At Horecatrends 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, amongst others about UK’s first selfie cappuccino, food events in January and the first Valentine’s packages are already available!
Click on the title if you would to read the full article. Enjoy reading! read more
MUJI hotel Shenzhen
MUJI hotel Shenzhen
MUJI hotel Shenzhen
MUJI hotel ShenzhenThe popular Japanese home retailer MUJI will open a hotel this January the 18th, MUJI hotel Shenzhen, in Shenzhen, China. Hotel operations will be run by other parties, the development of the hotel, the interior design is done by MUJI, featuring the company’s line of furniture and housewares. An opportunity for guests to experience MUJI products.
Cheshire Cheese Company
Cheshire Cheese Company
Cheshire Cheese CompanyWe’re only missing a link with tonic, but the new gin-flavoured cheese from the Cheshire Cheese Company could be a new cheese at your cheeseboard! A chef might be able to create a tonic jelly to support the cheese……
At Horecatrends 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, amongst others about two location of Jamie’s Pizzeria in the Netherlands in 2018 and new about two food hall concepts in the United States of America.
Click on the title if you would to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
Que d'éclairs
Haute éclairs photo credits Sigrid EggersDries Henau and Yuri Vandenbogaerde, or ‘De Jongens’ (the guys), behind the concept of the WASBAR, will open Chez Claire this spring. At Chez Claire they will sell luxurious ‘haute éclairs’ as you can’t find them anywhere else in Belgium and they will open simultaneously in Antwerp and in Ghent. If you like éclairs, some new addresses if you’re visiting one of these cities! read more
Credits - Reigers’ Rooie
Credits - Reigers’ Rooie
Credits - Reigers’ RooieReigers’ Rooie is Amsterdam’s first spicy vodka. Rooie is a small-batch and handcrafted ginger vodka created in the heart of Amsterdam. The spicy bite of ginger and a hint of orange gives the vodka a strong and refreshing taste. A Reiger is a heron in Dutch and over the years, the heron has become an important part of Amsterdam’s city image. read more
December is a month full of festive events including Christmas dinner with family and friends. For many chefs (whether at home or at a restaurant) the perfect moment to show off. In search for original Christmas recipes we stumbled on glittering gravy which is served at The Fox Under The Hill Hungry Horse pub in England. A guaranteed and sparkling success! read more
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUK
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUK
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUK
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUK
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUKThe recently opened restaurant LEUK (FUN in English) is located in the area around the Houthavens on the Danzigerkade nr. 8 in Amsterdam. A restaurant that is LEUK (FUN) for both parents and children. Good food from an international menu and a special menu for children. Restaurant LEUK already has a location in Bussum for more than seven years. At their new location in Amsterdam they have a children’s playground of in total 150 m2 including a babysitter!
We’re always willing to give some free publicity for great Christmas decoration ideas! Recently we spotted Rolf’s German restaurant in New York City. They have been famous for their Christmas decorations for years now and they have a lot of old videos to proof that! Their Christmas decoration is absolutely over the top and according to most on the internet, gorgeous. If you think you can beat them, let us know!
