A fresh PR approach for a food management company.

Metz Culinary Management is a family-owned and -operated food management organization in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Its customer base is primarily located east of the Mississippi, where its chefs and servers work with market segments that include healthcare, corporate, higher education and independent and public school dining.

Metz’s internal communications staff was doing a valiant job at distributing company news. But senior management decided that their efforts needed a boost.

Lehigh Mining & Navigation was brought in to bolster media presence locally and nationally. Where Metz was seeking specific traction was in trade publications that focus on the foodservices industry.

The LM&N PR team established solid relationships with the industry publications that could provide Metz with the high visibility it sought. Further, we strengthened contacts in the various markets in which Metz had a presence.

LM&N also counseled Metz to raise the bar in the content it was providing. We saw Metz, with its decades of experience in the foodservice industry, as a worthy subject matter expert. We therefore shifted the focus of their press strategy from news supplier to trend analyzer, advising the industry as a whole on emerging and important developments.

The strategy is catching on.

In spring 2017, we culled from Metz several of its best-practice recommendations for hiring employees with special needs, a practice it was using with great success at several of its college campus foodservice operations. Our release highlighting this program was picked up nationally by publications such as Full Service Restaurant News, resulting in a reach of nearly 40,000 readers.

Other topics we are using to raise Metz’s visibility on a large scale include sustainability, food insecurity, promotional activities, social media and corporate social responsibility.