Category Archives: Events
24 Apr |
Celebrating the Coronation? |
Back in January when we scheduled our blogs for the first half of 2023, we thought it would be timely to help those preparing events to celebrate the Coronation of Charles III. But with just over a week to go, it all seems a little flat.
Or is it the traditional British reserve that means we leave to the last-minute, preparations for celebrations? And what can catering trades do about it?
A Changing Monarchy
Perhaps we are taking our cue from the King himself. He has requested a more low-cost approach overall. This includes inviting 2000 guests down, from his mother’s 8,000. And something like a quarter of those guests are people recognised as being worthy in their communities; not simply the traditional great and good.
Certainly, the way we celebrate has changed since 1953. With 4 monarchs in the first 50 years of the twentieth century and Elizabeth as the fifth, more people knew what to expect and perhaps their role! One of the often-stated big pluses from the Big Lunch to celebrate the Queen’s 70th Jubilee; was the simple chatting to neighbours, something we have lost in our busy digital lives.
Changing Cuisine
The last coronation gave the nation poulet reine Elizabeth. More commonly known as Coronation Chicken. It was designed for versality for a salad or sandwich. So, all could enjoy at their garden or street party.
More interestingly it included an Indian-inspired curry sauce. This somehow seems to look backwards to the former empire and forwards to the opening up of cuisine to the masses. That opening gathered pace in the 70’s and 80’s to lead to a £4B Indian restaurant market in the UK today.
Coronation Quiche will have to go some to match that. But it does reflect our current times worried about the costs of living and reducing risks rather than celebrating.
Last-Minute Prep
It’s not too late to join in and share the positives provided by the Coronation to celebrate our communities and nation. The official timetable:
- Saturday May 6th, the Coronation itself. The procession starts at 11am to Westminster Abbey; the service might last up to 3 hours and then back. For those wanting to view the procession in person queuing starts at 6am and not before.
- Sunday May 7th, the Big Lunch. Over 7,000 street parties have signed up to be part of the Big Lunch with over 1M participants
- Monday May 8th the bank holiday. This celebrates volunteering and public service but not just on the one day as explained on the website
If you’ve prepared an event, AC Services knows it will be a success and you have everything in hand including anything to do with your oven maintenance/cleaning. If you haven’t got an event and:
- it seems quiet in your community; think what you might do and promote to create some buzz for those who will want to join in at the last minute.
- there’s something planned by others; consider how you could link in to promote their event or add to it.
After all coronations don’t happen very often and it will be 25 years to the next jubilee; so a shame not to take the chance to put out the flags and celebrate!
Published Date: 24th April 2023
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, Local food, News
Tags: Catering business, Events, farm shop, Hotel, Pubs, Restaurant
29 Mar |
Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show |
For the last 87 years the place to be in March, has been the Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show. For anyone in catering businesses there’s always some nugget to find in the UK’s largest gathering of the food, drink and hospitality sector. In 2022, it got even better when HRC joined forces with the Pub Show. It now includes all sectors and the entire supply chain for food and beverages.
Everything under One Roof
The Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show is the destination to experience product innovation. Over three days visitors have the chance to meet and reconnect with over 1500 suppliers. These are from across food & drink, professional catering equipment, design & decor & hospitality tech. Anyone from the trade can discover, taste and test the latest products created specifically for hotels, restaurant & catering professionals.
The Show is organised into five main sections for food service, professional kitchens, design and décor, hospitality technology and the Pub Show. As a trade-only show there are opportunities to network (facilitated as well as freestyle); to hear noted speakers discuss the latest trend; and to get business advice directly from experts. Alongside this runs the UK’s most prestigious cooking competition – International Salon Culinaire.
Rational Attendance
At AC Services Southern, we recommend that anyone in catering attends HRC. If you missed this year’s put it in the diary for next year, now. When we attend, we always learn a lot about what is happening today that will affect our clients tomorrow. We need also to admit that we might be a little biased, as Rational always has a stand.
