Keziah Whittaker, the talented winner of Young Master Chef 2023 was invited to the Rational Customer Experience Centre to cook on the iVario Pro.

A former law student, Keziah Whittaker decided to follow her passion for cooking, embarking on a journey that led her to the title of Young Master Chef 2023. Keziah’s cooking style is characterised by her signature “fun fusion cooking,” heavily influenced by Caribbean flavours. In an upcoming episode on RATIONAL TV, she recreated her mouthwatering recipes, curry goat and crispy chicken jerk bites with the intelligent Rational iVario Pro advanced bratt pan.

Keziah shared her perspective on the evolving landscape of modern cooking and the role of technology: “Technology plays a massive part in modern cooking, but I feel like at the same time, times are changing, and not everyone is willing to change with it. But if you don’t change with the times, it’s easy to get left behind.”

Speaking specifically about the iVario Pro, Keziah notes, “As a young chef, it can be quite daunting, but this definitely made my cooking experience very easy today. It doesn’t take years of experience. You don’t have to go to culinary school to be able to use this equipment. You can literally be in any kind of profession.”

Keziah concludes, “I feel like as a young chef or someone that’s not as advanced as cooking as other people that I might be in a kitchen with, technology like the iVario Pro definitely gives people like myself an advantage because it’s so easy.”

Don’t miss the exciting episode featuring Keziah Whittaker on RATIONAL TV, where innovation meets tradition in the kitchen, showcasing the future of cooking: https://www.rational-online.tv/

Commercial Catering Products (CCP Ltd) are pleased to confirm that they have signed an exclusive agreement to represent Scrap Drain Bio, in the UK.

Rob Gibson from CCP explained, “Everyone in the Food Service Industry has been aware of the big issues surrounding waste and FOG, we are really excited to bring a new innovative solution to the UK.”

“When Doug Horner the CEO of ScrapDrain approached us with his company’s solution to waste and FOG and explained that chains such as Starbucks and Tim Horton’s were already starting to use this system in the States, we had to sit up and listen. The solution is easy to install and operate at the fraction of the cost of other Bio Enzyme solutions.”

The system is firstly designed to stop waste going down the drain, then an easily replaceable Bio Enzyme Puck sits in a basket, below the waste attacking the, Fats, Oils, and Greases, within the Drain.

Doug Horner from ScrapDrain said, “We were looking for a partner in the UK to bring this great solution. FOG is a big an issue in the States as it is in the UK, we know that the team at CCP Ltd with their contacts in the Chain Accounts and the Distributor supply chain will quickly establish ScrapDrain as a viable solution to waste and FOG within the Commercial Food Service Sector.”

Simon Callus from CCP Ltd continued “It’s been a great year for the team at CCP taking on the master distributorship and establishing Mychef with its leading innovation and solutions in vertical and accelerated cooking. It makes logical sense in 2024 to expand our port-folio in offering great solutions to FOG to to our customer base.”

Hobart would like to invite you to our Service training events that will be held at our Peterborough head office throughout 2024.

Places will be offered to CEDA members on a first come, first served basis. We’ll offer training on either our hood and undercounter dishwasher ranges, including Ecomax.

As Hobart’s investment in our CEDA partnership we will be providing the training free of charge, further dates will be available via Parts Town at £200pp*.

*Please note that no shows at Peterborough will be charged at a rate of £50 per person. PartsTown training costs may change from time to time, full details for bookings can be found here.

Session 1 – FX Undercounter Dishwasher Range- 13th March 2024

• Training will include install, maintenance, troubleshooting and more
• Lunch will be provided
• Places are allocated on a first come first served basis
• Open to Service Technicians and Technical staff

Maximum 8 spaces per date

To request a place on this or a future session, please click here.

Bookings are restricted to one technician per company per session. All accepted bookings will be confirmed in writing.

Caterparts are celebrating the new year with free delivery on all website orders throughout January 2024!

Visit the Cater Parts website now!

In a continuation of our commitment to excellence, Cater-Bake is thrilled to announce the extension of our renowned 3-year warranty to include Zanolli Deck Ovens.

