Wallvertising by Pieter Ceizer for Warsteiner

8-1-2015

In 2014 the premium beer brand Warsteiner had several walls decorated with a unique design in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. These authentic ‘wallvertising’ was made by artist Pieter Ceizer (from Amsterdam) and is to admire at café PIEK (Rotterdam), the Ruyschkamer (Amsterdam) and the ‘We Are Labels’ boutique in the Pijp (Amsterdam).

This project is inspired by the old New York phenomenon of ads that are painted on the sides of buildings, remnants of a lost era of urban life. Warsteiner wants to support the comeback of this traditional art form, because it brings back the craft and centers the artist.

Wallvertising – display the correct message

Pieter Ceizer plays not only with images, but also knows for each brand how to convey the right message in its own style. Expect unexpected puns that directly capture the essence such as “The biggest small family brewery” for Warsteiner. At the individual sites Pieter Ceizer knew how to subtly process the identity of cafe owners in his murals. “Brothers from other mothers” in the cafe De Ruyschkamer refers to the two young owners, who are brothers, but do not have the same mother. When entering café PIEK the intimate nature of the cafe is immediately clear by the artist interpretation: “Where everybody knows your name.”

Warsteiner + art and creative initiatives

The Warsteiner family has a special relationship with art and creative initiatives for generations . The family does not only has an impressive art collection, but also has close ties with several artists. Four years ago, Warsteiner Netherlands launched a seeding program in cooperation with BLEND \ BUREAUX. With this program the premium beer brand supports initiatives in the art- and fashion scene, such as exhibition openings and other events where a creative approach has been put central.

Bakery through crowdfunding

7-1-2015

BAQ, a bakery café in Groningen (The Netherlands) can open its doors through crowdfunding.

Patrick, Ellen and Evelien are the owners of BAQ. With already three locations in Drenthe they now want to open their fourth bakery in Groningen. This requires an investment of at least € 25.000, =. By a crowdfunding campaign via CrowdAboutNow they’ve already have raised 146% of the required € 25.000, =.

Funding

The funding will be used for the required bank guarantee to rent the property and for the purchase of an oven, pastry vitrine, a bread slicing machine, freezer, other kitchen equipment, the interior and marketing. When there will be raised more than the required amount, the additional funding will be used for the purchase of solar panels. The more successful the crowdfunding is, the more sustainable the bakery café will be.

Products

BAQ bakery café works together with local farmers and millers. The bread is made without additives, e-numbers and lactose. They are have a wide range of spelled bread and sourdough. You can go to the bakery for a cup of coffee with some cake or for a delicious lunch.

Thank you

The crowdfunding campaign takes 60 days and lasts until 12 March, 2015. Investments starts from € 100, = with a return of 4% each year for five years. BAQ bakery café is thanking their investors with different rewards per invested amount. For example they are giving a lovely high tea or offer a workshop for making bread to thank for the confidence in the company.

Book a room for a few hours

7-1-2015

When booking a room in The Netherlands online, Dutch hotels are often limited to a standard rate for one night. It’s hardly impossible to book a room for a few hours.

Minimum stay

There are website that gave it a try, such as ‘Day-Use Hotels‘ which we wrote about in 2012. That website is in the Netherlands still limited to Hotel & Spa Savarin and offers a minimum stay of five hours. The website of between9and5.com gives a little more options for a room, although even there fixed time frames apply with a minimum of five hours. It’s still not possible to book a room for a few hours.

Expanding time windows

With an emerging international 24-hour economy, arrival and departure times are no longer as set as they used to be. If guests themselves could indicate during which time they wish to use the room, hotels would get the maximum out of their available rooms.

Capsules in Asia

Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong are more familiar with booking rooms by the hour, since it is a regularity that tourists or businessmen rest a few hours in capsule hotels. Green Plaza Shinjuku Capsule Hotel even offers 630 cabins, but these are restricted to men only. A capsule measures 190cm by 100cm by 90cm and has air conditioning, a TV, radio, alarm clock and adjustable lighting.

Book a room for a few hours

Although sleeping capsules seem claustrophobic to us and do not fit our culture, Dutch guests from the region might find it pleasant to book a hotel for a few hours in the Netherlands as well. Only not like the tourists and business guests do in Asia. It can be an opportunity for dating purposes.

Dating in hotel rooms

The dating market is hot! There is an interesting market for the visitors of dating sites like Second Love and Ashley Madison. Apps like Tinder and Grindr are in high demand and it is becoming easier for ‘adventurers’ get in touch with like-minded people. This (online) dating market is an interesting business for hotels. There’s taboo on renting rooms for these occasions, but for hotels it’s a chance to earn extra money by renting rooms for a few hours that would otherwise still be vacant. Which hotel offers an easy booking system to book rooms by the hour? Let us know via tip@spronsen.com, we’ll be discrete.

