Winter 2008 - Hospitality 2009

The biennial show, Hospitality 2009, is just weeks away and is set to attract more visitors than ever over the three day event.

More than 14,000 visitors are expected to pass through Birmingham’s NEC doors to halls 11&12 between January 19-21 2009 to visit the Hospitality show, where more than 300 companies will be showcasing their latest products, concepts and services.

The event offers chefs, foodservice operators and food developers alike an opportunity to explore four different but very significant areas of the industry, from food and drink, interiors, exteriors and tableware and catering equipment.

On the Craft Guild’s Skillery there will be day long demos from a sizzling line up of top London chefs such as Ani Arora from Moti Mahal, Arthur Potts Dawson from Acorn House, Jean-Claude Vydelingum from the Island Restaurant & Bar and Katie Caldesi, plus more outstanding chefs from outside the capital such as the Craft Guild’s 2008 New Restaurant of the Year winner Glynn Purnell from Purnell’s Restaurant in Birmingham.

With chef attendance up by more than 80% on previous years, and more than 50 competition classes kicking off at the Salon Culinaire, this is the place to be for competitive chefs and caterers in the industry to see new and inspirational culinary skills. Judged live, each competition will see skilled chefs create masterpieces using ingredients such as marzipan, sugarcraft, pastillage and chocolate. Each challenge will be run on set days over the duration of the show.

New to the show will be an additional eight classes in the Live Theatre, which will include the Essential Cuisine Team, Heinz Best of British, Sodexo Young Chef of the Year, and the Major International Culinary Challenge.

Meanwhile La Parade des Chefs, sponsored by Delice de France, will showcase fine dining with a difference.

The Compass Group is sponsoring the Live Theatre and Salon Display at the Hospitality Show this year and will be sponsoring both again next year at Hotelympia 2010.

Compass UK executive chef Nick Vadis says the group is pleased to be involved. “Salon Culinaire is one of the most important chef competitions and the opportunity to sponsor the event at two of the largest exhibitions in each year makes complete sense.”

Nestlé Professional is another leading sponsor. It has signed up to sponsor the daily ‘Chef’ challenge within the Live Theatre. “Hospitality is a key show in 2009 for us, where we can engage with chefs across the industry.

“However, it’s more than just a show it’s an event, and for this reason we see it as the platform to showcase the premium Chef and Mövenpick brands from Nestlé Professional,” says Martin Webster, communications, events and sponsorship manager.

Themes and debates dominating the show will include issues such as how to survive the credit crunch, how to reduce energy costs, customer service, along with the latest food trends and concepts. These will be staged across three seminar theatres at the show.

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