C+RB’s inaugural Awards for Food and Beverage recognize Columbine Country Club for developing a Blue Apron-style ingredient-and-recipe home-meal offer, Columbine Fresh, that has turned into a very popular grab-and-go service; and Champions Run for introducing a Pop-Up Poolside Pineapple and Coconut Bar—serving both alcoholic and non-alcoholic tropical drinks.
The December 2019 issue of Club + Resort Business features the 2019 Innovation Awards, recognizing club and resort properties that have conceived and implemented concepts that have paid real dividends in the form of enduring member and guest satisfaction and loyalty.
These properties were recognized for innovative achievement in the Food-and-Beverge category:
Columbine Country Club in Columbine Valley, Colo. made a concerted effort to enhance its members’ health and well-being through the creation of its innovative Columbine Active app and a partnership with an outside fitness provider. But it didn’t stop there.
The pivot to the next generation of members seemed to be working, so COO/General Manager Rick Poling, CCM, and Director of Fitness Jenn Targett teamed with Executive Chef Jeff Kinser to develop a Blue Apron-style ingredient-and-recipe home-meal offer, Columbine Fresh, that has turned into a very popular grab-and-go service, with Targett using the Columbine Active app to market it.
Members opt into recurring weekly meal service with convenient valet pickup each Sunday afternoon at the club. They simply swap out the club-provided cooler and reusable containers for fresh meals each week.
Recipes include local ingredients and fitness department-approved meals like a cauliflower burrito bowl, fajita chicken pablano bowl (pictured at left), baked honey teriyaki salmon, and broccoli rabe and peanut sauce soba.
Kenser and his staff provide all of the ingredients for members to make balanced and healthy meals at home in exactly the right proportions. Costs, for both the club and members, are kept down because the ingredients can be bought in bulk. Kenser does joke, though, that he didn’t anticipate how much the popularity of the program would add to the prep time required of the kitchen staff.
As part of its ongoing effort to always provide a relaxing environment for its members, Champions Run of Omaha, Neb. developed a Pop-Up Poolside Pineapple and Coconut Bar. Whenever the bar’s opening is announced via Instagram, members of all ages get excited to come watch as ingredients for tropical drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) are cut, blended and served with a special flair.
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