The vending machine of the future

6-1-2015

The Luce X2 Touch TV vending machine uses facial recognition and could deny you an unhealthy snack if you gave the machine an insight in your medical records and the product could harm you. The future of vending machines in hospitals and schools and offices?

The future is near with this vending machine

The Luce X2 Touch TV vending machine is created by Italy-based Rheavendors and recently launched in the UK by Smart Vend Solutions, the machine features a touchscreen display to select an item just like a standard vending machine. However, customers with an account can go through a facial recognition check – to approve the snack (or not) before it’s delivered.
In the last two years, Rheavendors developed the facial mapping software for the machines to allow or disallow products based on the user’s age, gender or dietary needs. For example, if the machine is configured to identify an individual with a nut allergy, it will then prevent the user from ordering a particular item with traces of nuts.

Smart Vend Solutions managing director, Malcolm Standage, about the vending machine: “Now touch screen technology, cashless payment systems, Smartphone integration and automatic dispensing is shaping the future of the industry and we want Smart Vend Solutions to be positioned as a specialist in this marketplace. Through our exclusive partnership with Rheavendors, we are determined to explore unprecedented avenues and endless possibilities in vending. Launching the very first full production facial recognition technology represents an advancement which will bring unlimited benefits to businesses and consumers across the UK.” If you want to know more, contact their office.

Food waste recycling Seattle

5-1-2015

In Seattle it is no longer allowed to throw food and food waste in the bin from 1 January onwards. Enforcement of the new rule will start from July, which implicates that each standard family bin that contains more than 10% recyclable and / or food waste will receive a $ 1,- fine on the next waste bill. Multi-family property owners with too much food waste in trash will get a $ 50, – fine after two warnings.

Recycling for companies

This system of warnings and fines applies to all companies. Before, there were only food recycling rules for catering establishments. Bins in (public) eateries used by consumers are excluded if there are sufficient alternatives to recycle food waste.

Waste target of Seattle

Seattle has set a target to recycle 60 percent of waste in 2015 and is putting effort in achieving this. In 2013 they achieved a recycling percentage of 56%, the city dumps 100,000 tons of food waste in landfills annually. With this new law, Seattle want to divert 38.000 tons of food waste from landfills into composting.

Zenzez combines Hotel, Lounge and Showroom

2-1-2015

Matthijs Wilmink and Paul Mulder are the founders of ZENZEZ Hotel & Lounge. Zenzez is an attractive design- and cityhotel located at the edge of the city center of Apeldoorn (The Netherlands).

Interior

Zenzez Hotel & Lounge is fully furnished by the styling team of Riviera Maison. The owners created the hotel to be distinctive and to offer a contemporary and affordable luxury product. Guests of the hotel can buy the furniture and accessories during their visit. That makes Zenzez a hotel, lounge and showroom all in one.

Zenzez

Zenzez Hotel & Lounge is the first hotel in the Netherlands that is founded through crowdfunding. The hotel is located at a renovated Jugendstil villa from 1904 and has 10 rooms. The hotel is also suitable for business meetings and it has a luxuriously furnished businessroom. At the lounge you can go for a lunch, cup of coffee, high tea or a glass of wine.

Pisco Embassy; Cocktails with Pisco

30-12-2014

Pisco Embassy, London’s first late-night Pisco bar opened mid-November on Upper Street in Islington. Another single booze bar!

Next to the immense culinary popularity, it looks like the cocktails with Peru’s Pisco liquor are gaining popularity as well. I used to travel to Lima (Peru) a number of times and really enjoyed a Pisco Sour back then. When I read that the Pisco Embassy in London opened in the newsletter from The Food People, it brought back cocktail licious memories! That’s why I went looking for the original recipe for a Pisco Sour, as shown in the video by Epicurious.

Pisco Embassy; Cocktails with Pisco

The cocktail menu at Pisco Embassy offers twists on classic cocktails with Pisco; such as the Pisco Embassy Punch (Pisco mixed with fresh pineapple juice and a touch of lemon), Machu Picchu Nights (Pisco infused with Shisho leaves, shaken with lemon juice, red basil syrup, mixed berry purée and pressed apple juice) and Chicha Sour (Pisco with Peruvian purple corn syrup and lemon juice).Head bartender José Francisco-Modonese, hailing from Lima, is passionate about his country’s national spirit, the grape brandy Pisco. He gets his inspiration from visits to Peru during the harvesting and distilling time of Pisco. He visits the vineyards, Bodegas and specialized Pisco bars and brings new ideas back to London. The Pisco Embassy serves cocktails with infused Pisco liquors. ^Marjolein

Wine from a Tube

29-12-2014

Dijkwijn is a label by Nouvino, a new player in the wine arena in the Netherlands that makes “enjoying quality wine durable and affordable by out-of-the-box thinking.”

