Hotelympia 2000 kicks off in London
Hotelympia 2000, Britain's biggest hospitality trade exhibition, is under way with forecasts that attendance is going to break all previous show records.
Well before the 10.00am opening, queues were lined up outside the front entrance to Earls Court.
One of the first stands visitors were faced with was the Caterer & Hotelkeeper and Catering Update stand, themed to promote the joint Web site of the two magazines.
A key feature of the show was well under way before any visitors arrived, with the judging of hundreds of culinary creations in the Salon Culinare static displays. The works included creations in sugar, butter, pastillage, chocolate and just about every possible food medium.
The official opening of the show was performed by culture secretary Chris Smith who stopped by on the Caterer stand to chat with editor Forbes Mutch.
Among the items of equipment catching early attention from visitors was the American-built Turbochef oven, the fastest-performing oven in the world, which until recently was only in the UK in Whitbread outlets, who had an exclusive import licence.
Turbochef ovens mix microwaves for speed of cooking with blown hot air for browning.
Another piece of innovation attracting attention was the pass-through combi-oven from Bourgeois UK. With doors at both sides of the oven cavity, raw food can go in one side and cooked food emerge from the other, which helps avoid cross contamination.
