What's Cooking for 2011: Adventurous Flavors & Wellness Foods Propel New Food & Beverage Trends

What's Cooking for 2011:
Adventurous Flavors & Wellness Foods Propel New Food & Beverage Trends

New York, January 6, 2011 — Burrowing out of the recession, hungry consumers will be exploring more exotic territory in the quest for unique flavors and nourishing foods in 2011. The Center for Culinary Development (CCD) and Packaged Facts, expert trend trackers, make their predictions on the food and beverage trends that will be buzz-generating this year.

Using CCD’s signature 5–stage Trend Mapping® technique–where Stage 1 trends are emerging from independent restaurants and Stage 5’s have landed in the mainstream–CCD and Packaged Facts have identified eight culinary trends that will be attracting adventurous diners and influencing product development this year. These trends will be profiled in 2011 issues of the bi–monthly Culinary Trend Mapping Report.

Douglas Fir and other "Wild by Nature" Flavors: Stage 1 – Fine dining chefs have a new source for ingredients: nature. They are finding new ingredients by foraging in forests and along seashores, seeking new plants, herbs and flowers to flavor creative dishes and add a touch of the wild. Mixologists will join in the fun adding "wild" flavors at the bar.

Cloudberry: Stage 1 – This alpine and arctic berry is an element of trendy Nordic cuisine. Traditionally made into jams and liqueurs, it’s now appearing in beer, wine and sparkling drinks. Could this be the next elderberry for the beverage world?

Arepas: Stage 1 – This South American griddled cornmeal patty is both tasty and versatile, such that areperias have already spread across Latin America and areas in the U.S. with Colombian and Venezuelan immigrants. One San Francisco–based Venezuelan restaurateur has already turned arepas into trendy sandwich carriers for local foodies, and we expect to see them spread to many more urban areas considering they are filling, delicious, vegetarian–friendly and gluten–free.

Yuzu and Exotic Citrus: Stage 2– We have been spotting new foods made with the floral–flavored Japanese lime at Fancy Food Shows lately and believe this trend is ready to blossom. With lime already such a flavor standard, yuzu and other more specialty citrus varieties like sudachi will offer consumers an exciting exotic twist for salad dressings, beverages and condiments.

Coconut Oil: Stage 2 – The word is spreading about the many health benefits of coconut oil. It has a positive effect on metabolism due to its medium–chain fatty acid structure and also is a great substitute for butter for dairy–free baking and cooking. The fact that it makes stir–fried greens taste great seals the deal.

Popovers &Gougéres: Stage 2–American consumers are ready for new savory baked goods to freshen up the breadbasket. The traditional airy popover and cheesy French cream puff are well positioned to do just that, being versatile, pop–able and novel.

Grass–fed Dairy: Stage 3 – Free of artificial hormones and containing higher levels of healthful fatty acids, products made from grass–fed dairy appeal to both health–focused consumers and those seeking more natural, traditional and authentic foodstuffs.

Umami: Stage 3 – American consumers are becoming more sophisticated about great tastes that come from umami, the fifth flavor found in many fermented and aged products, as well as seaweed, meat stock, parmesan cheese and tomatoes. Expect to see more applications of umami–laden ingredients—soy sauce, fish sauce, dashi, mushroom broths —in 2011.

Overarching interest in Flavor Adventure and Wellness is driving food and flavor trends this year, illustrating how worldly our palates are becoming and how good–for–you foods can also be delicious and a little exotic. Look for our upcoming 2011 Culinary Trend Mapping Reports on Extreme & Edgy Flavors, Baked Goods, Condiments & Sauces, New Old–World Cuisine and Fats & Oils.

The Culinary Trend Mapping Report is co–published by the Center for Culinary Development and Packaged Facts. Individual issues and annual subscriptions are available at www.packagedfacts.com/landing/culinarytrends.asp.

