Cold pressed garlic sprays, culinary foams and vanilla bean pastes were amongst the 1000 exciting new products to be showcased at this year's IFE exhibition.
The three day international food and drink event (15-18 March), with 1,200 exhibitors from 45 countries, attracted around 24,000 visitors and the rush showed: the isles of the two great halls were bustling and there was enough food and drink to sustain a small army.
The best of the new products were highlighted at the Innovation Live platform, a new feature at the show launched in association with Mintel, where visitors could see, touch and taste winning products from the show's Fresh Ideas Awards, which recognises innovative products.
Winners of the Fresh Ideas Awards included Urban Fresh Fruit's soft bake golden kiwis, the Amazing Food Company's cold pressed garlic spray, RH Amar and Co Cooks & Co French brandy cooking gel and Aconbury Sprouts' Golden snow pea shoots.
Product Junkie took the opportunity to nip around some of the most alluring stands with a camera to catch some of the action. The video (attached below) starts with a shot of a selection of olives, artichokes, stuffed tomatoes and other divine Mediterranean products from the Fresh Olive Company – as far as Product Junkie is concerned, the artichokes deserved an award in their own right.
Imaginative Cuisine's Airspuma Culinary Foam is the next award-winning product on the video, looking rather like it belongs on a hairdresser's table and yet each bottle delivers 40-70 portions of varying-textured sweet and savoury foams including vanilla, mushroom, strawberry and truffle flavours. Each foam holds for five to 10 minutes, or in the case of vanilla, 30 minutes.
You wouldn't normally put bread with ice cream but this is exactly what Irish company Mullin's Ice cream has done with its Irish Brown Bread ice cream and it works. Made to a traditional Irish recipe, Irish wheaten bread is toasted, crumbled, sprinkled with Demerara sugar and swirled into vanilla ice cream. Caterer & Hotelkeeper's products and suppliers editor Diane Lane can be seen sampling the company's Turkish Delight-flavoured ice cream.
And finally, mashed potato does not have to be boring, as From our Farm Mighty Mash demonstrates with its selection of mash with vegetable products. Not that you need Product Junkie to explain its value, the spokesman at the company made a fine job of getting the message across, see the video below.
The Ice Chair is no ordinary chair. The stainless steel frame is coated in a clear resin which absorbs and reflects surrounding coloured lighting to produce dazzling effects.
The chairs have a back height of 92cm, base size of 43cm with pad and floor to base height of 43cm. Unlike the traditional wooden banqueting chairs, the Ice Chair is easy to clean and requires a minimum amount of maintenance.
Caterers can either hire the Ice Chairs from Co-ordination Catering Hire for special events or buy them. The basic hire price is £2.95 per chair plus VAT.
Yesterday we brought you sturdy practical hospitality shoes, today we bring you luxurious guest amenities in the form of Asprey's Purple Water collection.
No one could accuse Product Junkie of lacking in variety!
Pacific Direct, global manufacturer of guest amenities, introduces Asprey Purple Water – The Luxury Hotel Collection.
Purple Water takes its name from the signature Asprey colour and comprises a selection of bathroom products targeted at five-star hotels worldwide.
Head notes of lemon, mandarin and jacaranda gives Purple Water products an initial zesty impact while ginger, vetiver and musk adds depth to the fragrance.
The range, encompassing shower and bath products, shampoo and conditioner, soap, bath salts, refreshing towelettes and perfume, is presented in soft touch bottles with Asprey's trademark button chrome cap.
Look at these sturdy fellas. There's no chance of your hospitality staff slipping over in a pair of these super-grip work shoes.
Ginger (two inch heels) and Saffron (flats) are the latest additions to the Crocs Work collection, featured at the Work Wear and Corporate show at the Birmingham NEC.
Available in black and white, the styles feature a Croslite footbed, creating a custom fit that helps to minimise the load on feet, legs and back plus circulation nubs to help stimulate blood flow in the feet for extra comfort.
The waterproof leather upper styles have an adjustable Velcro strap for a secure fit, a roomy toe box, a mesh liner inside to keep moisture away from the foot and a Crocs lock tread sole which exceeds industry slip resistant standards.
