Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 30490
COMBI CHOICE
THE Belfry hotel, near Sutton Coldfield, Full Sutton Prison, Humberside, and Glasgow's school meal provider Catering Direct are among a number of locations which helped to produce the final version of Falcon Catering Equipment's latest combination ovens, the Convectasteam Six and Convectasteam Ten, which received their official launch last week.
After a six-month trial period, modifications such as increasing the power of the computer to allow for instant changes between programmes were incorporated into the ovens. The final product also features touch-screen controls and a liquid crystal display screen. The cheapest version costs £5,498 while the top-of-the-range model costs £11,950.
FLOATING FOOD
OLYMPIC Catering Equipment director Mary Crossman admits that, at around £35,000, the company's Curved Air servery is aimed at the upper end of the hospitality market.
The servery, which gives the impression of food floating on air, can comfortably serve up to 60 people, although Olympic has just installed a similar unit in the offices of a firm of solicitors in the City of London where only 35 people are to be fed daily.
SUPER KETTLES
PRICES for the Zojirushi range of products will not rise this year despite a 35% increase in costs since the UK left the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
Zojirushi managing director MY Kim told visitors to the company's stand: "We plan ahead for exchange rate fluctuations and are therefore able to maintain our prices."
Zojirushi, which made its UK debut in 1992, was showing 250 products at the exhibition including kettles which can keep water at 95ºC for 24 hours without the need to reboil.