Presenters

Gerry Ludwig, CEC

Chef Gerry Ludwig prepared his first batch of Coq Au Vin at age nine, graduated from culinary school at 18, and became an Executive Chef at 23. A Certified Executive Chef with the American Culinary Federation, Gerry has served as Corporate Consulting Chef for distributor Gordon Food Service, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan since 1994.

His particular passion is helping independent restaurant operators thrive in a market increasingly dominated by the chains. Through ongoing analysis of foodservice-related statistical, media and empirical data, Chef Gerry creates trend-based culinary solutions that are executed at the operator level by the company's team of menu consultants.

In addition to managing the menu solutions resources at GFS, Gerry conducts seminars and workshops for key customer groups and industry events across the country. He contributes trend data and articles for GFS's sales and marketing publications, hosts annual restaurant trend-tracking tours in New York City, Chicago, L.A. and the Bay Area, and is a columnist for the foodservice trend magazine Flavor & The Menu.