In the heart of Utrecht on the Bakkerstraat 7, Désirée Stroes and Brian Steevens opened their Croquetten Boutique last November. The enthusiastic entrepreneurs sell croquettes in all shapes and sizes at this location. How about the following croquettes: ‘Pumpkin & Sage’, ‘Apple & Cinnamon’, ‘Mushroom & Parsnip’ or ‘Chicken & Red Curry’. You can also order a tasting of 6 small croquettes. Of course, they also have the original croquette on the menu, handmade and fresh! For the Holiday Season they have a special ‘Hazenpeper’ Croquet (with kind of Hare Stew). Another example of hyperspecialization. read more
At Horecatrends 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, amongst others about the Michelin stars in the Netherlands, we gained another restaurant with 3 Michelin stars and a link to an interesting article in the Washington Post about the fact that food-makers are taking salt and sugar out of food but they’re adding fat. read more
Christmas Coca ColaTwo lucky winners will fall asleep in the Coca-Cola Christmas truck tomorrow night. We all know this truck from the well-known Coca-Cola Christmas advertising that shows up every years during the Holiday Season. The iconic truck has been prepared for an overnight stay especially for this giveaway. Coca-Cola collaborated with Travel Blog Late Rooms. A fun and special marketing campaign! read more
Jajem 
The Amsterdam jenever brand Jajem exists 2 years this month. This will be celebrated in the Kopstootbar on the Leidseplein, which is also the first business the men behind the brand opened. Beside a party you can also buy Christmas ornaments filled with the young jenever! read more
Early November I received an app from my daughter from New York with the question if I had already written about the trend ‘cauliflower as substitute for chicken’. Seems to be popular in New York and you have to think of cauliflower prepared as buffalo wings or dishes like ‘General Tsao cauliflower’ instead of chicken. Since then I came across a couple of examples, time to start being creative with cauliflower as substitute for chicken! read more
Patent filed for unique zero-waste approach of converting by-product of tofu making into alcoholic drink. A research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has successfully turned tofu whey, a liquid that is generated from the production of tofu and is often discarded, into a tasty alcoholic beverage which they named Sachi. The innovative fermentation technique also enriches the drink with isoflavones, which are antioxidants that have many health benefits.
We couldn’t find an immersive Christmas Light Maze in Europe yet, howevere correct us if we are wrong. But we love the idea, another fun read more
We have been sharing inspiration on our website since 2007, inspiration that we find in the hospitality industry or by online spotting of what our read more
We have been sharing inspiration on our website since 2007, inspiration that we find in the hospitality industry or by online spotting of what our read more
The Roast Room is the new restaurant of Michael and Saskia Deenik and opened officially on 8 April. The Roast Room is a butcher shop, roast bar and rotisserie in one, located in the RAI Amtrium at the Europaplein in Amsterdam.
The butchers cut the meat that’s used in the restaurant themselves and they make fresh sausages and burgers as well. The vegetables and herbs for the restaurant come from a five floors City Farming space on the south side of the Amtrium.
The Roast Bar on the ground floor is a brasserie which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If the weather allows, it’s possible to eat outside at the terrace. The bar is decorated with large copper beer tanks filled with Warsteiner lager and the special beers.
The Rotisserie, a fine dining restaurant which is open for lunch and dinner, is located on the first floor. It includes a roof terrace for sunny days. The open kitchen has a Rotissoire, a charcoal grill, Australian Beech-wood furnaces for gas burners and a California South Bend-broiler that can heat up to 1,400 degrees Celsius.
The interior is the work of Studio Modijefsky and Studio Molen, who were responsible for the interior of Visaandeschelde as well. Restaurant Visaandeschelde is from the same owners. A bronze ‘Tower of Babel’ with shiny sausages welcomes guests at the entrance, an iconic butcher’s leg dangles in front of the butchery and a giant bronze ‘Ginger’ chandelier is one of the other unique cool features of the restaurant.
Just put your swimsuit or swim shorts in the dryer after swimming and in 10 seconds your swimsuit will be 95% dry.
We’ve been to the Grand Hotel in Stockholm in December where we found a small hospitable gesture in the wellness center: a dryer for your swimsuit. Very handy for hotels where the wellness is often split into a swimming pool where the swimsuit is obligated and a sauna where it’s optional. Watch the video for an instruction.
The swimsuit dryer doesn’t use any heat to dry : in terms of energy consumption, it is 350 W instead of 3000 W for a simple dryer. If you multiply the energy saved with the number of user in a pool, you can buy more than one unit in a year…. Moreover, No heat = swimsuit textile fiber preserved!
The Swimsuit Dryer is easy and quick to clean and is available in the colours granite, white marble, sandstone and silver. There is also a version that is futuristically illuminated. Cleaning brush and disinfectant cleaner are provided with the dryer.
At this time our colleagues of Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultancy are working on a publication about the wellness branch. This will be presented later this month.
If you’re interested in our publication, you can let us know through vraag@spronsen.com.
This is another website that helps their customers to secure the best deal possible. Book a hotel in the ‘flexible option’, forward the confirmation to DreamCheaper and let them find you the best deal possible. They will rebook and cancel the old confirmation, and you will still get the same room!
