On 26 February at 3 pm (GMT), RATIONAL will once again demonstrate its innovative strength worldwide: Markus Paschmann, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at RATIONAL, together with colleagues from Research & Development and the project team, will unveil a world first during this online event. The company announces that it will be unveiling something the market has never seen before and promises to introduce a new product category alongside the iCombi and iVario. Markus Paschmann says: “The new product will be faster, more flexible and capable of more than anything we have ever developed before.” 

If you want to be one of the first to see how RATIONAL is once again revolutionising the world of professional kitchens, you can watch the free English-language keynote presentation online – with subtitles in many other languages here.

New for 2024, the Helios range of countertop induction hobs.  More efficient, more settings, modern design, colour touch screen controls also with a dial knob.  100 power settings and precise temperature settings.  Built in timer.  All in a great modern stainless steel case.

These units are available in singles, twins and woks.  And each is available in either 2.5kW, 3.0kW or 3.5kW.  They all come with five years parts and labour warranty handled by our own engineers, allowing you and your customers to buy with confidence, with that CookTek reliability.

CookTek next generation of countertop induction hobs are available now from MCS Technical Products.

At the last ceda Board Meeting in December 2023, Derek Maher confirmed that he was stepping down as a Director of the Association due to retirement.

Crystaltech are a long-standing ceda Member and Derek has been actively involved in the Association for many years, sitting on the Technical Support Group, including serving as the Chair.

Derek joined the Board in 2016 and served as Chair between 2019 and 2021. His tenure as Chair was dominated by Brexit and Covid where his calm, measured, determined and considered manner were critical in the work that ceda undertook to support and guide the Industry.

Commenting on his time in the Industry; “Like many ceda members my wife, Maxine, and I started from our garage and grew steadily over 43 years. As I often say being a specialist in “Washing Up” was never my vision when I left school but I’m proud of the business that we built. I am also incredibly proud of my membership of ceda. It is a true community of, often competing, members all striving to raise standards in the industry. I can look back over my time and see real significant improvements that have been made, driven by ceda, that have benefited Members and the wider Industry.. I will continue to assist Crystaltech and ceda technically when the need arises.”

Current ceda Chair, Kirstin Hatherley commented; “Derek has given so much to ceda over the years and as an Association we have a lot to be thankful to him for. On a personal level, he has been incredibly supportive of me and I am very grateful. I wish him a happy retirement.”

His support of the Association was undertaken at the same time as building Crystaltech into the business it has become demonstrating the dedication, commitment, long hours and vast work ethic that Derek is known for.

Adam Mason, ceda Director General added; “Derek is among the most selfless people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He has given a great deal to ceda over the years and many Members have benefitted directly from his expertise on water treatment, tender documentation and achieving ISO and Health & Safety accreditations. He has championed the work of the Association to the Operator and Facilities Management sectors. I thank him both professionally and personally for everything that he has given to ceda and the Industry and wish his wife Maxine and he a long, happy and healthy retirement.”

We believe in the quality of our product and the trust we’ve built with our distributor network. We’ll always support the engineers that service, and the end users of our machines where we can. A way to do this is by being as transparent and giving the best advice possible. Our YouTube channel has allowed us to display our expert industry knowledge in a user friendly, easy to access way, for free!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel today to learn more!

Want to know more about how Maidaid can help? Drop the marketing department an email on, marketing@maidaid-halcyon.co.uk

Alternatively, reach out to the team today on,

01280 845300 – also our business Whatsapp number & sales@maidaid-halcyon.co.uk

Rational’s first TrendTalk in 2024 will focus on the topic of sustainability in restaurants. How can restaurants become more sustainable? What do guests want? How can aspirations and reality be harmonised? 

RATIONAL the leading provider in hot food preparation equipment has once again been able to attract high-calibre speakers to answer these and other questions. This time the industry experts are Kaj Török, Chief Sustainability Officer of MAX Burgers, the award winning Swedish QSR brand which was the first worldwide to offer a climate positive menu. Andrew Maxwell, Director, and board member of Boojum, Ireland’s largest chain of Mexican quick service restaurants. Also joining the panel are Rational’s very own Dirk Friedlein and Stephan M. Leuschner who will discuss their insights how sustainability has impacted the strategy of restaurant chains globally.

The 90-minutes-TrendTalk takes place live online on Tuesday 20th of February at 15.00. Interested parties are invited to register here free of charge: https://www.rational-online.com/en_xx/lp/ghost-kitchen-talk/register/

Elevate your cooking with the most universal, practical, and versatile cut for the chef.