This year Rational demonstrated its iKitchen approach with its latest generation of cooking systems, the iVario and iCombi Pro. These combined cover 95% of all conventional cooking applications; at the same time achieving space savings of up to 40%.The cooking systems are made for cooperation, and when combined with the ConnectedCooking network solution, the intelligent kitchen is complete.
Seminar Variety
The seminars genuinely cater for all. For example, Hospitality 2023 a Global View in which IGD Insight and Economy specialists Nicola Knight and James Walton shared their predictions for 2023 on the impact of global pressures on the hospitality sector in the UK. It was followed by Successfully Interpreting Future Trends to Unlock New Revenue for Your Business. This had the subtitle of Ever Attended a Trends Talk and Thought There Was No Way Your Business Could Relate? The solution was a panel of hospitality champions discussing how they managed to interpret future trend predictions.
And they don’t avoid the basic new challenges such as Making Sense of Fat, Oil and Grease Management Responsibilities. This focused on the recent launch of an important guide to fat, oil and grease management in foodservice kitchen wastewater. This report brings together all that a site needs to know to make an effective evaluation of how it should manage its FOG disposal to prevent sewer blockages.
International Salon Culinaire
International Salon Culinaire has been regarded as one of the world’s top competitions for chefs for over a century. Over 100 live and static competitions across the three days provide a platform for chefs of all levels to go on to greater success in the industry.
Gold Medal Winners this year ranged from James and Alan Dougan of NHS Scotland GGRC in the NHS 4 Nations Chef Challenge to those beginning their careers, like Boe Trowbridge of City of Portsmouth College Monday’s winner of Butcher a Whole Chicken for Saute.
The 2023 HRC Chef Ambassador for HRC and International Salon Culinaire was Monica Galetti. She shares our view that:
“Now, more than ever, it’s so important for hospitality professionals and chefs to come together, network, learn and continue growing this fantastic industry. There’s nowhere better do to this than at the Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show.”
Published Date: 29th March 2023
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News, Rational
Tags: Care homes, Catering business, farm shop, Hotel, mass catering, Pubs, Rational Ovens, Show report
26 Jul |
Make Hay While the Sun Shines |
Given the heatwave of the last week, using the old saying of making hay while the sun shines might seem dangerous. As we all now know, too much sun is not good. But the saying is really about optimising the best of conditions. This is very appropriate for our catering trade today.
The Worst of Times
For many businesses and individuals this is the worst of times. We’re seeing the impacts of:
- Covid and our recovery from it
- Staffing availability
- Cost of living crisis
Covid hit catering businesses badly with lockdowns and false dawns of eat out to help out. Many went bust as cashflows and savings failed. Effective cash management and seizing opportunities to flex business practices such as becoming takeaway businesses, enabled survival. As then, now is a good time to review your catering finances. This will identify what you might be able to risk as a budget in the next 2 months, to have more reserves for the winter.
Finding and keep the right staff has become a bigger challenge. Team management and motivation are even more important skills as is communication. Good managers are clear about what the current approach means for the business and separately what it means for each employee. This means talking, listening and understanding about motivations. It can be a good time to build the team with students and new casuals looking for summer income.
Cost of Living Challenge
Soaring inflation driven by increased commodity prices such as fuel and food costs, has created a ‘cost of living’ crisis. This will have an increasing impact as the year progresses. But for most catering businesses aside from Christmas specials, it’s easier to make more money while the sun shines; not in the winter months.
For most of the trade there are regulars and occasional/holiday clients. The former might start cutting back by coming less frequently or ordering less. The latter need to be attracted in. They might have looser purse strings, because it’s a treat or they’re on holiday. Both can be encouraged to spend more through ‘events’.
An event does not have to be a big thing. Rather it is something that can be promoted effectively with posters, social media and word of mouth. The event could tie in with things happening nationally such as on our event calendar or locally.
