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.  

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Booking.com Launches New Pilot App CityBook in Amsterdam, London and Paris

25-2-2020

Booking.com, one of the world’s leading digital travel companies committed to making it easier for everyone to experience the world, recently announced the launch of a new pilot product, CityBook, a responsive digital guide for cities that seamlessly combines inspiration, planning, navigation and experience all in one place. The first pilots launched in the cities of Paris, London and Amsterdam.

This Pilot product leverages machine learning to make instant recommendations for travelers to easily explore all the best a city has to offer on the go. Booking.com just made exploring cities a whole lot easier. read more

Soulpicks app | Already 120,000 unique favorite places, restaurants, wine bars and Cafe’s worldwide

25-2-2020

Places where you like to go and share in private with friends, family and acquaintances. In the past year, 120,000 of these kind of unique ‘soulpicks’ were recorded and shared in the Soulpicks app by users and the experts associated with Soulpicks. Of all favorite places, restaurants are the most shared, but also wine and cocktail bars and cafe’s throughout the world are well represented in the app. More than 7,800 favorite places have already been added in Japan, more than 31,000 in the USA and more than 16,000 in the United Kingdom and France. The milestone is an important step towards the position of Soulpicks as a ‘go to app’ for the implementation of your leisure time, wherever you are in the world.

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Gacha Gacha Coffee | A do-it-yourself coffeeshop by Maruyama Coffee

21-2-2020

A do-it-yourself coffeeshop, created by Nendo Design Studio for Maruyama Coffee In Japan. Although already closed it’s been an introduction to a coffeeshop that didn’t require many staff members. Nendo Design Studio created the almost fully-automated café called Gacha Gacha Coffee. The experience was inspired by Gachapon, a capsule toy vending machines that’s popular in Japan. The pop-up from October till November 2019, located in the observation deck of Roppongi Hills, featured 12 vending machines. At these machines consumers could purchase a capsule filled with coffee beans for ¥500 (USD 4.50). As from that the consumer had to take the coffee to semi-automated stations to brew it themselves. Staff only had to give information and clean up!

The idea behind Gacha Gacha Coffee is to create a coffee experience that makes you choose your beans, take time to watch it brewed and maybe even talk about coffee with a barista and of course enjoy the view at the observation deck! But as Trendwatching (we spotted Gacha Gacha Coffee in their ‘Innovation of the day’-trendletter) indicates it’s a great example on how you can use automation to face labour shortage, which we’re facing in the Netherlands as well.

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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

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Punk, Royals and Shoreditch | The new nhow London hotel has a special interior design theme

4-2-2020

NH Hotel Group recently opened its first nhow property in London at the beginning of January. nhow is a brand that surprises and inspires its guests by offering them an unconventional experience, which is unique to each hotel’s location. nhow London is part of the exciting new development 250 City Road.

Check out their Instagram account for more details of the interior design which has ‘London reloaded’ as theme. You’ll be welcomed by Henry the robot and we love the Big Ben rocket sculpture in the lobby! read more

Mandarin Oriental Miami | 20 Years of Hospitality celebrated with a ‘Platinum Wedding and Honeymoon’ offer

4-2-2020

In honor of the hotel’s 20th anniversary, five-star Mandarin Oriental, Miami is gifting newlyweds the honeymoon of a lifetime with the ‘Platinum Wedding and Honeymoon’ offer. Named for the traditional 20th anniversary gift of platinum, the offer includes a seven-night honeymoon at any Mandarin Oriental hotel worldwide when booking a wedding at the Miami hotel.

Great initiative by this large key player within the hospitality industry, showing the importance to always keep utmost attention for creating exceptional and unforgettable guest experiences (no matter how large the organization is). A great example for other chains? Although this ‘Platinum Wedding and Honeymoon’ offer has a high price tag it might be an opportunity for other chains as well, a kind of ‘all in one wedding’ offer.  read more

‘Tempo by Hilton’ | An elevated and approachable new lifestyle brand

28-1-2020

Hilton launched ‘Tempo by Hilton’, an approachable lifestyle brand curated to serve a growing segment of ‘modern achievers’ who seek a hotel experience that reflects their ambition. By combining thoughtful design and diverse lifestyle partnerships, ‘Tempo by Hilton’ provides hotel owners and developers with a highly scalable brand that is both uplifting and within reach for future guests – all powered by an efficient service model. read more

Booking.com | Twenty epic unique places to stay to kick start 2020 New Year’s resolutions

24-1-2020

This holiday season, Booking.com, the global travel leader with a mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world, is encouraging consumers to book a trip to help kick start 2020 New Year’s resolutions. In an effort to offer inspiration, Booking.com is custom designing 20 incredible experiences available for guest bookings, with each “Resolution Suite” themed to align with 20 of the most popular New Year’s resolutions for 2020. Booking.com has encouraged consumers to #BookYourResolution to help them come true.

Great marketing campaign by booking.com. Unfortunately only available in the US and hopefully the lucky ones that had the opportunity to stay in one of their resolutions suites are probably even more motivated to have their resolution come true! The suites were available for 2 nights as from January 17^th! It might be a great 2021 New Year’s resolution for Booking.com to create a likewise campaign in Europe, preferably in Amsterdam!

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Ferm Fatale l The world’s first zero sugar probiotic mocktail

22-1-2020

Ferm Fatale, the world’s first zero sugar probiotic mocktail, is kicking off the New Year with the official launch of a line of shelf stable, raw, vegan, organic, probiotic non-alcoholic beverages. At only 22 calories and zero sugar per bottle, Ferm Fatale’s mocktails offer an alternative to typical beverages loaded with sugar and alcohol, giving consumers the freedom to enjoy a healthier choice while socializing.

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