At Sammic, we are committed to enhancing your kitchen processes. That’s why we present the Déli-cut, the perfect ally for chefs seeking a dynamic, versatile, and functional cut. This innovative 4x4x8 mm Brunoise-style cut is especially practical for cooking, sautéing, dressing salads and recipes, cooking fillings, and much more. And the best part? No special machine needed! Simply by combining a julienne disc and a dicing grid, you can achieve this cut with your Sammic vegetable preparation machine​.

Versatility in your kitchen

Are you going to cook tacos, pintxos, soups, fillings, salads, stir-fries, etc.? With this 4x4x8 mm brunoise type cut, your options are unlimited. Déli-Cut is, par excellence, the most versatile cut on the market, allowing its use in 90% of culinary preparations.

Déli-Cut: a cut for all Sammic vegetable preparation machines

The best aspect of our Déli-Cut is that you don’t need additional machines. With just an FCE/FCES disc and an FMC/FMS grid, available in both the Compact and Heavy Duty lines, you can achieve this universal cut, adding consistency and quality to every dish you create.

Did you know that 2023 marked the 30th anniversary of the first combi oven we produced? Maybe some readers even remember the company’s beginnings. But don’t be fooled. The first combi oven was made in 1993, but RETIGO s.r.o. wasn’t incorporated until a year later, in 1994. Its anniversary will therefore be celebrated in 2024.

Since that time, a lot has changed. That includes the design of combi ovens, expansion of the model ranges, remote control, tweaks to the appliances’ software, arrival of new employees and the expansion of the company premises. The most recent extension took place in 2021. The new hall has helped us expand production capacity. But let’s linger for a moment to the time when the first combi oven was created, and the company soon after that. Let’s take a trip down Memory Lane with three of our five owners. Jiří Zátopek, Jaroslav Kudela and Libor Pavelka shared their facts and experience with us.

How did Retigo’s five current owners get together?

Zátopek: We all worked together at the old Tesla plant in Rožnov, where single-purpose machines were built.

Pavelka: Mr Zátopek and Mr Kudela worked in electrical design, and I worked in mechanical design with Jirka Jaroň and Vašek Miller, who are also Retigo owners.

Kudela: We were mainly friends at work. At the time, we worked on smokers. They’re similar to combi ovens. They heat up, there’s a control unit, a fan, but the temperatures aren’t that high, and the smoking cabinets produce smoke.

Where did the idea come from to produce a combi oven?

Zátopek: After the revolution, Tesla understandably looked for other lines of business, and one of them was culinary technology, and we were tasked with putting together a combi oven.

Pavelka: Combi ovens didn’t succeed there, though, and we got the idea to produce a combi oven outside Tesla.

Zátopek: Tesla knew that marketing was what was missing, which is necessary when you have an idea and a product, but there was nobody selling the appliances. Nobody knew how to do it at the time, least of all the factory. So it “died”. And that was an opportunity to figure out what to do next.

Kudela: We liked the fact that the appliance was expensive and couldn’t be produced or copied easily. So at work we said we’d try to put it together. We were led to that by changes in the company and a less than positive outlook for the future. The plant sold only a couple of combi ovens, and in a few years was bankrupt.

Did you know what a combi oven was?

Kudela: I didn’t. I started gathering information and researching the market. We didn’t have any competition, just Eloma in Germany and one more manufacturer. Their combi ovens cost up to 300,000 crowns, which at the time was unimaginable — almost the price of a new house. These appliances already had some history, so after the revolution, they were among the first to start appearing.

Continue reading about Retigo’s beginnings here

Counterline are delighted to have joined ceda, the leading trade organisation for catering equipment project engineering, service and maintenance in the UK.

“ceda has a strong history of commitment to its members, associates and partners.  As an innovative and creative manufacturer, Counterline like ceda has been setting standards within the food service industry for more than 40 years. 

We are excited by this partnership and the positive impact ceda will bring to our business and services. We look forward to working closely with the membership in the future and helping them build fantastic hospitality venues across the UK and Ireland.”

– Paul Purslow, Sales Director

With a national and international presence, Counterline are the go-to name for outstanding quality products and design solutions. From Buckingham Palace to Yahoo, our products are found in global offices, on board cruise ships and in the headquarters of some of the world’s leading and innovative companies.

