Trends we spotted | Week 29

16-7-2020

Here in the Netherlands it looks like we control the #Covid-19 outbreak and we’re trying to get used to the new normal. We wish all those living in areas where all the measurements against the pandemic are still in place to stay healthy and take care of each other.

At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.

This week, among other links to articles about the opening of the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, an automated dumpling shop which is offering the first ‘Zero Human Interaction (Z.H.I.)’ restaurant experience ! And Phoenix Arizona will open the first Atari hotel with a video game theme.

Design and innovation firm Teague has developed a way to create an “air curtain” around each passenger for in plains. And at the Seaside Finolhu hotel you can book a ‘Beach Bubble’ on a small island at the Maldives! Sounds like the perfect getaway during the Covid-19 pandemic, although you might need the ‘air curtain’ during the flight to the Maldives!

The Chinese hotel chain Leyeju is perfect place for staying, taking into account the coronavirus. The hotel employs just two members of staff, it operates with an entirely automated experience. Both hotel chains Virgin Hotels and CitizenM also offer ‘contactless stays’ through their apps.

At Cakeland Gallery in Los Angeles, the exhibit called The Beauty War, will open this Friday, July 17,  reservations by appointment only and the exhibit will be on view until December 31, 2020.

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The World’s 50 Best Restaurants | Bid for Recovery

6-7-2020

Until this Sunday (July twelfth) all food and travel enthusiasts have the opportunity to bid for out-of-this-world gastronomic experiences with the world’s best chefs. The ‘Bid for Recovery’ Auction is organized by the organisation behind The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The 50 Best ‘Bid for Recovery’ Auction is the largest global event of its kind, aiming to raise funds that will provide direct and tangible financial relief for restaurants worldwide as they emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. The auction is a key fund-raising element of the 50 Best for Recovery programme, announced last month, in partnership with founding donor S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.

The 50 Best ‘Bid for Recovery’ Auction does feature more than 100 lots, providing the opportunity for bidders to select from an array of the most extraordinary global gastronomic experiences imaginable, as well as rare and limited-edition items. For example the Dutch restaurant De Librije (***), offers a package that includes a food-and-wine pairing with Jonnie and Thérèse Boer, a dinner at their new Brass Boer Thuis restaurant, an overnight stay at Librije hotel including breakfast and a lunch at De Librije. Until now they’ve received 6 bids and the price is now 1.350,= pounds. Many more bid possibilities in the vicinity of the Netherlands!  They also launched an e-cookbook with simple lockdown recipes by chefs, in exchange for an eight pound minimum donation. The proceeds of this e-cookbook will  also go to the 50 Best Recovery Fund. 

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The WELYNQ app , the smart green card for an event and hospitality visit

29-6-2020

Everyone is looking forward to visit events, theatres, a cozy terrace or booking a table in a restaurant. The event and hospitality industry is ready, but also knows that the requirements are strict. Here in the Netherlands everyone has to indicate to be healthy beforehand. Only when you answer all questions about your health positively, you get a virtual green card that allows you to enter either the event, theatre or restaurant. A great step forward, but there are quite a few snags. And what if it turns out that someone with corona was at the location you visited? Then you want to know that, too. WELYNQ has developed an app that solves it all.

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The Grand Beach | The French Riviera in the heart of Amsterdam

25-6-2020

On Wednesday 24 June, Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam opened ‘The Grand Beach’ in its historic courtyard. A beach and terrace inspired by the French Riviera where guests enjoy a cold glass of rosé or a fresh cocktail and French dishes and snacks in a summery atmosphere. Until September 13^th, the courtyard will be transformed into a real sandy beach with various seating areas – a meter and a half away from each other, of course -, a bar and with a regular DJ providing summery background music. The opening of The Grand Beach coincides with La Fête de la Musique, during which all Sofitel Hotels around the world celebrate summer in French style.

