Memphis Meats is a start-up who wants to bring meat to the plate in a more sustainable, affordable and delicious way. The leading clean meat company has already produced beef, chicken and duck directly from animal cells, without the need to raise and slaughter animals. The company has now raised $22M to date, among the investors were Bill Gates and Richard Branson. Is this the future? 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: robot arms preparing your food and Finnish scientists make food from electricity.
If you like to read the whole article, click the title. Enjoy reading!
On September 16, 2017 it will be National Nacho Day at the restaurants of Popocatepetl in The Netherlands. As a tribute to Independence Day in Mexico. To highlight this happy fact, Popocatepetl organizes a contest where their guests can win memorable prizes including ‘free nacho’s for the rest of your life’. 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: a café in Australia charges 18% ‘gender tax’ to highlight pay gap and Fried Fried Chicken Chicken beer, which contains a small amount of real fried chicken.
If you would like to read the whole article, click the title. Enjoy reading! read more
Since last Monday, Café Ter Marsch in Rotterdam has a new vegetarian dish on the menu. The dish is a vegetarian steak tartare and was made in collaboration with a Dutch blog called ‘De Hippe Vegetariër’ (The Hip Vegetarian). This collaboration is the result of the Blogger Summer Vega Challenge, challenging bloggers to share a vegetarian recipe on social media for the restaurant. read more
IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts opened its newest hotel, the IBEROSTAR Grand Hotel Portals Nous, boasting a prime beachfront location in one of Majorca’s most exclusive areas. This grand luxury five-star hotel is the first establishment in the Mediterranean to be included in The Grand Collection, the company’s premium category, combining impeccable designer architecture with the most innovative and personalized services. read more
Due to factors such as global warming, the jellyfish has experienced an exceptional population growth in recent years. Also in The Netherlands you’ll see them more often, especially after stormy nights where they get washed ashore. There is a fair chance the jelly fish population will keep on increasing due to overfishing. The jellyfish don’t lay long on the beach, most of the time the jellyfish on the beaches are eaten by birds or cleaned up.
A scientist from the University of Southern Denmark came up with another idea rather than cleaning them up, he developed a method of turning them into a potato chip-like food. Jellyfish can be dried, as they do in Asia where dried jellyfish have actually been eaten for centuries. read more
At Horecatrends we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write articles about, the smaller trends we use in our column ‘Trends we spotted this week’. This week amongst others, a tool that helps you to cut your vegetables exactly as you like and the creator of world’s most expensive hamburger opens pop-up restaurants.
If you would like to read the whole article, click the title. Enjoy reading!
Latin-American restaurant Salmuera has a little brother, Little Sal opened last month in Amsterdam. Little Sal will be open until the late hours at the Rozengracht 106 for street food, ceviche, empanadas and homemade ‘agua fresca’s’. It’s is a dream come true for the owners of Salmuera. read more
On the Île de Ré island, situated at France’s westcoast it’s possible to buy oysters from a vending machine. Similar to those offering snacks and drinks at railway stations and office buildings, but just a little more luxurious and pricey. The idea came from Tony Berthelot, who wanted to sell his oysters outside business hours as well. read more
Whether it involves a large batch of craft beers or building materials; as an entrepreneur you don’t want to have a large number of unused products in your stockroom. It’s too expensive. Mischa van der Klei and Vincent Smit came up with an idea to solve this problem. An auction site where companies can sell their residual inventory. read more
Yes they do at 375° Fries in New York City! We have been spotting a lot of spectacular ice creams this summer but this is the superlative Milk ‘N Chips. Soft serve vanilla ice cream with honey glazed chips, a sweet and salty treat! Which Dutch snack bar is going to serve an ice cream like this? read more
Until Sunday August 6th, Rrrollend Den Haag XXL will be at the Malieveld with dozens of food trucks, specialty beer bars, a turning mill and more. With 22 editions a year, spread throughout the country, Rrrollend is the biggest food truck festival in the Netherlands. Rrrollend usually stretches down in the city centre, like the Lange Voorhout in The Hague a few months ago. But not this time during a XXL edition on the Malieveld. Due to the fact that this location is a lot bigger, it means that Rrrollend The Hague consists out of twice the amount food trucks than normal (over 40!). Besides, there is an extensive musical lineup and extra entertainment for the children. read more
At Horecatrends we spot a lot of national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write articles about, the smaller trends we use in our column ‘Trends we spotted this week’. This week amongst others, wellness specialists’ in supermarkets and a serie of wine lables with famous works of art.
