On Air Beauty Co. launched unique Christmas scented hand sanitizers
27-10-2020
On Air Beauty Co. kicked the hand washing game up a notch by launching Christmas scented hand sanitizers on ‘Global Hand Washing Day’ that took place on the 15th of October. Washing your hands is one of the most important things people can do to protect their health, but a Global Hand Washing Day? Well if COVID-19 learned us anything, it’s the importance of just that! On the other hand and compared to ‘World Happiness Day’ or ‘National Unicorn Day’, ‘Global Hand Washing Day’ seems a bit boring. That’s all changed this year, because the Pumpkin Spice and Hallmark Christmas Movie Revolutions just elevated the global holiday.
Although we Dutchies weren’t aware of a Global Hand Washing Day, we most certainly realize the importance of it and if a product like Christmas scented hand sanitizers make more people clean their hands, we love to be able to buy it here as well!
Reading time: 2 minutes
Nxt Museum | The first new media art museum in the Netherlands
16-10-2020
Opened on August 29, Nxt Museum in Amsterdam. Visitors can immerse themselves in the futuristic world of the first museum dedicated to New Media Art in the Netherlands. Their inaugural exhibition is ‘Shifting Proximities’. The museum is located in the up-and-coming North of Amsterdam and it presents eight large-scale, multi-sensory art installations, four of which have been commissioned by and are premiering at Nxt Museum. Each of the multi-disciplinary installations has been created in collaboration with local and international artists, designers, technologists, scientists and musicians, fusing creative ideas with pioneering academic research and technological innovation.
For those who love new art installations the Nxt Museum is a new ‘must visit’ museum in Amsterdam. So the moment you can safely travel to Amsterdam after Covid this museum must be on your bucket list! We have really enjoyed our visit to the Van Gogh exhibition in the museum L’Atelier des Lumières in Paris, an art installation that gave an insight in a couple of paintings with technology. The first exhibition in Nxt Museum looks much more futuristic though! In the first couple of weeks they welcomed some 4.500 people to enjoy the installations.
Cabin | Hotel on wheels between Los Angeles and San Francisco
8-10-2020
Cabin, a USA based company, provides travellers with a new way of travelling between San Francisco and Los Angeles. This concept was first executed in 2016 under the name SleepBus as a pilot, where tickets were sold-out in three days and the waiting list contained more than 20,000 people who liked the idea of being transported in a bus with sleeping pods. The same concept continued under the name of Cabin, providing services between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
One of our colleagues came across these services and really liked the idea of travelling by night while having a pod to sleep in. Currently the staff of Cabin is closely monitoring the Covid-19 situations but still continues to provide their services. At their new initiative you can order a Cabin or ‘Hotel on wheels’ for private events as well. Wouldn’t it be great to travel while sleeping between big cities in Europe? Kind of a rolling hotel!
The TABASCO X Seoul Bird Collaboration | Limited edition dishes
29-9-2020
Recently opened Seoul Bird, West London’s Korean fried chicken specialists, are pleased to announce their exclusive eight-week collaboration with TABASCO® Brand from the 1st October, called The TABASCO X Seoul Bird Collaboration. Korean-American founder, Judy Joo, has created three limited edition dishes that will join the menu, for a short time only, featuring her ‘Chilli Chicken & Wicked Waffles’, ‘Burnin’ Bird Burger’ and ‘Tater Tots with TABASCO® Sriracha Sauce’.
A great example of working together during the COVID-19 pandemic. This initiative in London shows a supplier supporting a restaurant but it might as well be a local supermarket creating a collaboration with a local restaurant. Especially during the rapidly changing (stricter) measurements by the government a collaboration with either suppliers or supermarkets might be the reason a restaurant can survive.
Legendary Vish | Tasty fish, made of plants, enabled by 3D Printing
8-9-2020
The last few years we have seen numerous examples of new products to replace meat and fish and other animal based foods like for example eggs and milk. As for replacing pieces of meat and fish there are basically two options: cultivated meat and fish that is grown from cells of an actual animal or plant-based alternatives. The cultivated alternative isn’t on the market yet but we have seen a couple of great plant-based alternatives like this one: start-up Legendary Vish from Austria.
Legendary Vish wants to start testing their bioprinted salmon fillet on a small scale in 2021 and they’re looking for partners for the launch of their products. Do you have a restaurant and are you interested in participating exciting projects? Don’t hesitate to contact Legendary Vish!
Reading time: 1 minute
Trends we spotted | Week 36
7-9-2020
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’.
With this week, links to articles about the first carbon negative beer business, BrewDog and a French article explaining that the summer 2020 tourism season was better than expected.
Concerts in Your Car is a concert series taking place at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in California and a big funding for Shef, an Airbnb-like platform for home cooked meals.
