Products on parade

Bart Simpson was the star attraction on the Wall's stand where he launched a new ice cream - Bart Simpson ice cream on a stick!

Carte d'Or also launched two new mouth-watering flavours - Vanilla Toffee Crunch and Vanilla Chocolate Cookies Ice Cream, as well as a Pineapple Sorbet.

QimiQ base can be used in a variety of recipes as was demonstrated on the Express Dairies stand. This new reduced fat alternative to cream can be used to make mayonnaise without the need for eggs; in sandwich fillings and in hazelnut salad dressings.

This ambient base consists of 99 per cent half fat (15 per cent) UHT cream and one per cent gelatine and has the advantage that it does not dry out, discolour, curdle, separate or form a skin. For example, soups made using QimiQ will not skin or discolour when left bubbling on the stove.

The new base also reduces preparation time by as much as 50 per cent as in chocolate mousse.

QimiQ can be frozen and finished products made with it have a longer storage time. What's more, half a litre will go as far as one litre of cream.

Available in one-litre boxes at £1.99 each, with a six-month shelf life.

Tom Yum Het Fresh Thai soup is just one of the new range of fresh soups from Going Native, a new company at Hotelympia for the first time.

The Thai variety is a hot, sour and spicy mushroom soup, flavoured with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and special tom yum spices.

Other varieties include Daal Palak, Chicken Shorba and Sambhar.

The soup is in four-litre catering packs.

Also new are deli wraps such as Shahi Chicken, comprising tender chunks of chicken slow cooked in a white sauce of yoghurt, fresh coriander and exotic spices wrapped in a thin pancake.

An organic Showcase Buffet was one of the highlights on show at the German Pavilion. Master Chef Werner Seeberg created an impressive buffet, using only organic food and drink to demonstrate the versatility of German organic food in menus.

Germany accounts for a third of all organic meat and dairy products sales within Europe, while in Germany, organic vegetables represent 18 per cent of overall vegetable sales.

Organic companies at the German pavilion include Dan International, with its organic apple juice; GranoVita, displaying breakfast cereals, vegetables and dairy free mayonnaise; Andutra, showing Mestemacher organic bread and Windmill Organics, displaying Taifun organic tofu, Bio Verde tortellini and Oma D'Beers organic cheese.

Peel and cut garlic in seconds with a new garlic cutter set demonstrated on the Contacto stand. It has a rubber garlic peeler that removes the skin from a clove of garlic in a jiffy. A garlic mill then quickly dices the peeled garlic.

Visitors queued up at Pete & Johnny's stand, a taste of a delicious exotic P&J Smoothie such as Get Your Vits - Orange, Mango and Banana with natural Guarana and multi vitamins; C Monster - apple grape and blackcurrant with vitamin C and natural Echinacea or other tantalising concoctions, such as Guava Strawberry and Orange or Raspberry Apple and Banana.

As an alternative to a packet of mints, how about a box of tiny thin sheets of mint that you pop onto the tongue for a real fresh taste? These tiny boxes of sheets, which are sugar free, can be used as giveaways or even as part of a mail shot. Check them out on the Belgium's Best - 24 to a box.

Visitors could sample vegetarian Cavi Art pate on the Finlay's Food stand, about a sixth of the price of other caviar with a three year shelf life. There's also a salmon style vegetarian caviar variety.

How do you keep white wine and champagne chilled for hours? Baco Foodservice has produced a table top chiller that is placed in the freezer. When removed, it can keep bottles cold for hours. It holds most bottles from 75cl to 1.5 litre.

Cooked sliced duck breast filled with scallops and prawns were just some of the speciality foods to be found on the Giffords stand, aimed at the banqueting market. Other products include sunblush tomatoes in 1kg packs; deboned pigeon with mushroom stuffing; guinea fowl stuffed with apples, available raw or ready-cooked.

The Juice Company served exotic juices made from smoothiepacks throughout the show. A smoothiepack contains chunks of frozen fresh fruit, which are mixed with a juice to provide a delicious end result. Six smoothiepacks can be made in the time it would take to make one from raw ingredients.

Café Pareo served a strong but aromatic cup of espresso on its stand, which has be roasted on oakwood, one of the most traditional methods.

Visitors with a sweet tooth beat a path to the MasterFoodServices' stand to sample irresistible desserts created using Mars Confectionery's well-known brands. For example, M&M's can be used as an ingredient in biscuits and cakes, as well as decorating cakes, muffins and biscuits.

Mars Bar can be used in a dessert, whether it is melted over ice cream or mixed into crispy rice cereal as was demonstrated to great effect on the stand.

Also on the stand was Celebrations Chocolate, huge 2.5kg bulk packs, comprising miniature versions of popular confectionery brands, which means you can add that little something to your customers' coffee for as little as 4p.

Chefs at the Maggi stand were demonstrating how the World of Tastes, the new ethnic paste range, can be used in recipes. It can simply be mixed straight into the pan. The pastes have distinctive spice levels which can easily be increased or decreased by simply adding more or less to taste when cooking. There are six pastes - Spicy Fajitas (Mexican Style); Red Cajun (New Orleans style); Hot Chilli (Thai style); Jamaican Spice (Caribbean style), Lemon & Ginger (Shanghai style) and Tikka Masala (Indian style). The pastes are ambient after opening so there's no need to refrigerate. Each of the World of Tastes lasts 12 months and at 16p per portion yields between 20 to 35 portions depending on usage. Also featured at the show was Tomato Coulis, a textured tomato sauce base made using Mediterranean tomatoes, onions and a hint of basil and garlic. Available in two tin sizes - 3kg and 800g. Once opened, both tins can be stored safely in the fridge for up to five days. The 3kg tin has a resealable plastic lid for ease of use.

Delice de France introduced a triangular 100g Pain de Campagne Rustic bread, sprinkled with crushed wheat, at the show, as well as other new speciality breads including the organic 250g Navette and 400g Pave loaves and the 155g garlic bocata from Spain. Frozen and ready to bake, all you do is heat in the oven and serve. Smaller products include a new oblong 100g multi-cereal bread topped with sesame seeds and a triangular rustic crushed wheat sandwich bread.

Wrapping it up at the show was SafeSeal on the Wrap Film Systems stand. SafeSeal is a disposable, tubular cling film and foil dispenser. There's a gauge window, which reveals how much film or foil remains. It has a non-exposed plastic blade which can be flicked and located into place, designed to protect fingers against cuts.

According to Brita Professional, 70 per cent of breakdowns in equipment like combi ovens, coffee machines and water boilers are scale-related. Therefore by fitting water filters, this would save millions each year in maintenance call outs, equipment downtime and energy inefficiency. Visitors to the stand could see 35 live Brita water filters operating on other suppliers' equipment throughout the show. The company offers a Scale-Free Guarantee on its range of commercial filters.