DreamCheaper, a German start-up, has automated the process to make a deal with fluctuating room prices by canceling and rebooking the room anytime it signals the same room at a better price. Customers have to create an account on DreamCheaper and forward their confirmation email. DreamCheaper starts a process of price-comparison that continues until the day before check-in. The startup’s automated system monitors the changing room prices on hundreds of travel websites (they do vary on supply and demand).
According to DreamCheaper, customers have no risk, the website first books the new room and cancels the old one later. They take a 20 percent cut of the money saved, so it is always incentivized to get the best price. They promise to optimize 2 out of 3 reservations.
A positive development for consumers but for hoteliers it’s another player on the market looking for the cheapest deals possible. Of course at the expense of the revenue of the hotel room.
Beam can turn any flat surface into a big screen. It is a powerful projector equipped with a smart computer, all inside a beautifully designed casing.
You can play games, watch movies or share content from your smartphone or tablet. You can also watch TV on your bedroom ceiling or project recipes on your kitchen wall. Next to that, Beam can assist you in your daily activities, like waking up in the morning with the latest news and your agenda or showing you your social updates when you come home. Beam is easy to set up and control with the Apple or Android app. You can screw it into any light socket or use the included power cable to place it on any flat surface.
With Beam the makers have created an easy to use ‘internet of things’-device that can entertain and assist you throughout the day. The patent for the technology inside Beam is pending. The fundraising went amazing, they raised more money than expected.
If you watch the video above you can easily imagine the use of the Beam in restaurants or hotels. Imagine your specialties of the day projected on the walls or a wall of pictures in your hotel lobby, presenting your menu, pictures of your wellness center or digital paintings. Or what do you think about presenting the kitchen crew while working on the plates of your guests? In a bar Beam could be used to project games on the tables.
The Bottlelight is a simple wine cork that has been hollowed out to place a mini USB powered light within it.
All you have to do, is to charge the lights and place it within a used wine bottle (or another alternative bottle). The white light of the LED creates a little lamp, the color is adjusted by the color of the bottle. The lamps will shine up to three hours on a full charge. Created by Suck UK.
Septem beer is a Greek beer. In Latin Septem means ‘seven’. The meaning inspired the creators of the beer to create various beers and name them after the days of the week. During Terra Madre in Turin Armand tasted all the different types. This included the Tuesday and Wednesday variant, however these are not available anymore.
The beer variants are: Monday’s Pilsner, Thursday’s Red Ale, Friday’s Pale Ale , Saturday’s Porter, Sunday’s Honey Golden Ale en Septem 8η Μέρα (Septem’s eighth day).
The microbrewery of Septem is located in Orologio (Greece). The microbrewery was founded by the Greek oenologist (wine expert) Sofoklis Panagiotou and the economist Georgios Panagiotou. They began with their first distribution of the bottles of beer in June 2009.
Sofoklis Panagiotou gives a masterclass in brewing beer in Amsterdam, on Monday 13 April 2015. He will explain how he creates his award-winning beer. It’s also possible to taste the beer afterwards!
You can reserve here to participate the masterclass.
Mongoza introduced various beer cocktails last year’s April. Now the spring has arrived, it’s time to bring the beer cocktail back. You can make such a cocktail easily with the beers from Mongozo.
Mongozo has created five different recipes of beer cocktails. The cocktail choices are; Mongozo Banana, Mongozo June Bug, Mongozo Mango, Mongozo in the mix and Mongozo Orange Samba.
The beer cocktail is very popular in America recently and a surprising alternative, just like with a spoonful of jam
Netflix introduces a new culinary documentary series about chefs and their philosophy about cooking. The documentary will be split into six episodes. Moviemaker David Gelb will visit a few top chefs during this series and has a look at their kitchens and private life’s. The trailer of Chef’s Table went online last Monday.