In France we have the ‘vin en vrac’, containers of 5 or 10 liters in which you can buy wine in bulk directly at a winery. In the supermarkets you can also buy the BiB (Bag in Box). The Wine Tube by Dijkwijn is a new sustainable and stylish alternative in this category.

The Wine Tube

The wine tube is filled with sustainably produced wine from traditional wineries. The tube is made from recycled FSC carton and contains the contents of almost three bottles of wine. A smart vacuum system preserves the wine two months after opening. Efficient transport and storage result in lower cost and less CO2 emissions than with a traditional bottle. In addition, the tube stays cool longer and is easier to recycle than glass bottle.

Dijkwijn Bianco and Rosso

Trebbiano and Grechetto grapes from the family Sabbata form the basis for the Dijkwijn Bianco. Wine farmer Primo de Sabbata delivers Sangiovese and Merlot grapes from the Tuscan hills of Arezzo for the Rosso variant.

Who is behind Dijkwijn?

The team consists of Hans van Minnen (quality, logistics, marketing, buying and selling), Sandra Kars (general organization, design, marketing, social media and supporting buying and selling), Michiel Zijlstra (design, websites and online promotion) and Nikaj Pennings (quality, marketing and sales).

Designer chocolate Christmas tree

24-12-2014

Spectacular showpieces of chocolate has been a ‘Christmas’ tradition by chocolatiers in Paris, New York, Hong Kong, London and other cities all over the world. The Patissier (with flagship stores in Oegstgeest and the Market Hall in Rotterdam, The Netherlands) started this tradition 4 years ago in Oegstgeest and created their designer chocolate Christmas tree, ‘Drops to Christmas’ this year.

Designer chocolate Christmas tree

The designer chocolate Christmas tree consists of 500 hand-poured chocolate balls, made from Valhrona chocolate. The total width is 50 centimeters and the tree is 1.25 meters high. The tree is made by 2 patissiers who worked for 14 days to finish it. 15 kilos of chocolate was processed for the artwork. The ‘Christmas baubles’ tree is a gift by The Patissier to Rotterdam and it’s beautiful new Market Hall. The tree can be admired until 31 December at The Patissier, freshunit 83 in the Market Hall.

Sustainable wine cooler made of sheepskin

24-12-2014

KYWIE (K-eep Y-our W-ool-IE), sheepskin keeps your bottle trendy cool. The isolating fleece on the inside keeps the temperature fixed from the moment you place the bottle in a KYWIE wine cooler. A sustainable wine cooler that cools effectively and does not feel cold.

Sustainable wine cooler

Made of sheepskin this cooler also keeps a red wine at the right temperature when it’s cold outside. A thermos and a cooler in one because wool keeps warm and cool. Natural material and therefore durable, no condensation, it does not break, weighs almost nothing and is traditionally produced in the Netherlands. In short, an authentic and sustainable cooler. The wine cooler is available in different colours (camel, blue and white) and as a champagne cooler and cup holder as well.

Restaurant ‘T Amsterdammertje uses KYWIE

Chef – owner André Gerrits of restaurant ‘t Amsterdammertje in Loenen aan de Vecht (The Netherlands): “We have the KYWIE wine coolers in operation for the last 6 months now, recently, with ‘t Amsterdammertje logo. Guests respond very positively to it and it’s nice as branding for us. The wool suggests otherwise, but the coolers are also very suitable for our summer terrace. We are very happy with them”.

Dishes of amateur cooks on your menu

23-12-2014

Hotel-Restaurant Oostergoo (Grau, Friesland, The Netherlands) inspired us with their search for the tastiest meatball and ‘snert’ (a famous Dutch pea soup) to place on their lunch menu. If campaigns like is are done right, you can reach a lot of potential guests. Especially if you involve local food bloggers.

Meatballs and ‘Snert’ on the lunch menu

Restaurant Oostergoo started a competition to find the best home-made meatballs and snert. On 13 December, the meatballs and the soup were tasted by the famous Dutch chefs Joop Braakhekke and Albert Kooy to assess whether the dishes would fit in a restaurant as well. This because the winning meatball and snert will be on the lunch menu at the Hotel-Restaurant Oostergoo. The winners are Mr. Scholten de Weerd (meatballs) and Ms. Gerda Uiterwaal (pea soup).

