VSAG begins work on the development and launch of Cucina 39, a high caliber gourmet line of Italian sauces and entrees for retail sale.  The culinary, management, product development and implementation teams at VSAG are guiding Chef Keaton Hopkins through the process of taking a product to market, with goals to get the first phase of the gourmet sauces line out to the marketplace in early 2009.

Another successful concept develop and launch, VSAG announces the opening of Chocolata Cocoa Bar in Houston, TX (www.chocolatacocoabar.com)

VSAG Principal Dan Simons was recently quoted as a topic expert in the QSR Magazine article “Delivery vs. Takeout,” which examined dining trends and consumer opinions on delivery and takeout services.   The logistics and operational challenges posed by delivery and / or takeout are just some of the areas in which VSAG provides solutions and ideas for profitable execution of these foodservice strategies.  An excerpt from the article:  When it comes to delivery, packaging can make or break you. More often than not it does the latter. “We need some brilliant engineers to create packaging that goes beyond holding the food without spilling, packaging that separates and then allows for mixing of ingredient, that can be easily labeled and doesn’t require an environmental heart attack for the end user who has to dispose of all of it,” says Dan Simons, a partner in foodservice consultancy Vucurevich/Simons Advisory Group.   Read the rest of this entry »