If you like to read the whole article, click the title. Enjoy reading! read more
More and more famous chefs are praising the Skirt steak in various videos shared on the internet lately. A good reason for us to write an article about it so Dutch chefs can use this as inspiration. Even Gordon Ramsey came up with his yummy Skirt steak recipe with chimichurri. Below a short summary about the Skirt steak itself, Gordon Ramsey’s recipe and all the necessary ingredients. read more
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 conference hotel Kapellerput in Heeze, The Netherlands, realized a new innovation for the meeting market. The new concept, ‘The house of’, offers a homely atmosphere where you can have meetings and brainstorms ‘like home’. ‘The house of’ consists of a kitchen and living room where groups up to 14 people can work in a relaxing way. A homey feeling is the key factor which is achieved with a retro 60s style look, large wooden tables, an outdoor patio, a fireplace and comfortable sofas. ‘The house of’ is equipped with modern technology, such as a wireless projector with sound system, Wi-Fi and air conditioning.
Kapellerput keeps innovating in the area of conference rooms. They already realized a tree house in 2010 and an innovating meeting design in 2013.
To promote the renewed Dorint Airport-Hotel Amsterdam launched a promotional campaign which allows guests to pay whatever they think the stay was worth. In terms of ‘how much was your stay worth?’ the hotel offers guests an overnight stay in one of the renovated rooms. On 24, 25 and 26 October, you can book a room, give online feedback and decide what you want to pay.
This temporary pay-as-you-wish concept gives guests the chance to get acquainted with the hotel. It is also an ideal way for Dorint Airport-Hotel to receive feedback from their guests. And if guest share their positive experience through their social media, it’s quite a great way to promote the remodeled rooms.
A floating, battery-powered, water drop that spreads a soothing light. Instead of candles, you can use this saver alternative in bath: the Rainbow Drop Bath Light of Firebox. It turns on automatically when touching water and floats calmly in the water. The luminous bulb spreads different colors, which has a soothing effect.
These Rainbow Drops could be a small hospitable gesture that your guest will remember: a soothing light that enables you (especially if you have jetlag) to relax while bathing.
The Waldorf Astoria in Amsterdam has been called on the shortlist for ‘The Best Urban Hotels’ by Wallpaper.com. Mentioned on the list are those recently opened hotels that are nominated for their price ‘Best Urban Hotels’, amongst others The Mainport Hotel in Rotterdam. The list offers a 136 inspiring pictures with details from all nominated hotels. Great to scroll through if you’re looking for inspiration.
We wish all participants success of course, but in particular the Walldorf Astoria. This hotel opened in May this year and located in 17th century canal houses in the city centre is an asset to Amsterdam. The former houses were transformed into an impressive hotel provided with all necessary facilities such as a stylish fine dining restaurant (in cooperation with De Librije(***), Librije’s Zusje), Peacock Aley and the Vault bar. The interior of the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam, designed by GA Design International, is a combination of old elements of the 17th century and a luxurious design what gives the hotel its elegant atmosphere. In the December issue of Wallpaper the winner will be announced.
The city of Rotterdam has a new a new architectural landmark, The Markthal. Following Stockholm, Barcelona, Valencia and Copenhagen the first indoor market of the Netherlands opened yesterday, 1 October, in Rotterdam. The market hall has the size of a large soccer field and gives space to several entrepreneurs: about 100 fresh produce units, 15 food shops and 8 restaurants are located in this impressive hall. Besides that the market hall a culinary meeting point is, the building has 228 apartments build in the arch as well.
A restaurant, amongst others, located at the Markthal; BasQ Kitchen. We do wish all the entrepreneurs a lot of fun and success at this location.
Dairy Queen asked their fans to vote on which flavor the preferred; apple or pumkin pie flavor. in September, their more than 4 million members of the ‘Blizzard Fan Club’ and their guests voted for the pumpkin pie taste to win (54%). Members of the ‘Blizzard fan club “get a monthly email with the ‘Blizzard of the Month’ and at registration and anniversaries, they get coupons. One could vote at a specially created website; #VoteApple Or #VotePumkin. Earlier we saw a social media campaign from Pizza Hut, where customers could think of for the fictional perfume fragrance a name. What could you do to involve your guests via social media to your restaurant, nightclub or café?
