IACC
Making dietary
requirements easy to digest
GLOBAL CONFERENCE VENUE ASSOCIATION IACC CEO MARK COOPER WHETS
THE APPETITE FOR A NEW STANDARD IN MANAGING DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
arly last year, I asked a
room of 200 meeting
planners if managing
dietary needs was a
challenge and around 75% raised their
hands. At that point I knew that this was
an issue that we needed to address as an
industry. Since IACC represents the
most innovative, forward-thinking and
results-driven meeting venues globally, I
decided we would lead the way.
We conducted some research that was
a little more scientific than my hand
raising exercise – insightful though it
had been. IACC’s latest Meeting Room of
the Future study found that 79% of
meeting planners receive more dietary
requests now than they did two years
ago. However, we also found that 25% of
venues offered no training to their staff
on serving people with allergies, and
only 33% of venues include basic
nutritional information on their menus.
I must admit, I was somewhat
surprised that after hearing so many
conversations about dietary needs over
the past few years, only a third of venue
menus contained relevant dietary
information. Another reason for my
surprise is perhaps given that I that
spend a lot of time in IACC certified
venues that take this seriously. The need
for all venues to provide complex dietary
choices is not going away and nor should
it. The sooner the entire industry
embraces this trend as a norm, rather
than an exception, the better it will be. I
see delivering quality and choice in terms
of dietary requirements as a prime
opportunity to provide an excellent
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personalised service to delegates and our
clients.
Venues that offer easy-to-understand
dietary information and choice, create a
clear differentiation for themselves; a
truly worthwhile and altruistic
competitive advantage.
The onus is on us as an industry. Let’s
not make providing for dietary needs a
headache for our clients, let’s take the
pressure off them and bear it as our
responsibility. It’s the right thing to do
and I believe we’ll reap rewards as an
industry from doing so.
Below: Mark
Cooper
Guide to action
It’s time for action, and in collaboration
with the World Obesity Foundation and
other industry partners - MPI, Events
Industry Council and Thrive Meetings
and Events - IACC has produced the
Guide to Managing Conference Delegate
Dietary Requirements. It’s a comprehensive
and insightful breakdown of dietary
requirements in the business conferences,
meetings and events industry.
The guide helps venues, along with
meeting and event planners, to
understand the various types of dietary
requirements and manage the process of
their delivery. The overall aim is to help
ensure delegate health, wellbeing and
personal choice is always respected and
delivered to the highest standards.
This guide is just the beginning, and
IACC expects we will soon begin to see
more training and certifications that
support the competent management of
dietary needs. And the association says it
intends to play its part in this process.
ISSUE 99