What does the catering industry do in the context of the COVID-19 virus | Inspiration March 27
27-3-2020
Our perspective on the world has completely changed during the past couple of weeks, a true paradigm shift! At this very moment it’s important to constantly fact check all the news about the Coronavirus, a lot of fake and scary news has been spotted at the social media. For example at a website in the U.S. we came across a question whether or not food could be a source of the virus. Fortunately they also gave the official answer of the CDC (Centers of Disease Control and Protection) but please don’t believe strange advices!
We also spotted a lot of positive inspiration. So, we want to show you some small positive gestures and inspiration during these anxious times.
Stay healthy and take care of each other! ^Team Horecatrends
Very positive news is that we see a lot of people unite and not only in the health care. We even spotted an online game in which gamers can help the university of Washington’s Center for Game Science to create a medicine.
In France the Accor Group, a hotel chain, opened the CEDA (Coronavirus Emergency Desk Accor) telephone helpdesk. They help to accommodate homeless people trough France in conjunction with the government.
We spot a lot of positive initiatives by restaurants, like for example #JREwhatsinthefridge and other ones to keep in touch with their guests. In the Netherlands, one of our chefs with two Michelin stars started a video making a delicious daily meal. And many more individuals give tutorials, which made us laugh is the reaction of a famous chef in an Instagram story: “After two days in quarantine and watching many cooking videos, I understand why so many of you come to restaurants” ?
In most languages there is a saying like ‘money can’t buy happiness’ but if you’re very rich you can buy a ‘Covid-19 themed exclusive package’ at Le Bijou Hotels & Resorts in Switzerland. But if you’re entertaining your kids at home, you could make them happy with a ‘toilet paper’ cake!
Trends we spotted | Week 12
20-3-2020
Our perspective on the world has completely changed in the past week, what a paradigm shift! I personally thought that we would no longer post trends and inspiration on Horecatrends. It seems of no importance right now but we also spotted a lot of positive inspiration. So, we have written a ‘trends we spotted this week’ with small positive gestures and inspiration in these anxious times.
Stay healthy and take care of each other! ^Marjolein van Spronsen
This week, among other links to articles about a hand wash tutorial by Gordon Ramsey and the Cheese trucks of the London based The Cheese Bar.
McDonald’s in the U.S. and Canada are considering rent deferrals for its franchisees and Uber Eats is introducing a new support package that includes a waiving of delivery fees on all orders from independent restaurants across U.S. & Canada and dedicated marketing campaigns.
And an article at Eater about what restaurants need right now to actually survive in the USA. Here in the Netherlands, the government is taking all the necessary measures at this moment and even banks are helping. We wish all restaurant owners worldwide will be able to find a way to stay in business.
Chipotle tackles social distancing with virtual hangouts on Zoom, interesting inspiration if you try to reach young people. And upscale restaurant Canlis in Seattle finds new business model in the Covid-19 crisis.
In the Netherlands we spotted free e-learning programs for people working in the hospitality industry and many restaurants offer gift vouchers with benefits. One of them doesn’t give vouchers but gift plates!
Materialise’s 3D printed hands-free door opener eliminates direct contact with door handle
17-3-2020
3D Printing technology may lend a hand in preventing the spread of the Coronavirus. Materialise, a Belgium-based pioneer in 3D printing, has designed a 3D printed door opener that makes it possible to open and close doors with your arm, removing the need for direct contact with door handles. The company is offering the printable design for free and calling upon the global 3D printing community to 3D print the door opener and make it available all around the world.
Call for anyone who can print this hands-free door opener in 3D…. The file can be downloaded here.
“The power of 3D printing in combination with Materialise’s three decades of 3D printing expertise made it possible to turn an idea into an innovative product in less than 24 hours,” says Fried Vancraen CEO of Materialise. “By making the design available digitally, it can be produced on 3D printers everywhere and become available around the world in a matter of hours. In this case, we designed the product in Belgium and people in China, Europe or the U.S. can now 3D print the door opener locally.”
Winners of the 1st ProVeg Vegan Cheese Awards I Max & Bien and Petit Vegann
13-3-2020
The Amsterdam vegan cheese maker Max & Bien won the audience award of the ProVeg Vegan Cheese Awards 2020 with their blue cheese. The Petit Lorrain, a vegan brie from Petit Veganne from France, was the favourite of the jury. The awards were presented during the well-attended sixth edition of VeggieWorld in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Although a news from a week ago, we still love to mention it! There is currently an increasing demand for high-quality vegan products with which you can make a difference in the catering industry. For example, we recently wrote about camembert made from cauliflower and hemp seeds from Grounded Foods in New York.
Grounded Foods | Plant-based cheeses with no nuts, no soy, no dairy and no additives
26-2-2020
For many years the vegan cheese market merely consisted out of nut- and soy based products. Prices where high and the diversity was low as the market didn’t seem to progress, until now. Grounded Foods, founded by Veronica and Shaun Fil is offering a variety of cheeses, based on fermented cauliflower and hemp seeds. This way of making cheese keeps prices low and makes it possible for people with nut or soy allergies to also enjoy vegan cheese.
There is a choice between ‘Cauliflower and hemp camembert’, ‘Hemp seed feta’ and ‘Cauliflower Gruyere’ and the cheeses look delicious! We love to taste them.