It could tie into the cost of living crisis and reward loyalty. This could include ‘Saving Saturday 6.00’ with a discounted shorter menu; or any other time you’re normally less full. Or what about Come Back Monday with fixed amounts off on their second visit. For regulars or those you want to turn into regulars, then why not the old loyalty discount card such as free main course or dessert on their 10th visit.
Whatever you decide to do, the time to start is now while the sun shines. This will maximise the summer cash or create the loyalty habit.
Published Date: 26th July 2022
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News
Tags: Attractions, Catering business, Events, farm shop, Hotel, mass catering, Pubs, Restaurant
26 Apr |
Celebrating 70 Years of Service |
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend is fast approaching to celebrate her 70 years of service to the country and Commonwealth.
She has served longer as the British monarch than Queen Victoria, who managed almost 64 years. And in case it comes up in a quiz, she needs to go beyond 72 years and 110 days to beat Louis XIV of France for the ultimate record as longest serving monarch.
Any way you look at it, it’s an impressive feat of service in the many senses of the word.
Four Day Weekend
The official Platinum Jubilee celebrations take place over the 4-day weekend from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June:
- 2nd June Trooping the Colour from 9-12.30, followed by the official fly past at 1pm
- 2nd June lighting of the beacons across the country at 9.45pm
- 3rd June Service of Thanksgiving at St Pauls
- 4th June Queen to go racing for the Epsom Derby
- 4th June Platinum Party at the Palace broadcast by the BBC
- 5th June Platinum Pageant Procession with a carnival atmosphere at Buckingham Palace
- 5th June official Big Jubilee lunch
In all a good mixture of celebration, fun and traditions, old and new. Trooping the Colour always happens on the Queen’s birthday weekend, but has been moved to a June spot to coincide with the weekend. Beacons have always been lit on the Queen’s Jubilees in what seems to be increasing numbers of sites. While the Queen’s favourite hobby gets a look-in at the Derby, because life cannot always be about work perhaps?
Catering Service
Parties, processions and lunches always provide opportunities for catering businesses of all kinds. So, the question for all is what could you do for this weekend with your catering business? If, for example, it’s hospital catering, how could you mark the key days for staff and patients unable to join the main festivities? If you’re a sports bar is there a link to the Derby to be made? And for all what links could be made to national or local events?
It’s not too late to plan so that food, drink and staff are all available in this opportunity to celebrate and create memories. Start by checking out the many planned events on the official government website. This is a listing of events already planned by geographic area, so there may be an easy link to something already happening. A pre-beacon lighting drinks/meal or watching the beacons in comfort? Even better there is the opportunity to submit your own event to help publicise it more widely as well as telling your local media.
The Big Jubilee Lunch has its own website for more ideas. The key here is that lunches can and will take place on any of the 4 days, not just the Sunday. It’s all about pulling local communities together to celebrate in whatever format that works. This could be a single venue lunch or getting together with others for a multi-stop tasting menu. Or working with local groups to help their fundraising and awareness on one of the days.
Above all the Platinum Jubilee is the opportunity to celebrate service and those who have managed to overcome the challenges that life has thrown at them along the way.
Published Date: 26th April 2022
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News
Tags: Care homes, Catering business, Events, farm shop, Food producers, Hotel, mass catering, Pubs, Restaurant
29 Mar |
Going Forward |
Two years ago, with the onset of the first lockdown, AC Services stopped posting their weekly blog on industry issues affecting their catering clients.
Survival against the changes in the pandemic has been the ongoing critical issue for this industry.
But now most restrictions are gone, as Covid moves from pandemic to endemic status; and it’s time to be going forward.
Catering Cashflow
Going forward means continuing to actively manage cashflows especially with VAT on food back to 20% on 1st April.
The 25th March is technically known as a Quarter Day in legal terms. Last Friday this meant that the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 gained Royal Assent. An important Act for restaurants, cafes and other catering businesses; because for any unresolved issues over rent debt since March 2020, there are now specific arbitration services to enable resolution by 25th September 2022. It aims to enable a little further breathing space to bring cash in and settle payment plans.