About the Center for Culinary Development — CCD is a full–service food and beverage strategic innovation company that successfully blends culinary creativity with consumer insights, trends and marketing expertise. Visit www.ccdsf.com, or contact Kara Nielsen at (415) 693-8900 x110, kara@ccdsf.com.

About Packaged Facts — Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer goods and retailing, foods and beverages, demographics, pet products and services, and financial products. Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services. To learn more, visit: www.packagedfacts.comFollow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

What is a "Unix Wizard"? How does s/he differ from a "guru"?

I was cleaning out/up my office and found this on an old piece of paper with .cshrc and .login files.

My copy was circa 1987. I lost the original source, but has to be from Usenet jokes group. Could probably do a wholesale search and replace with Linux these days.

People who come into contact with the Unix system are often told, "If you have trouble, see so-and-so, he's a guru", or "Bob there is a real Unix hacker."

What is a "Unix Wizard"? How does s/he differ from a "guru"?

To explore these and other questions, here is a draft of the "Unix Hierarchy":

NAME DESCRIPTION AND FEATURES

beginner

- insecure with the concept of a terminal
- has yet to learn the basics of vi
- has not figured out how to get a directory
- still has trouble with typing after each line of input

novice

- knows that "ls" will produce a directory
- uses the editor, but calls it "vye"
- has heard of "C" but never used it
- has had a bad experience with rm
- is wondering how to read mail
- is wondering why the person next door seems to like Unix so very much

user

- uses vi and nroff, but inexpertly
- has heard of regular expressions but never seen one.
- has figured out that '-' precedes options
- has attempted to write a C program but decided
to stick with Pascal
- is wondering how to move a directory
- thinks that dbx is a brand of stereo component
- knows how to read mail and is wondering how to read the news

knowledgeable user

- uses nroff with no trouble, and is beginning to learn tbl and eqn
- uses grep to search for fixed strings
- has figured out that mv(1) will move directories
- has learned that "learn" doesn't help
- somebody has shown her how to write C programs
- once used sed but checked the file afterward
- watched somebody use dbx once
- tried "make" but used spaces instead of tabs

expert - uses sed when necessary
- uses macros in vi, uses ex when necessary
- posts news at every possible opportunity
- is still wondering how to successfully reply to mail
- writes csh scripts occasionally
- writes C programs using vi and compiles with make
- has figured out what && and || are for
- uses fgrep because somebody said it was faster

hacker

- uses sed and awk with comfort
- uses undocumented features of vi
- writes C code with "cat >" and compiles with "!cc"
- uses adb because she doesn't trust source debuggers
- figured out how environment variables are propagated
- writes her own nroff macros to supplement the standard ones
- writes Bourne shell scripts
- installs bug fixes from the net
- uses egrep because she timed it

guru

- uses m4 and lex with comfort
- writes assembler code with "cat >"
- uses adb on the kernel while the system is loaded
- customizes Unix utilities by patching the source
- reads device driver source with breakfast
- uses "ed" because "ex" is a Berkeleyism
- can answer any unix question after a little thought
- uses make for anything that requires two or more commands
- has learned how to breach security but no longer needs to try
- is putting James Woods/Henry Spencer egrep into her next Unix release

wizard

- writes device drivers with "cat >"
- fixes bugs by patching the binaries
- posts her changes to Unix utilities to the net -- and they work
- can tell what question you are about to ask, and answer it
- writes her own troff macro packages
- is on a first-name basis with Dennis, Bill, and Ken

Boredom is Good For You

Interesting Post

CIO.COM: 2011 6 Hot Workplace Trends

From: www.cio.com

Six Hot Workplace Trends for 2011

– Shane O'Neill, CIO December 14, 2010 Edited JRC

In late 2009, when the unemployment rate reached 10 percent for the first time since the early '80s, everyone hoped that 2010 would be a comeback year. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. After early signs of progress, economic growth sputtered this year and the unemployment rate sits at 9.8 percent as we approach Christmas.

