Trends we spotted | Week 36
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 Ruby Chocolate, a new natural chocolate in the color pink has been introduced in China by Callebaut. And in South Africa a drama series has been distributed entirely on WhatsApp.
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Ruby Chocolate
Callebaut Chocolate recently presented a pink chocolate of ruby cocoa beans in China. After the pure (black), milk (brown) and white species, the company presented the ruby chocolate with a fruit flavor like berries. The fruity taste and pink color are naturally in the cocoa beans according to the company. Thus, without adding berries or flavors. It took 13 years for Belgian and French laboratories to develop the process to retrieve the taste and pink color from these beans. It takes another 6 to 18 months until this ruby chocolate will be on the market. So no pink chocolate letters yet from the Dutch Saint Niklas (a popular sweet gift lots of Dutch children receive on his birthday, December 6th).
South Africa’s first ever drama series distributed entirely on WhatsApp
Using SMS, photos, voice notes, and video, Uk’shona Kwelanga follows the interactions of a family through the sudden death of a family member and the subsequent funeral preparations. Created by South African insurance company Sanlam to highlight the cost of funeral expenses, subscription to the seven-part drama series is free. Great marketing idea. Follow up of social cinema this time through WhatsApp.
A new, luxurious box for the latest burgers of McDonald’s in the UK
Couture is not the word most people associate with fast food chain McDonald’s, but in a new collaboration with renowned designer Julien Macdonald it will be. Macdonald created a specially designed box in a chic black and gold design, though only 1000 will be available in McDonald’s restaurants around the UK. The boxes will house the franchise’s new gourmet burgers: The Classic, The BBQ and The Spicy.
Chef Alain Ducasse to open a new restaurant in Paris
Chef Alain Ducasse will launch Spoon, a revival of one of his former restaurant concepts, Spoon Food & Wines. The restaurant will open in Paris late this September. The menu will take inspiration from Ducasse’s recent two-year globetrotting adventures across cities such as London, New York, Hong Kong, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo etc. Some of the dishes from the menu that are mentioned in the article are ‘Spicy duck’ from China and ‘mango brulée with avocado and coriander’ from Brazil. At this point Alain Ducasse has 20 restaurants around the globe and holds 18 Michelin stars. Filmmaker Gilles de Maistre captured Ducasse’s globetrotting adventures on film, ‘La Quete d’Alain Ducasse’ (translated ‘The Quest of Alain Ducasse’). The film will be in the French cinema this October.