Dominique Ansel Treehouse |A new all-day café in London
18-2-2020
Chef Dominique Ansel, named World’s Best Pastry Chef by the World’s 50 Best Awards, has recently opened Dominique Ansel Treehouse, a new all-day café in London’s Covent Garden. Located on quaint Floral Street, the new concept offers a menu that celebrates and showcases the pastry foundations and artisanal techniques that pastry chefs do best, from flaky puff pastry to delicate handmade pasta, short crusts for pies and tarts, fresh-baked breads, and more.
We’ve been fans of chef Dominique Ansel from the moment he opened his first bakery in New York and got famous by creating his Cronut® and many more fêted pastries like my favourite his signature DKA (Dominique’s Kouign Amann). They don’t serve the Cronut® at the Treehouse for this croissant- doughnut hybrid you need to go to his bakery in London. But the menu of Dominique Ansel Treehouse sound delicious and London is relatively nearby for us Dutchies, although we still would love to have a Dominique Ansel bakery in Amsterdam! ^Marjolein
Trends we spotted | Week 3
16-1-2020
At hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the smaller trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
This week, among other links to articles about Selfridges that has a café with an adult-sized slide in its window and about Lets Golf!, they transformed the city of Groningen into a minigolf park.
During the Hotelnacht (the hotel night) 2020 in Amsterdam (the 18th of January) you can participate at Taiko Bar’s Asian Karaoke Night at the Conservatorium hotel. Or visit the Pulitzer x Lindt during the Hotelnacht 2020. They’re creating a chocolate heaven!
In December the first vegan cheese shop opened in Amsterdam and in London a pop-up cheese-themed hotel will open! An idea by Café Rouge.
Le Prestine in Antwerp, the new restaurant for Sergio Herman is looking for staff, they will open this April. Also a link to ‘The Jungle Bubble by Anantara’ in Thailand, watching elephants from your bed and bubble! And inspiration for a children’ playground from Beijing, the Baoyan Park Children’s Entertainment Park.
SCRAEGG | From the fastest scrambled eggs to the smallest canteen in the world
3-12-2019
2018 was the starting point for SCRAEGG: Presented as ‘the fastest scrambled egg in the world’, the compact device with a steam nozzle quickly became centre of attention at trade fairs because using different flavors, a fluffy scrambled egg could be conjured up in seconds. Without a pan, without fat and without an unpleasant smell. Just one year on, SCRAEGG still supplies the world’s fastest scrambled eggs in a wide range of variations. But it also produces a tasty selection of other meals and snacks, such as quinoa cups, loose potato mash, soups, creamy porridges and even fine desserts and small cakes.
At the HOST international hospitality trade fair in Milan, Italy, SCRAEGG was recognized as the most groundbreaking innovation. The FCSI Start Me Up Innovation Award was awarded for the first time in 2019 by the Foodservice Consultants Society International and Electrolux Professional. The jury of experts honoured the SCRAEGG patented steam nozzle system, which prepares different meals in a matter of seconds.
Fresh food robot ‘Sally 2.0 by Chowbotics’ will be rolled out worldwide
2-12-2019
The world’s first fresh food robot, Sally 2.0 by Chowbotics enters a new phase with a new user interface, hardware enhancements, and an expanded menu with meal options for any time of day. Sally 2.0, the newest iteration of its widely-popular fresh food robot, which first came to market in 2018 and is currently in action at more than 70 locations including offices, college campuses, hospitals, and more. The enhanced model features a larger tablet display, a stunning new user interface, wheels for increased mobility, and improved servicing features that reduce operator refill and cleaning time. In addition to Sally’s flagship salad and grain bowl offerings, Sally 2.0 now offers breakfast and snack options such as Açai bowls, fruit, yogurt bowls, and more. Thousands of people can now experience these enhancements at several new deployments across the country and around the world.
We wrote about the Robot Sally back in 2017 and wondered when we will see the first fresh food robots like Sally in Europe. Stated at the website of Chowbotics is that they work with the Compass Group, Sodexo and in the press release it says that Bonduelle, the French international plant-based food company, recently ordered a first set of 50 robots for France. Earlier this year, the two companies joined forces to create the Cabaletta brand and set an exclusive partnership for deployments at foodservice outlets throughout mainland Europe. “We believe offering salads and other plant-based food through easy to access kiosks will be a key trend for the future,” says Elodie Levrier, Project Director, Bonduelle. So anything for your food outlet or kiosk?
Zero-waste restaurant SILO | Second location opened in London
14-11-2019
Yesterday, Wednesday 13th November SILO, the world’s first zero-waste restaurant SILO by award-winning chef Douglas McMaster, joined CRATE Brewery, in their Hackney Wick home, The White Building. A zero-waste pioneer, Douglas’ innovative approach is threaded throughout the whole restaurant and its supply chains: from trading directly with farmers to composting any leftover scraps into compost, the continuing aim is to ‘close the loop’ in the food production process.
Back in 2014 we wrote about restaurant SILO in Brighton, back then had just opened his restaurant after being funded with crowdfunding, so it’s great to notice that the sustainable initiatives of chef Douglas McMaster pay off.
