Hotelympia Innovation Awards finalists revealed
Judges have whittled down hundreds of entries to reveal the 25 that have made the shortlist of the 2014 Hotelympia Innovation Awards.
Products in the categories of Tabletop & Design, Catering Equipment, Food & Drink and Technology will now go head-to-head on day one of Hotelympia 2014 with delegates pitching behind-closed-doors to Innovation Idols in a grand finale where only four will emerge victorious.
The shortlisted finalists are:
Equipment: Adande Matchbox from Adande Refrigeration; Foodservice Equipment Marketing's Alto-Shaam Combitherm CT Express; The Multiplex Blend-In-Cup Workstation from Manitowoc; Winterhalter's DeMatik undercounter warewasher; the FTPi warewasher from Hobart; i-stockpot from Valentine Equipment and Lainox Naboo from Dawson Foodservice Equipment.
Food & Drink: The Balgo Honey Spoon from ICO Catering; James White Drinks' Beet It Sport flapjack; Cedar Bay Maple & Hickory Plank Salmon from DJM Food Solutions; Honeybuns gluten free cake mix; Love Fruitease from Love Taste C and Vegware's compostable ‘PLA wine goblet.
Technology: Airwave Europe's Fingi mobile platform; Geoffrey from Airgoo; Orderella from Orderella; Techef In-Touch from Jamix; TenderOne from TenderOne Bar Services and Winnow Solutions with Winnow System.
Design & Tabletop: EveryWare Global's White Dot Anti-Scratch System; Maffam Freeform with Manu Nest hanging chair ; Paper Slate from Merlin Buffet Systems; StableTable's Flip Top table; the Alape System Init Bathroom module system from Dombracht Group and IHS Global Alliance with two products Z-Rack tray storage and Showcase (a suite of modular buffet tables).
Innovation Idols will include Nick Sandler, creative chef for Pret A Manger; Vanessa Brady, President of SBID; Adam Marshall, chief executive of London-based pub and bar group, Grand Union; Professor David Russell and David Bentley from The Russell Partnership, Cyrus Todiwala OBE, restaurateur, chef; Hayden Groves 2013 National Chef of the Year and Jody Scheckter, founder of Laverstoke Park Farm.
The final four winners will be announced on Hotelympia's Main Stage at 4pm on 28 April. Visitors to the show will be able to see all the finalists' products in a new dedicated area of the show and details of each product in an Innovations Supplement in the 18 April issue of Caterer and Hotelkeeper.