MCEC plates up best of Victoria produce for attendee well-being

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) unveils its new menu for 2022. It highlights bold flavours, wholesome ingredients from local farms and more diet-specific options. Sustainability also takes centre stage with a specially designed 100-Mile Menu.

Ranging from grab-and-go gourmet to sophisticated dining dishes, MCEC has refreshed its menu to include more diverse options. Diet-specific options such as plant-based and gluten-friendly dishes are featured to ensure the well-being of delegates with diverse palate preferences.

“Drawing influence from the world around us and seeing what customers are placing increased importance on really helps us to identify what sort of food we might like to create,” shared Executive Chef Peter Haycroft.

Highlights include the new cocktail menu, with canapes to choose from including: Green mango, tofu, edamame, and sambal rice paper roll with nam prik or truffle mushroom, whipped Meredith goat cheese and lemon thyme tart.

The Gala menu includes Seared Wimmera duck breast with spiced carrot puree, pan-fried panisse, crisp seasonal greens and red wine jus, and Seared Victorian 3030 barramundi with saffron potato, baba ganoush and herb oil.

In line with its focus on local produce, MCEC has ramped up sustainability options such as the 100-Mile-Menu, a three-course plated menu including canapés, where all main ingredients are sourced from local farms and markets within 100 miles (161 km) of MCEC. This initiative supports Victorian food producers and reduces carbon footprint at the same time.

With sustainability taking top priority this year by many planners, MCEC’s Sustainability Manager, Samantha Ferrier shared that the centre has seen about a 20% increase in such requests since the pre-Covid-19 period. “Interest has particularly increased for home-grown ingredients and locally produced food items, as well as menu items that celebrate Indigenous ingredients,” said Ferrier.

She shared that organisers in the energy industry representing power, water and gas sectors are placing greater importance on sustainable menus.

“Organisers are increasingly requesting coffee cup recycling – which we offer – reusable coffee cups – which we’re trialling – and water refill stations,” added Ferrier. Ecoboxes are also provided for grab-and-go options.

Beyond F&B, organisers with sustainability agendas as part of their corporate mission also want to work with venues that have sustainability as part of its core value and not just as an event option.

“They’re also wanting to know operational elements around use of resources concerning waste disposal; and what types of waste streams we offer to separate and recover as many resources as possible, especially for organic and plastic waste, said Ferrier.

She added that closing the loop on items is becoming more widely discussed. “For example, customers want to reduce food packaging and packaging waste while still maintaining service levels in retail; and our F&B team is passionate about working with these events to find low-impact solutions such as offering cutlery and crockery.”