That is the message that Northants based company Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment will be making at Glee.
Whitco have been designing and supplying kitchens and restaurants for over 20 years and that is a given for the company, but the market today sees more and more not so traditional food offerings popping up in not so traditional environments, and suppliers and food service operators are having to adapt to change rapidly!
The street food trend or pop-up has hit an all new high, seeing garden centres and public houses alike maximising their turnover by expanding their current facility or by using neglected or even empty spaces to increase the food offer to their customers.
Some are situated inside and some in quirky environments such as shipping containers and redundant out-buildings and some just pop-up overnight creating a fun way to dine alfresco.
Amanda McGreavy, Whitcos Garden Centre Expert adds Instant food pop-ups are all the rage these days, we have seen crepe kiosks to hog roasts on the go, noodle bars, Tex--Mex, and of course Pizza and Pasta, choice, smell, theatre and interest attracts more clients and instantly adds more profit without increasing costs.
Beyond the Kitchen
The kitchen space is also evolving with this change, more central production kitchens are being built to service this trend and others are maximising the productivity of their existing kitchens beyond that of preparing and cooking ahead of peak service times. The food service operators are incorporating mini central production zones so that other food types can be prepared and cooked ahead for transferring to different areas in the building or somewhere else on the estate and of course outside.An example of this is pizza and pasta dishes prepared ahead and finished in a different location.
We all like to dine alfresco, surrounded by beautiful plants and landscaping with the enticing aroma of burning wood and baking pizza, so during the busy spring and summer months when the restaurant is often at full capacity, why not create an instant pop-up Italian Trattoria outside adds Amanda.
Whitco will be showcasing a wood stone pizza oven inside a branded Piaggio Ape. The concept goes beyond the realms of ridiculous and breaks into something that is truly genius. The Andiamo mobile pizza unit offers a completely unique experience for your customers, aside from the ovens traditional façade the unit itself is nothing less than strikingly noticeable, and its mobility allows you to choose where it pops up and when, unlike a fixed oven.
The Andiamos oven has been purpose built for use in the Piaggio Ape, light weight and compact with the capability of producing up to 6 pizzas at a time. The ovens unique design allows it to heat up in a record time of 20 minutes, meaning no starting early doors to fire up the oven! And its also available in traditional wood or our modern gas burner.
Lastly, when not in use park it in the front, in fact anywhere to get people looking and talking about it, the unit is a great billboard and marketing tool for your business.
Pizza and Pasta is only one example of a pop-up food concept; the choice is endless. So why not jump on the street food bandwagon and make your empty space profitable? As well as the Andiamo pizza oven, Whitco will be demonstrating a fully mobile induction cooking station complete with built in refrigeration and extraction, they will be cooking paninis in an innovative high speed panini grill as used by leading high street chains.
Visit Whitco on Stand 17S50 and speak to our team about how you can enhance your food service or your food and beverage retails sales. Our services are endless from kitchens, restaurants and coffee shops to wine cellars, artisan bakeries, cheese shops and traditional butchers, even cocktail bars! So let the Whitco team help you add food service to your garden centre, refurbish your existing kitchen and restaurant or just let us share our knowledge and expertise with you so that you too can see the potential beyond the traditional cooking and eating environment.
For all marketing enquiries contact: Vita Whitaker
Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd
Tel: 01832 735007 Fax: 01832 734433 Email: info@whitcoltd.com Visit: www.whitcoltd.com