Food and Wine Pairing : A Sensory Experience

312 Chapter 14 The Customer Experience: Product, Service, and Training Issues

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How do the concepts of differentiation and compet-
   itive advantage apply to a food-and-wine program?


2. What is meant by the idea of a ‘‘unique bundle of
   activities’’?
   3. What are some key product and service considera-
   tions for a food-and-wine program?

EXERCISE 14.1

LOCAL FESTIVALS: THE IMPACT OF FOOD AND WINE (OR OTHER BEVERAGES)

Each group will research a local or re-
gional festival and analyze the role of
regional cuisine and the gastronomic
identity concepts. Describe the region

and the history of the festival. Describe

the types of food and drinks produced/

served there. Are there any unique treat-

ments of these products? How is the fes-

tival marketed? What are the competing

festivals? Is the festival successful? Why

or why not?

EXERCISE 14.2

TEAM DEGUSTATION MENU AND FINAL FOOD AND WINE PAIRING

Have the class break out into teams that
will design a five-course degustation
menu that utilizes food-and-wine pairing
knowledge/reasoning for menu item and
wine selection. The preliminary criteria
are as follows:

1.Prepare five courses, matching menu
items with wine selections.

2.Assume a $75 price per person for the
degustation menu.

3.Assume a 33 percent desired product
cost (food and wine)—no more than
$25 total or an average of $5 per
course.

4.Therefore, no wines should be priced

at more than $20 per bottle, and the

average food cost should not exceed

$3 per course (of course, the main

course will be higher than a soup or

dessert course).

5.Teams should submit the degustation

menu outlines.

6.Teams should prepare one course of

their menu and describe the following:

Why they have selected the particular

foods and wines? Do they create a

synergistic match? What decisions did

they make due to the vertical series of

food and wine courses? Who are the

likely customer groups that would ap-

preciate this menu? How large is this

target market? How does this menu

differentiate your event (or catering

business or restaurant) from your

competitors?

Your instructor will provide further

details for writing an evaluation of the

project assignment.

NOTES

1. G. Johns and A. M. Saks,Organizational Behaviour,6th
   ed. (Toronto: Pearson–Prentice Hall, 2005), 458.
   2. M. E. Porter,Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sus-
   taining Superior Performance(New York: Free Press,
   1985).