Brand beer challenges hobby brewers to create the best Inda Pale Ale beer. Contestants have to prepare twelve bottles for tasting and testing and ten candidates can make it to the finals. Subscibtions must be made before 1 April, the bottles must be ready on 26 April. The winner will produce the beer together with the Brand brewers and will get his or her name and picture on the packaging of the first brew.
Flanders promotes it’s talented kitchen abroad. During the Madrid Fusion 27-29 January Flanders is guest region and chef Thomas Locus promotes the talented Flemish chefs in Spain as one of the ‘Jong Keukengeweld‘ chefs. He designed a special menu for The Westin Palace in Madrid, the best way to experience this region is through ‘The good taste of Flanders’ the coming two weeks.
The tourist marketing plan for promotion and development of the Flemish eating and drinking culture will be presented on 24 February.
It’s all about creating the best hotel experience! Article by Julia Soldic.
Any Hospitality Organization wants to be the best – the winner, if you will. This goal has led the Hospitality Industry searching for the ultimate solution to fight competition. The question remains: “What is the most significant measurement tool in fighting competition?” The answer is often: customer satisfaction. read more
{youtube}gTSl3-CGWBw{/youtube}Alex, Paul, Rick and Sander started brewing beer 2,5 years ago in a kitchen with two pans on a stove. Nowadays the brewery produces at about 3000 liters of beer to a growing number of restaurants, bars and liquor stores in the Netherlands. For the next step, the creation of their own brew-pub, the brewers ask their fans for help. To set up the location where brewery, bar and local foodsnacks are combined at the Westerdok in Amsterdam, they need an investment of € 200.000,-. A total of €100.000,- will be collected via CrowdAboutNow, where everyone can invest from € 100,- upwards for a return on investment of 5% per year for three years. There are extra rewards for various amounts of invested money.
In the Jan Evertsenstraat in Amsterdam citizens joined forces to make the shopping street more vivid with pop-up stores. The latest achievement is the ‘Geef om de Jan Eef’ pop-up store where 22 entrepreneurs and artists host a 400m2 shop together. Doing this, they can be part-time entrepreneur and can run the shop in shifts. The product range includes goat-wool t-shirts, art, vegan wines, fashion, bikes (of course, it’s Amsterdam) and there is also a coffee corner by ‘Cup of Jo’. The combination of the various concepts enhances the reach of the shop and makes it a vivid meeting place for creatives from the area. The pop-up shops make the neighbourhood more interesting for other entrepreneurs. The street becomes a place where startups can develop in a steady pace and perhaps open a permanent shop in the future.
The Coffee and Tea bar research by Van Spronsen & Partners mentioned the change in coffee consumption by the youth. Next to that, consumers expect more luxurious coffee and different flavors when they order. Nestlé Professional and MONIN joined forces to actively advise barista’s in seasonal coffee flavors. For the coming months the Espresso Tiramisu Con Panna (with MONIN tiramisu syrup and whipped cream) and chilled Café Freddo Chocolate Mint (with MONIN chocolate mint) are advised.
There are seven real life Instagram signs placed around the new building of music stage ‘TivoliVredenburg’ in Utrecht, to give it more attention. Passers-by can make photos through one of the colored filters and share it via Social Media with the hastag #TivoliVredenburg and #reallifeinstagram. #reallifeinstagram was created by the Brazilian artist Bruno Ribeiro. He placed thirty cardboard Instagram signs with color filters nearby London’s attractions. He wanted to imitate the filters used by Instagram.
‘Eat to Meet’ is an online platform for offline dinners at a restaurant of your choice. Participants can fill in their interests and preferences and can choose in which restaurant they want to dine. This provides social contact and a pleasant evening. Participation is free of charge, but the costs for dinner must be paid. Eat to Meet organizes the dinners, but the goal is that the participants are going to organize their own dinners. The platform collaborates with a number of restaurants in the Netherlands, dinners mainly take place on less busy days.
The Mogl app helps raising money for the food bank. Users can register their credit card and when they dine at a participating restaurant, they will receive 10% discount. The user can choose how much of the cashback they donate to the local food bank. The app also shows how many meals there are donated per city and how many meals are still needed. Currently Mogl is only available in a number of American cities, but the goal is to expand.
On Monday, January 13th the ‘Dutch Cuisine’ was officially presented. This movement represents the Dutch cooking with a kitchen of 80% vegetables and 20% animal. The ‘Dutch Cuisine’ is a kitchen that continuously renews, the platform provides the ‘Dutch Cuisine’ with a stage and face. The movement makes the chefs and consumers aware of the edible world around us where unexpected combinations originate from regional ingredients. ‘Dutch Cuisine’ stands for creativity, free thinking, obstinacy, pragmatism and simplicity: less is more. Chef cooks like Niven Kunz, Hans Everse, Luc Kusters and Albert Kooy are already connected with the movement.