Every episode the viewers of Chef’s Table have the opportunity to dive into the life of a different chef. The chefs will show their kitchen and private life for the viewers to have an idea. The participating chefs are Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy), Dan Barber (Blue Hill Restaurant in Stone Barns and in New York , USA), Francis Mallmann (El Restaurante Patagonia Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina), Niki Nakayama (N/Naka Restaurant in Los Angeles, USA), Ben Shewry (Attica Restaurant in Melbourne, Australia), and Magnus Nilsson (Fäviken in Järpen, Sweden).
Chef’s Table is produced by David Gelb, Matt Weaver, Andrew Fried and Brian McGinn. The series is directed by David Gelb, Andrew Fried, Brian McGinn and Clay Jeter.
Chef’s Table premieres 26 April on Netflix.
Mini Pancakes has been chosen as pancake supplier by the Dutch pavilion at the World Expo 2015. During this edition of the world international exhibition in Milan, food plays central role. That’s why the traditional Dutch dish, the mini pancake, can’t be left out. In countries where this company from Bunschoten (NL) is active, including the Gulf States, the mini pancakes turn out to be very popular. So popular that Mini Pancakes recently opened a store in Dubai.
Through the activities that took place in the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Kuwait and the United Arabic Emirates, Mini Pancakes became the market leader in selling freshly baked mini pancakes. Mini Pancakes is a part of Global Village, the annual international festival in Dubai where over the 5 million visitors pay a visit to. Mini Pancakes received the Best Retail Award last year from Global Village. The youngest son of the sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum handed out this award. With the opening of the permanent Mini Pancakes establishment, the mini pancakes are available in Dubai throughout the year.
Mini Pancakes aren’t only served with a simple knob of butter and some sugar. This is just one of the many choices. Other options are white chocolate, Nutella, a variation of syrups, lime and even spreadable cheese as topping. According to Tomek Aalders, director of Mini Pancakes, the mini pancakes aren’t old fashioned but tasty and nice.
World Expo 2015 is from 1 May until 31 October in Milan.
A hotel room is a room where you sleep when you are traveling. Whether this is for business or pleasure, it doesn’t really matter much. The guest pays for the luxury he or she wants to experience during the stay. Yet there are those little gestures you can use to pamper the guest just a little extra. We have collected 10 examples of small suggestions to spice up your hotel room.
We all know the standard of soaps, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, bathing caps, toothbrush sets and shaving kits by now. Many of these amenities disappear in the suitcase and are a lasting reminder of your hotel in the bathroom of your previous guests. Definitely keep the standard amenities as a giveaway. I must say, I’m still positively surprised if I find mini packs makeup remover wipes. Hoteliers, this is highly appreciated by women!
At the Andaz Hotel in San Diego they have a bowl at the front desk with sunscreen sachets that have a high protection for your face! What a great service. At the Surf & Sand Resort Laguna Beach (Los Angeles) there are cheerful messages on the amenities of the hotel. Texts that make you happy when you walk into the bathroom in the morning.
More and more hotels are offering some kind of a Bath Menu: you can get an extended bath treatment from top soap brands. This can be a form of upselling, recently we wrote about it on horecatrends.com.
At Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Los Angeles next to the Getty Museum, the nightstand contains a book with uplifting and cheerful texts and drawings next to the traditional Bible. Guests can buy the book downstairs in the shop as well, along with other fun books in this series! You see more and more luxury hotels that present a selection of magazines in the room. And if you do it, do it right. At the Schloss Bensberg in Bergisch Gladbach we received a daily selection of various magazines!
It always amazes me that there is so little attention to detail for (parents with) children. Occasionally we’ve encountered some toys at a room, a simple gesture which makes a child happy and the parents as well. At Shutters on the Beach Hotel in Santa Monica they have a box in the bookcase with a yo-yo and three juggling balls. For the little ones, they have also a small whale for in the bath! But even older children find these toys fun, is my experience! A beach ball in a seaside hotel or some traditional Dutch games like the reversed buckets that you keep under your feet while walking by two strings in your hand. A doll in traditional costume for the toddler could be fun too, and so on.
Adults also love to play as well, they know that at Shutters on the Beach. At the bathroom they have locked some guilty pleasures in a bathroom cabinet. More hotels are offering excitement in this form, sometimes in collaboration with well-known adult shops like Christine le Duc.
