Jim Badberg: Information Systems

With innovations in computer technology changing by the minute, Chocolates ö la Carte is leading the way in the foodservice industry. Thanks to Jim Badberg, director of information services for the company, customers can now receive product information faster than they ever thought possible.

Instead of searching through pages of itemized products, Chocolates ö la Carte customer service representatives can now simply access their keyboards and have images of hundreds of product designs at their fingertips. With this new system, customers can immediately be faxed a product sheet with a picture of the desired item and its specifica-tions. Once an order is made, the customer will receive an automatic confirmation within 24 hours so that they can make any necessary changes.

"We are currently on the leading edge of technology in the food industry,"states Badberg. "I enjoy the challenge of moving into unchartered territory by having the opportunity to customize our own corporate software." At the young age of 30, Badberg is helping to take the company to a whole new level.

While the new system is being used internally, Chocolates ö la Carte is working to expand the software on an external level to the food-service and hospitality industries. Within the next year, Badberg hopes to have the whole product line available on disk compatible with CD-ROM and Microsoft Windows operating systems. Currently, he is working on a database consisting of all 450 Chocolates ö la Carte product designs.

Jim Badberg developing CD-ROM catalog.

With this new software, a customer will be able to receive a disk with a simple line drawing of the product. For a more detailed picture, they can access a full-size color image of the item. Finally, they can view a photo of a finished plate presentation. The software was recently displayed at a trade show in San Francisco and received a positive response from chefs. "Many of the chefs were very intrigued by the ability to manipulate recipes and images on the computer...they were quite impressed with the whole idea of computer interaction," states Badberg. In the near future Badberg would like to see the program available over Internet. The on-line service would allow access to the program anytime day or night. This would create an opportunity for Chocolates ö la Carte to constantly supply new and updated information.

With the response the company has received to its new program there is no doubt it is headed in the right direction.