This ad from McDonald’s in a bus shelter in Sydney is only fully displayed when it is dark. During the day it seems like it lacks the half of the famous ‘M’ , but as soon as it gets dark the entire ‘M’ appears in the reflection of the glass. This ad is part of the new campaign by McDonald’s to announce that the fast food chain is open all night.
The need for sustainable produced meat increases. At the website koopeenkoe.nl consumers can buy a ‘horizontal’ part of a cow together with other consumers, also called ‘crowd butching’. The cows of koopeenkoe.nl have three times more space than an average cow and don’t eat manipulated food or antibiotics. If the entire cow is sold, the cow is slaughtered and the meat matured. Buyers receive a 7,5 kilo meat packet for two persons, from steak to sausage. The more people buy a cow, the faster you receive the meat package at home. Because the meat of koopeenkoe.nl goes directly from farmer to consumer, the meat is affordable.
At the ‘Ziferblat’ café everything is free, except the time you spend there. In the café consumers can use the wi-fi, bring their own food and drinks, drink unlimited coffee and the ingredients to make a lunch are presented. Guests pay € 0,04 per minute, but many consumers give an extra tip on top of the bill. There are 10 Ziferblat cafés, mainly in Russia. Recently the first pay-as-you-feel café opened in London.
Pravda Pressroom opened a pop-up coffee and cocktailbar ‘L’Orangerie’ in the old ‘orangerie’ near the Harmoniegebouw in Antwerp to extend their communication activities. The bar will be open until the buildings are renovated. This will be at the end of 2015 or later. The building got a modern facelift to recover from the esthetic demolition in the eighties and is decorated with chic and shabby elements. The safety net prevents ancient plaster from falling on visitors and the small covered terrace is waiting for Spring to come in. L’Orangerie presents itself a a low energy bar, background music and dimmed lights invite for a proper glass and nice conversation. For this glass mostly cocktails are suggested.
Pravda Pressroom opened a pop-up coffee and cocktailbar ‘L’Orangerie’ in the old ‘orangerie’ near the Harmoniegebouw in Antwerp to extend their communication activities. The bar will be open until the buildings are renovated. This will be at the end of 2015 or later. The building got a modern facelift to recover from the esthetic demolition in the eighties and is decorated with chic and shabby elements. The safety net prevents ancient plaster from falling on visitors and the small covered terrace is waiting for Spring to come in. L’Orangerie presents itself a a low energy bar, background music and dimmed lights invite for a proper glass and nice conversation. For this glass mostly cocktails are suggested.
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
Alice van der Kuijl (de Bierkoning), Dagmar Baartman (de Bierderie), Hanneke van het Ende (Mitra, Stibon), Jolanda Buhrs (Drinks and Gifts) en Lenie van Gelderen (bierspecialist) five women who are determined to wipe out the assumption that women don’t like beer. Actually women do like beer and to prove that these 5 women made their own Tasty Lady beer at the Breugems Brewery, full of hop but accessible to everyone with 6,2% alcohol.
Danku (or: Thank you in Dutch) is a new and the first raw food restaurant in Belgium which has recently opened their doors. The menu only contains sprouted seeds and raw vegetables, ways of cooking are to marinate, mix, centrifuse, dry, sprout and ferment. Also cold “cooking” is possible with lemonjuice of vinegar. The philosophy is that all enzymes are kept in the food when you don’t cook it and ultimately this should be the recipe for a longer live expectancy.
This chair is designed bij Victor M. Aleman. The general idea of people facing towards eachother is that they can communicate more while sunbathing. The chair is made with a modular design so that it is easy to transport and store. We only expect a quarrel if both want to lie in the sun.
In an old hangar across the Zurich Airport an old Soviet Iluyshin IL-14 plane was completely renovated and is transformed to a restaurant, called Runway 34. Meals, cigars, whisky can all be enjoyed in and around the plane.
The designers of “2012 Architecten” thought of a way to use the three wings of a windturbine. The wings are big enough to fit a bed, a table with chairs and a wardrobe. These rooms will contain as well a solar powered shower, solar energy cooking facility and a compost toilet.
In France a new app for the Iphone is introduced. It scans your bottle of Coca Cola and depending on the level of fluid still left in the bottle, it picks music for you. Coca Cola tastes the same everywhere, but sounds differently. Watch the movie on the website.
Townhouse Designhotel Maastricht is nominated for the Dutch Hotel Award. The Jury gave the three nominated hotels an assignment. They have to use social medie to let people know they are nominated for the award with the message self (&) service added. Townhouse is serving free soup during check-in at the hotel. Because of that, the website Self-service-soep.nl is launched, here all the social media traffic about Townhouse is gathered. Hans van Wolde , star master chef is asking people to send in new recipes for soup.