At LUXURY Sunset Boulevard hotel a yoga mat in your hotel room is ready to use. There is a business card attached to it that says “Decompress with my yoga works” and it includes a code for a month of online yoga classes. Guests can also attend a complimentary yoga class at a location nearby. It could be interesting to collaborate with a local yoga teacher on this. Or if you haven’t got a gym at the hotel, working together with a gym nearby can be an option as well.
In a number of luxury hotels the minibar is already free of charge. Given the prices you pay for the room, the cost is often negligible. It is really charming to offer some drinks for free in any case, even a simple bottle of water on the nightstand is appreciated by your guests. Every day the Andaz Hotel in San Diego offered some drinks and snacks for free. They would put these on top of the mini-bar with a friendly note attached.
The Marriott hotel in Dana Point California has a special ‘do not disturb’ sign: Gone Surfin ! It’s definitely responding to local conditions ;-). The Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach (Los Angeles) has a ‘do not disturb sign’ sign that you put into the keyhole. That will keep the maid out if you want to sleep..
It’s old fashioned but at the luxury hotels it’s certainly still common, a box of stationery and postcards. Yet there are more and more people who just send postcards from their holiday address. The Surf & Sand Resort has put a handful of shells from the beach in their box which can be added to your letter. What is a local element at your location? If it’s the view, provide a binoculars for your guests.
Nothing is easier than a guest who indicates that he or she is at your hotel to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or something else. An opportunity to score for an open goal. And yet many hotels miss this! A small cake with a personal congratulation can sparkle a miracle and is often shared via social media. It is not really about what you do, as long as you do something.
Marjolein van Spronsen
The Bunny Chow is a South African ‘fast food’ dish that originated in the ‘40s. The South African Njabulo Ndlovu gives the Dutch an opportunity to enjoy this delicacy with the ‘BunnyChow Experience’ food truck.
Bunny Chow consists of a hollowed bread stuffed with a filling such as curry. The curry is made by Njabulo with fresh products, the organic bread is made by Bakery Paul Annee.
In the ‘40s a large number of Indians went to live in Durban and roti and curry became very popular in South Africa. The curry was popular because of its taste, but also because it was an affordable dish. The Bunny Chow was a good solution to serve curry as take-away through the back of a restaurant for people who were not allowed to enter during the Apartheid era.
The South African culture is one where food and especially ‘eating together’ is very important. The BunnyChow Experience therefore focuses on both the quality of the food as well as the quality of the experience around it. The slogan ‘Food is a social event!’ underlines the goal of this experience.
Restaurant ‘The Duchess’ in the former KAS Bank and the new W Amsterdam opens this summer. It’s just a short distance away from the Royal Palace at the Dam square. Founder Yossi Eliyahoo of ‘The Duchess’ calls the restaurant a luxurious retreat in the crowded heart of Amsterdam.
All the tastes are prepared in a handmade Molteni kitchen. This kitchen has been designed specially for the restaurant. An exclusive table is located in middle of the kitchen, The Duchess Table. The menu is inspired by the tastes that are characteristic for countries such as France and Italy. The restaurant uses products like artichoke, zucchini, lemons, olives, tomatoes, truffles, a variety of seafood, meat and fresh pastas. These are all local products from France and Italy.
The ‘Afternoon Tea’ is an important part of ‘The Duchess’. During this light meal there will be a variety of small pastries and scones served with signature marmalades. Besides that, the restaurant also serves one of its many tea blends and champagnes. Adjusted to the ‘dining experience’, the drink menu consists of different drinks, cocktails and punch.
Yossi Eliyahoo is inspired by the history of the former bank and combined this with the character of ‘The Duchess’. The interior has been brought into balance with the elegance and refinement of a royal past and with the comfort and intrigues from this time. The hall is decorated with a ceiling that is made of glass surrounded by marble details and handmade floor tiles.
Throughout The Netherlands more and more food halls are rapidly created. Recently a joint venture in the Southeast of Amsterdam signed the papers to transform a former parking garage into the ‘World of Food’, a new type of food hall. Dozens of entrepreneurs joined forces and are collectively responsible for both cooking the street food and running the joint project. The ‘World of Food’ opens late May 2015.
