Trends we spotted | Week 13
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 an investment by restaurant chain Chipotle in autonomous delivery by startup NURO. And to help out in tough times, supermarkets rent storefront windows from restaurants. Launched last week in Amsterdam, Reclame voor Horeca (‘Ads for Hospitality’).
Both NESCAFÉ and the startup, UP TO GOOD, introduced drinks made from upcycled coffee fruit. NESCAFE NATIV and UP TO GOOD cascara. And in London opened Urban Mutts, the first luxury dog hotel! With spa treatments, handcrafted dog beds, reiki etc.
Ultimate Paleo Protein infuses your cup of coffee with quality protein, healthy fat, and heat-stable probiotics. It reminded us a bit of Bulletproof coffee? And the first Cannabis-infused wine from France has been created in the region of Bordeaux.
KRISPY KREME® Giving FREE doughnuts to everyone who shows his or her COVID-19 Vaccination Card and has more ideas to encourage people to get the vaccine! And we spotted a startup with the aim to reduce our sodium intake which is increasing our high blood pressure: Green Salt made of Salicornia!
Click on the title if you like to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
Chipotle invests in self-driving startup NURO as it prepares for delivery’s future
Restaurant chain Chipotle believes consumers will one day receive food orders via autonomous delivery. They recently announced that it is participating in a $500 million funding round for autonomous delivery vehicle startup NURO. This company was founded by two ex-Googlers and its dinky self-driving vans are already delivering for Domino’s in some locations (see video below).
NURO, the self-driving delivery company started in 2016 and it is moving into the pizza game. NURO’s robot did start delivering Domino’s pies and cheesy breads to customers in the Houston area in 2020. We kind of thought that the self-driving delivery had some hick ups as we haven’t seen it in our streets in the Netherlands yet. Probably because our streets are a bit crowdy and rural areas in the USA are a great place to start testing these vehicles. Check out the video, it explains how the autonomous delivery vehicle from NURO works. The text will continue below the video.
Ads for hospitality in the Netherlands
To help out in tough times, supermarkets rent storefront windows from restaurants. Launched last week in Amsterdam, Reclame voor Horeca (‘Ads for Hospitality’) lets other businesses rent storefront window space from restaurants and bars. Supermarket chain Dirk kicked off by renting windows from nine restaurants. Advertisers pay EUR 470 to display an A0-sized poster for four weeks. More at the website of Trendwatching, link in the title.
Both NESCAFÉ and a startup introduce drinks made from upcycled coffee fruit
Launched in January under the company’s coffee brand, NESCAFÉ NATIV is a lightly sparkling beverage. As a coffee byproduct, it’s naturally caffeinated. Botanicals native to Australia were added to create three flavors: Classic, Kakadu Plum and Lemon Myrtle & Pepperberry. In the same month that Nescafé debuted its cascara, a startup in Venice, California did the same. UP TO GOOD is pitching its sparkling cascara as an energy beverage that delivers a ‘sustainable, clean boost’. Each can contains about 80 mg of caffeine, similar to a shot of espresso. More at the website of trendwatching, link in the title.
Opened in London | Urban Mutts the first luxury dog hotel
Urban Mutts is the first luxury dog hotel in the world, handily located a short walk (or walkies) from London’s West End. They created a Day Club & Hotel, to give your dog walks, play, social, grooming and chill time. All while owners are putting their feet up at work. Custom beds, handcrafted by a local workshop, with room service on-demand and staff on call 24/7. Its day club features LED mood lighting and walls covered in a bespoke street art mural; the onsite spa offers everything from quick wash’n’go to nail treatments. Staff are trained in acupuncture, massage and reiki, plus there’s a squad of trainers who work in site or outdoors in nearby parks and streets.
France’s first Cannabis-infused wine from the heart of Bordeaux
From the heart of the wine region Bordeaux, comes France’s first wine infused with cannabis, Burdi.w. Entrepreneur, Raphael De Pablo, launched the cannabis extracted infused wine in hopes of shaking up tradition and scoring with wine lovers. The wine has been infused with the cannabis compound known as cannabidiol, or CBD, due to the fact that tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is still banned in the beautiful wine-nation. The wine is bottled in Germany. More at the website of veriheal, link in the title. We wrote about the alcohol-free wine with Marihuana by the Rebel Coast Winery in California back in 2018. They had to choose to either put in alcohol or Marihuana.
Coffee and Protein | A Match Made in Heaven
Ultimate Paleo Protein infuses your cup of coffee with quality protein, healthy fat, and heat-stable probiotics. The team at Ultimate Paleo Protein has developed a line of protein-focused products that bolster health and wellness while also addressing most sensitivity concerns. They’ve done this by settling on beef protein as a protein alternative compared to the popular whey option. Beef protein provides easy digestion and absorption. It can also be added to coffee, thanks to the brand’s Coffee Protein Packets. These effortlessly bring together two elements that are critical to a modern American morning routine. Convenience is the name of the game here. Each packet comes filled with a delicious Dutched Cocoa-flavor powder. The beef protein has been instantized, making it easy to mix and removing the need for blenders or shaker cups. All that is required is to stir it into a cup of coffee. Each coffee packet delivers 7 grams of protein — roughly the same as an egg — along with 50 mg of powdered MCT oil derived from coconut and immune-supporting probiotics Bacillus coagulans from Ganaden BC30. The last item is alkalized Dutched Cocoa, which helps to buffer the coffee’s acidity and makes it taste like a light mocha. It made us this about the coffee hype a couple of years back: Bulletproof coffee! Only the use of Coffee Protein Packets sounds much easier, more in their press release at PRnewswire, link in the title.
KRISPY KREME® Giving FREE doughnuts to everyone who shows his or her COVID-19 Vaccination Card
Krispy Kreme is offering sweet support to those who are protecting themselves and others by getting vaccinated: FREE doughnuts. “We all want to get COVID-19 behind us as fast as possible and we want to support everyone doing their part to make the country safe by getting vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is available to them.” Krispy Kreme will also support health care workers and volunteers who are helping administer vaccines, delivering free doughnuts to select vaccination centers throughout the country in the coming weeks. For its team members, Krispy Kreme is offering up to four hours of paid time off each to help encourage and enable their COVID-19 vaccinations, furthering the safety of team members and guests. More in their press release at Businesswire, link in the title. We spotted the latest, the paid time off, before at NYC-based Shake Shack and Austin’s Freebirds World Burrito.
Green Salt | The healthy salt alternative
Salt makes food delicious. But, it’s high in sodium. High sodium intake increases our chances of high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease and stroke: two leading causes of death in Americans (CDC.gov). Green Salt is a plant-based salt with 50% less sodium than salt. It’s better for you while still giving you the same salty taste. Some details of this already funded but still open Kickstarter project (link in the title). 20% sodium by weight. Normal salt like Kosher salt, Himalayan Salt, and Sea Salt all have 40% sodium by weight. Protein (11%), Fiber (20%), Chlorophyll, Vitamin B3, Zinc, Postassium, Iodine, and Calcium. Green Salt’s minerals and fiber help digestion, hydration, blood pressure control, and normal function of our immune and nervous systems. It offers a salty and Umami flavour. In blind taste tests, equal portions of salt and Green Salt had the same relative saltiness. It also adds an umami flavour to elevate your dishes. Unlike artificial salt substitutes, it doesn’t have a bitter taste. It’s made from 100% dehydrated Salicornia. Check out the video below:
