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Excerpts from CBC Magazine
June Issue – 2008
COMMUNITY CATERING

TRENDS SHIFT THE FOCUS OF LOCAL CATERING COMPANIES
By RONALD JOSEPH

When it comes to catering to the dining needs of Northeast Ohio’s ravenous appetites, there is no shortage
of options to tempt – and to please – the palate.  Some caterers don’t limit themselves
to their paying customers and corporate events; several offer their services gratis
as a way to give back to those who support them so loyally.

From preparing sumptuous corporate luncheons to offering delicacies at local fun runs and walks,
Cleveland area caterers manage to stay ahead of current industry trends while keeping an eye
on providing superb customer service.

As consumers and business owners alike try to deal with rising fuel prices,
they are waging an equally hard-fought battle against high food prices.  The sudden increases in food costs
is perhaps the most noticeable trend that impacts caterers, says Bonnie Matthew,
owner of Food for Thought in Mentor.  “Rising prices, increases in fuel costs for deliveries,
less discretionary income for special events and outings are just a few of the obvious
trends impacting our industry.

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

Food for Thought is equally active in the Greater Cleveland community. 
It specializes in all types of catering services for corporate events, weddings, anniversaries,
and other large parties.  Matthew says Food for Thought is committed to giving back to the community
that so ardently supports her business.  “Since 2002, we have been sending the
Ronald McDonald House in Cleveland a free monthly meal for all the families and guests
staying there,” Matthew says. “we are equally proud of our newest incentive – a report card rewards
program that benefits the children of our employees. 
We believe that rewarding the success of students today will help us in the future.

SERVICE WITH A SMILE

With the competition to cater exclusive corporate and private parties hotter than a chef’s oven,
caterers need to develop differentiators that will help them to stand out among their competitors.
Matthew is most proud of Food for Thought’s team of associates, each of whom possesses a passion
for the business and a willingness to keep learning new ideas and processes.  
“Food is always changing and there are new and better ways to produce, prepare,
and present everything from basic comfort foods to elaborate culinary creations,” she says.

Perhaps her finest morsel for devising a successful business strategy to stay focused on every detail of the catering business.  “It’s a very competitive business and one bad lemon can spoil the lemonade,”
Matthew notes. “With the amount of food that we create and produce daily,
we have to be focused on quality assurance.”

Hard work, persistence, determination and an unwillingness to accept defeat are no secrets in the
catering industry.  But they can be the most difficult part of the recipe to follow.

Nowadays his culinary world is largely limited to the Heartland of Mentor nursing home.

But the old ways still linger. Moving with a walker, Laumier instinctively frees a hand to sweep it across his
body, gesturing for his guests to go first. After you, after all.

It was his stock in trade. And, as Laumier said, all the good ones who work the restaurant tables know it has
to "come from the heart. Naturally."

Laumier was married twice. His second wife is deceased. He has a son, a daughter and a granddaughter. His second "family" was those who knew him through his work.

Freddy Riter, 54, of Willoughby, was a waiter for 10 years at Giovanni's and inherited many of Laumier's
regular customers when the maitre d' retired in 2002.

"New people coming in were just fascinated by him," he recalled. "They'd ask, 'Is that Mr. Giovanni?'

"Carl Quagliata, Giovanni's owner, said Laumier had "an innate ability to handle people well, that kind of
special personality that comes few and far between."

Laumier's customers "were always the most important thing, and they're still very important," said Lynn Sawyer, 48, of Willoughby, who is his legal guardian and a close friend for 16 years. "He talks about them all the time."

Those words now come eagerly, but often lost in the haze of age, difficult to understand.

But the idea of enjoying one last duck a l'orange was clear enough when it came up in conversations between Laumier and workers of the Heartland of Mentor and Hospice of the Western Reserve -- both offering
programs to make their clients' remaining time as fulfilling as possible.

"It's all about living life, every day. Treating the person, not just the illness," said Lori Scotese, the hospice's coordinator of "life enrichment" events including anything from staging a dream wedding to re-creating a
Las Vegas casino.

"Whatever somebody can think of, we try to accomplish."

Butler said that before the hospice worker even finished her pitch, "I said yeah, I'd love to do it. That really hit my heart strings."

Before dining, Laumier was presented with a chef's hat signed by the kitchen staff and a chef's coat monogrammed "Jacques Laumier, guest chef."

Laumier enjoyed his meal while quietly staring, perhaps, into a bygone menu of memories. And his verdict of the results? "It can't be better than this," he said.

When he got to the citrus lemon mousse dessert, Laumier caught the eye of chef Butler and invited with a gesturing spoon -- after you. Ever the impeccable maitre d'.

Butler demurred. Not this time. This time, the dining world would wait on the old waiter.

For once, it would be after you, Giacomo Jacques Laumier.

Excerpt from "Ingredients of Success"

Inside Business Magazine
Volume 4. Number 8
(August 2002)

By: Richard Hendrickson

For Bonnie J. Matthew, 41, the knowledge was food and the business of serving it, and the skill was
communicating with customers. She worked for the restaurant division of Stouffer's in Cleveland
five years after she had earned a degree in hotel and restaurant management in 1983. "I love
people and really enjoy food, and it just really all came together."

She founded her off-premise catering company, Food for Thought in 1990, and at first, managed
it alone, out of her Mentor home. "After a couple of years, I realized that there was something to
all this, and I had a potential to grow the business," she recalls. "It just seemed to me that I
could do that if I could team up with somebody who had some drive and some ambition."

In 1991, she became reacquainted with wine store proprietor Robert J. Hufgard of Mentor,
whom she'd met when she was a manager and he was an intern at Stouffer's.

"We started talking. I ended up catering his wedding," she recalls. "Later, I bounced a few ideas
off him." Eventually, he became her catering partner. Food for Thought doubled its space to
4,000 square feet in a new Mentor location last November.
The 30-employee business reports $2 million in annual sales.

"We have different strengths, and they really compliment each other," she says of the partnership.
"Bob is really good at systems, the accounting piece, going in and setting the business up and
designing the location."

Baldwin Wallace's Stark points to Matthew's passion for achievement. "She talks softly,
but inside she is a tiger," Stark says.

Matthew attributes her ability to be organized and competitive to playing 5.0 tennis. "It's a great
sport, not to mention the people you meet who can be great contacts when you are
building a business."

Running the Full Gamut

News Herald
(December 11, 1999)

By: Mark Scott

Mentor firm specializes in all types of catering--from birthday parties to corporate meetings


"We had a client set up a lunch in Toledo that we delivered to" said Matthew,
a partner in Food for Thought, which prepares and delivers meals
throughout Northern Ohio. "With enough notice, can do just about anything."
Bonnie J. Matthew says her company "will go as far as people want"
in delivering prepared meals to her customers.

The Mentor business started cooking on January 1997 at 7249 Industrial Park Blvd.
and partner Robert J. Hufgard says it has been growing steadily since.
"It's all been through word of mouth," Hufgard said. "We've never advertised.
We've been able to maintain our standards."

One of Food for Thought's original customers, Brenda Hanna, owner of
Animation Art Classics in Lyndhurst, says she has always been impressed
with the "sense of pride" Matthew and her employees show in their work.
"All of our events cater between 50 and 100 people," said Hanna who says
her business hosts about six events a year with collectors and animators. "The
food is always great, and we usually get requests for where it came from."

Items on the continually adjusted menu that Food for Thought offers include
teriyaki beef sticks, chicken parmesan and baked meatloaf, just to name a few.
"We customize for people," Matthew said. "That's one of our strengths, and
it's also fun to do. We have a pretty diverse menu."
Matthew said it had been one of her biggest dreams ever since she was a child
"to do something different" with her career.
"I wanted to do this," she said of catering. "And Bob and I really match up well."

Matthew and Hufgard met in 1987 at a Stouffer's restaurant training center in Woodmere.
From there, Hufgard spent time working for Mentor Lunch and The Perfect Match,
while Bonnie began preparing and delivering meals on an individual basis.

"Catering is one of the most explosive businesses out there," Matthew said,
in explaining what led the duo to form their company. More than 30
people make up the employment "team" at Food for Thought, and Matthew said they
are capable of serving just about any function.
"We had a pretty diverse base of clients," she said. "We do business luncheons,
civic fundraisers, sporting events. We've done family picnics and birthday parties."
Matthew says the company can do breakfast, lunch or dinner and while they like to
have advance notice, they try to be flexible.

The first group of employees usually checks in about 6 a.m. to get started on
the morning orders. Orders are shipped out between 9 and 10:30 a.m.
Customers can either have food delivered or pick it up themselves. The cost for an
average lunch is usually between $7 and $9, though Matthew says it tends to vary.

"We'll provide as little or as much as they need," she said. That includes decorations,
tables, china and bartending service. "We're usually done by 6 p.m." Matthew said.
We have full -time people and some who just deliver." Food for Thought is available seven days a week,
with the bulk of the business coming during the work week. Weekend business
typically consists of parties. When it comes to holidays, Matthew says they
"work up to them" so no one has to work on the actual holiday.

For more information on Food for Thought, call 440-946-0383 or
fax at 440-946-8801.

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