A great sustainable initiative by Farm Brothers cookies: if you buy a pack – they will save a cookie-sized piece (12cm²) of degraded farmland and turn it in organic soil.
According to a new study, the global vegan cheese market could reach $2.5 billion by the end of 2020 and an article about NAFSIKA’S GARDEN. Cheese alternatives from Nafsika Antypas who is also the host and creator of ‘Plant-based By Nafsika’, the first vegan lifestyle series on mainstream television (A&E Network).
by Noa | Culinary hotspot in The Hague where you can order 60 wines by the glass
4-9-2020
by Noa in The Hague is a new culinary hotspot. A unique concept in the heart of the city, with the possibility of ordering 60 different wines by the glass. In addition to a selection from traditional wine countries such as France and Italy, By Noa also serves wines from less famous wine countries, such as the United States and Argentina. With this concept, General Manager Dimitri Kalaitzis does not only targets tourists, but also hopes to make the local population enthusiastic about by Noa, in the Mövenpick Hotel.
Great Scotland Yard hotel | Announced a ‘Grand Unlocking’ this September
1-9-2020
The Great Scotland Yard hotel, part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt is one of London’s top 5* hotels and has announced plans to reopen with a ‘Grand Unlocking’ on Monday 7th September. The hotel is located in Westminster. The re-opening of the hotel will coincide with the launch of a new seasonal snack menu alongside its signature cocktail menu at The 40 Elephants, the destination bar in the heart of the hotel, which will be open to both guests and the public throughout the week.
Four apps helping hospitality businesses provide socially distanced services
31-8-2020
In the last few months, we’ve seen entire countries pausing day-to-day activities, shops and stores closing down and millions of people forced to work from home. But as infection rates in some countries slow down, people are starting to ask ‘how can we return to business?’. The question facing many hospitality businesses as they transition to the re-opening phase is how they can provide socially distanced services, in line with guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) and local and national governments, who are tasked with keeping us safe.
A guest blog by Georgie Peru, a Content Contributor for UKWebHostReview. She is passionate about sharing her enthusiasm for technology through her content writing work, with a mission to help others learn and understand what makes the digital world so successful. She shows us four of the best apps that can be helpful to create socially distanced services in hospitality.
Trends we spotted | Week 35
28-8-2020
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’.
With this week, a link to an article about the changing view on hospitality due to the pandemic, apps are getting more and more important. But also a campaign by Airbnb in the USA to offer online experiences at home, led by artists around the world.
Great design for the new Starbucks location in the Circles Ginza Building in Tokyo, it features a ‘Smart Lounge’ to work in! And are you a member of a book club that had to stop meeting because of the pandemic? Check out the online ‘Words & Wines’ book club!
Just Salad is the first U.S. restaurant chain that carbon labelled its menu. London has a the first float-in cinema in the UK and in the V&A museum an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ exhibit will open March 2021, fall down the rabbit hole!
A glimpse inside the new Felix Roasting Co., known for its specialty coffee (like the ‘espresso tonic’ and the hickory-smoked s’mores latte), at 104 Green Street in SoHo!
THE TOKYO TOILET Project | Transforming 17 public toilets in Shibuya
27-8-2020
The Nippon Foundation has launched THE TOKYO TOILET project to build public toilets that can be used by anyone. The project will build new toilets at 17 locations in Shibuya, Tokyo, as a way of moving toward the realization of a society that embraces diversity. Some toilets have been available for use by the general public since August 5.
A great project concerning public toilets which most people always try to avoid using! We wonder whether this project can make a difference and if it does, who’s going to create ‘Toilet projects’ in the rest of the world? It might be a great sponsoring project for design and architectural firms in collaboration with city councils and a cleaning company.
NICE DAY | A new Chinese takeout restaurant in New York
25-8-2020
The restaurant group behind the Chinese fast-casual mini-chain Junzi Kitchen is launching a new Chinese takeout restaurant NICE DAY at 170 Bleecker St, New York City, bringing beloved American-Chinese food back from their modern kitchen and with an easy online ordering system. Nested within junzi kitchen’s Greenwich Village location, NICE DAY will serve as a pop-up and act as an updated model of traditional Chinese takeout restaurants, where the dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken and Mapo Tofu will pay homage to the classic American-Chinese flavours that have earned rave reviews for generations.
Great initiative by the Junzi restaurant group to revitalize the American – Chinese dining. As the traditional Chinese restaurants in the Netherlands are facing exactly the same problem, NICE DAY might be an inspiration for those Chinese entrepreneurs who are willing to adapt to a more modern concept of the Chinese cuisine.
Trends we spotted | Week 34
24-8-2020
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 healthy, immunity boosting shots whose popularity are growing rapidly. And we spotted a new environmentally friendly bentobox made from cocoa been peels which looks great for high end take-away meals!