Suggesto.be is based on a simple principle. On this website you have an online overview that makes the menus, dishes, breakfasts and brunches of the affiliated restaurants accessible. Those who fancy a particular dish, can get food search suggestions from the website and find restaurants that match their appetite.
Tim Prys, initiator of suggesto.be: “It is more than just an online menu. The suggestions of restaurants you don’t always find online. Those menus become very accessible on my website. Today it is a must to inform people about what you have to offer, without having to consult dozens of individual websites. Currently a large number of restaurants and brasseries in Hasselt are part of my project. However, the intention is to expand to (Belgian) Limburg and Flanders on the short term. The period in which we achieve these objectives depends, of course, on the growth of users.”
Prys is convinced that Suggesto.be has the potential to become an indispensable tool. “The feedback from both the restaurants and the users is very positive.”
Inspiration: we have often indicated the importance of the accessibility of your menu. It seems strange that these are often hidden in PDF format on most restaurant websites. This young Belgian startup puts these data in the spotlight. You can contact Tim Prys through tim.prys@suggesto.be
At the festival ‘Extrema Outdoor’ visitors can enjoy the ‘Toilet Xperience’ this summer. Going to the bathroom in a small festival village, with the accompanying animation.
Visitors of Extrema Outdoor (Houthalen (Belgium) from 22 to 24 May 2015), will be able to enjoy the Toilet Xperience. It’s the first festival in the world to host the Toilet Xperience. Visitors will receive a VIP treatment, with the cleanest toilet seats, 3D images in the toilet cubicle, urinals that turn into a video game, so you can play a game with your urine! In addition, you can buy small festival gadgets. All this in an odorless and silent space. Visitors of this festival are the first place to enjoy this Xperience and no longer need to use dirty and smelly rows of toilet booths. After Extrema Outdoor the Toilet Xperience travels around Europe.
Are you already busy determining your terrace menu? Will you serve the popular cocktails and their non-alcoholic alternative, the mocktail? It might just be the 2015 hit, bartenders on the terrace shaking signature cocktails and mocktails. Latest trend in cocktails: serve a spoonful of preserves with your cocktail.
This past year we especially noticed a rise in the cocktails with beer in America. But mocktails are on the rise in popularity as wel. Women like to quietly sip on a cocktail and for girls who aren’t allowed any alcohol yet, a mocktail is a delicious and trendy alternative.
Various liquor brands invest in bringing cocktails to the crowd, last year we spotted the cocktail truck from Grey Goose Vodka for example. This is the most intimate cocktail bar in the world on four wheels (a Citroen H van) and part of an advertising campaign.
The jam cocktails are being served in Madame Geneva, one of the most popular cocktail bars of New York City. It’s located in the back of restaurant Saxon + Parole of chef Brad Farmerie. According to the guys behind Tasting Table, the cocktails with jam aren’t even on the menu but they are so popular that the bartenders often make them on request. They are simple to make, vodka, sugar syrup and lime juice with a spoonful of jam to top of it. The jam taste is up to you, ‘choose your own sweetness adventure’. Because of the thicker consistency of the preserves, you’re able to decide whether you want to sip your cocktail quite sweet (keep stirring) or just only dip the jam, making the taste of the vodka more important. Take a look for a recipe by bartender Brett Hughes (working at Madam Geneva) at the website of Tasting Table.
Rapidly from the second floor to breakfast? At The RedDot hotel in Taiwan you can take a slide! Hotel guests go back to their childhood, smiling on their way down.
General Manager Stephen Wu of the RedDot hotel in Taichung City invented the slide, inspired by the open slides at Google headquarters. Costs: 100,000 US dollars for the 30-meter stainless steel tunnel slide. The slide consists out of 102 stainless steel parts! Watch the video for more great details in the RedDot hotel like the barber chair in the lobby and the neon lights art… Which hotel in The Netherlands is going to install a slide?
The Dutch company Daalder launched its mobile payment Daalder app last week, an independent e-wallet for mobile payments in the Netherlands.
