Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 1, 1993 TAG: 9309010061
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Even as he spoke, customers balancing small plastic plates, toothpicks and napkins weaved in and out of six aisles worth of vendors' displays, sampling wares and placing orders.
Among this year's hot items were bacon-wrapped turkey tenderloin; a cherry-apple juice mix; a new line of cookies; and macaroni and cheese, which after 30 years is still Stouffer's most popular item.
Shelor estimated that during its stay at the Salem Civic Center on Tuesday and today, the RRS Sports Championship Food Show will generate about $4.5 million in sales for its sponsor, Roanoke Restaurant Service Inc. That doesn't count orders that may come later from customers who attended the show.
Shelor said the food service distribution company, one of about 3,000 in the United States, buys foods and restaurant-related products from manufacturers, then sells and delivers them to users. Its customers include restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, institutions, industrial plants, delicatessens and colleges, each buying $200 to $15,000 worth per week.
Harold Shelor, David Shelor's father who founded the company in 1954, started by selling coffee from a truck. Now, Roanoke Restaurant Service serves customers in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina and does about $100 million in annual business.
The company began staging its annual food shows in 1975 as a way to let its customers see what is available and introduce them to some of its staff other than its 50-member sales force and the truck drivers who deliver the orders.
At this year's show are 180 vendors, brokers and manufacturers displaying their newest products, equipment, supplies and money-making menu ideas.
Customers are encouraged to place orders on the spot, using forms from a massive catalog that lists the 7,800 items available through Roanoke Restaurant Service. Shelor said a restauranteur could open a business using the catalog, which lists everything from food to trash bags, equipment, furnishings and cleaning supplies.
Preferences keep changing, he said. There was a big demand for frozen foods around the time he joined the company in 1972; now the trend is toward heart-healthy products and fresh produce, meats and seafood.
Fresh produce represents about 5 percent of the company's sales, up from 2 percent just three years ago, Shelor said. Coffee sales are up 40 percent in the past year.
The show included seminars on cake-decorating techniques, menus that have a competitive edge, standardizing menus and impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Shelor said the threat of Hurricane Emily prevented some customers from attending. Still, he thought about 4,000 people would visit the show during its run, and about 1,000 of them would buy.
"The industry is good and healthy," he said. "Despite what we're hearing, people are still eating out and when they do, they consider it a special event and they eat dessert."
by CNB