After drinking milk or juice, kids can play with this packaging. Designed by Bora Yildirim, the main function of the packaging is that it can be reused after the drink is consumed. The Pinar Sut bottles have two designs which can be transformed into fun toys. The lids and empty bottles can be attached to each other and transformed into shapes such as flowers and robots. This way children are encouraged to finish their drinks so they can play. Great way to serve drinks to children! The patent for this packaging is still pending but we think it’s ideal for healthy drinks for kids.
Of course we did spot a lot of inspiration focused on children before: in 2013 we saw a Happy Meal diorama. ‘Horeca Vlaanderen’ (Hospitality Flanders) and ‘Vlaanderen Lekker Land’ (Flanders Tasty Land) published a guide for a child-friendly hospitality industry full of hospitable ideas and menu tips for kids. You can also search yourself for inspiration focused on kids: Note ‘children‘ or ‘kids’ in the search field of our website and find pages full of inspiration.
In response to the article of the national marketing campaign, ‘Street Dine’ of the JRE (Jeune Restaurateurs d’Europe) in the Netherlands, Mr. Jan Vrielink, owner of, among others, the restaurant ‘Het Schellinkje’ in Meppel drew our attention to his campaign ‘Street-Dining’ organized in 2012 and 2013. As his restaurant is located outside the direct city center of Meppel he surprised shoppers with a prepared table, a glass of wine and an appetizer. A good example of what we want to achieve with Horecatrends.com (Hotel, Restaurant, Café trends): entrepreneurs who inspire each other to perform their own marketing campaign, adjusted to the capabilities of the organization and location. Most important is; the effect should be locally measurable! The action and the publicity in the local newspaper and on social media should inspire guests to come dine at your place. Learn how the employees of ‘Het Schellinkje’ have performed the campaign and the reactions from their ‘guests’…
This year, restaurant MOES in Amsterdam and the ‘Keuken van het Ongewenste Dier’ (Kitchen of Unwanted Animals) organize the fourth edition of the unwanted animals dinner on 5 October. As we wrote last year in the article about the Christmas edition, the dinner of unwanted animals is dedicated to animals that are undesired for whatever reason. Examples are gooses, muskrats, crayfishes and the swans. As always, Rob Hagenouw and Nicolle Schatborn (of ‘Keuken van Ongewenste Dieren’) give explanations of why these animals should be eaten. One of the animals that will be on this year’s menu is crow. It is a four course diner, including appetizer, welcome drink and tea/coffee for € 39,50. Reservations can be made via the website of restaurant MOES.
The frisbeer, a combination of a beer tray and a frisbee, was designed by the Slovakian designer Simon Kern. The frisbeer is made of cardboard and is designed to give the traditional beer tray a second function. With use of the frisbeer you can carry three beers in one hand and the portability is increased by the finger holes in the tray. The frisbeer is ideal for festivals: use it as a tray to carry beers to your friends and then use it as a toy for a game of frisbee.
We’ve spotted ‘Glamping‘ at Landal Greenparks as a more luxurious way of camping in 2011. At Tinywood Homes they took this a step further and introduced this super-deluxe ‘glamper’. The wooden cottage is standard two levels high and have a kitchen, bathroom, central heating, porch and hot tub. The Tinywood cottage are available in three versions and all are small enough to be transported by a truck. The houses are for sale from £ 35,000 and for now only available in the UK.
Keep your cocktail at the desired temperature with the silicone molds of IceLiners. The mold creates a layer of ice in a cocktail or whiskey glass that will keep your drink cool. It is simple to use: pour a small amount of water in the glass, with the mold in it, and keep it in the freezer. Instead of water you can poor in a (alcoholic) beverage as well. Try it with mint leaves or fruit which will give a festive effect to your drink. Watch the video tutorial for the instructions of IceLiners.
A marketing campaign with a dancing traffic light to increase safety on the road. Last July, car manufacturer SMART in collaboration with BBDO Germany placed a unique system in a traffic light in a busy street in Lisbon. The traffic light looked normal at first, but before people started to get bored waiting for the green light, the red man in the traffic light started to dance. The dance moves of the red man were recorded by volunteers in a large installation. The action doesn’t only look great it also served a purpose: because pedestrians were entertained, 81% more people were waiting for the light to turn green.
