LISLE, Ill., May 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield Foods hosted an exclusive culinary event Sunday in Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center. Smithfield’s MenuQuest event was hosted by celebrity chef Fabio Viviani and attended by many leading Foodservice professionals. Smithfield also showcased its support of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry® campaign by donating $5,000 in its ongoing support of the organization.
MenuQuest is an innovative program that offers strategic council to restaurants and food service providers. It lends its culinary expertise to assist with menu innovation and culinary consultation. This year’s MenuQuest event featured several unique tasting stations driven by daypart themed recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The event also highlighted concepts focused on snacks and desserts. A unique station dedicated to exploring ethnic flavors, all using Smithfield products, was the centerpiece of the tasting stations.
Helping to host this experience was Chef Fabio Viviani. Chef Viviani has possessed a true passion for food since his early childhood days growing up in Florence, Italy. He made his television debut on Bravo's hit reality series "Top Chef" and has since launched several top restaurants, written numerous cookbooks and has launched multiple successful food and cooking product lines.
"Smithfield Foods is committed to delivering exceptional products and value-added services to food service operators,” said Chuck Gitkin, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Smithfield Foods. “MenuQuest is a proprietary Smithfield Foods service that provides operators with the latest trend information and culinary support to drive their menu strategies and delight their guests. This event showcased a number of leading trends, including the blurring of dayparts in food service, with intriguing menu applications. We were delighted to have Chef Viviani host this event with us as well as the opportunity to continue to support the No Kid Hungry mission to end childhood hunger in America.”
For more information on MenuQuest or to schedule a consultation, contact your Smithfield Foods sales representative.
About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Nathan's Famous®, Farmland®, Armour®, Cook's®, John Morrell®, Gwaltney®, Kretschmar®, Margherita®, Curly's®, Carando® and Healthy Ones®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.
About Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry Campaign
No child should grow up hungry in America, but one in five children struggles with hunger. Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry® campaign is ending childhood hunger in America by ensuring all children get the healthy food they need, every day. The No Kid Hungry campaign connects kids in need to effective nutrition programs like school breakfast and summer meals and teaches low-income families to cook healthy, affordable meals through Cooking Matters. This work is accomplished through the No Kid Hungry network, made up of private citizens, public officials, nonprofits, business leaders and others providing innovative hunger solutions in their communities. Join us at NoKidHungry.org.