Another great way to boost cash is to hold events and have themes to bring people in. These can celebrate like the Queen’s Jubilee, enable sharing like sports events or raise awareness or money around specific issues. This is why every year we’d kick our blog off with a calendar.
Events Calendar
Our 2022 abbreviated calendar starts with religious festivals and some changed bank holidays. It picks up a sporting flavour with the Commonwealth Games, accelerates with 3 world cups in October and November before FIFA hits in November/December. Worth a quick read to help the planning!
April National Pet Month and National Stress Awareness Month
- April 2 Ramadan begins
- April 15 Good Friday
- April 17 Easter Sunday
- April 7-10 Golf Masters, Augusta, USA
- April 19 Horse Racing, Grand National, Aintree, Liverpool
May Local and Community History Month
- May 2 Early May Bank Holiday
- May 3 Eid al Fitr, Ramadan ends
- May 14 Football FA Cup final. Wembley Stadium, London
- May 28 Football UEFA Champions League Final, Stade de France Paris
June National Smile Month
- June 2-3 Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Bank Holidays (Thursday & Friday)
- June 6-11 Cycling Women’s Tour UK
- June 15 Father’s Day
- June 16–19 Golf, US Open, Brookline
- June 20 World Refugee Day
- June 27-July 10 Tennis, Wimbledon
July National Ice Cream Month
- July 1-24 Cycling, Tour de France
- July 10 International Don’t Step on a Bee Day
- July 14-17 Golf, British Open, St Andrews, Scotland
- July 27- 7 August Multi-sports, Commonwealth Games, Birmingham
August National Family Fun Month
- August 25-28 Golf, US PGA, Atlanta
- August 29 Tennis, US Open, New York,
- August 29Late Summer Bank Holiday
September National Organic Month
- September 4-11 Cycling Tour of Britain
- September 26 Rosh Hashanah/Jewish New Year
- September 29-October 1 Golf, Ryder Cup, Marco Simone G&C Club Rome
October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- October 8 – November 12 Rugby Union Women’s World Cup, New Zealand
- October 15- November 19 Rugby League World Cup England
- October 17- November 14 Cricket Men’s T20 World Cup Australia
November Movember and Road Safety Month
- November 4 Deepavali (also known as Diwali), Festival of Lights
- November 21-December 18 Football FIFA World Cup, Qatar
Published Date: 29th March 2022
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News
Tags: AC Services, Catering business, Events
11 Mar |
The Event Formerly Known as Hotelympia |
ExCeL London played host last week to HRC, the industry event formerly known as Hotelympia. Billed as the UK’s most prestigious and largest event for the foodservice and hospitality industry, HRC was split into four exhibitions: The Professional Kitchen Show; The Foodservice Show; Interiors and Tabletop Show and Hospitality Tech Show.
All four offer industry professionals the opportunity to meet with a wide range of leading suppliers. This gives the chance to test, taste and source new products and business services to drive their business forward.
There was plenty going on over the three days: the UK Coffee in Good Spirits Championship (UKCiGS) and UK Brewers Cup Championship (UKBrCC), the World Food Innovation Awards (a celebration of innovation and excellence across every category of the global food industry), and the Hospitality Jobs UK Conference.
Buyers Club
Unique to the show is The HRC Buyers Club, the UK’s only dedicated hosted buyer scheme for the foodservice and hospitality industry. The Club is only accessible to specifiers and procurement professionals from leading restaurants, hotels and catering businesses. They were able to test, taste and trial the latest product innovations. Exclusive networking and educational opportunities were also available.
The International Salon Culinaire is the UK’s largest and most prestigious chef competition programme with four competition categories: Live Theatre, Salon Display, Skills Theatre and Sugarcraft. There were more than 100 different competitions taking place. The Salon Live Theatre was a great attraction. This year it was dragged into the 21st century with every station having state-of-the-art equipment including a combination oven and induction pads for the benefit of the talented chefs. The competition programme incorporated a huge variety of classes for chefs of all levels (apprentices, students and those new to competitions). The sugar-craft section hosted a range of different competitions attracting entries in a wide variety of styles and themes.