Our wide range of counters and food servery displays are designed to meet the needs of our customers, wherever they happen to be. We are well established in India and Asia and have a growing portfolio of clients. Over the last 30 years, we’ve seen our client base increase and export accounts for 23 per cent of our turnover. Given the growing export market, we now have a dedicated Dubai office.

Find out more about what we do here.

Blue Seal Ltd are very mindful of the future equipment requirements for efficiency and carbon footprint and sustainability, with this ever-changing food industry and the cost of gas and electric usage.

We currently produce a new range of free-standing & bench models of heavy-duty induction hobs with two or four zones. Each hob has the versatility of 3.5KW or 5Kw round zone generators for focussed power or 5kw power full area zones to accept multiple pans across the cooking area. The induction technology is incredibly responsive, with hardened 6mm thick glass cooking surfaces.

Blue Seal R&D are conscious of the ever-increasing demand for induction product, and we are in the process of preparing new induction- convection ranges, and wok induction hobs ready for launch 2024.
Many commercial chefs are trained at college with gas appliances and do love the instant heat & control of gas. However, they are slowly breaking this habitual comfort and being convinced to make the change, once they experience using Induction, the fantastic responsiveness, instant heat direct to the pan & superb controllability, speaks for itself.

The induction technology lends itself to a myriad of concepts, especially QSR restaurants where they need quick heat up on demand, which is also remarkably simple for the operator to use and maintain.

The feature benefits of induction far outweigh the initial out lay, which is currently still relatively high for commercial heavy-duty product. Induction for prime cooking is still relatively fresh to be accepted into the general commercial kitchen environment, however the big energy savings and high efficiency far outweighs the cost of changing the cookware and initial higher cost outlay for the product. This cost will no doubt reduce and become more competitive as the trend & demand for induction manufacture inevitably increases. Induction equipment also avoids the additional very costly legislation requirement involved with gas canopy extraction/make up air and interlock systems.

When you compare the efficiency of using induction over gas, the induction is at approx. 85% efficient compared to approx. 45% efficiency for gas. This is achieved by the magnetic fields heating up the entire surface of the cookware with virtually all of the energy transferred into the pan. Where gas disperses the heat, licking around the sides of the cookware more so, losing energy into the ambient air around the pan.

Using induction massively reduces heat transfer into the air flow, lowers the overall temperature in the kitchen promoting a more comfortable working environment, as well as the practicality of a simple wipe down of the glass cooking area at the end of a shift, which is very appealing to an operator. The appliances are much safer to use, reducing injury potential as well as being very simple to service & maintain.

The commercial, brand, customer and labour implications of climate change are increasingly evident – and progressive business leaders across hospitality are taking action.

The Planet Peach sustainability Summit will interrogate the very latest data and a dynamo line-up of experts will provide real-world strategies to help organisations accelerate their sustainability goals. The afternoon conference takes place 5 March at 30 Euston Square, London.

Find out more and book HERE.*

*ceda members will receive a discount so contact Adam Mason for further details.

The Planet Peach Sustainability Summit, a co-production between Peach 20/20 and leading communications agency Fleet Street is a new event aimed at c-suite executives, founders, entrepreneurs and investors.

Speakers will consider the moral, reputational and brand challenges as well as the opportunities for customer and employee loyalty, reducing costs and attracting investors. Find out more about the summit and speakers HERE​​​​​​​.

“This is a vital issue. Make no mistake, sustainability is rising up board agendas and directors and investors all need to be engaged,“ said Peter Martin.

“This is not another talking shop. The summit sessions will rigorously interrogate the data, explore practical solutions and invite debate and discussion from executive level operators, major suppliers and independent subject matter specialists,” added Mark Stretton.

The agenda will cover the challenges of the supply chain, investment, politics, technological advances and communication, as well as examining how individual businesses and the sector collectively can build on the progress and commitment already made.

Following the afternoon conference session discussions will continue over drinks. Expect the usual Peachy mix of board-level, actionable insight and unrivalled networking.

Brands​​​​​​​ that have already booked their place include; Caffè Nero, Chipotle, Gail’s Bakery, Gaucho, Greene & Fortune, JKS Restaurants, Marugame Udon, Mission Mars, Pizza Pilgrims, Punch Pubs, Rare Restaurants, Revolution Bars Group, St John’s, The Restaurant Group, Time Out Group, Turtle Bay, Wingstop and Young’s.

The Planet Peach Sustainability Summit is supported by the Zero Carbon Forum and UKHospitality. Nutritics, the food data management specialist, is headline sponsor.