Dark Kitchens - credits van Spronsen & PartnersOur colleague Leonie van Spronsen blogs about the phenomenon of ‘Dark Kitchens’. Currently these companies mainly focus on fast food and fast casual meals, but why not deliver high-quality meals from highly commended chefs from a virtual restaurant?
The Chick Buns from the Bun House in London
The 'COKIP-19' by Patisserie de Rouw| Two examples, one from the Bun House, a Cantonese-style steamed bun specialist in London and one from Patisserie de Rouw in Vught (the Netherlands). The Bun House will be launching their limited-edition ‘Easter Chick bun’ set to celebrate Easter. Available from the 26th of March to the 4th April, the delicately shaped buns will be available in-store at Bun House’s Chinatown home and for delivery to doorsteps across the country. But we also spotted the Easter chicks, COKIP-19, by the Dutch Patisserie de Rouw. They’re wearing a Covid proof mask! Check out all their images!
Great is that both examples are fairly small treats. As Arthur de Rouw points out in his press release, the new Easter items are somewhat smaller in size, which is in line with a number of trends he spotted in the pastry world and which are partly caused by the corona crisis. According to him, it is the smaller, luxurious indulgences that colours our lives. Reading time: 2 minutes |
The owners and the management of Orbisk
De foodwaste monitor of Orbisk in the kitchenOrbisk has developed a fully automated food waste monitor. The waste collection point of F&B-companies will be equipped with scales and a smart camera, which will record exactly what is thrown away and what amount. Based on the collected data, bundled in clear online reports, you can optimize the supply, purchasing process and your menu and thus save up to tens of thousands of euros per year!
Our colleagues from Van Spronsen & Partners Hospitality Consultancy and –Hospitality Administration have been telling their customers for years: data is knowledge! (in Dutch: meten is weten). By keeping track of your turnover on a daily basis, you get “grip” based on data so that you can estimate how much you will approximately turnover on a certain day in a specific period. As this food waste monitor shows this knowledge is also highly effective for reducing food waste! In the past, we have written about a similar product, named Winnow. These systems are very suitable for the larger professional kitchens.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Ready for the Impact Shakers Awards
Ready for the Impact Shakers Awards
Ready for The Impact Shakers AwardsInspired by the doughnut economics model, applications for the very first Impact Shakers Awards, opened on March 1st. All European startups and scaleups with a positive impact on society and the environment may apply. It is the first time that more than 40 impact ecosystem players from all over Europe, including incubators, accelerators, investors and networking organizations are rallying behind the same cause.
The Impact Shakers Awards are inspired by the doughnut economics model, which maps human prosperity according to a social foundation and an ecological ceiling. An international jury will pick winners in twelve categories: Energy, Water, Food, Health, Education, Income & Work, Peace & Justice, Political Voice, Social Equity, Gender Equality, Housing & Networks. Those start-ups and scale-ups who want to enroll: you can till subscribe till the first of May!
Reading time: 3 minutes
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 amongst others automated voices to take orders at a drive-thru and AmazonFresh opens their first checkout-free grocery store outside the USA in London.
The riverside igloos at the terrace of the Coppa Club will return this spring! As the restaurants are opening again at April 12 in the UK, they might be a safe and Instagrammable place to meet in London. And we spotted the ‘Global travel trends report’ by American Express. With trends we can totally relate to!
Stalk & Spade, an entirely meat-free fast casual concept will open just outside of Minneapolis this spring. Let’s see if we will spot this kind of fast casual concepts in Europe in the future. And the Easter mainstay Cadbury teamed up with the Goose Island Beer Company to release a Creme Egg-flavored stout for Easter.
An interesting development: edible holograms created by the Khalifa University, could be used to show that a food item hasn’t been tampered with, or to prove that it isn’t a counterfeit product. And Starbucks is set to release its latest limited-edition coffee blend, to celebrate its 50th-anniversary. Fifty years already!
Click on the title if you like to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
Juicy Marbles seasoning
Juicy Marbles filet mignon mushroom and oat creme
Juicy Marbles tenderloin
Juicy MarblesJuicy Marbles from Ljubljana, Slovenia makes history with the first marbled steaks made from plants. With a patent pending on the name, Meat-o-matic Reverse Grinder™ 9000. The founders of Juicy Marbles have been able to mimic the muscle texture and marbling of meat by aligning and layering fibers from the bottom up with all-natural ingredients.