Vision Stage
The Vision Stage offered talks, discussions and interviews from influencers and industry-leading speakers on everything concerning the food, drink and hospitality industries.
Topics ranged from employing a homeless person or ex-offender and the role of culture as a game changer when recruiting. There were also informative talks on the Brexit effect, looking at the impact Brexit is set to have on employment and immigration law.
The Covered Market
The Covered Market is aimed at chefs, F&B purchasers and restaurateurs. It enabled visitors to meet local, independent raw ingredient suppliers to gain an understanding into how their produce can help transform menus.
It covered artisanal producers across six specialist categories: fresh fish, dairy, fresh produce, bakery, butchery and herbs, spices and pulses.
TechX
Finally, TechX at HRC gave a fascinating insight into technology’s role in sustainability for the foodservice industry, how tech reduces wastage and delivers transparency.
Information included using AI and big data to improve the customer journey and the benefit of harnessing social media as well as exploring the tech available to source new staff and fill gaps at short notice.
Published Date: 11th March 2020
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News
Tags: Show report
11 Feb |
Pub20 Show Report |
Olympia London played host last week to the only dedicated show for the pub industry, PUB20. The two days of the event brought together more than 200 innovative suppliers; 60 experts of the industry speaking across 30 talks and the latest food, drink and technology trends.
The first day of PUB20 saw a number of talks, all pertinent to the future of the pub industry. There were talks on the design of pubs, how to entice customers in and make them comfortable. This included an exclusive look at Harp Interiors’ at-show design masterpiece, the PUB Theatre, which demonstrated the top design trends to engage the next generation. The talks reflected the industry’s determination to combat the problems it faces and present positive solutions.
Social Media and Experiential Drinks
Social media was another subject covered; with a debate about the advantages of social media, asking questions such as whether Instagram or Facebook are the best platform for pubs. The session provided inspiration and a clear understanding of how to create effective content, grow brand awareness and engage customers. Similar talks included advice on photographing drinks and placing them on the right media to attract customers.
Much was made of the dichotomy between alcohol and non alcohol drinkers. Club Soda DrinkX offered solutions for appropriate products to bring people together socially, rather than separate them based on alcohol. Experiential beverages are one of the key drivers behind the growth of the low and no market. The advice here is on “immersive, multi-sensory, premium, customisable serves which bring theatre and new rituals to excite modern consumers”.
Food in Pubs
RATIONAL contributed with a talk about the right equipment and how it can play a key role in delivering delicious pub grub in a timely manner to maximise any chef’s multitasking ability. Food featured strongly at the show, with the rise of the meat-free cuisine a hot topic. In a cooking demonstration, chef Neil Rankin showed how plant-based burgers can showcase the same skill and attention to detail as those containing meat; whilst being kinder on the profit margins as well as the environment.
There was a big focus on catering in pubs for flexitarians, those who do eat meat but are looking to reduce their consumption of meat. This group now make up 68% of UK diners, leading to diners looking to try something new while eating out. 78% of consumers think food quality contributes the most to the dining experience. And expectations of food quality has again risen in 2019. The show suggested Grilling Cheese as a solution to help address the balance between profitability and quality.
Of course, no PUB20 show would be complete without the great Sausage Roll Off. Here past winners returned to compete, create, roll and bake their own take on the sausage roll. The show returns in 2021 promising to be even bigger and better.
08 Oct |
Restaurant Show Report 2019 |
The Restaurant Show; where else can you find hundreds of suppliers all in one place and at the same time, enjoy two other exhibitions?
The Restaurant Show at Olympia in London last week featured the Bar & Pub Show and Catering Equipment Expo. They have become the ultimate destination for the hospitality industry with regard to innovations, services and suppliers.
This year brought together some of the industry’s biggest names to address the most significant issues around culinary trends, technology and employee engagement.
