s not time to eat,
such as prayer times in Middle Eastern
countries. (Devout Muslims pray five
times per day.) “What time are you
doing your food service, and is it right
on one of the prayer times?” Hope said.
“If you’re going to start the buffet service right after prayer time, you’ve got
a disconnect. That’s assuming you have
a lot of attendees from the Middle East
coming in.”
Coffee Talk
Coffee makes the networking
break go ’round, right? Not everywhere. In China, “It’s all about
tea,” said Kellen’s Phelps Hope,
CMP. “And you can’t get through
a tea break without some kind
of snack-food item. It could
be a little square pastry item,
or something of that nature.”
Similarly, according to PCMA’s
Michelle Crowley, “In Singapore,
and most Asian cultures, you
would never have a refreshment
break without food.”
Also, attendees who expect to
talk business across the table
should think about timing. In
Latin America, “They have the
concept of sobre la mesa, which
is ‘over the table,’” Crowley said.
“That is where the real business
conversation is, and it doesn’t
begin until after the meal is done
or you’re on dessert. You’ll expect
to stick around for more than a
usual lunch hour.”
ON THE WEB
Read “Dining Etiquette From
Around the World,” a Huffington
Post article, at convn.org/
worlddiningetiquette.
F&B is supported by the Louisville
Convention & Visitors Bureau,
gotolouisville.com.
Breaking Bread, East to West
Planning attendee meals abroad can be tricky. These seasoned
meeting professionals offer a roadmap for keeping budgets —
and appetites — in check.