Did you see the images of this Filet Mignon? It looks like a real Filet Mignon, we hope it will be available in the supermarkets in the Netherlands soon. We would love to taste it! If it’s really the first plant-based Filet Mignon? We recently also wrote about a plant-based version made of wagyu meat, called ‘Waygu’. This product by the Canadian company Top Tier Foods (TTF) is making a limited debut in the US with hopes of rolling out at 4,000 sushi locations nationwide.
Uber Eats - credits Van Spronsen & PartnersOur colleague Marguerita Vogelsang of Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultants blogs about Dark Kitchens, she thinks the question is not whether the trend will become big in the Netherlands, but it is more about when this will happen. It is however a different type of entrepreneur who seems to be suitable for this type of concept.
Vina Straws made of rice
Vina Straws made of riceAs of July of this year a new law will prohibit the use of single-use plastic items such as plates, cutlery, straws and cottonbud sticks in Europe. So all restaurant, hotel and bar owners have to check that they don’t use plastic packaging anymore. Over the years we’ve spotted a lot of substitutes, like Stroodles, Wheat straws and many more! Now we spotted another one: Cereal straws. They can be used in cold or warm beverages and after finishing your drink, you can eat the straw. The Cereal Straws are made of rice and tapioca starch, 100% biodegradable.
read more
Hemelwater jenever van Hooghoudt
Hemelwater jenever van HooghoudtA first for Hooghoudt: the distillery with its roots in Groningen (The Netherlands) succeeded in producing gin from rainwater. Hooghoudt aims to reduce the use of scarce drinking water, the Hemelwater gin is based on Hooghoudt’s Premium Jonge Graanjenever recipe. By adding a variety of natural flavors such as juniper, iris root, fennels seeds, cardamom, star anise, elderflower and pear, the ultimate soft and pure gin is created. This 700 runs limited edition Dutch gin is very unique as gin has never been made from rainwater before.
In 2016 we spotted the beer made from rainwater at brewery the Prael. The bitter blond beer, comparable to an IPA, was brewed in collaboration with the beer brewery Hemelswater (to be translated as water from heaven). A huge success, Code Blond even got attention outside the Netherlands.
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 amongst others about a Japanese-Style Basque Cheesecake from Basuku, it sounds delicious! And Orbital Assembly plans to start building private Voyager space station with artificial gravity in 2025, the first hotel in space.
A link to an article about the Dutch initiative Share That Kitchen, they want to become a kind of Airbnb for professional kitchens. And ‘Quatreau’ CBD drinks launched in the US, it sounds like a Hard Seltzer drink with CBD and we wonder whether these kind of drinks will come to the Netherlands as well.
PepsiCo is shaking up the cocktail mixer category with the launch of Neon Zebra, a new line of non-alcoholic cocktail mixers in 7.5oz mini-cans. Create 2 cocktails with one can in an instant! And an exceptional payment in the spirits industry, a transaction in Bitcoin between a supplier and distributor.
Onmateria created a Green Box. The Green Box, an amenity kit designed to tackle plastic waste in the hotel industry. And in 2025 the first Nobu Hotel in Germany will open in Hamburg, The Elbtower Hamburg.
Open for 1 month in April 2021: Candytropolis Sugar Rush, a safe, open-air, walk-through family adventure in California. And we loved this ice cream: ‘Not Fried Chicken’ Ice cream! We think it might inspire Dutch ice cream creators to make kroket, bitterbal or frikandel ice cream. Very #Instagrammable!
#bluerice-a new trend on InstagramWe have written about blue tea before, in 2019, about the tea of Crusio tea. By using the blossom of the Butterfly Pea, the tea will naturally turn blue. The same tea can be used to cook rice, and you will have an Instragram hit #Bluerice! We tried it at home and although it didn’t alter the taste much, it was a bit unnatural colour for rice. We can already see some applications like blue rice porridge, blue rice pudding and of course blue pasta. Some lemon in the tea and you’ll have purple tea or rice and pasta! By the way if you search for #bluerice you will also spot blue sushi, or rainbow sushi! We didn’t check if this is made all naturally.
Click the following links to see some posts about blue rice, including one recipe.