We could have done with a pair of these sturdy shoes after attending Merlin Events launch of the terrifying Saw ride at Thorpe Park last week. Caterer's community editor Katherine Alano and I are featured in the video below having the life scared out of us.
Hospitality uniform specialist Simon Jersey has landed a multi million pound deal with Emirates Airlines to come up with a new look for its 23,000 staff.
Product Junkie thinks these ladies look pretty swish. Nice neutral coloured fabric, respectable skirt length, matching red hat and skirt pleat. Good work.
The airline industry usually employs high street fashion designers so Simon Jersey must be over the moon with this result. The designs were approved last year and will be taking to the skies on April 1st.
Simon Jersey's new Spring Niche catalogue is out now and has all the latest looks, fabrics and colours for the hospitality sector.
The raisin-hating Product Junkie crew took some persuading to sample Natural Balance Foods' "nākd wildly different" fruit-infused raisins at the IFE show yesterday, but we were pleasantly surprised.
The fruit-drenched raisins are so entrenched with flavour that they take on a whole different form in your mouth so that you know you're eating a raisin but it bears very little resemblance to the original article. Weird.
Judges of IFE's Fresh Ideas Award were equally as moved by this new product, deeming the pineapple variety worthy of making the top 10 most innovative products list. And with 1,200 exhibitors at the show from 45 countries, this was some achievement.
Three other flavours are available – cherry, lemon and orange – and the raisins contain all natural ingredients, no added sugar and even meet one of the five-a-day portions of fruit/veg requirement.
Fun packaging and the novel concept will no doubt appeal to kids…and adults alike, as demonstrated by the products team which left off with several packets stuffed down their pockets.
Cadbury is the latest company to commit to Fairtrade certification, giving new and existing farmers in Ghana the chance to benefit from improved living standards under the Fairtrade system.
Cadbury Dairy Milk and hot chocolate is due to be certified Fairtrade by the end of Summer 2009.
The move marks the first anniversary of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP), the initiative in which Cadbury is investing £45 million over the next 10 years to secure the sustainable socio-economic future of cocoa farming in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean where the cocoa farming industry is facing increasing challenges.
Product Junkie is sure everyone is thrilled by this latest development…and the further excuse to eat more chocolate.
The several cases of Britvic's latest soft drink Drench, that miraculously arrived on the Product Junkie desk a couple of days ago, are vanishing faster than a pile of catalogues in an Argos advert.
Our office tastes certainly reflect the results of the latest Britvic Soft Drinks report which shows that UK sales of soft drinks totalled £8.4bn last year, down only 1% in value compared to the previous year, despite the credit crunch.
Drench is made with drench spring water, 8% fruit juice and no artificial colours or flavours. Varieties include Orange & Passionfruit, Cranberry & Raspberry and Blackberry & Apple.
Look at this motley crew. It may look like an international bingo convention but these guys have helped secure a place for the East of England Agricultural Society in the Guinness Book of Records for eating the largest simultaneous roast meal.
The event attracted a whopping 1,362 people, proving that the traditional roast meal still holds its place in the hearts of the great British public. It also helped to raise more than £5,500 for Help for Heroes, the charity supporting wounded service personnel.
Chef Greg Pryce and his team of 14 were responsible for delivering the roast meals at the East of England Showground last month, with more than 200 volunteers helping to ensure two courses and coffee were served in less than 55 minutes.
Quality Standard Beef was donated by local farmers and EBLEX while potatoes, vegetables and Yorkshire puddings were donated by local farmers and the showground's suppliers. Essential Cuisine's Beef Demi Glace was mixed with the beef juices to finish the meal off with some tasty gravy.
One word from Product Junkie: yum.
Product Junkie loves a bargain as much as the next person which is why we thought we'd highlight this credit crunch defying offer from Tibard.
The workwear company is offering its long sleeved poly/cotton Coolmax Chefs Jackets for £9.95, representing a saving of 30%.
The mesh-backed jacket, available in white or black, has concealed press stud fastenings and a two-piece top stitched collar. The material is soft, lightweight and breathable – drawing moisture away from the body to keep staff cool in hot kitchens.