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What does the hospitality industry do in the context of the COVID-19 virus? | Inspiration May 18

18-5-2020

As noted last week, we here in the Netherlands are still in an ‘Intelligent Lockdown’ which means, we’re all working from home if possible and our high schools,  universities, restaurants, cafés, gyms, leisure centers, museums, etcetera are closed. But we can take a walk outside and shop for food and even shop at hardware stores and garden centers. As from May 11 our primary schools have re-opened as have the day-care centres but also hair and beauty salons and physiotherapist are allowed to re-open.

As from the first of June restaurants will re-open with a maximum of 30 persons inside, and a social distance of 6 feet, terraces are re-opening as well without a maximum of guests. This, of course, if the Covid-19 casualties remain low. Our government created a path in which they think our economy has to restart, with no festivals, concerts or congresses till the first of September and even gyms aren’t allowed till then. In the meantime we keep spotting all kind of inspiration worldwide around the hospitality industry.

With this week links to articles about the Robot dog Spot that is used in a park in Singapore to warm people to observe a social distance. And the Restaurant Brands International Inc. (Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes) considers designing face masks as part of their uniforms.  

‘Care by Roseate Hotels & Resorts’ is an interesting article for those hotels who aren’t sure yet what measures to take to implement a touchless hospitality.  And Eleven Madison Park’s chef-owner Daniel Humm says the coming back of his famous restaurant is a question mark.

The Frontline Stays Program by Airbnb has had 100,000 nights booking in free or subsidized accommodations for first responders. And check out the red puzzle by Heinz Canada! Would be appreciated by European puzzle and ketchup aficionados as well, especially during lockdown.  

Stay healthy and take care of each other! ^Team Horecatrends

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What does the hospitality industry do in the context of the COVID-19 virus? | Inspiration May 12

12-5-2020

As noted last week, we here in the Netherlands are still in an ‘Intelligent Lockdown’ which means, we’re all working from home if possible and our high schools,  universities, restaurants, cafés, gyms, leisure centers, museums, etcetera are closed. But we can take a walk outside and shop for food and even shop at hardware stores and garden centers. As from yesterday our primary schools have re-opened as have the day-care centres but also hair and beauty salons and physiotherapist are allowed to re-open.

As from the first of June restaurants will re-open with a maximum of 30 persons inside, and a social distance of 6 feet, terraces are re-opening as well without a maximum of guests. This, of course, if the Covid-19 casualties remain low. Our government created a path in which they think our economy has to restart, with no festivals, concerts or congresses till the first of September and even gyms aren’t allowed till then. In the meantime we keep spotting all kind of inspiration worldwide around the hospitality industry.

With this week links to articles about the fact that the Belgians are asked to eat fries twice a week and in the USA you can order fresh DIY pasta kits at some restaurants, great inspiration for other Italian restaurants worldwide!

San Francisco and Seattle are limiting what delivery services can charge restaurants for processing orders, while New York and Los Angeles consider similar policies. And the North Sydney café shifted to grocery store during the lockdown.

The restaurant group Black Sheep in Hong Kong created a viral blueprint for reopening restaurants after a lockdown, a link to where you can download this blueprint.

International design and innovation office CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati launched Pura-Case, a wardrobe purifier to remove bacteria and viruses from clothes. And Cape Town Tourism sends tourists love letters!

Stay healthy and take care of each other! ^Team Horecatrends

Click on the title if you like to read the full article. Enjoy reading!

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YtheWait app | ‘Smart Restaurant’ app or digital waiter

12-5-2020

Dirty menus, unhygienic order kiosks and the many separate apps will be a thing of the past, according to the developers of the ‘YtheWait’ app. Their innovative all-in-one Hospitality & Retail App, already helps hundreds of partners to efficiently manage and increase their sales. Your guests can make contactless reservations, order in advance, pay and rate via their mobile. To support the hospitality businesses, the use of the all-in-one application and all the services around it are free of charge until 1 July 2020. ‘YtheWait’ has a user-friendly module that also simplifies booking and table management.