Daalder is an Amsterdam based start-up founded by entrepreneurs Renz Millenaar, Reinhard Spronk and Romke de Vries. Thomas de With, former director of the Global Transaction Bank at Deutsche Bank in the Netherlands is member of the Daalder Advisory Board. Business that are connected through Daalder receive payments via the ‘Daalder Webkassa’ (freely translated as ‘Daalder webbased cash register) which makes payments immediately visible. In addition, it is possible to send live updates and special offers to Daalder users.
‘Reizende Sterren’ introduces a street food app for the Netherlands. Soon the food trucks and festivals throughout the Netherlands can be found through the street food app.
The ‘Reizende Sterren street food app’ provides an overview of Dutch street food
entrepreneurs, food trucks and other mobile kitchens. The recent pilot with food trucks by the municipality of Amsterdam shows that it’s the perfect timing for such an app. In addition to visibility at festivals and events, users of the app can see where food trucks are located in the city, at designated spots on the street.
The launch of the ‘Reizende Sterren street food app’ will take place in May 2015
• Free to download from the App Store (Apple & Android)
• Overview with foodtruck entrepreneurs, product information and their signature dishes
• Push notifications of promotions, recipes and tickets
• Current events calendar
• Information about festivals, markets, events, parties, permanent pitches
• Real-time locator with GPS
• Link with social media
• Consumers rating system
With a consumer rating system within the app, it is possible to collect valuable data about consumer behaviour and appreciation that can help in the development of street food in the Netherlands. The street food app will collect data from every festival / event / food truck and ‘Reizende Sterren’ will provide an annual (public) overview of relevant information via an online analysis map.
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop is a unique store in downtown Amsterdam. In the shop you can find pancakes and Belgian waffles made from certified organic ingredients that are freshly cooked.
In the shop they make good old-fashioned Dutch pancakes and Belgian waffles with delicious fillings and toppings. The focus is on certified organic ingredients. Cooks prepare your dish right in front of you. Besides the pancakes and waffles they also serve organic coffee, tea, chai latte, hot chocolate and fresh orange juice. They have a breakfast bar, and if the weather is nice, you can sit on one of the benches outside. Of course you can also have your pancake for take-away as well. In the shop you will find organic snacks, drinks, coffee, honey and chocolate.
Andrea Steinmetz, owner of The Happy Pig Shop, at the Rosmarijnsteeg in Amsterdam, notes that it is very busy since the shop opened in October last year. She has especially noticed that reviews on TripAdvisor have much effect on the people coming in. On her website she placed a prominent button from TripAdvisor:
Bravo: The Happy Pig Pancake Shop Amsterdam rated “excellent” by 25 travelers.
Our colleague Armand Sol experienced the influence of TripAdvisor himself recently, he wrote a blog about it (in Dutch). Inspiration: Is your business established in an environment where international guests pay a visit, ensure that are good reviews on TripAdvisor. A friendly request for a review can provide new guests though this channel.
The iconic Pier in Scheveningen (near The Hague in the Netherlands) is completely rebuilt and is still looking for some enthusiastic entrepreneurs. Innovative entrepreneurs.
The now abandoned but soon completely revamped ‘Pier’ will be opened for the public this year after a major renovation. For young and old, locals and tourists, foodies and shoppers. ‘De Pier’ is an international hotspot at sea with a wide variety of contemporary and innovative concepts. For example with food trucks and catering stands but also with art and culture, festivals, events and (pop-up) stores. The last units will be available for driven and innovative entrepreneurs.
‘De Pier’ is a national icon in The Netherlands and defining the picture of the coastline of Scheveningen since 1901. With a completely new meaning and after a thorough renovation. ‘De Pier’ will reopen in 2015. According to Marius van der Werff, on behalf of ‘De Pier’, the iconic Pier isn’t only saved but also “transformed into a unique center for an international and diverse audience.”