Dishes of amateur cooks on the menu

The amount of variations of food competitions you can think of are of course numerous. But especially with the huge amount of amateur cooks and the popularity of cooking it’s not difficult to create your own theme. Enthuse the local press to pay attention to your search for a great dish, have a (local) celebrity judge the dishes and leave a spot (or a few) free at your menu. And of course, make a party from your food competition!

Restaurant SILO: as ‘green’ as possible entrepreneurship

22-12-2014

SILO, a new restaurant in Brighton, has got an ‘zero waste’ perspective on sustainable behavior.

According to Douglas McMaster, joint owner of restaurant SILO, there is too much waste and processed food nowadays. That’s why he created SILO, a green restaurant, bakery and a coffee house in one building.

Restaurant SILO reduces waste

Restaurant SILO takes different types of actions to reduce waste. SILO emails the menu to their guests to avoid paper waste. The leftovers are going to a composting machine where it is processed into usable compost. But it doesn’t stop there. The interior is made from repurposed materials, such as used school furniture and scaffolding shelves. SILO created a trendy, green environment to have dinner or to drink coffee.

Sustainable products

McMaster works together with sustainable suppliers. He is in direct contact with local farmers and makes sure that the products aren’t processed. Besides that he works together with a coffee supplier who has his coffee beans shipped by a sailing boat. Interested investors can buy themselves in via Crowd2Fund.

NH Hotels show their hearts!

22-12-2014

The NH Hotel Group recently launched this year’s edition of the annual globally Christmas Campaign “Hotels with a Heart”. The campaign is in partnership with the Ronald McDonald Children Fund, Iris Hospital in Belgium and the Lenval Children’s Hospital in France.

Hotels with a Heart

The NH Hotel Group offers free nights, afternoon teas, Christmas dinners and cooking workshops in its hotels for families who have had a hard time because of the illness of their child. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the “Hotels with a Heart” initiative, which has gained a prominent place in the Corporate Responsibility Program of the hotel group.

Corporate Responsibility ambassador

In the Benelux, UK and France 43 hotels will invite special guests in the period from 22 December, 2014 until 11 January 2015. In total, about 300 hotel nights are offered worldwide. To make sure the families will lack nothing during their stay, every hotel has an ambassador to watch over every need of the families.

Campaign video

The campaign video about this initiative is published in several languages. It could have been an even stronger campaign if every country would tell another story instead of ‘just’ another variation in subtitle and voice-over. This would have strengthened this great gesture!

Eye tracking app tested by Pizza Hut

19-12-2014

A digital app that makes choices for you. Pizza Hut and the Swedish eye tracking innovators of Tobii are testing the possibilities in an app. They hope to launch with their subconscious ordering feature by the end of 2015. It could change our dining experience, especially for those who have difficulties choosing between pizzas.

Check out their video to see how it should work!

About eye tracking innovator Tobii

Tobii is the world leader in eye tracking. They transform industries and lives with humanized technology using eye tracking as core. Tobii delivers comprehensive, market-leading eye-tracking for applications such as computers, gaming and vehicles.

Valuas croquette at the Limburg Museum

18-12-2014

The standard & gluten free Valuas croquettes by chef Eric Swaghoven of restaurant Valuas (1 Michelin star) in Venlo is going to be served in the café the Limburgs Museum. They start serving the Dutch specialty (croquette) from the official start of the exhibition “War & Freedom”, along with other culinary snack creations by Eric.

Core values of his culinary snacks

Chef Eric Swaghoven has created his luxury and artisan snacks by the motto; tasteful and conscious snacking. Core values of its croquettes and ‘bitterballen’ (bal size croquettes) are quality, taste and sustainability. The Valuas croquette is the starting point of his line of snacks.

The Valuas croquette at the Limburg Museum

The Limburgs Museum is a family museum and the daily practice at the Museum shows that the visiting youth still prefers to snack during their visit. With that fact in mind, the choice to put the ‘kroketten & bitterballen’ by Valuas on the menu, is a choice for quality snacks.

The Valuas croquette

The Valuas croquette is made with pure beef and a French roux sauce in proportion 35% meat, 45% roux to obtain a 110 grams of croquette. Tasty, full-bodied and creamy because of the broth used for this receipt. They also have a gluten-free version.

Other culinary snacks

In addition to the iconic Valuas croquette, a veal croquette, shrimp croquette, vegetarian croquette and a mushroom croquette will be served in the Museum. Also on the menu: fried king prawns in shrimp crackers crumbs.

The ‘chicken soup’ croquette by grandma Jo Swaghoven-Eupen

The ‘chicken soup’croquette is a tribute to Grandma Jo Swaghoven-Eupen, who did manage café Modern in Venray with her husband, in the years after the war. The chicken soup grandma Jo made has become legendary. The family recipe inspired her grandson Eric to make his ‘chicken soup’ croquettes.