Gamification in Restaurants
There were plenty of sessions to engage visitors with some key current trends revealed and investigated at the Restaurant Show. This included gamification. The ‘True Players’ session revealed how Starbucks and itsu, inspire and engage staff through gamification and analytics to promote customer experience, staff retention and sales.
Another session focused on the influence of Generation Z and Millennials who currently represent a significant part of the workforce. An expert panel discussed thinking differently about culture in the workplace. It showcased approaches from sports and psychotherapy that can help create a hard-working and trustworthy workforce. Technological advances also featured heavily at the show. There were sessions on how to harness the power of voice technology for frictionless service amongst others.
Alongside the many culinary demonstrations were examples of innovations, including JenPak Ltd’s new eco-friendly range of crockery which is made from recycled sugarcane, or Bagasse. FSG Tableware Ltd exhibited its reusable to go cups made from coffee waste.
On the cuisine front, Biff’s showcased its indulgent plant-based burgers and ‘wingz’, and its signature and innovative crispy fried jackfruit. In addition, Elisa-Foodexhibited its 100% whole wheat, spelt, quinoa gluten-free, organic and vegan pizza bases and pizzas.
Sustainability is always at the core of the Restaurant Show. Once again, the organisers partnered with FareShare, the UK’s largest food redistribution charity. At the end of the show, FareShare conducted a surplus food collection service for all exhibitors. This prevented unnecessary food and drink going to waste, giving all suppliers the chance to donate their excess products to feed people in need.
Catering Equipment Expo and Bar & Pub Show
CEE featured expert advice on tabletop, back-of-house and heavy equipment as well as technical demonstrations and cost-saving seminars from leading experts and exclusive product launches from leading brands.
The Bar & Pub Show, now in its third year was extremely well attended with a focus on the evolution, diversification and adaption to changing consumer behaviour. There was a programme of live events at Bar & Pub Hub. Exhibitors ranged from the UK mainland’s most northern distillery Dunnet’s Bay to the bottle glass to sand crusher. The latter claims to solve a bar’s recycling storage needs.
Published Date: 8th October 2019
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News
Tags: Show report
24 Sep |
Record Year for lunch! in 2019 |
lunch! returned to London’s ExCel last week to the delights of food retailers, food-to-go operators, café and coffee shop buyers and owners, travel and leisure caterers.
The line-up of the show included 62 speakers appearing in 36 Keynote Theatre sessions, and more than 400 exhibitors.
This is a record number of exhibitors. They showcased a huge range of products and services; from ingredients to kitchen equipment and counter displays, food and drink to packaging, payment and business services.
Innovation Challenge
One of the highlights of lunch! is the Innovation Challenge award. Where this year, a record 110 competed with many of these innovations enjoying their official trade launch at the show. The products competing for a much-coveted gold Innovation Challenge Award were showcased in the Innovation Challenge Gallery. lunch! visitors chose the award finalists by voting for their favourites on opening day.
A significant part of the show was set aside for plant-based and ‘meat-free’ innovations. This catered for café, coffee shop, food-to-go operators and retailers looking to cater to the thriving vegan and flexitarian market. According to Marketing Week, last year, the UK launched more vegan products than any other nation. This made it the country’s fastest growing culinary trend of 2018 with a market worth of £310m. Approximately 22 million people now claim to be flexitarian and one in eight Britons choose to be vegetarian or vegan. To reflect this, 52% of exhibitors at lunch! offered vegan or vegetarian alternatives.
Sustainability in Catering
Sustainability was another key theme. As some of foodservice’s biggest consumers of single-use packaging and disposables; coffee shop and food-to-go operators have been making huge strides to reduce their environmental impact. The Sustainability Panel addressed these issues with keynote speakers and included some of the top names in the industry; Ollie Rosevear, Head of Environment at Costa Coffee, Martyn Clover, Head of Food at Tortilla, Jim Winship, Director of The British Sandwich & Food To Go Association, and host Martin Kersh, Chairman of the Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA).
