Sysco Food Show
Meadowlands Exposition Center
http://mecexpo.com
355 Plaza Drive
Secaucus, NJ 07094
1,424 days ago, specifically, Friday, October 16, 2008, 5 friends went out for a burger at Arthur’s Steakhouse in Hoboken, NJ. On that day, my Glorious Pursuit of Delicious Burgers began. That means today marks Burger Conquest‘s 4th Burgerthday!
THE STATS
1,424 days
534 blog posts
575 Burgers eaten by Rev (105 thus far in 2012)
18 Wing-Offs
7 TV appearances
0 “10 out of 10 ounces”
THE CONQUEST
If you’re doing the math, that’s one Burger every 2.47 days. When I think about what has happened in those 4 years, I am amazed. The people I’ve met, the places I’ve been, the food I’ve eaten have all come together to literally change my life. No joke, 4 years ago today, when I ate a Burger with my friends that was so good, it inspired a blog, I was in the music business running a successful artist management and music marketing company, The Syndicate, with my friends in Weehawken, NJ. I’ve since left that company:
- started my own marketing and consulting firm in NYC that specializes in the hospitality business and digital marketing: Yeah! Management
- opened a bar with two of my friends in Manhattan: Idle Hands
- helped a friend open a restaurant: That Burger
- launched a merchandise store and blog that sells merchandise with images of butcher cut mythical animals while donating proceeds to charity: Mythical Creature Butcher Shop
- working as the Director of Brand Partnerships for The Food Film Festival
- now managing National Restaurant accounts as a sales manager for a company in Atlanta: Cardlytics
There is no doubt in my mind, that a silly blog called BurgerConquest played a massive part in this. 4 years ago I was living my dream in the music business and today I am 100% in the business of food and beverages. That’s crazy to me. In fact, it wasn’t until this very day that I actually stopped to think about how big a change 4 years has made to my life…and what brought it to my attention?
On my 4th Burgerthday, I was asked to represent Cardlytics and our partners, SimpleOffers at the Metro NY Sysco Food Show. Sysco is a Food Distribution company. Restaurants from all over America buy their restaurant supplies from them be it food, flatware, service goods, napkins, etc. They also offer marketing, menu and other consulting services for their restaurant partners. It’s literally one stop shopping for restaurants. Everyone once in awhile Sysco organizes a Food show, calling together all their supplier so that restauranteurs can sample from & learn about all the options available to them by working with Sysco.
This year’s Food show was held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Seacacus, NJ.
After settling into the SimpleOffers booth and getting organized for the day, I took a moment to walk around the Food Show. There were dozens and dozens and vendors set up showcasing their offerings. Here’s a quick run through of some of what Sysco offers to their customers.
Sausages
Avocados
Kellogs products like Cereal, Pop Tarts, Kashi, Cheez-Its
Canned Tomatoes
Corned Beef & Pastrami
To go containers
Gelatos and Sorbettos
Shoes for kitchen & serving staff
Spices
Cheese
Chocolates, Oils & Pastas
More Cheese
Puff Pastries, Cones & Doughs
International Cheeses
Certified Angus Beef
Sweet Potato Fries
Tilapia & Veggie Burgers
Water
French Fries & Onion Rings
Oils
Coffee, Coffee Makers & Coffee Serving supplies
Bison
Burgers from one my favorite suppliers: Burger Maker
Calamari
BACON!
Beef, tons and tons and tons of beautiful, tasty Beef
Did I mention Beef yet? How about Steaks?
Seafood
Crunchy Toppings & Condiments
More Coffee supplies
Chicken Fingers, Tenders & Nuggets
French Fries
Sweet Potato French Fries
Various Desserts
Paper Goods
Produce
Produce
and more Produce
Gluten Free Products
Hot Sauces, the kind you should kindly NOT double dip
Olives
Meat Patties
Pizza
Ice Cream & Bread
Assorted Nuts
When I say that Sysco offers everything a restaurant could need to operate, I’m not kidding around. What you see above is only a sampling of what was available.
A little overwhelmed and still full from breakfast, I went back to the SimpleOffers booth to help explain to Sysco’s customers what we can do for their company. We power the cash back reward programs for Financial Institutions like Bank of America’s “BankAmeriDeals.” We do this by offering you cash back by eating at restaurants near you who work with Sysco.
Once my shift in the booth was over, I headed back out onto the floor to sample some of the foods offered through Sysco partners.
Cheesesburgers
Pastrami & Corned Beef
Pulled Duck with Caribbean Jerk Spices (this was awesome)
French Fries & Onion Rings
Various Beef products including Burgers & Cheesesteaks
Sliced Steak with Char Spicing
More Beef
Breakfast Sausage
Bacon & make your own BLTs on mini Pretzel Rolls
Exotic & Organic Meats from Fossil Farms
Had to go back for the Old World Pastrami & Corned Beef
Samosas & Curries
Interested in becoming a Sysco customer? Please click this link.
My sincere, personal and heartfelt thanks to everyone that has supported me, this blog and any of my other conquests out there, especially my talented, creative, supportive, beautiful and amazing wife & author, Cara Lynn Shultz. I live a truly blessed life where I get to do and be a part of stuff like this. I am touched by the people I have met and continue to meet because of this blog. It’s a pleasure, an honor and a hell of a lot of fun to do this.
However, there are a lot of people out there who aren’t as fortunate and struggle every deal to eat any meal, let alone a healthy one. If you have the time, cash or ability, please help out a charity, especially a local one, that’s help to feed those in need. Here in New York, my two favorites are the Food Bank for New York City & God’s Love We Deliver.
Thank you
Rev
Oct 17, 2012 – 12:15 pm
