Who's News in Catering for April 13, 2024

Accolades

The inaugural F&B@Sea Awards revealed this year's outstanding achievers during its debut ceremony hosted on April 11, 2024 at F&B@Sea. Recognising excellence and innovation within the global food and beverage cruise industry, the awards underscore the pivotal role of the food and beverage sector in shaping the cruise experience. Hosted by Vice President of MarkeTeam Ken Taylor and Seatrade Cruise News Deputy Editor Holly Payne, the awards spanned across seven categories. Three aimed at suppliers within the industry and four aimed at Cruise Lines and included awards such as Most Sustainable Product, Wellness Pioneer, Best Restaurant, F&B Maverick of the year and more. Handpicked for their unwavering commitment to culinary excellence, the judges for the 2024 F&B@Sea Awards boasted diverse backgrounds, remarkable credentials, and unparalleled expertise in the food and beverage industry. Hailing from academia, journalism, hotels, wine & beverage, and culinary fields, the panel offered a rich tapestry of F&B knowledge. Their collective insights, coupled with specialised industry experience, ensured a fair and expert assessment of each nomination, reflecting the current trends in both land-based and at-sea dining.

The esteemed winners of the awards are as follows: 

Celebrating the best biscuit creations on menus nationwide, General Mills Foodservice announces the four finalists in its 2nd Annual Biskies™ Recipe Contest, who will each receive at least a $5,000 cash prize and qualify for the $20,000 Grand Prize. The Grand-Prize Recipe Winner will be named following a public voting phase taking place today through April 30, 2024, on the General Mills Foodservice website. 

The 2024 Biskies Recipe Contest finalists and their award-winning recipes include: 

People on the Move

Furthering its commitment to the Denver market, Oak View Group (OVG) today announced a collaboration with noted culinary expert Christian Navarro,  Edgewood Real Estate Investment Trust, and entrepreneurs Lee Ann and Mark Van Loucks, to create Golden Oak, a state-of-the-art restaurant and culinary academy, in Penterra Plaza located in the Denver Tech Center. Oak View Group, the global leader in live experience venue development, management, premium hospitality services, and 360-degree solutions for a collection of world-class owned venues and a client roster of public assembly facilities around the world, relocated its global headquarters to Denver last summer. Offering a unique blend of culinary excellence, innovative design, and community spirit, Golden Oak is set to become a lifestyle destination for culinary, wine and spirits enthusiasts. The approximately 9,600-square foot restaurant, slated to open in early 2025, will be led by a renowned group of food and wine experts dedicated to crafting a memorable dining experience. 

Hot Off the Presses

Holland America Line is elevating its award-winning dining experience by becoming the first global cruise line to receive both Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certifications. The two organizations serve as the most credible standards worldwide for certified seafood. The distinguished certifications take Holland America Line’s Global Fresh Fish Program to the next level, underscoring the brand’s commitment to serving guests the highest quality seafood that is sourced sustainably when wild-caught and raised responsibly when farmed according to the strictest global standards. Marine Stewardship Council’s focus is on sustainable wild-caught seafood, while Aquaculture Stewardship Council works with responsibly farmed seafood, with both organizations seeking to minimize environmental impacts. Aligning with both ecolabels signifies Holland America Line’s commitment to programs that recognize and reward sustainable fishing practices, protect the ocean environment, and transform the seafood market toward greater sustainability. 

Products on the Market

Waring, a trusted source for high-performance kitchen appliances for more than 85 years, today announces the launch of the XPress™ Multipurpose Cooktop, a revolutionary dual-surface cooktop that quickly and easily prepares sweet or savory crêpes, quesadillas, tortillas, omelets, cheese crisps and more. Recently named a featured recipient of the National Restaurant Association Show's 2024 Kitchen Innovations Awards, which celebrate cutting-edge equipment that's making a significant impact on the foodservice industry, the XPress™ maximizes output and efficiency for today's busy foodservice operations by evenly spreading crêpe batter and cooking both sides simultaneously, cutting cook time and eliminating the need to flip foods. With an aluminum cooking surface and embedded heating elements, the XPress™ heats up quickly and can flawlessly produce over 60 crêpes per hour.

Marking a significant food packaging industry milestone, Klöckner Pentaplast (kp) has launched the first food packaging trays comprising 100% recycled PET (rPET) deriving exclusively from trays. Until now, food packaging trays have been manufactured using ever increasing proportions of recovered PET material; however, the newly launched kp tray is the first to be composed entirely of recycled tray material. This milestone is the direct result of the kp’s Tray2Tray® initiative, which aims to rewrite the PET recycling rules. Thanks to this breakthrough, kp customers can access a fully circular tray solution for food packaging. The kp supply chain is RecyClass certified, ensuring the safety, quality and traceability of its PCR packaging solutions. The new 100% kp Tray2Tray® packaging is ideal for businesses looking to control costs pertaining to eco taxes and plastic tax legislation, as well as those looking to advance their ESG strategies.