This milestone follows the successful introduction of the same warranty to Zanolli Conveyor Ovens last year, marking a significant moment in our 30-year journey and 25-year partnership with Zanolli.

The decision to extend the warranty coverage to Zanolli Deck Ovens reinforces our dedication to providing customers with unmatched quality and support. As the sole worldwide partner offering this extended warranty, we are proud to set a new standard in the industry.
Steven Lilley, Sales Director expressed his pride in the achievement, stating, “To offer our customers a 3-year warranty on Zanolli Conveyor Ovens was an honour. Now, extending it to Zanolli Deck Ovens is an exciting progression. We are grateful to Zanolli and our incredible customer network for their continued support over the past 30 years.”

The extended warranty is a testament to Cater-Bake’s commitment to customer satisfaction and confidence in the durability of Zanolli products. For more information, contact info@cater-bake.co.uk.

Electrolux Professional have been working in partnership to support chefs with the latest innovative commercial kitchen equipment. Obsession 24 is powered by Electrolux Professional’s Thermaline, SkyLine Combi Ovens and Blast Chillers.

The SkyLine Combi Ovens have been made to deliver outstanding performance. A new solution characterized by reduced running costs and designed with you in mind in terms of better ergonomics and usability.

What’s even better is that the SkyLine Combi offer has been extended for 3 months! Starting from the 20th January, simply register your SkyLine Combi Oven and your customers can receive a free kit of detergents for up to 1 year* of cleaning.

By using the right cleaning detergents, Electrolux Professional can ensure your SkyLine Combi Oven is always in optimum condition.

For more information, please contact your Electrolux Professional Authorized Partner.

Following these tips will ensure that you are taking all the necessary steps to protect your organisation from a cyberattack. By maintaining a clear claims history, enforcing these techniques in your business will help to keep your premium as low as possible.

Protection against first-party losses

1. Avoid phishing attacks

91% of all cyberattacks begin with a phishing email to an unsuspecting victim, which is why we’re mentioning it first. Though mainly conducted via email, phishing has evolved to now take place on social media and by text message, where a profile may impersonate a colleague or friend to get the victim to divulge sensitive information.

It’s important to train your employees regularly on the dangers of phishing and how to spot the signs in an ever-evolving digital world. A recent study found that 69% of people in the UK can recognise a phishing attack, but it only takes one person’s mistake to potentially cost your business thousands.

Reinforce robust knowledge of phishing throughout your organisation by implementing the following:

• Monthly compulsory online training
• Distribute spoof phishing emails to test whether your employees click; following up with those that do
• Educate your employees about near misses or industry examples
• Use a quarantine email system to flag and capture suspicious emails before they reach their recipient

2. Back up company data

Long gone are the days when businesses kept physical backups and hard drives – most companies should now be using a secure cloud-based file system to ensure the safety of their documents and data or be looking to transition.

The majority of network or cloud storage solutions allow you to make backups automatically, taking any obstacles out of the process and saving you time. However, if you still use physical backups, ensure that these are stored off-site, separate from a device, and are updated weekly.

Protection against third-party losses

3. Implement anti-malware protection

File sharing is a necessity for any business in the modern age. While it doesn’t make you immune to a cyber-attack, anti-virus software helps to create an extra barrier of defence between your business and a hacker. Despite training your employees, they can still get caught out by an untrustworthy or imitation website when downloading files.

Having anti-malware software in place to flag and block malicious files will ensure your devices are less vulnerable to threats such as trojans, ransomware and other exploits that can cause huge financial losses.

4. Enforce the use of strong password protection / 2FA

Not just encouraging, but enforcing the need for stronger passwords across your organisation by making it a requirement for business accounts is a great way to get all your employees in the same mindset. You should also require regular password changes where necessary.

Setting up two-factor authentication (2FA) can also bolster your account security and can be achieved with a variety of secure authenticator apps, which should be preferred over text message authentication. This is because text message 2FA can be more prone to exploitation from criminals conducting ‘sim-swap’ attacks.

