From left : Kingfish , corn , cucumber , yuzu and fish floss at ICC Sydney ; BCEC sources fresh produce from Brisbane markets ; culinary offering at BCEC .
Top left : Parrtjima – A festival in light . Above : Drum Atweme . Left : NT ambassador Lisa Wilkinson with the famil group .
dishes are already gluten free , and for those with an allergy or additional dietary need , we ’ ll make something like a vegetable and chickpea tagine at the same time as a lamb tagine , so dishes are presented seamlessly .”
Also noticing a trend in the number of special dietary needs , Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre ( BCEC ) recently introduced a dedicated dietary kitchen , to ensure the utmost care and consideration goes into every meal .
BCEC executive chef Martin Latter says the kitchen was built to cater for the everincreasing number of special food requests .
“ Ten years ago you were a vegetarian or you weren ’ t . Today , if I have a 1000 pax function I could have 25 per cent dietary requirements and out of those there could be 60 plus different requirements ,” he says .
“ We have set up a purposebuilt dietary kitchen where we will be looking after the dietary needs of everyone that comes through the building .”
Latter says BCEC have taken something that was once “ the bug of the industry ” and changed it into something more positive .
“ We ’ ve broken that down and said well we will turn this into a positive ,” he says .
“ We will start working with not just the PCOs and the clients but also working with the Heart Foundation and those sorts of bodies where we can work together to provide quality product and quality food to people who require these dietary needs .
“ We ’ ll be making sure everyone ’ s needs are taken care of .”
BCEC have also recently launched the Fill Up on Life food philosophy , which focusses on utilising Queensland produce .
Latter says not only are fresh produce and quality ingredients important to delegates , they also value the experience of watching their meals being cooked in front of them .
“ We ’ re getting a lot of requests for and fantastic response from what we call street food catering , where there ’ s live cooking in front of guests and interaction with the chefs ,” he says .
For example , BCEC set up salad and sandwich bars where chefs make meals on the spot , tailored specifically to the delegates ’ tastes and dietary requirements .
“ That ’ s a huge trend and moving forward we ’ re putting together all these different types of food concepts , and talking to the PCOs , clients and guests about what they ’ re looking for ,” says Latter .
www . cimmagazine . com Convention & Incentive Marketing , Issue 1 , 2017 21