Caviar of the east

Edible bird’s nest ‘yan wo’ has been referred to as the ‘Caviar of the East’. Like caviar, the salt-cured eggs of sturgeons, the edible bird’s nest is expensive and prized as a delicacy, but more than caviar, it is also highly regarded as a health food. Premium nests come from Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The edible bird’s nests are essentially constructed from the salivary secretion of swiftlets, small birds that usually dwell in caves

Egg essentials

Eggs are symbol of fertility. For generations eggs have been used as protein that is required by our bodily functions. Not only fresh eggs are used, many preserved eggs are also popular in many countries. For the Malays, hard boiled eggs are used as gifts in many events, especially in wedding reception and thanksgiving ceremonies. Telur pindang, which is popular in the state of Johor, is a hard boiled herbal egg that is served at weddings. It has been adopted from the Chinese culture. However, in the Chinese culture, century eggs and salted duck eggs have been passed down for many generations

Understanding media literacy in relation to adolescent soft drink consumption behaviour

This paper examines relationship between media literacy and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) variables focusing on consumption of soft drink among adolescents in Klang Valley, Malaysia. In addition, this paper also determines soft drink consumption, level of media literacy and the influences of the TPB variables on the intention of soft drink consumption. A cluster sampling method was used in collecting data within the Klang Valley area. The sample consisted of 436 adolescents from secondary school, aged between 13 to 18 years old. Two main scales utilized were Media Literacy (ML) scale and TPB scale. The descriptive, multiple linear regression and Pearson product-moment correlation analyses were carried out to answer the research objectives. Results revealed that 36% of respondents drank a minimum of 1 can, bottle or glass of soft drink for the past seven days and possess good level of media literacy (35%). Meanwhile, 14% of variance in adolescents’ intention of soft drink consumption is explained by TPB variables. Additionally, the total media literacy score towards soft drink advertisement was significantly positively correlated with attitude (r = 0.250, p<.05) and subjective norms (r = 0.174, p<.05). Conversely, total media literacy was significant negatively correlated with intention to consume soft drink (r = -0.19, p<.05) and indicated that media literacy could lower the intention to consume soft drink, thus can reduce soft drink consumption among adolescents. The importance of this study is to help the authorities, soft drink marketers and producers in Malaysia to better understand media literacy and adolescent soft drink consumption behavior

Factors affecting dining satisfaction and acceptability of food item among athletes during a sporting event

Athletes are a special group of consumers whose specific diet requirement is important during training and competition to ensure their success. As commercial foodservice establishments are increasing involved in providing foods to this group of consumers on one hand and the lack of research investigating the athletes' dining satisfaction, especially meeting their diet requirement on the other hand, this study was conducted to investigate the influence of nutritional factors in athletes' dining satisfaction and the acceptance of various foods provided in an international sporting event. Following a stratified random sampling, 700 athletes were selected from the entire population of 1330 participants. The final usable sample size was 450 (64.3% response rate). Regression analysis revealed that overall service, overall food quality, grooming of server, and nutritional information tag significantly influence the overall dining satisfaction among athletes. In addition, nutritional value, menu variety, fat content, freshness, and taste were found as the most important determinant in almost all food categories. It is intriguing that meeting diet requirement is not a significant factor but nutritional information tag is. Important implications were discussed. Nutrition education is recommended for foodservice operators especially when they are involved in providing food for sporting events. It is advisable that an appointed specialized sport dietitian or nutritionist to a sporting event works together with the foodservice operators to ensure that the menu meets the nutritional requirement of athletes

Identifying success factors of Mamak restaurants in Malaysia

The foodservice industry is among one of the largest industries that contribute significantly to Malaysia's economic growth. The restaurant businesses are operating as a highly competitive market as many food operators are competing with each other in attracting customers. Mamak restaurant is one of the well-established ethnic-based restaurants in Malaysia which is usually seen fully packed with customers most of the time. Despite, the popularity of Mamak restaurant has been acknowledged in many previous studies, there is no attempt done to explore factors that enable the Mamak restaurant to be successful. Therefore, this paper intended to explore success factors of Mamak restaurant in Malaysia based on the customers' perspective and the managerial practices of the Mamak restaurant operators. This paper also aimed to create a business model of success factors of the Mamak restaurant which could be a benchmark by prospective restauranteurs and researchers. The data was collected using an in-depth interview with customers and restaurant operators based on a purposive sampling. The huge data transcription was analyzed in detail to classify codes and categories that summarize and describe the success factors of Mamak restaurant. This study found that location, environment, product, facilities, service, and price of Mamak restaurant have positively contributed to the success of Mamak restaurants. Thus, other food operators can emulate the strategies and practices of Mamak restaurants' management to maximize the potential of their restaurant business

Ebony and Ivory

At a glance the title may remind you of the famous song. Interestingly, it is in fact describing a popular delicacy in the Asian region. You may not know the name of the chicken, but a description of this chicken may jog your memory. The unusual black-skinned and black-boned Silkie Chicken or scientifically known as Gallus gallus domesticus is named for its fluffy silk-like plumage that may range in colour from white, black, grey or gold