5. Use a VPN

Working from home and in flexible locations is now more commonplace than ever, meaning that your employees could be connecting to less secure networks or public Wi-Fi.

A VPN is a service that helps you stay private online by encrypting the connection between your device and the internet. Providing this to your employees working off-site prevents them from being targeted by hackers or getting discriminated against based on their location.

To find out more and how Cronin Insurance can assist you in protecting your Cyber Risk please contact us for qualified professional advice

Darren Cronin ACII – 07484 871288
Ryan Hopcutt Cert CII – 07484 648621

Swedish ware washing supplier Nordisk Clean Solutions – formerly known as Granuldisk – has been working actively with the UN 17 Global Goals for the past two years, and one of the key initiatives has been to conduct GHG protocols: measuring the company’s and its related products’ impact on global warming.

– Part of the GHG calculations is related to the products we develop and manufacture. To measure their impact we had to make detailed LCAs – lifecycle analyses – for each of the products in our Granule range. As we reviewed the data and more importantly compared it to estimates for the world’s most common pot washing method, the 3-bowl sink, we realized we had to disclose it to help the industry take more informed decisions for their businesses, says Sustainability Manager Åsa Håkansson.

Emissions related to materials and use-phase

The figures released for the granule product line show the emissions caused by both materials – the full contents of the product – and the use-phase: emissions the product is likely to produce during its expected lifespan.

– The material figures are hard facts – we know exactly what components go into our products down to the very last screw. The use-phase is different since it’s an estimation. We have made our estimations based on data gathered in our day-to-day business, which gives us a good global average to work with: 12.5 years lifespan, 320 active days, and approx. 17-25 wash cycles per day (depending on model).

– The use-phase numbers for our granule machines range between 4-18 tCO₂e (tonnes of CO₂ equivalents). Compare that to the staggering 52 tCO₂e when washing by hand in sinks, and the choice should be obvious.

Localized calculations make strong business cases

As a service to the end-client, the dealership, as well as foodservice consultants Nor:disk also offers to calculate expected emissions for individual cases using local data.

– Our LCAs are calculated based on data derived from day-to-day business, and even though they serve a purpose on a wider scale and in calculations such as GHG protocols, they make little sense when estimating impact in individual cases. But by knowing the location of the site and the average number of meals per day, we can edit the variables to align with the customer’s reality and give a more precise number for them to work with.

Sharing knowledge to drive change

At Nor:disk there is a firm belief that knowledge is power, and that sharing knowledge is key to drive change.

– By disclosing our emissions data, we hope to not only help our end users calculate their impact on greenhouse gas and global warming, but also inspire other vendors and business colleagues to start measuring and sharing their own. We think that CO₂ emissions will – and must be – the standard in business going forward.

Next steps – calculations for the Water-Smart range

Apart from Granule technology, Nor:disk also carries a water-based product range – the Water-Smart technology.

– We’re in the process of mapping and calculating impact for our Water-Smart range as well and once we have the numbers, we’re eager to share.

To learn more about how Nor:disk works with sustainability, please feel free to contact Åsa directly at asa.hakansson@nordiskclean.com. If you would like to discuss cases and possible projects for the UK market, kindly reach out to our Country Manager, Keith Broadway at keith.broadway@nordiskclean.com or 0788 064 8055.

Reuse specialist, Ramco, is urging businesses in the foodservice sector to place the same value on the sustainable disposal of outgoing equipment as on the procurement process for new assets.

The alarming new data shows nearly 41% of hospitality organisations in the UK that send their unwanted but working equipment to scrap or landfill, choose this option because it requires less effort than re-homing redundant items.

According to Edie, businesses are responsible for dumping 20% of what ends up in landfill. Conducted by Censuswide, Ramco’s research further reveals nearly a third (29%) of Senior Managers in the hospitality sector who send unwanted items to scrap or landfill say that being more sustainable is not a priority for their organisation.