In 2009 we’ve spotted a ‘Wiki Traffic Light‘ on the website The Fun Theory, where car drivers could answer ‘wiki’ questions while waiting during the red light. Increasing safety with a fun factor, an idea for your town?
Serve your drinks in a spectacular way with the first dry ice machine JetChill. The patented technology of the JetChill machine converts liquid CO2 into dry ice which gives a smoking and bubbling effect to your drink. The machine has a charging time of only 10 seconds before the special glasses can be used. Pour your favorite drink into one of the glasses and immediately there will be a reaction. We’ve spotted spectacular cocktails made with dry ice before: in 2013 we saw the Mistystix that creates the smoking effect with a stick of dry ice.
Don’t leave your bike outside but take it with you to your room; In Japan, the Hotel Cycle is established as part of the Onomichi U2 building. The Onomichi U2 is a former storage place that has been turned into a hospitality venue with a hotel, restaurant, café and bakery. The hotel is situated on the coast of Hiroshima what is a popular place for bicycle tourists with its beautiful landscape and city. Each room has a bike rack so guests can store their bike when they’re not using it. The whole building of Onomichi U2 is designed for bicycle users: it even has a Giant bike service shop.
Whisky brand Johnnie Walker organized a two-day event ‘Symphony in Blue’ in London to promote the launch of their latest exclusive Blue Label Reserve premium whiskey blend. Johnnie Walker used experiential, content marketing to promote their new blend and to transform it into a luxury product. The ‘Symphony in Blue’ took place on 16 and 17 September and was an impressive journey of theatrical, musical and artistic events where the six different tastes from Johnnie Walker’s Blue Label were brought to live; fresh, fruity, malty, woody , spicy and smoky. There were several performances, glacier ice, burning barrels, a mist of whiskey and of course a tasting of the Blue Label blend. The behind-the-scenes video from the ‘Symphony in Blue’ gives a good impression of how a brand can present itself in a special way and what is involved in organizing such an event. How would you sell your restaurant or hotel if you had the opportunity to do it this way? Check out the website of ‘Symphony in Blue‘ for photographs of the event.
The Firmdale Hotels are known for their eccentric British design with bright colors and a quirky sense of humor. Their new project, the Ham Yard Hotel, opened in the city centre of London, close to the Piccadilly Circus, in June. The hotel stands out for its striking design: the interior is a mash-up of colors, patterns, design motives and bold wallpaper. Especially the lobby has an inspiring interior with wool chairs, folk art and various types of lamps. The hotel has several playful public areas such as a bowling alley, a bar with a dance floor, a cinema and a rooftop terrace with olive trees and a vegetable garden. For inspiration, watch the video to get an impression. On the website of the Ham Yard Hotel are more pictures available.
Yesterday, 22 September, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam launched yesterday a new marketing campaign. With the working title ‘magic’ the campaign shows the beauty of the collection and the beauty of the building. The campaign aims to show visitors that the Rijksmuseum is a place where people will be amazed and touched and where people love to be. A special aspect of the video is that it shows real people and true emotions. The music of the film is composed by violist Sietse van Gorkom and Sebastiaan Roestenburg of the Ambassadors especially for this movie. The composition was live recorded in the Passage of the Rijksmuseum.
Other viral marketing campaigns of museums that we have spotted over the years: an action of the Rijksmuseum where people could visit the museum via google in 2012 and a Street Museum app from the Museum of London in 2011.
Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe (JRE) organized a surprise campaign ‘JRE Streetdine’ on 13 September. All 28 Dutch restaurants affiliated with JRE went to unique locations and served culinary delights to passers-by. Some people were even invited to take place at a set table for a culinary flash lunch. Chairman Rik Jansma, of restaurant Basiliek in Harderwijk, hopes this initiative will encourage potential new guests to visit the restaurants. Check out the pictures for an impression of this ludic action.
