SECAD Tourism Towns Skills Programme – Menu Planning Day 1

Local Food Menu Planning

This practical and informative training session will provide owners, managers and chefs with an opportunity to evaluate their food operations and identify ways in which efficiencies can be made and a competitive advantage gained.

Food Consultant, Trisha Hennessy, will provide her support and expertise as attendees evaluate the current strengths and weaknesses of their current food offering by looking at areas such –

• Menu planning and design


• Local suppliers


• Sustainability


• Costing and pricing


• Seasonality and current food trends


• Choosing the right suppliers


• Kitchen equipment – sourcing and maintenance


• Labour


• Stock management


• Additional revenue opportunities

Trainer Profiles

Mary Daly

Mary Daly is a graduate of both UCC and DIT. She served as an Army Officer for 21 years and pioneered HACCP implementation both at home and overseas for the Defence Forces.

With a wealth of experience, she established The Food Safety Company (formerly Mary Daly & Associates) in 2000. Acknowledged as a leading trainer, she is the preferred professional to several national organisations, including the Irish Hotel Federation, Good Food Ireland and Failte Ireland.

Mairead McCarthy

Mairead McCarthy is General Manager of The Food Safety Company where she leads a team of 26 food safety consultants and trainers. She has more than 20 years’ experience in Customer Service having worked in food service, sales, marketing, training and development. 

Mairead graduated with a Bachelor of Business Studies and has recently commenced an MBA.

She is an experienced mystery guest auditor and customer care trainer, having previously provided bespoke customer care training to a wide range of businesses nationwide including The Irish Guide Dogs and The Irish Naval Service. 

Trisha Hennessy

With over 40 years experience in the food industry, Trisha Hennessy is widely regarded as one of the country’s leading Food Consultants. Over the duration of her career she has developed a wealth of experience working with a wide variety of food businesses from local Gastro Pubs, independently owned hotels and large multi-site food operations. 

In her role as a Food Consultant she advises and supports food businesses with all areas of food service including menu planning, food trends, identifying additional revenue opportunities, evaluation of kitchen & food operations.