Virginia Gold Peanut Coffee
James Harrell, owner and founder of Virginia Gold Peanut Coffee
Virginia Gold Peanut CoffeeVirginia Gold Peanut coffee is the world’s first caffeinated coffee alternative made of peanuts. For what we have read it’s the latest coffee craze in the US and we understand it isn’t coffee, but it looks like it and is delicious. Check out the reviews in the press, for example the FoodNetwork Magazine writes: “It tastes like a less acidic version of coffee, with just a hint of nutty flavor”. We here in Europe have to wait though, we only spotted it in the social media and articles in the US. We also understood that they aren’t shipping to Europe yet. We love to try it though, don’t you?
Reading time: 2 minutes
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’.
Great images of the food and interior of restaurant Condividere, the informal haute cuisine by Ferran Adrià and London is embracing the power of the pedestrian once again this summer! Westminster City Council have elected to repeat last year’s plan to turn swathes of the capital into outdoor dining and drinking spots.
McDonald’s revealed a global packaging redesign and we spotted a new sustainable, delivery app aiming to revolutionize restaurant takeout packaging, JYBE.
Top Tier Foods (TTF) in Canada is going to roll out a vegan version of wagyu beef, called ‘Waygu’, at 4000 sushi locations. And Nestle plans to produce rice-based KitKat, the KitKat V.
AiFi, an expert in frictionless autonomous shopping, will partner with Wundermart to roll out 20 autonomous convenience stores in the first quarter of 2021.
Mountain Tap Brewery
Mountain Tap Brewery
Mountain Tap Brewery
Mountain Tap Brewery
Mountain Tap BreweryDuring the first lockdown we had the first restaurant in the Netherland to serve food corona proof in small greenhouses for 2 persons. Which was a great choice as we have a lot of big greenhouses all over the Netherlands. It has been used in several sizes and at different locations in the Netherlands. As are the dining pods which are used as hotel rooms or as small private dining booths during winter time and which are also corona proof. Now we spotted Mountain Tap Brewery, located in the mountain ski resort town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where winter low temperatures often reach below freezing and snow piles up by the feet. Faced with the likelihood of extremely limited capacity for indoor seating due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mountain Tap Brewery brainstormed a creative use of its spacious patio to accommodate winter guests. In the autumn of 2020, the brewpub transformed several out-of-use gondola cars into private seating booths and installed them on the patio. It might be an idea for all the restaurants located in ski resorts in Europe as well. We have been spotting gondel sauna’s and in 2009 we wrote an article about world’s smallest restaurant the Genussgondel in Fiss, Austria where you could enjoy dinner in a gondola lift. With a maximum four people, you enjoyed a three course dinner with a spectacular view over the Tyrolean mountains. When I started skiing in the seventy’s, the first lifts we used were open ‘bins’ in Italy, those could be used outside by après ski bars to keep social distance! 😉 ^Marjolein
Tabitha & Rik Jansma van restaurant BasiliekOne Michelin-starred restaurant Basiliek in Harderwijk (The Netherlands) will change its opening hours at the moment they’re allowed to reopen and welcome guests again. The interior of the restaurant will change as well. The COVID-19 pandemic provided the couple who own the place, Tabitha and Rik Jansma, with new insights with some changes as a result. ‘Something that we wanted for a longer period of time’.
We are curious how many restaurants, bar or hotels will apply changes within their concept. We suppose that the popular meal sharing concepts disappear after reopening. Just like COVID-19 is crucial for the open jars of nuts on tables. Restaurant Basiliek will also change the number of guests, which is something every restaurant has to deal with and where the concept is decisive regarding to the revenue of the restaurant. Sadly enough, this is something we have been testing with the ‘6 feet distance’. The decision to apply new closing hours is choosing for more private time, and it is great if your concept can carry this decision. There is no information provided about continuing with delivery and take-out meals in their press release, but we are very curious how concepts will apply this within their operations. Are you changing your concept, let us know!
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
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 for 2018 in Belgium, Spain and Portugal. And restaurant The Avocado Show in Amsterdam has opened the first pop-up avocado shop in the world.
Click on the title if you would like to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
Internet access has become an important daily requirement. Access to news, social media and e-mail from your laptop, smartphone or tablet, was once seen as a luxury. Nowadays people want and expect this access everywhere. Not offering free WiFi can strongly discourage guests from visiting your place and has therefore become an essential part of the service for the hospitality industry. Social wifi from SpotOn makes it possible for guests to simply and quickly log in to your Wi-Fi network with their social media account, for example Facebook or Twitter. Besides that you can also analyze the users of your network, send marketing campaigns, hand out coupons and measure customer satisfaction.