At this year’s Chefs®Evolution of Jonnie and Thérèse Boer all dishes of the chefs were photographed, captured and spread through the social media channel of apicbase.com. APIC is a solution for chefs who always want to photograph the development of their dishes without losing precious time in the kitchen. All images are quickly taken with the special device of APIC and are immediately send ‘to the cloud’ where the pictures are ready to use. Chefs can choose to keep the pictures for themselves or choose to give their guests the opportunity to post quality pictures on their social media channels as well. APIC is giving the control back to the chefs about what pictures are published online: no more blurry or incorrect photos online that doesn’t temp potential guests to visit the restaurant for dinner. Apicbase gives you an insight into which photos appear online. Check out the pictures, made by the APIC camera, for an impression of the dishes prepared at Chefs®Evolution.
In April 2014, we already wrote about a #dinnercam that was used at El Burro restaurant in South Africa.
A creative beer packaging design that shows the colour of the beer inside: Spanish creative agency Txaber developed a packaging design that combines the type of beer with the matching Pantone colour code. In this way you only have to look at the package to know what kind of beer is inside. For example, the package of a ‘lager’ beer has a golden colour with Pantone code 123C and a ‘stout’ beer has a dark brown colour and code 4975C.
Txaber was born in 1969 in Bilbao and studied Graphic design at CVNP (Bilbao). He is not only developing packaging design but is specialized in text and color design as well, as seen on his website. He quotes “They say everything is invented and I struggle every day to go against.”
Many initiatives are designed to make supermarkets more sustainable: we have spotted the first dump supermarket in Amsterdam, there is a supermarket chain in Denmark selling local products and we have seen how supermarkets work together with restaurants to reduce their waste.
Wim van Dijk hopes to open a new concept through crowdfunding: the first packaging-free supermarket in the Netherlands ‘Bag & Buy’. In this store customers can pick their own products from containers, barrels and jars and can thereby determine the amount they need.
A comparable initiative can be found in several countries. In Germany packaging-free supermarket ‘Original Unverpackt‘ was funded by crowdfunding as well. The starting capital for this supermarket was collected in one day. Earlier this year ‘Robuust, the zero waste shop’ opened its doors in Antwerp and in France, Spain and Austria are a packaging-free grocery stores as well.
The crowdfunding for the supermarket ‘Bag & Buy’ in the Netherlands starts on 1 October. The crowdfunders also determine the location of this store: “Bag & Buy will open where there is the must enthusiasm” as said by Wim van Dijk. The initiator thinks he will need € 100.000,- to open the grocery store.
Researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute IAO developed a ‘Future Hotel’ together with partners from the hotel and their supply industry. Via the video you get a brief impression of the future opportunities for a hotel room. Examples are a mobile check-in via a smartphone; round shapes in the hotel room; innovative communication systems, systems that are voice controlled; the fiber of the glass that could be adjusted from see through to non transparent; the ability to change the color of the room; taps with a light and temperature display and a whirlpool with a heated wall, by infrared. The hotel bed of the future (‘an energy-bed’) provides an electric motor for swing movements that makes guests fall asleep more easily and rise and shine the next morning.
We have seen more hotel rooms of the future, striking similarities are the round curves in architecture, the use of the smartphone and the tap and the possibilities of changing the color in the room. We didn’t see the ‘energy-bed’ before…
In February 2013, another future hotel room was presented at the Fiturtech, the International Tourism Trade Fair, in Madrid, that was called the ‘ITH Room Xperience’.
Restaurant Den Draeck in Utrecht was recently restyled. Den Draeck is located in a 12th century cellar and is one of the hidden historical gems of the city Utrecht. The present and past of the location were brought together by combining a modern design with the ancient exterior: the walls were covered with old prints and photographs of the city and the old stones of the arches are brought at their best with new lightning and fresh colors. Watch the photos for an impression of the end result.
From 9 September the Bilder & De Clercq grocery store from Amsterdam introduced an interactive wall at the Google Office in Amsterdam. The grocery store weekly offers fourteen tasty, healthy and easy to prepare dishes with all the necessary ingredients in the right amount. YES.TAP makes it even more easy for consumers to order a meal: they only need their smartphone to touch a dish on a screen. The interactive wall was introduced as a response to the trend of online groceries ordering. Customers can order the fourteen dishes and other products via the Bilder & De Clercq Wall and via the app at home. If the order is send before 4 o’clock pm the cooled groceries can be picked up from 5 o’clock pm
More interactive walls? In 2011 we’ve already spotted a virtual wall from supermarket chain Tesco in a subway station in South Korea.
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