For those who want to visit a corona-proof cinema, the ice cream company Blue Bunny created a food truck with outdoor movie screen! We would love to see a food truck like that next summer in the Netherlands!
We spotted a lot of new hard seltzers on the Dutch market this summer, with the latest addition, White Claw from the USA! Coca Cola will also release a Hard-Seltzer in the USA and we even spotted a Cannabis infused hard seltzer by Rebel Coast Winery.
In Seattle citizenM opened a new hotel, with a link to images at the website of concrete Amsterdam. And we spotted another opening: the Sour Patch Kids store that will soon open for all candy lovers in New York!
Trends we spotted | Week 31
30-7-2020
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 Robot Rosé that delivers wine to your room at hotel Trio in California and about a sustainable wine bottle made for 94% out of paper.
Select Palladium Hotel Group properties in the U.S.A. offer free medical insurance to guests and The new Tony’s Chocolonely Super Store is located in the heart of Amsterdam at the Beurs Building. With a video of the theme park they’re developing!
Pentatonic is a design and technology company that makes purpose from waste, they created furniture and textiles out of store waste for Starbucks and last year they created the Burger King Meltdown in the UK.
We spotted a new hotel brand: the LyvInn, an extended-stay and transient hospitality concept and initial locations for this brand include Amsterdam. And an interesting read about apps trying to solve the surplus, here in the Netherlands we know ‘Too good to go’ but for example the app Karma makes an extra effort to prevent products going to waste.
For those living in London: there are about 45 Michelin star restaurants where you can eat out and pay partly with the ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ discount.
Trends we spotted | Week 30
24-7-2020
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 ultimate post-lockdown party at East Asian Kitchen & Bar Lan Kwai Fong in london and ‘Cinéma sur l’Eau’ in Paris.
In the Chicago area, the fast food brand white Castle will start testing their Flippy ROAR (ROAR stand for Robot On A Rail) and in London at Fitzpark we spotted the parklets, created by Arup. A high quality temporary space!
The Indian company Techmax Solution created a touchless elevator panel to fight against COVID-19 and in Stockholm a developer has made a new social distancing app for drinkers, called Byevid, it will help people track pub crowds in real time.
The Dutch solar designer Marjan van Aubel has introduced solar panels that look as if they are made from stained glass, as part of The Netherlands’ pavilion for the World Expo 2021 in Dubai. And IKEA will start selling their Swedish plant-bases meatballs this summer.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Meat of the future | Lab-grown KFC nuggets?
21-7-2020
KFC in Russia is taking the next step in its innovative concept of creating a ‘restaurant of the future’ by launching the development of innovative 3D bioprinting technology to create chicken meat in cooperation with the 3D Bioprinting Solutions research laboratory. The idea of crafting the ‘meat of the future’ arose among partners in response to the growing popularity of a healthy lifestyle and nutrition, the annual increase in demand for alternatives to traditional meat and the need to develop more environmentally friendly methods of food production. The project aims to create the world’s first laboratory-produced chicken nuggets. They will be as close as possible in both taste and appearance to the original KFC product, while being more environmentally friendly to produce than ordinary meat. Receiving a final product for testing is already planned for this fall (2020) in Moscow.
Back in 2018 we wrote about JUST Meat and JUST Egg. JUST Meat was creating nuggets from chicken cells as well. At this moment we can only trace back JUST Egg so we think they didn’t have the means to stay in business till their product was approved. Lots of scientists believed this meat created from a single cell is one of the solutions for the environmental problems we are addressing at this moment. They also believe lab-grown meat will hit the market in the coming 5 years.
The Tasting Room | Offline flagship store of webshop Our Daily Bottle
20-7-2020
On Thursday July 16, 2020 web shop ‘Our Daily Bottle’ opened the doors of their unique hybrid retail wine concept ‘The Tasting Room’ on the Vlaamsekaai in Antwerp. The Tasting Room is the brand new offline showroom and flagship of digital innovator ‘Our Daily Bottle’: a successful start-up web store with wine subscriptions. Entrepreneur Isabeau Sas, the driving force behind both concepts, challenges the traditional retail and skilfully responds to a combination of online and offline by focusing on the wine experience.
Great concept to visit as a wine lover if you go to Antwerp! It’s the first online wine shop we spotted making this move but here in Europe we even spot big online brands creating offline experience shops, like for example Coolblue here in the Netherlands.
Diageo announces creation of world’s first ever 100% plastic free paper-based spirits bottle
17-7-2020
Diageo, makers of Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Guinness, has today announced that it has created the world’s first ever 100% plastic free paper-based spirits bottle, made entirely from sustainably sourced wood. The bottle will debut with Johnnie Walker, the world’s number one Scotch Whisky, in early 2021.
