Winners of 2014 Hotelympia Innovation Awards revealed
The winners of the 2014 Hotelympia Innovation Awards have been revealed, with the four winning products judged to be the most ground-breaking in their field.
The winners are: Love Fruit Tea by Love Taste Co, TenderOne by TenderOne Bar Services, StableTable Flip Top by StableTable, and the BIC Blend-In-Cup by Manitowoc Foodservice.
The four products were selected from the categories of Catering Equipment, Food & Drink, Technology, and Design & Tabletop, and announced by restaurateur and founder of Cinnamon Kitchen, Cyrus Todiwala, at the hospitality trade show's Main Stage.
Each of the finalists' representatives was invited to pitch their entry in a behind-closed-doors area of Hotelympia, to a selection of judges, who then went on to choose the winners. See the full list of finalists here.
Judges included owner of Gorgeous Group, Robbie Bargh; Nick Sandler, creative chef for Pret A Manger; President of SBID, Vanessa Brady; chief executive of London-based pub and bar group, Grand Union, Adam Marshall; Professor David Russell and David Bentley from respected catering consultancy, The Russell Partnership; Cyrus Todiwala OBE; 2013 National Chef of the Year, Hayden Groves; food futurologist, Morgaine Gaye and Jody Scheckter, founder of Laverstoke Park Farm.
Toby Wand, managing director at event organiser Fresh Montgomery, commented: "Congratulations to our winners - truly some of the brightest new products in an industry alive with innovation. Thank you to everyone who entered - each one of you has helped raise the bar yet again, resulting in our strongest year yet."
THE WINNING PRODUCTS
Love Fruit Tea by Love Taste Co â€' Frozen tea pods that are placed in a mug with hot water, to release fruit, and its health benefits, without the mess of a teabag.
TenderOne by TenderOne Bar Services â€' a cocktail maker aid that can dispense up to 32 different ingredients into a glass or a shaker in seconds.
StableTable Flip Top by StableTable - a table with movable legs and a 90-degree folding top, which is stable on otherwise unstable surfaces, stores easily, and can be carried through narrow doors.
BIC Blend-In-Cup by Manitowoc Foodservice - a cup for making drinks such as frappes and smoothies, incorporating an "easyTouch" control panel. With automatic rinsing between each drink, and clean-in-place ice sanitisation.
Hospitality trade show Hotelympia is taking place until Thursday this week, at London's ExCel exhibition centre. Registrations for tickets are still being taken at www.hotelympia.com/register.