November 6 2017, Switzerland’s largest alpine wellness hotel spa opened in The Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne. For those enjoying a day at the spa, a dream come true. Imagine swimming with stunning views of lake Lucerne and the snow-covered Alps and the pools are even filled with water from the same lake! Check out the images for the design that harmonizes with the surroundings. The Alpine Spa is unique in its size and variety, it’s stretching over an area off more than 10,000 square metres. A modern, indoor and outdoor spa right next to the 5 star hotel Bürgenstock, connected via a skywalk.
What comes to mind when you think of Iceland? The awe-inspiring Northern Lights and cosy nights, geysers and glaciers, vast volcanoes and vodka. Vodka you say? Yes, vodka. Till the 26th of November Londoners can taste and experience Reyka Vodka during the Reyka expedition in Hackney London. We would love to have the Reyka expedition as well in Amsterdam!
The team behind the Ming Fat House of Jonathan Bui has created a speakeasy whisky bar in the business district of Hong Kong. They used local architect Nelson Chow Chi-Wai, to create the bar based on the story of a wealthy English adventurer, Frank Minza, who is the illegitimate son of an entrepreneur from Hong Kong’s Colonial days. He travelled the world in search of adventure and all things beautiful. However, what he never captured was the heart of his beloved, so he created Foxglove, named after his lost lover’s favourite flower, to win her back. That’s the storytelling around the speakeasy Foxglove in Hong Kong. It’s the second speakeasy of Ming Fat house in Hong Kong, the first is Mrs. Pound, a restaurant hidden behind a Chinese stamp shop! The story behind Mrs. Pound; she was a burlesque dancer who fell in love with a Chinese stamp shop owner.
Wihayo, the traditional Korean receipt made with Dutch craftsmanship, is now available in the Netherlands. The premium distilled Soju is made from rice and contains a soft malty flavor. Wihayo is best to drink pure, but combines well in cocktails. The Wihayo produced in the Netherlands brings the best of two countries together: the age-old receipt from Korea and the Dutch expertise of distilling. The ingredients, a combination of fermented rice, grain, barley and natural sugars is tilled with a Dutch mill from 1785. Wihayo contains 19% alcohol.
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 a no photo zone at the Waterside Inn and the Michelin guides have been released in Germany and ‘Kyoto & Osaka’.
Click on the title if you would to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
At Rebottled they believe that upcycling is the new recycling. They extend the lifespan of wine bottles by making drinking glasses at a workplace of the Salvation Army in Utrecht, The Netherlands. In addition, they employ people who do have difficulties trying to get a job, which improves the social environment of these people. With their idea they won the PwC Social Impact Lab and public award in October. They have also been nominated for the Horecava Innovation Award 2018.
Virgin Airlines launched a campaign to help people spend their holidays with friends and family. The ‘Where I Want for Christmas’ campaign is targeting consumers who may need a little extra help to purchase an expensive flight. With the help of Virgin, they can request a small cash amount from friends and family, in lieu of a Christmas present.
The moment you check in at the Vipp hotel, it’s fully booked. That is because the Vipp hotel is not a hotel in the traditional sense. Instead of offering many rooms in one location, Vipp offers unique rooms at various destinations. The destinations all share the same goal; to invite people to experience first-hand Vipp’s philosophy of good design in places out of the ordinary.
Cocktails do have a long an fascinating history. The first cocktail was made in around 1800 and has been developed since then. Artist, chef and visionary Michael Cirino from the company A Razor/A Shiny Knife, decided to change the game and created a drone cocktail. ‘Shake or stir it’, the common annoyance for a good cocktail are the two options for this drone.
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 a pop-up Anti-Trump bar, Twumps and Amsterdam will get a Residence Inn by Marriott in 2018.
Click on the title if you would to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
AccorHotels counts among the first apps available in France on the Actions on Google platform, which lets brands create applications – known as “Actions” – for Google Assistant. Since October 26, it has therefore been possible to interact with Phil, the AccorHotels bot, using Google Assistant. A simple instruction – “Ok Google, I want to talk to AccorHotels” – and the conversation starts on smartphones (Android and iOS), the hands-free smart speaker Google Home or any compatible device.
Greenflash Wine introduces a new cocktail in the Netherlands: Barbera Tonic. This tough mix originates in the Italian region Piemont. The basis of the traditionally made Chinato is the Barbera d’Asti D.O.C.G. The Barbera Chinato is a delicious aperitif drink, but really surprising ‘in the mix’ with tonic or ‘G&T’. This creates a refreshing, dark red cocktail in the style of an Aperol Spritz.
