More catering news from the foodservice and hospitality industry…
BHA Sees Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Major restaurant companies are confident that they can outperform the economy in the next couple of years. But lack of bank finance might curtail growth and expansion.
A survey of the British Hospitality Association national restaurants group, revealed that over one-third of catering businesses believe there will be slight growth in both 2009 and 2010 while a similar number believes there will be strong growth in 2010.
No caterers are forecasting a strong contraction though about half forecast a slight contraction or no growth in 2009; this reduces to a quarter looking ahead to 2010.
The survey was conducted among major UK restaurant groups, consisting of 24 brands with over 1,200 units employing 30,000 and with an aggregate turnover of over £1bn.
Choco Hotel
Top chocolatier and catering extraordinaire Gerry Wilton, owns and runs the worlds first chocolate themed hotel!
Visitors to the Chocolate Boutique Hotel in Bournemouth, Hampshire, can learn how to paint a portrait in dark, milk and white chocolate; stay in chocolate themed rooms and indulge in the culinary art of making Belgian truffles at one of Gerry’s chocolate delight workshops.
“Our family company Chocolate Delight was the first to make fountains which can be created by our guests. They also have a chance to learn all about the history of chocolate while treating themselves to a hand-made cocktail at the Chocolate Bar.”
Catering Consumers Cut Back On Costs
Consumers are becoming increasingly cost-concious when dining out by cutting back on starters, desserts and alcohol consumption and sharing dishes.
But there are encouraging signs that they are preparing to spend their money again despite the recession, according to QuickBite, the eating out quarterly tracker conducted for analysts Horizons.
More than two-thirds of those surveyed said they intend to eat out as often in the coming 12 month as they had in the past. The survey demonstrates, however, how consumers are increasingly price-conscious. More than half of respondents (54%) take price into consideration more often than they did six months ago as they seek better value dishes and look to reduce their overall meal spend.
Catering Events
Organic Food Fest
The ninth annual Organic Food Festival took place at Bristol Harbourside on September 12th and 13th. The Soil Association praised Yeo Valley Organic and Dominic Phillips Event Marketing for their support of “this celebration of local food heroes focusing on strengthening community through food”.
York Food Festival
York Food and Drink Festival, in it’s 13th year is adopting the theme ‘Crude Food’ for the 10-day event from September 18th.
Seafood & Wine Festival
The fourth annual Hastings Seafood and Wine festival takes place on September 19th-20th. The event, a former winner of ‘Flavour of the South East’ category in the Tourism South East ExSellence Awards, is set to attract 50,000 visitors over the weekend.
Source: eat out magazine