But while 2010 may not have been the turnaround year for which most had hoped, the workplace still evolved in new and exciting ways, according to a recent report by Elance, an online job marketplace for freelance and freelance agencies. Technology and marketing skills and the medium by which they are delivered became even more centered on the Web.

Throughout the year, mobile applications gained on desktop apps as companies focused more on facilitating smartphones and tablet PCs. At the same time, traditional marketing techniques were edged out by Web-based marketing via search engines and social media.

But arguably the most important trend, noted Elance, is the sheer amount of online jobs that are not based at a physical location. While onsite employment remained stagnant in 2010, Elance had its 1 millionth post since 2006 for jobs that are based online. With a current average of 400,000 online jobs posted annually, this trend shows no sign of slowing down, according to Elance CEO Fabrio Rosati.

One thing is clear: It's a digital world, and the smart companies will hire more flexibly and get more work done online in 2011.

Here are seven technology-centered work trends for the coming year that every company and employee needs to know about.

Digital Portfolios Replacing Resumes

It's time to leave that resume on the printer, and build a digital portfolio.

A digital portfolio, be it a LinkedIn profile page or a personal blog or a professional service like Elance that provides tools to build an online work profile, will give employers more insight into a potential hire through online work samples, references and verification of skills than any traditional resume ever could.

"The traditional resume will be extinct in a few years," says Elance CEO Rosati. "They are static and they get out of date very quickly. They're not even meaningful because you can't truly judge a person from words on a paper."

Expect employers to look to digital portfolios and social media footprints even more in 2011 when hiring short- and long-term employees, according to Elance.

Mobile Is the New Desktop

Throughout 2010, it became clear that consumers and businesses want applications that work well on mobile devices. And that will mean more jobs for mobile developers. Elance saw a 98 percent increase in demand for mobile developers in 2010, a strong indication that businesses are deploying touch-screen tablets and mobile devices.

This move to mobile will also affect how Web sites are designed. In 2011, businesses, startups and entrepreneurs developing Web sites should do so with cleaner, more straightforward designs that put mobile first, and the desktop second, says Elance.

Online Work: Hiring in the Cloud

With each year, communication technology keeps improving, making it easier and more efficient for employees to work remotely. In 2011, according to Elance, tools like shared digital workrooms, real-time collaboration, telepresence and online employment platforms to hire employees will make working online not only easier, but also necessary to do business.

The HTML5/Flash War: Programmers Needed

The increasingly popular Web content standard HTML5 may someday topple rival Flash as the leading platform for rich media Web content. But that day has not yet arrived, according to companies posting Flash jobs on Elance.

While demand for HTML5 is indeed growing, Flash is still the leader in rich media content due to the popularity of casual gaming on the Web and the loosening of Apple s App Store restrictions.

But no matter who wins, this is an ongoing war for now, one which offers job opportunities for programmers skilled in both worlds, according to Elance.

Businesses Will Get Even More Social

Google's (GOOG) attempt to purchase deal-of-the-day Web site Groupon for $6 billion may have been a bust, but it's a sign that big business is eager to invest in social media.

This manifests itself in a few ways, according to Elance CEO Fabio Rosati: Companies will invest in more social networking tools; companies will look more to digital profiles and social media footprints when assessing potential employees; and companies will be more social networking-minded when selling and marketing their products, utilizing the digital word-of-mouth aspect of Facebook, Twitter and Groupon.

No matter how you cut it, employees must understand the value of social media, says Rosati, adding that that demand for job candidates with social media skills grew significantly throughout 2010.

The Death of Traditional Marketing

In 2011, according to Elance job listings, businesses will continue to shift investments away from strategies like direct mail and telemarketing, and focus on Web-based promotion and customer acquisition techniques like search engine marketing, search engine optimization and social media marketing.

The Groupon model, where customers are given deals and incentives if they promote the discount they are getting to their friends and colleagues, is a business model many companies would like to emulate, says Rosati.

"A big trend with businesses will be to not just market their products to me, but to use social media to market to me and at the same time tap into my network of friends," says Rosati.