Long Story Short is a new hostel in Czech Republic, but it is hard to tell that it is a hostel. The industrial look and original design give the hostel a modern an exclusive appearance. Nevertheless, is it possible to have a relatively low priced overnight stay in a dorm or private room. A perfect example of the current trend in the hostel industry where luxury is getting a higher priority.
Terroir is a computer game in which you learn how to make your own wine. During the game you are responsible for the entire process, from harvesting your grapes to the sales process. Although you will not immediately become a true wine maker after completing your first barrel of wine! The game will help you understand what’s going to happen when you’re making wine.
With the opening of Rayleigh & Ramsay in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has a unique wine-café, which focuses on independent wine exploration. The concept is similar to Vagebond Wines in London. They offer as many as 100 wines within eight taste profiles per trial cap, half a glass or a whole glass. Prices range from € 0,70 to € 15,-. The wines are presented in wine dispensers from which the guest can ‘tap’ with a pre-paid card. All wines can be evaluated and ordered online. Next to London and Amsterdam, this concept can be found in Riga, Geneva and Mauritius as well. Advisor and wholesaler of this concept is the Dutch organization By The Glass International.
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 for restaurants in New York and a journalist of Robb Report tried a cup of coffee of $ 55!
Click on the title if you would to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
At the most southern point of the Norwegian coastline by the village of Båly, Snøhetta has designed Europe’s very first underwater restaurant, dubbed Under. With its immediate proximity with the forces of nature, the restaurant, which will also function as a research centre for marine life, is a tribute to the Norwegian coast and to the province Lindesnes, to the wild fauna of the sea and to the rocky coastline of Norway’s southern tip. The architect firm assures that Under will be fully integrated into the environment.
Okay, you say cheese tea? You really mean cheese and tea in the same cup? Yes, tea topped with cheese! Spotted and originated in Guangzhou, the capital of China’s southern Guangdong province at HEYTEA tea house. The concept has spread from the street stalls of Taiwan to China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and even to New York’s Flushing neighborhood, where Happy Lemon serves the tea in four flavors, including chocolate. In the video above Jenny Zheng, from the in Los Angeles based, Little Fluffy Head Café, explains the idea behind the cheese tea.
At the Conrad Rangali Hotel, guests can hire an Instagram butler to help them make the perfect photos, you know those kind of images that makes your homefront jealous! The Conrad Rangali Hotel is located on the tropical island of the Maldives and initiated this in the context of their ‘Stay Inspired’ initiative. Instagram worthy pictures are becoming increasingly important and we spotted several hotels in the past responding to this fact. They all respond to the need for that one image taken from the right angle and at the right time. With the Instagram butler, it must be possible to take images of the beautiful beaches and evenly beautiful sunsets of the Maldives.
Bounce, the home of Ping Pong in London, launches a digital evolution of Ping Pong for the ‘social gaming generation’. The Ping Pong bar recently added Wonderball tables to their locations which makes ping pong available for everyone. The future meets the traditional world and combines technology with the old school table tennis.
One of the first worm hotels of Le Compostier was recently placed at Restaurant As in Amsterdam. In the worm hotel, chefs can compost vegetables and fruit at their own location and use the compost directly in their own garden. This way kitchens from restaurants become circular.
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 a secret coffeebar in Brooklyn with a Dutch password and Cédric Grolet from the Le Meurice restaurant in Paris has been picked as the world’s best patissier.
If you like to read the whole article, click the title. Enjoy reading!
As the classic song goes, ‘Christmas time, whisky and wine!’… or something along those lines! Christmas is approaching fast and The Lakes Distillery is lifting the spirit this Christmas with Whisky ornaments or ornament filled with The Lakes Vodka or Gin. Spirit baubles as decoration for your Christmas tree, to open after Christmas dinner! Great way to serve drinks in bars and restaurants this holiday season.
The range includes a selection of single 20cl baubles with exquisite ribbon, containing either The Lakes Gin, The Lakes Vodka or The ONE British Isles Blended Whisky. Also available are gift sets each containing six 5cl baubles filled with the spirits of The Lakes Distillery, with a whisky set, a vodka set and a gin set. The vodka and gin sets include an exclusive preview of the highly-anticipated flavoured vodka and gin liqueurs.
The Lakes Distillery baubles will be available from late September 2017 in retail outlets across the UK and on their website.
Bezoek horecatrends op
