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In the Netherlands, women’s average gross hourly earnings are 14% lower than men’s, which seemed entirely outdated to De Koffiejongens.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.
Ruby Hotels | This hotel chain continues to expand, now also to Italy
22-10-2021
The Munich-based Ruby Group continues its growth and brings their Lean Luxury philosophy to Italy. In a historic building in the heart of Florence, Ruby, together with GB Holding Group, is realizing a Ruby Hotel with 118 rooms and a Ruby Workspace with a total surface area of approximately 300 m². The images accompanying this article are from Ruby Hotel Louise in Frankfurt. The rooms are the same at all Ruby Hotels, only they can differ in details regarding decoration. Ruby does the design for all her hotels herself, every hotel has the Ruby ‘signature’ but the theme differs, often in line with the history of the building or the location.
Ruby Hotels currently has 12 hotels in Düsseldorf (3), Vienna (3), Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Zurich and London. Founder and CEO Michael Struck is breaking new ground in the hotel industry with his Lean Luxury philosophy. Through a lean organizational structure and with a concentration on the essentials, Ruby hotels know how to create a contemporary, affordable form of luxury for modern, cost- and style-conscious customers. The group was founded in 2013 and, in addition to the 12 hotels, has nineteen more hotels under construction and/or in the planning stages. With the Ruby Asia joint venture, founded in 2018, Ruby is expanding into Asia. In addition, Ruby offers Ruby Workspaces in Munich, Hamburg and Düsseldorf: perfectly equipped workplaces in a creative environment with access to an inspiring office community.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Trends we spotted | Week 42
18-10-2021
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 NANKA that makes patties from Jack Fruit in combination with mushrooms, chicken and beef to help meat-eaters to reduces their meat intake in Malaysia. And in Germany Essity and McDonald’s are recycling the paper cups into toilet paper.
The Brooklyn Dumpling Shop from New York is growing fast through franchising, they’re opening 5 new locations in Florida. And the Singapore-born, Instagram-famous Paradise Group debuted in California last September with their Rainbow Soup Dumplings!
The Dutch cider producers and importers of CiderCider will open ‘the Ciderbar’ in Rotterdam Hofbogen by the end of December. And in Groningen the first RavioliBar in the Netherlands opened. They make fresh ravioli daily!
The Cheesecake Factory has been sharing a slew of their incredible recipes for readers to make in their own kitchens since the COVID-19 crisis. Inspirational! And the Dutch Vegan Junk Food Bar will open in Germany this fall.
The world’s first online 100% direct trade coffee platform TYPICA launched in the Netherlands
14-10-2021
The international coffee platform TYPICA launched in the Netherlands this week. This revolutionary online initiative paves the way for (small-scale) coffee producers and family businesses to distribute high- quality green coffee beans in a sustainable way. Coffee roasters can import green coffee beans from just one jute bag (60 kg). They also have access to exclusive information about the coffee producer and the coffee plantation, they stimulate the production of (small-scale) coffee producers and the coffee roaster can choose from more than 1000 unique specialty coffees. The platform is based on a well-functioning business model that improves the sustainability of high-quality coffee and leaves more turnover for the (small-scale) coffee producer. The platform currently consists of more than 2000 coffee roasters and coffee producers from twelve countries who trade directly with each other.
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
Hilton offers running routes in voice-activated running app RunGo
12-10-2021
Although certainly no longer a new trend, it remains interesting that we regularly see collaborations between hotels and hotel chains and running organizations and apps. And sometimes the technical adjustment in the app is inspiring. We can imagine that a voice-activated running app works!
This time Hilton has entered into an exclusive partnership with the voice-activated running app RunGo. Three tailor-made routes have been created for 7 hotels in the Netherlands with the themes running, sightseeing and mindfulness. For hotel guests, the routes are ideal for discovering the nearest sights and keeping fit. Residents of all the Hilton hotels can also enjoy the routes!
Reading time: 2 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
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.
Trends we spotted | Week 34
26-8-2021
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 Restaurant Esmé in Chicago, founded by Jenner Tomasko (executive chef at Grand Achatz) who focuses on art and community with even a à la carte menu for ‘walk-ins’. Sounds like Chicago has a new culinary hotspot.
Starbucks opened their 10th ‘farmer support’ centre in Varginha, Brasil with the purpose to offer valuable resources to local coffee communities.
UPSIDE Foods partners with three Michelin star chef Dominique Crenn. Crenn will develop recipes and give culinary advise and if allowed she will use the lab-grown chicken in her restaurant. This is the first collaboration in the cultivated meat industry with a three star Michelin chef.
De Koningshoeven brewery is the first in the world to market a completely alcohol-free Trappist beer: La Trappe Nillis (0.0%). And McDonald’s published their Purpose and Impact Report of 2020-2021 with four impact points: Jobs, Inclusion and Empowerment, the Plant, Food Quality & Sourcing and Community Connection.
Duke’s Mayonaise started collaborating with Champion Brewing Company to produce the perfect beer that fits with a BLT sandwich: Family Recipe (5,1% ABV, 27 IBU). Kind of ‘Mayo Beer’. The new ‘food shopping’-app, Grownby, connects farmers with buyers. Wouldn’t it be great to have such an app as a cook? And getting messages like the strawberries are now ‘ready to eat’!
CandyCan gummy bears are gluten-free, plant-based, low-sugar, low carb and contain vitamins. Is it an idea to lay a bag of Gummy bears on top of a pillow for children visiting your hotel? Or to put a bag in a ‘Happy-Meal’ kind of box?
Oreo opened their first café in New Jersey. The café consists of a shop offering Oreo cookies and other Oreo treats, and fast-service where you can order Oreo treats. And in New York another sweet hybride is gaining popularity: the Croffle. This is a soft, buttery and layered croissant toasted in a waffle iron and sprinkled with different toppings.
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Kitchen Robot Flippy 2 - credits Miso Robotics
