Samply marvellous

With plenty of tempting morsels to sample on the stands at Hotelympia, most food and drink exhibitors were having a busy time of it. Amanda Marcus reports.

With buckets of no fewer than 33 types of olives on display for the punters to help themselves to, the Fresh Olive Company had no shortage of visitors to its stand. Sales manager Charlie Hodges said: "Once you start with a display like this at a show, you can't stop it - people expect to see it."

The company's more serious customers, though, were particularly interested in its eight-year-old balsamic vinegar and 15 different types of olive oil. "We've had a really good start to the year," said Hodges. "We've been showing a new Atlantic tuna range for the first time, which is proving popular. This stuff bears no resemblance to those tins in the supermarket."

Anne Detmer of the USA Rice Federation was having to guard her copies of the company's guide to rice carefully. "Hotelympia feels more like a consumer show than trade, because we've been so busy," she said. "We're not selling a product but a reputation, creating an awareness of American rice. It's surprising how many caterers want guidance on how to cook rice correctly. And if they can cook it, then they want recipes."

MasterFoodServices exhibited a full range of products, ranging from the new Uncle Ben's QuickServe Rice to Galaxy Muffins. On display for the first time was the revamped Mars (to launch officially this April) along with Galaxy Muffin, Snickers Flapjack and McVitie's Chocolate Brownie - MasterFoodServices has six of the top 10 brands in food service confectionery.

"The confectionery market is quite tough but we've had a good year in food service, with double-digit growth in confectionery," said sector manager Mike Dickson. "We've expanded the range, which helps. But, also, caterers are getting it right now, with much more focus on the correct product mix and product placement. Confectionery is a true impulse market - no cooking or cleaning up, just pure profit. The Americans are brilliant at upselling; we're just getting to grips with it here."

Confectionery was sharing the stand with Dolmio's new Creamy Tomato and Pesto Culinary Sauces and the Seeds of Change organic range - complete with a member of the Soil Association, who was on hand to advise caterers on how to set up a truly organic menu. Sales and marketing director Andy Cleverdon said: "Our strapline is ‘taste it to believe it' - we're not about ready-to-use synthetic sauces. These are culinary sauces which provide excellent value for money and consistent quality, which is what caterers want."

Uncle Ben's QuickServe Rice is to be launched officially in April but visitors got a sneak preview of how 45 seconds in the microwave can produce fluffy rice - great for hotel room service at 2am.

With healthy eating big on most menus these days, it was little surprise to find an emphasis on fresh juices and healthy-eating choices at the show.

Eye-catching
Pete & Johnny's staff were attracting attention with some eye-catching logos on their T-shirts, but Sue Jessop, general manager for food service, said the company's smoothies and juices were proving very popular in their own right. "People are surprised how much they like the carrot juice when we serve it," she said. Another strong seller was Apple, Mango and Lime, and seen for the first time at the show was It's Alive - a probiotic, non-dairy smoothie which could open up the smoothie market to another customer sector.

Patrick O'Flaherty, on Simple Simon's stand, reiterated the general demand for healthier and organic foods. The company has just launched its organic fresh juices into food service - they are called RDA because they contain the recommended daily allowance of at least one vitamin.

There were also plenty of opportunities to sit and enjoy a coffee. Marco Costa introduced visitors to his new brand of coffee, Caffé Torelli, available as beans and filter coffee, although the company is concentrating mainly on the pod system. "We see the pod system as the future," said Costa. "It's clean, it delivers consistency and quality, there's no wastage, and it means you don't need a professional barista to make the perfect espresso."

The Bread Roll Co proved a popular stopping-off point for those interested in premium breads, including a new range of hand-crafted Artisan breads made using natural fermentation. Commercial director Sue Ville said that the response had been very positive. "Caterers are increasingly on the lookout for new products and speciality breads," she said, "and they're trading up all the time. Artisan breads are big in the USA now, but few people have been doing it on a commercial basis over here."

As well as a range of tempting savouries, the company's Chocolate and Cherry Sourdough bread was going down well with visitors, who were interested in serving it as an alternative to fruit cake or scones for afternoon tea.

Those with a sweet tooth made a beeline for the Readi-Bake stand, from which the tempting aroma of freshly baked cookies wafted. While 95% of the company's business is currently in retail - making cookies for the likes of Marks & Spencer and Millie's - Readi-Bake is now targeting the catering industry with precooked, wrapped and frozen cookies which require only thawing to serve, in addition to its ready-to-bake range, which includes white chocolate, milk chocolate, double chocolate and oatmeal-and-raisin varieties.

More versatile Hotelympia offered a good chance for caterers to shed their preconceptions that Quorn was only for the committed vegetarian. By cooking tasty stir-fries, Marlow Foods was convincing the punters that Quorn was more versatile than you might think - as well as being low in fat and high in protein. This year it was cooked theatre-style on a teppanyaki Japanese hot plate. "My ambition is to normalise Quorn and see meat eaters buy it on taste alone," said Tony Davison, commercial manager for food service. With the stand "phenomenally busy", in his words, Hotelympia was a good start.

M&J Seafoods was packing in the crowds with its live demos of sushi made easy - take a prepared sushi rice ball, add a preportioned slice from the topping range (octopus, squid, cooked tiger prawn, raw cold-water prawn or sea trout) and - voila! "Sushi restaurants in the UK, Germany and France have grown from 300 in 1993 to 850 in 2000," said Martin Matthews, general manager for field sales. "Now there's no need to be put off by sushi being labour-intensive because it couldn't be easier." Even a bar that doesn't sell food can use the sushi packs to offer bar snacks to order, and toppings can be adapted for use in other recipes.