NONA June | Gin-Tonic without hangover
16-7-2020
Gin & Tonic: It is arguably the most popular drink of the last couple of years. Just a pity that the alcohol percentage is so high that the next day you need a lot of aspirin, a fleece blanket, a sofa and about ten hours of Netflix to overcome the hangover. There are plenty of non-alcoholic spirits for sale, but none really taste like pure gin, according to the makers of NONA June. “That could be differently,’’ thought the Charlotte a bio-engineer from Ghent (Belgium), and she created NONA June, which is an alcohol-free gin that cannot be distinguished from the real gin. The Kicker? Charlotte only allowed herself to launch NONA June after the approval and support of renowned sommeliers and chefs.
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.
Makeen Technologies | Latest mobile app development trends
14-7-2020
This is a guest blog by Makeen Technologies from the U.S. with their thoughts on cloud computing, user engagement, wearable tech, mobile payments, in-app marketing, app security and HTML5. With their thoughts on the future; “Developers are shifting toward a future governed by user experience, mobile payment, and hybrid technologies that reach across platforms. Current and future app development will be in part tested by its ability to incorporate cloud computing, m-commerce, and mobile advertising into its arsenal. While you may not be able to include these trends into your current development alone, you can find the right team to implement them for you.” Makeen Technologies is a leading global provider of end-to-end technology solutions.
A guest blog that might enable hospitality entrepreneurs to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in the mobile landscape.
Net zero energy-designed McDonald’s restaurant at the Walt Disney World Resort
14-7-2020
What if a restaurant could generate all its own power from renewable energy? McDonald’s has completed construction of a first-of-its-kind restaurant designed to do just that – create enough renewable energy on-site to cover 100% of its energy needs on a net annual basis. Their global flagship restaurant will serve as a learning hub for McDonald’s to test solutions for reducing energy and water use, a testament to the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainable innovation.
Virtual influencer as brand ambassador for Postillion Hotels
7-7-2020
Early 2021, Postillion Hotels will be the first Dutch hotel chain to enter into a long-term partnership with Esther Olofsson, the first virtual influencer in the Netherlands. This starts at the occasion of the opening of their new hotel in the World Trade Center (WTC) Rotterdam. Olofsson is fully computer generated and created by communication agency RauwCC. As a brand ambassador made from bits and bytes, she is prominent at the festive unveiling and opening of the new Postillion hotel and will be available as the most trusted city guide for hotel guests 24/7.
You can follow Esther Olofsson on her Instagram account, in addition, a complete profile of Esther has been compiled. For example: she was ‘born’ in Malmö, Sweden, is 29 years old and has lived in Rotterdam since 2019. Just like a real-life influencer, Esther works with local entrepreneurs and on behalf of brands that match her character and taste!
Reading time: 2 minutes
WATER³ natural mineral water | A sustainable choice for responsible consumers
7-7-2020
Very environmentally friendly WATER³ (Water Cubed) from DRINKS³ (Drinks Cubed), 100% recyclable, greater transport efficiencies versus conventional plastic bottles and made with 95% plant based materials. The team behind DRINKS3 has a mission to build a brand based on ethical production and planet sustainability that trail-blaze the rest of the drinks industry for a better tomorrow.
WATER³ natural mineral water is a sustainable choice for responsible consumers, the carton-bottles are made FSC® Certified, they generate 41% less CO2 than disposable PET multilayer bottles and are thus 100% recyclable. WATER³ is sold in the UK for at example at different Whole Foods locations, like Clapham Junction, Camden, Fulham, Kensington, Piccadilly Circus, Richmond and Stoke Newington.
Reading time: 1 minute
The Upside Down Amsterdam | The largest ‘Instagram museum’ in Europe
7-7-2020
On the third of July Anna Nooshin opened the doors of her own completely new Instagram museum: The Upside Down Amsterdam. After a year and a half of brainstorming, planning and searching for the perfect location, this dream has come true in collaboration with entrepreneur Hans Plesman. Visitors can immerse themselves in a completely new museum experience. The Upside Down Amsterdam also wants to activate social involvement and bring a deeper message. Attention is asked for ‘forgotten children’, among other things, with which they support the foundation ‘Het vergeten Kind’ (the Forgotten Child). The initiators believe that everyone has the right to play and that’s why they are opening up the experience to this target group in cooperation with the foundation.
“It’s great that after years this dream can finally be realised. With The Upside Down Amsterdam we want to create so much more than just an Instagram worthy museum. We want to tell a story about the Netherlands of today and give visitors and creatives the opportunity to fully develop themselves in our museum. In addition, one of our most important pillars besides entertainment is education and we will focus on lectures and master classes where experienced content creators and influencers share their creative passion with our visitors”, says Anna Nooshin.
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