Carlsberg introduced a new beer, specially made for younger consumers. It is made with natural ingredients and has a fresh and sparkling taste. The label was designed by the agency e-Types. According to them, the label is minimalistic. Nordic at its best.
This is a fully automated toilet. When you enter the bathroom the lid rises and with a flick of your foot you determine whether the seat has to rise or not. Before you sit down, the seat and feet warmers have already done their work. For that little bit of entertainement, a mp3/radio is integrated into the toilet. It plays a preset playlist or a radio channel. When you are finished, the sprinkler and dryer take care of the rest.
Nowadays there are a lot of energydrinks. Energydrink 28Black has as one of the few a natural ‘background’. The drink is made from the Acai berry and comes in a mat black can that gives a stylish touch. The name represents the mindset of the creators; a day can have 28 hours.
Test note:
Our test panel was enthusiastic about 28Black during one of our trend presentations. The energy drink tastes refreshing, got a hint of cassis and is less sweet than expected. The mat black can will easily integrate at a trendy club.
Beer Craft is a simple and illustrated book about making your own beer. The authors, William Bostwick and Jessi Rymill explain every single step from mash to bottling the beer. Besides that, the book also gives information about branding, naming, labeling and how to customize the flavour.
United tastes of 1097 is a restaurant concept located at zipcode 1097 in Amsterdam. The formule of the restaurant is based on trading goods. Thus people from the neighbourhood can trade furniture for a meal or add home recipes to the menu. In this way, the neighbourhood can determine the look and taste of the restaurant. It integrates into the neighbourhood and gives a building that will be demolished in a year a temporary purpose.
Choccywoccydoodah in Brighton is thé store for chocoholics. They sell all sorts of varieties of chocolate, cakes, tarts, shakes, truffs and so much more. Besides that, they have a chocolate boudoir. For 2 hours its yours, and you can indulge yourself with all the nice chocolates they serve.
Ordering a drink in a bar will never be the same with the Oscar Stock Market system of the Belgium companies Torex and Drugstore. This POS won in 2010 the ‘Innovation Award’ of the Horeca Expo, for new concepts. A dynamic screen in the bar shows the current prices of the drinks, based on the fluctuating stock prices. Even a stock crash can be simulated. A nice way of increasing the experience around ordering drinks and herewith stimulate the sales.
TNO did research on the use of social media at work. It seems that the use of the social media increases the creativity of the employees and creates an active workflow. Companies with an innovative approach to social media can benefit from permitting the use of Facebook and Twitter.
Inbev UK decided that they needed someone to taste the beer. Not for the brewery, but on festivals. On the job, the temperature, the way of serving the beer and the quality need to be checked before the beer can be served to the artists backstage. Nice job! Even more, because the wage is 10.000 pounds, for only six days. Nice example of promotion!
This concept is based on the existence of an invisible silicone seal on the base of the item. Thanks to this seal, the item will remain stable on the chosen surface. 7 different types of glasses and apetizer dishes.
This chocolate bar is decorated with the calories it contains. The bar is devided into pieces of different sizes and different calorie counts.
Starbucks and Lady Gaga introduced an online Scavenger Hunt, a search game. Every week contesters have to find a clue. Last weeks assignment: to be found with QR codes on posters inside the Starbucks shops. This weeks challenge has to do with the new Lady Gaga album. The purpose of the game is to let people use the social media and collaborate in finding the solutions. The winner gets Lady Gaga related presents.
The Fair Trade Foundation of the Dutch city Arnhem made two routes through the city. The routes do lead you to all the shops and restaurants who sell Fair Trade products.
Moët & Chandon introduced this week the Moët Ice Impérial, the first Champagne on the rocks. Because of the rich structure, hints of sweetness and red fruits, the taste is preserved even drinking it with ice. The Moët Ice Impérial is the perfect addition to a well established party.
Pinel & Pinel, (renowned malletier, luggage makers) and Martell, designed a cognac Trunk. Inside you will find the finest and most exclusive cognacs. Several trays contain silver cognac tools, crystal glassware and a humidor with sigars. For more information, take a look on the website of Martell. Tip; use code 1715 to discover all the secrets.
The Heineken Invite is a clever bottle opener. Everytime you open a beer, the opener posts via bluetooth or internet a message on your Facebook wall to let people know you are having a party, and you are inviting your friends.
The Volkswagen van symbolizes the sixties, and is now available as tent. Perfect to visit al the coming festivals this summer. It is spacious enough for 4 people, and the tent is available in a yellow, red and blue edition.
The Lago Fruit Bowl, designed by Moises Hernandez, is the most versatile and flexible fruit bowl that exists on the market. Inspired by the rippling effect that moving objects have on the water surface, the top layer of the fruit bowl is designed to change shape whenever fruit is placed on top of it. The shape of the bowl depends on the kind and amount of fruit placed into the bowl.
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