Barriers to visit restaurants by older adults in Malaysia

The growth of older adults globally is inevitable as the by-product of medical technology advancement and lower fertility rate. Nevertheless, this age segment does not receive the attention they should as a consumer. While there are many studies done about restaurant preferences of older adults, the factors that stand as a barrier for the older segment to visit a restaurant were not given much importance. To fill the gap in the literature, this research will focus on identifying the barriers preventing older adults to visit a restaurant. Qualitative approach was used in this study. 15 informants aged 55 or above were chosen from Klang Valley using the purposive sampling method. The semi-structured interviews were recorded using a voice recorder. The obtained recordings were then transcribed, translated, coded, and analysed. Atlas.ti software (version 7) was used to help in the coding of the themes. Barriers identified in this research were cleanliness, service quality, ageing, life’s perspective and food. Recognising these barriers and improvising the restaurant marketing strategy based on it is expected to be beneficial

A qualitative study on factors influencing older consumer dining out behaviour

Ageing or growing old is inevitable; rather than viewing this as another life stage, this transition period is not easily welcomed by many. The main reason is because with age we are getting more susceptible to disease and disability. This mind-set is changing slowly thanks to the progress in healthcare and government policy that not only care for their health but also helps the older people to lead a better life in their golden age. It is important to acknowledge this age group not just because they are living longer; it is also because they are getting bigger in size and economic power. Restaurant preferences and patronage behaviours of older adults in Malaysia is literally unknown even though there had been numerous amount of research done involving this population. The purpose of this study is to find out what would be the factor for older adults in Malaysia to dine out. Semi-structured indepth interviews were done with Malaysian older people ages 55 and above. 15 informers were interviewed for this study and the interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed. Atlas.ti software (version 7) was used to complement researchers’ analyses of interview transcripts and develop a visual representation of qualitative data. Major thematic categories identified by older consumer in this study included cleanliness and food taste. Data are visually mapped and relationships between different themes are presented. This study will be beneficial in providing more insight to this untapped market segment

Demanded competencies of the entry-level position in the restaurant industry: employers’ perspectives

Researchers advocated that there are many issues of fresh graduates' competencies, including insufficient skills to meet the requirement as expected by the industry. The purpose of this study was to discover the entry-level competencies demanded by the restaurant employers towards fresh graduates. The dynamic workforce and the mismatch competencies claimed by employers are the issues that trigger education stakeholders, particularly in Malaysia. Responses were obtained from eight restaurant managers in Klang Valley, through a semi-structured interview. The data were then analyzed using thematic analysis. There were nine competencies emerged from this study, which reflect the entry-level competencies demanded by restaurant managers towards fresh graduates, namely: 1) attitude and behavior, 2) cognitive skill, 3) communication skill, 4) knowledge in the discipline area, 5) professionalism and work ethics, 6) technical skill, 7) teamwork, 8) leadership and 9) experience. It is anticipated that the findings will be able to fulfill the restaurant's needs by giving a clear picture of the essential competencies that need to be infused in the university's curriculum. Besides, both educators and fresh graduates will have an insight into the preparation for working in the restaurant industry

Dining at continuing care retirement communities: a social interaction view

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Hospitality Management and DieteticsDeborah CanterChihyung OkAs the number of older adults increases so does the demand for housing and personal care needs. The continuing care retirement community is unique from other senior care facilities as it provides a continuum of housing and care that caters towards an individual’s need. Foodservice is often utilized to attract older adults into retirement facilities. Such service would give residents additional opportunities to socialize with service workers as well as other patrons of the restaurant. Yet, few studies have focused on the roles of food and dining service on resident’s satisfaction with foodservice and their quality of life. Study 1 examined the relationships between residents’ perception of individual customer orientation of service employee dimensions: technical skills, social skills, motivation, and decision-making authority, with relational benefits, satisfaction and subsequent behavioral outcomes: repurchase intention and word-of-mouth. Study 2 explored the moderating effects of resident’s activity involvement and food involvement on the relationships between rapport, dining-need satisfaction and resident’s quality of life. To achieve the objectives of these studies, 412 continuing care retirement community residents from five facilities completed a self-report questionnaire. Of these, 354 were used in study 1 and study 2. Findings of the structural equation modeling (Study 1) suggested that resident’s perception of foodservice employee’s technical skills, social skills and motivation were important determinants of confidence and social benefits that led to residents’ overall satisfaction with foodservice. Satisfied resident-consumer is likely to engage in word-of-mouth and repurchase intention. Results of hierarchical multiple regressions (Study 2) revealed that perceived rapport and resident’s dining-need satisfaction are positively related to resident’s quality of life. This study also found that activity involvement and food involvement moderated the relationships between rapport and dining-need satisfaction with quality of life respectively. That is, the more involved resident has an improved quality of life