The We’re Smart Future Awards 2021
22-11-2021
Celebrating their culinary contributions for nutritious, planet-friendly – and delicious – innovations, the winners of the We’re Smart Future Awards 2021 have been revealed at the Horeca Expo in Ghent on Sunday, November 21, 2021.
Winners of the Future Awards 2021 are Rob Baan, The Green Bean, VOL5, HomeForest, Plant-T, Eleven Madison Park, Gambero Rosso and Michelin Green Star.
Reading time: 2 minutes
NL Delivery Game | Meal deliverers safer and more aware on the road
9-11-2021
Since the corona pandemic, the number of meal deliveries in the Netherlands has increased excessively. According to the Food Service Institute Netherlands (FSIN), this market grew by 37% compared to 2019. This development is leading to an increasing number of meal delivery in the industry, especially the 16 to 24 year old age group. According to Veilig Verkeer Nederland (the Safe Traffic Association Netherlands (VVN), this age group takes more risks in traffic, which means that they are more likely to be involved in accidents. To prevent this, the Dutch Association of Meal Delivery Services (NLVVM) has created the NL Delivery Game. The initiators – consisting of ten large delivery chains – join forces and launched this training game for the more than 20,000 meal deliverers they employ. In the game, the traffic and behavioral rules of the Safe Traffic Association Netherlands are tested. Resulting in more meal deliverers safer on the road and more aware in traffic.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Kitchen robot Flippy 2 | Increase efficiency in the QSR sector
4-11-2021
Miso Robotics, a start-up company that is transforming the foodservice industry with robotics, revealed their newest model of their Flippy: kitchen robot Flippy 2. With the help of all the learnings at one of the restaurants of the QSR brand White Castle of Flippy 1, the newer model takes over the work for an entire frying station and is able to perform twice as much food preparation tasks compared to the previous model.
An ideal employee for in your QSR kitchen! Do you want to read more on robots in the hospitality world, check out our articles on robots here.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Trends we spotted | Week 43
26-10-2021
At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week links to articles about… ‘The Great Feast’ in The Old Selfridges Hotel in London and Dole suggest carving a pineapple instead of a pumpkin for Halloween. 😉 With a downloadable pineapple Jack-O’-Lantern carving template!
REEF has a great view on redesigning urban spaces in communities hubs and REEF Kitchens uses a unique real estate strategy to its advantage. They opened the first two ghosts kitchens of Wendy’s in the UK. Furthermore, they will open 700 ghost kitchens in the USA, Canada and the UK.
And some sustainable inspiration for sustainable building: the De Halo building in San Francisco made of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and the HAUT building in Amsterdam. And a link to an sustainable fabric for carpets and flooring: Econyl. Just as strong as nylon and made of recycled waste.
A design graduate from the Eindhoven Design Academy in the Netherlands, has created a project to highlight how renewable energy derived from tomato vines could be used to run a cloud server. And a link to an article about artfully Cannabis-infused confections.
In the Netherlands, women’s average gross hourly earnings are 14% lower than men’s, which seemed entirely outdated to De Koffiejongens. So they ask men to voluntarily pay more… And the Franz Fisher ‘Alpenhütte’ in Austria is the first mountain restaurant to serve vegan-vegetarian dishes only.
We spotted a new chain in the USA: The Sweet Paris Creperie & Café with cafes in Houston and one in Mexico opens new locations in Miami.
The Dutch company Huls introduces vegan dry sausages
25-10-2021
Disclaimer: more interesting for Dutchies. But it might still be inspiring to read…
A sausage is an appetizer that cannot be missed, anywhere. But especially not in the Netherlands. The Dutch company Huls, specialist in sausages, created two varieties of vegan dry sausage for the vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians.
Huls is located in the North of the Netherlands in the region Groningen and has been making dry meat sausages for over a 100 years. In this article you’ll read about the recently created vega(n) varieties.
Reading time: 2 minutes
The S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Brain Food Forum | Live stream on Saturday 30th October
22-10-2021
Saturday 30th October will see the launch of The S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Brain Food Forum, an exchange of knowledge and ideas between young chefs and nine of the greatest chefs in the world. An exceptional opportunity for both industry professionals and food lovers to join nine of the greatest chefs in the world as they take part in this forum.
