As part of our effort to incorporate thought leadership and engagement into our virtual meetings, we added roundtable functionality to our ECRM Connect virtual meeting platform.

Many of our Food & Beverage sessions now include several of these Thought Interaction Pod roundtable discussions, each on a different topic and moderated by an industry expert, and they are slotted into each session participant’s schedule so that everyone has the opportunity to participate.

Up to 10 buyer and seller participants can join each roundtable, and to ensure that everyone can tap into the insights from each, ECRM’s VP of Content Joseph Tarnowski interviewed the moderators of each roundtable, who provided some key takeaways from the buyers and sellers who shared their thoughts during the converation. Below are the video recaps of each roundtable. (Please note that there were four topics, but as Datassential provided two of the moderators, Joe interviewed them both together). 

ECRM has three foodservice virtual sessions coming up in March:

• On & Off Premises Adult Beverage (March 02, 2021 - March 04, 2021)
• Foodservice (March 23, 2021 - March 25, 2021)
• Foodservice Supplies & Equipment (March 25, 2021 - March 26, 2021)

Sustainability & Plant-Based Foods Trends

Two Datassential Client Solutions Managers each moderated a foodservice roundtable on a different topic, and were interviewed together.

Marie Molde moderated a roundtable that explored whether or not sustainability has become a larger focus among foodservice guests due to the pandemic. 

Ian O'Neil moderated a roundtable on plant based trends and the evolution of healthy eating. 

Temporary vs. Permanent: What Will Stay and What Will Go After COVID

Charley Orwig, VP of Marketing & Customer Category Solutions for DMA, spoke with buyers and sellers about which COVID-related changes in foodservice will likely stay after the pandemic is gone.

Pivots for Success: Best Practices During COVID-19

Donald Burns, "The Restaurant Coach" and author of several restaurant books, moderated a roundtable discussion on best practices and outside-the-box strategies operators are implementing to grow their business and win over customers during COVID-19.