Paul Fieldhouse, Foodservice Consultant at Ramco, says action is needed and foodservice businesses must take accountability for extending the life of their unwanted equipment: “If businesses want to be sustainable, this ratio needs to change”, says Paul. “We’re urging firms to place the same value on the sustainable management of outgoing equipment as on the procurement of new items”.

“We’re in a climate crisis and yet UK business operations are still running in a way that causes so much unnecessary waste. Shiny new kit is exciting, but the outgoing equipment still holds so much value and, with consideration, can go on to realise its full potential with a new owner.

“It’s disheartening to discover almost 1 in 5 (17%) of hospitality organisations still send working equipment to scrap or landfill rather than giving it a second lease of life in a new home. Of course, organisations need to keep their facilities up to date or bring in more efficient technology, but the outgoing equipment still has potential and holds precious value.

“Some 68% of hospitality organisations say they have unwanted, working equipment sitting idle, they need to ensure these assets don’t go down the scrap or landfill route and instead are rehomed and put back into circulation to fulfil their product lifecycle”.

Paul continues: “We’ve seen a booming second-hand market in recent years, and it shows no signs of slowing and our customers are buying everything from coffee machines to combi ovens. With the cost of doing business continuing to rise, now is a great time to sell redundant assets.

Click here to find out how Ramco can help your business make more of the equipment you no longer need.

Although the professional kitchen sector is considered to be quite conservative, Lithuanians are changing the trend and introduce a new generation of sustainable table top solution to the world.

Helping to reduce emissions

Today, sustainability is not only a value choice, but also a necessity if we are to achieve the Paris Agreement to make the European Union (EU) the first climate-neutral economy and society by 2050. Innovative Kaunas-based developers are already bringing a new generation of sustainable table top to the market today.

According to Mindaugas Jonuškis, the managing director of UAB Novameta, a manufacturer of customized stainless steel equipment for professional kitchens, the search for this solution was prompted by both the wish to offer more environmentally friendly products to the market and the desire to continue maintaining a leading position, making the company’s products the market standard.
“There isn’t a single professional kitchen that doesn’t have a simple worktable with stainless steel table tops. We estimate that we sell up to 15 000 square meters of table tops a year. It’s the most recurrent product, therefore making it more environmentally friendly, lighter but stronger has been a 25-year dream.

Today, we are proud that we have finally succeeded in creating a new generation of multilayered table tops with a thickness of 2 mm, made from recyclable materials. It does not contain wood panel, which often contains harmful formaldehyde, and silicone is no longer used.

It will be possible to simply melt new table tops at high temperatures and the materials will be brought back to life. It’s an environmentally friendly solution that has retained all the advantages of the existing table top,” he says.

Tailored to all markets

In addition to being environmentally friendly, the company’s engineers also took the needs and standards of different markets into account when developing the new product.

“We used to have several different types of table tops, some of which were in demand in Lithuania, others in Scandinavia while others in Germany etc. Our engineers have had to perform many different tests, from acoustic to robustness, flexibility and more, and our manufacturing processes have changed, but today we have all the top solutions from different markets in a new generation of table tops to create a unique and versatile product. 

In Germany, for example, a special table top edge is very much needed to prevent water from getting under the table top. This prevents bacterial build-up, unpleasant odours and makes the product more durable. In many Western markets, this is exclusively a restaurant standard. But from now on, all of our table tops will be made with such edges. At the same time, it will be up to 80% lighter and fully waterproof, heat-resistant, made of recyclable materials and will retain all the complementary solutions of our former table tops,” says Jonuškis.

According to Jonuškis, the new product will be adaptable without having to redesign the entire kitchen.

“The new design is distinctive in that the table top can be mounted on most frames, even if they are not made by us. This will allow restaurant and café owners to easily and cost effectively renew only the table tops instead of replacing the entire equipment, to have more environmentally friendly solutions and to be more responsible with their consumption. This is how we are solving future problems of our customers today,” says Jonuškis, the managing director of Novameta.

According to him, the change in this product will have a major impact not only on Novameta, but also on the market as a whole, which is also slowly moving towards sustainability.