The event will be held at the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2019-2021 grand final and is curated by Fine Dining Lovers with editor-in-chief Ryan King offering insight and mediation in his role as host. The key themes of Taste & Creativity chosen to reiterate the core values of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy: an online educational platform created to attract, connect and nurture diverse talent in the world of gastronomy. The Brain Food Forum will be available to view via a live stream on Fine Dining Lovers on Saturday 30th October from 9.30am-12.30pm (Central European Summer Time), the link requires sign-up. By continuing reading you will learn more about the chefs attending the event.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Trends we spotted | Week 41
12-10-2021
At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week amongst others, links to articles about the expansion of Paris based restaurant Cala, they use robotica to create fresh pasta dishes. And supermarket Jumbo in the Netherlands designates 200 cash registers for ‘checkout chats’ or as they call them ‘kletskassa’s’.
In their stories Starbucks re-announced their global ‘Starbucks Greener Stores’ commitment and McDonald’s announced that they will accelerate climate actions to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Promising is the affiliation with organizations as the United Nations (McDonald’s) and the SCS Global Services and World Wildlife Fund by Starbucks.
Accor & Ennismore announced a joint venture in which both chains contribute their added value. The joint venture will make Ennismore the largest and fastest growing lifestyle hospitality company.
A great initiative by 3 French companies: the Citroën Skate. Citroën created 3 new service pods with Accor and JCDecaux: Sofitel En Voyage, Pullman Power Fitness and JCDecaux City Provider.
Grey Poupon, the mustard brand created a limited edition La Moutarde Vin. A viognier wine infused with mustard seeds, would you like to try it?
Reading time: 5 minutes
Trends we spotted | Week 40
6-10-2021
At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends daily. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week links to articles about sleep-friendly ice cream from Nightfood for the grab-and-go shops in hotel lobbies, a stay in the ‘Nutmobile’ from MR. PEANUT® and Leonardo DiCaprio investing in a Dutch cultured meat company.
‘Change is Brewing!’ is the new flavor of Ben & Jerry’s in America, it remains interesting to read how they also translate their social background into their flavors. And at the Resort World Las Vegas, the art of aufguss, known all over Europe, makes it’s US debut at Awana Spa.
More and more companies are also introducing ‘healthy alternatives’ in their fast food concepts. Like in China where Yum China does this in their more than 6,000 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell shops. And Hard Rock International announces its 22nd annual PINKTOBER® campaign.
Another rebranded concept that focuses on staying in a city as if you were living there. YAYS, unlock the neighborhood with locations in Amsterdam, The Hague and Paris. And spotted in America: a limited-edition of Hendrick’s Gin-infused pickled cucumbers from Katz’s Delicatessen.
Reading time: 5 minutes
Facilicom Group launches new F&B division for employers
5-10-2021
Facilicom Group, one of the largest facility services organizations in the Netherlands, launches their new F&B division today: Food&i. With Food&i, the Facilicom Group is stepping off of the beaten track of the catering market. Food&i offers employers various F&B services such as a restaurant, coffee bar and Foodwall at the office in combination with an app. Through this app, employees receive personal nutritional advice every day to make a conscious and healthy choice at the office.
Food&i is an innovative, healthy and sustainable catering concept that uses technology and personalization to reduce waste. They develop food where, when and how the employee and the employer want it, so that everyone will feel better and more productive. Food&i provides transparency in the food chain and reduces CO2 emissions by working with as many local parties as possible.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Introduction of a autonomous robotic restaurant | By SJW Robotics
27-8-2021
SJW Robotics, a Toronto based FoodTech company, will be launching a fully autonomous robotic restaurant with zero on-site employees. The company will be demonstrating the pre-commercial unit in the fall of 2021, with a commercial rollout scheduled for Q1, 2022. At the heart of SJW Robotics shines RoWok™, a proprietary automated kitchen system that cooks made-to-order meals like an accomplished chef. Armed with high-speed mechanism, RoWok captures the essence of wok-based cooking and uses state-of-the-art sensors and automation protocols to deliver consistent quality in accordance with the highest food safety standards. The design inspiration for the unit comes from industrial food manufacturing systems and an engineering team with proven accomplishments in robotics.
SJW Robotics’ next-generation restaurant will come in the form of a 100 square-foot standalone unit. The techforward kitchen’s small footprint, plug-and-play capabilities and 24-hour accessibility will enable its implementation in a multitude of locations such as airports, hospitals, universities, grocery stores, office towers, shopping malls, stadiums and industrial complexes.
We're Smart Future Awards 2021
Winner Eleven Madison Park
Winner Gambero Rosso
Winner HomeForest
Winner Michelin Green Star
Winner plant-based broth VOL5
Winner Rob Baan from Koppert Cress
Winner The Green Bean
