A Recipe for Olympic Success

Publish Date: December 2004

Ask Maxine Turner about her Olympic experience, and the answer is clear: her catering company’s participation in Olympic events has turned her company’s dreams into gold. The Olympic bug bit Turner when her company, Cuisine Unlimited, was included in a delegation of Utah caterers asked to assist with corporate catering during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. When Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Games of 2002, Cuisine Unlimited had already been planning four years prior – with their first Olympic contract secured two years before game time. Her advice? “Begin early, know who the players are, make introductions and most importantly, keep in touch”, says Turner. “Once the torch is passed to your city, get ready, get set, go!” Cuisine Unlimited’s Olympic exposure and high praise from their Olympic clients put the company on the map.

Following the Games, Maxine partnered with friends from New York to form a new company called Culinary Expressions International to focus on other Olympic opportunities. And it paid off. Culinary Expressions was part of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, providing continuous hospitality including coordination of food service for each dinner event hosted by the United States Olympic Committee. The process of setting up in Athens involved many visits by Culinary Expressions' four partners to identify and source out contacts, food vendors, kitchen equipment, transportation, housing, and to hire employees as well as establish partnerships.

Culinary Expressions' Athens venture was successful for both their clients and their company. So much so, that the United States Olympic Committee has signed the company on for the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. When asked if her company's Olympic experience met her expectations, Maxine compares it to “a pebble in the pool, where the rings keep getting bigger and better.” Not only have she and her staff made “life-long friendships,” but also the experience has magnified who they are as a company. Culinary Expressions International has three secured contracts to cater events for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. Turner also speaks fondly of Vancouver and looks forward to visiting soon for what she thinks will be “one of the most spectacular Olympics ever.” She encourages companies to do their research, plan in advance and, most critically, “partner with professionals”.

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