The Panel also addressed contemporary issues such as tackling food waste, increasing food redistribution, reducing energy and water consumption, more recycling and reusing (packaging, uniforms, furniture etc), looking to alternative food sources, and encouraging behavioural change.
Hannah Squirrell, Customer Director at Greggs said: “the ‘Blue Planet effect’ has driven customer awareness of the environmental impact of their consumption choices to a whole new level. We are proud to support national environmental initiatives, including Surfers Against Sewage Beach and River Clean Series, and are committed to doing our bit to protect the health of the planet.”
For reusable alternatives, visitors were able to see innovations such as the Ecocoffee Cup created with natural fibres made from bamboo waste material sourced from chopstick production. Similarly, Berrington Spring Water’s Aluminium Refill Water Bottle launched in June has tripled sales projections.
Lunch! is a great show to keep tabs on recent innovations and trends after a long summer. One for all catering businesses to put on the diary for 2020.
Published Date: 24th September 2019
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News
Tags: Catering business, Show report
17 Sep |
Rugby World Cup Food & Drink |
Rugby players and supporters love food and drink. And with the Rugby World Cup about to begin in Japan comes the opportunity for originality for caterers of all kinds.
Homebound supporters not only want to enjoy the games with a beer; but can also be tempted by finer dining as well as the more traditional delights.
When one thinks of rugby forwards, the delicacy and fine detail shown by Phil Vickery and Martin Bayfield on Masterchef isn’t the first thought. But given the importance of food in their training, it’s perhaps not surprising.
Food Glorious Food
As far as food goes, Japan is taking the competition very seriously. Rugby players have a regimented approach to their diet in order to keep themselves fighting fit and at the top of their performance levels. According to a number of top coaches, protein is vital to develop and maintain muscle mass. Some coaches insist that the players consume a daily amount of 2.5g of protein per kilo of body weight. This includes eggs, dairy, beef, turkey, chicken and fish, most of which are abundant in Japan.
Many adhere to four meals a day. An example would be porridge and poached eggs for breakfast; sweet potato, vegetables and salmon fillets; steak skewers with roasted root vegetables and coconut rice for a post-training meal; and a prawn or chicken stir fry for dinner.
In the 24 hours before a match players should consume high-carb meals based around slower-digesting carbs such as potatoes, rice, sweet potatoes and oats. These are complemented with sweeter sources such as fruit and smoothies. Japan’s Yaki udon will be especially popular, as the dish is thick and chewy noodles, made from wheat flour. Yaki soba uses the thinner soba noodles made from buckwheat flour.
The Japanese national delicacy, sushi, fits well into a rugby player’s diet as does a lot of everyday Japanese food. It can be beneficial from a fuelling and recovery perspective due to increased intakes of nutrients such as omega-3 and electrolytes. Fish, stir fries and shellfish will feature heavily in menu choices as will the meat selection such as Wagyu prime cut Japanese beef. The meat fat has a very low melting point so it can literally melt in your mouth. Rumour has it that the animals are fed beer and massaged with sake.
The England team however, might be short on condiments. Supplies of tomato ketchup and mayonnaise have supposedly been sent ahead because their favourite condiments are scarce and expensive in Japan.
Beer Galore
Japan has very good news for beer drinkers. Major Japanese sports keep spectators lubricated with vendors who patrol the stands dispensing beer into cups. These are called Uriko and they are crucial to meet the demand for beer. When Australia visited in 2017, bars were drunk dry before kick-off! So to ensure no embarrassment for the official sponsors, Heineken, the Japanese Heineken brewery has increased production by 80%.
One thing is clear, food plays an important part in the rugby world and with each country bringing their own nutritionists and food advisors, the right diet in Japan (a balance between East and West cuisine) may well go a long way in confirming the eventual winner.
The Rugby World Cup Final is on 2 November at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama; when the winner of the 20 competitor countries will be crowned. So plenty of time for catering businesses to work out their own game-plan to benefit.
Published Date: 17th September 2019
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News
Tags: mass catering, Pubs, Restaurant