We’re spotting more and more technical developments that will replace parts of the staff’s tasks. This YtheWait app can be a lot more effective, contactless capturing everything via the guests own mobile; from booking, to ordering, paying and rating afterwards. Still we get the sense that human service will be missed but right now the app is useful as your guest only has to touch her or his mobile. Once we go back to maximum occupation with a lack of good catering staff, this app could also be very useful.  read more

Restaurants Culina Hortus and Vanilla Black | The world’s Best Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants 2020

4-5-2020

In Brussels the ‘We’re Smart®’ movement, the undisputed reference in the culinary world of vegetables, revealed the new online Green Guide today and the winners of this year’s Best Vegetarian and Best Vegan Restaurants: Culina Hortus (Lyon, France) and Vanilla Black (London, UK).

The announcement was made by the renowned Vegetables Chef®, Frank Fol, during the official release of the We’re Smart® Green Guide 2020, comprising reviews and ratings of nearly 1000 restaurants worldwide ranked from 1 to 5 radishes, according to the amount of vegetables they use in their dishes. read more

What does the catering industry do in the context of the COVID-19 virus | Inspiration March 27

27-3-2020

Our perspective on the world has completely changed during the past couple of weeks, a true paradigm shift! At this very moment it’s important to constantly fact check all the news about the Coronavirus, a lot of fake and scary news has been spotted at the social media. For example at a website in the U.S. we came across a question whether or not food could be a source of the virus. Fortunately they also gave the official answer of the CDC (Centers of Disease Control and Protection) but please don’t believe strange advices!

We also spotted a lot of positive inspiration. So, we want to show you some small positive gestures and inspiration during these anxious times.
Stay healthy and take care of each other! ^Team Horecatrends

Very positive news is that we see a lot of people unite and not only in the health care. We even spotted an online game in which gamers can help the university of Washington’s Center for Game Science to create a medicine.

In France the Accor Group, a hotel chain, opened the CEDA (Coronavirus Emergency Desk Accor) telephone helpdesk. They help to accommodate homeless people trough France in conjunction with the government.

We spot a lot of positive initiatives by restaurants, like for example #JREwhatsinthefridge and other ones to keep in touch with their guests. In the Netherlands, one of our chefs with two Michelin stars started a video making a delicious daily meal. And many more individuals give tutorials, which made us laugh is the reaction of a famous chef in an Instagram story: “After two days in quarantine and watching many cooking videos, I understand why so many of you come to restaurants” ?

In most languages there is a saying like ‘money can’t buy happiness’ but if you’re very rich you can buy a ‘Covid-19 themed exclusive package’ at Le Bijou Hotels & Resorts in Switzerland. But if you’re entertaining your kids at home, you could make them happy with a ‘toilet paper’ cake!

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Trends we spotted | Week 12

20-3-2020

Our perspective on the world has completely changed in the past week, what a paradigm shift! I personally thought that we would no longer post trends and inspiration on Horecatrends. It seems of no importance right now but we also spotted a lot of positive inspiration. So, we have written a ‘trends we spotted this week’ with small positive gestures and inspiration in these anxious times.
Stay healthy and take care of each other! ^Marjolein van Spronsen

This week, among other links to articles about a hand wash tutorial by Gordon Ramsey and the Cheese trucks of the London based The Cheese Bar.

McDonald’s in the U.S. and Canada are considering rent deferrals for its franchisees and Uber Eats is introducing a new support package that includes a waiving of delivery fees on all orders from independent restaurants across U.S. & Canada and dedicated marketing campaigns.

And an article at Eater about what restaurants need right now to actually survive in the USA. Here in the Netherlands, the government is taking all the necessary measures at this moment and even banks are helping. We wish all restaurant owners worldwide will be able to find a way to stay in business.

Chipotle tackles social distancing with virtual hangouts on Zoom, interesting inspiration if you try to reach young people. And upscale restaurant Canlis in Seattle finds new business model in the Covid-19 crisis.

In the Netherlands we spotted free e-learning programs for people working in the hospitality industry and many restaurants offer gift vouchers with benefits. One of them doesn’t give vouchers but gift plates!

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