At the Pier there will be a diverse range of restaurants, bars, shops and much more. Existing and new entrepreneurs can indulge themselves in a world of possibilities in the field of creative and innovative concepts; from ‘haute Friture’ shops and juice bars to ‘pop up’ and experience stores. Driven and innovative entrepreneurs now have the chance to be part of the catering, retail and other concepts at the Pier. The Pier has some unique stands and spaces available for the very best concepts. Interested entrepreneurs can submit their plan through the website until April 1, 2015. Find out more about the new Pier at their website as well.
Project designer Chloé Rutzerveld creates a bridge between new production and traditional cultivation with the “Edible Growth” project. The 3D printer produces a food soil. Printing food with a 3D printer is not new anymore but printing edible food soils with seeds and spores is. The soil and the seeds and spores grow into living edible balls.
Rutzerveld studied Industrial Design at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE). For the Edible Growth project she works together with the TUE and knowledge institute TNO. The technology is still in development, the software, hardware and assembling the ingredients has yet to be optimized. Edith Growth, however, has had a lot of international attention.
The technology is used to optimize the natural processes and to make the soil and plants grow together into the final product. During the growth the structure, smell and taste changes and intensify. Like, for example, a blue cheese.
It’s a new way of producing food that connects nature, technology, science and design. The whole food chain will reduce considerably and the concept brings consumers closer to their food. It facilitates growth and reduces the ecological footprint with less food miles, it also reduces waste and freshness is in your own hands.
Jits Krol and Robert Nijhof penetrate the hospitality industry with their Batavia Dutch cold coffee. The cold brewing method from the Dutch East India Company era is now also available in a bottled series.
Jits: “In June 2014, we quit our jobs to enter a world full of specialty (ice) coffees. Batavia Coffee is a company with only one mission; To transfer our passion for Dutch Coffee to the Dutch people. ”
The method owes its name and origin to Dutch traders in the Dutch East India Company era. The brewers made their coffee with cold water back in the days, to make it sustainable and to cool off in the tropics. With this method they introduced coffee in North East Asia, where Dutch Coffee is still very popular.
Alike wine the origin of the coffeebeans has an influence on the taste of it. Coffee has a lot of diversity in taste influenced by the region where the coffee is grown, the climate and the type of plants used.
The Batavia Coffee is available in three variants. An Ethiopian Limu (with hints of chocolate, caramel and citrus), the Colombian Santuario (a powerful and spicy coffee where nuts, roasted peanuts and flowers can be distinguished) and the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (a fruity coffee which has hints of melon and passion fruit).
The ingredients for a good Dutch Coffee are quite simple. Ice cold water and freshly roasted and ground coffee. Sugar, dyes, or E numbers are not needed, the coffee is naturally sweet and can be stored for 4 months if refrigerated.
Fiii Fun House is a fun restaurant for kids. It has toys, swings, hanging hammocks (for the sleepy young ones), a coloring table, a ballroom, a play area for babies and an area for the parents and other adults to enjoy a meal while the kids play.
Fiii house is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is designed by architect Iris Cantante, obviously with kids in mind! The environment is eco-friendly and a lot of wood was used in the design to create a calming atmosphere. The owners Mariela Vergagni and Diego Cores have an eatery that offers something for everybody from 0 till 99 years of age. The two-story space features a top floor designated for private events and a bottom floor with long communal tables, with for example swings as seats. So no more: ‘don’t rock your chair!’
At the Ritz hotel in Kuala Lumpur, you can choose a bath ‘fragrance line’ from a Bath Menu. A luxurious gesture … We wrote about the Bath Menu in our publication ‘Royal hospitable gestures’ in April 2013.
Recently we read an article on Luxury Launches that the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel is bringing back the Bath Ritual. This (free) service is only available to guests of the suites of the hotel. The guests can choose between 3 rituals: Journey to India, Journey on the Silk Route and Journey to Africa. The bath will be prepared while guests drink or dine. After returning to your room, your bath will be ready and you can bathe with a set of fragrances, body oils and unguents, while enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of cake or something healthy. After this relaxing bath you can use the lotion from one of the ‘ritual bath’ lines.
Inspiration: More luxury hotels offer a ‘bath butler’ service. The butler comes to your room with the luxury bath products the hotel offers, you choose the one you prefer and buy it. If a hotel offers the right products this might be a form of upselling.
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