Electrolux Professional is celebrating a double win at the Red Dot Design Awards after two products from its commercial food service portfolio were awarded the prestigious accolade for 2022.

The distinctive ‘Red Dot’ is internationally renowned as one of the most sought-after seals of approval for quality product design, and has been recognising innovation and excellence for over 60 years.

The latest products from the manufacturer which can now bear the design award label are its TrinityPro series of table-top food preparation appliances and LiberoPro hyper-versatile mobile cooking solution.

It is the first time Electrolux Professional has had two products recognised with the accolade in the same year, and they join the manufacturer’s SkyLine Cook&Chill range, green&clean Rack Type dishwasher and the thermaline M2M modular cooking solution in winning a Red Dot Award.

Composed of a vegetable slicer, cutter mixer, and an all-in-one combined cutter-slicer, the TrinityPro offering has been designed to provide optimum results across a range of applications. Capable of slicing, grating, dicing, shredding, chopping, mixing, and emulsifying, it delivers all of this within a small customisable footprint that can be tailored to suit the unique requirements of any kitchen.

Usability is at the heart of the TrinityPro appliances, with 100% dishwasher safe components and an intuitive control panel for operation. It has also been awarded ErgoCert 4-star certification for ergonomic design and ease of use, meaning less fatigue even when slicing hard vegetables thanks to a patented vertical lever pusher.

Building on the popularity of its predecessor, the LiberoPro has been designed to improve cooking efficiency and usability for operators. Crucially, it is a plug and play appliance which ensures it can be used across a range of locations. From operations that offer street food or buffets, through to QSR applications, events and prestige hotels, it offers unparalleled freedom in cooking.

This is thanks to its modular design, which means it can be customised to suit any requirements, with users able to choose from a range of add-ons and appliances such as griddles, shelves and refrigerated drawers. One of the options is the new LiberoPro induction hob range, which can be included as part of a ‘drop in configuration’ to offer speed and flexibility thanks to the unique heating system and smart electronic controls.

Darren Lockley, Head of Region at Electrolux Professional UK & Ireland, commented: “The Red Dot Awards are known the world over as a mark of ground-breaking design and innovation. Electrolux Professional has an impressive track record in the awards, but to see two products recognised at the awards in the same year is a landmark achievement.

“That said, both the TrinityPro and LiberoPro series offer a genuinely game-changing approach to commercial cookery and can deliver tangible ergonomic and environmental benefits to end-users and their operations. The fact they are our fourth and fifth Red Dot winners is a testament to the strength of our R&D process, and our commitment to developing food service solutions that have a positive impact on the world we live in.”

For more information on the TrinityPro and LiberoPro series, please visit: www.electroluxprofessional.com/gb.

Electrolux Professional has recognised the stand-out performance of a number of its foodservice, beverage and laundry distribution partners in its annual Partner Awards.

Returning after a two-year hiatus following the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards celebrate the success of a number of distributors who have delivered exceptional performance throughout 2021.

The 2021 winners are:

·       Partner of the Year (Foodservice) – Broderick Bros

·       Partner of the Year (Beverage) – Massey Catering

·       Partner of the Year (Laundry) – Southern Contracts

·       Growth Award (Foodservice) – Cater2

·       Growth Award (Laundry) – CAS Duncan

Special Awards for Total Sales in Professional Finished Products – Cater-Kwik and Southern Contracts

Appearing for the second year, the awards were extended to include Electrolux Professional’s network of service and support partners, with the winners being:

·       First Time Fix (Foodservice) – Assure Catering

·       First Time Fix (Laundry) – Caledonian

·       Service Fulfilment (Foodservice) – Assure Catering

·       Service Fulfilment (Laundry) – Electron

·       Perfect Service Model – Electrox

The awards also recognised the achievements of internal staff members, with Regional Business Managers Mike Kendall and Mark Rogers from the Channel Sales Team both acknowledged as outstanding contributors for the year.

Darren Lockley, Head of Region for Electrolux Professional UK & Ireland, comments: “It goes without saying that 2021 was an exceptionally challenging year for the commercial foodservice, beverage and laundry industries. Large parts of the economy remained closed for Q1, which combined with the significant closures throughout 2020, meant a huge amount of ingenuity and resilience was required to navigate such a tricky period.

“That said, many of our distribution partners were able to do just that and I am delighted to be able to celebrate their success through our 2021 Partner Awards. Likewise, given the tough operational circumstances many of our service partners found themselves in throughout large parts of last year, particularly when travelling to sites during lockdown, it gives me great pleasure to expand our categories to recognise their endeavours, too.”

He concludes: “I hope I can speak for us all when I say that 2022 provides a real stepping stone for our industry to move forward, but as a business, we would certainly not be able to do so without our partner network. It sits very much at the heart of our operations and I’m excited for the collaboration that is to come.”

For more information, please visit: www.electroluxprofessional.com/gb/.

The Apprenticeship standard, developed by ceda Members, is now on to its third cohort, and the association is keen to see the next group of students be the largest yet!

Officially called the Commercial Catering Equipment Technicians Apprenticeship Standard (No. ST0791), the scheme has already seen two intakes since its launch in February 2020.

ceda, in partnership with ECTA Training are hosting a webinar for any business thinking about apprentice engineers.

The webinar will introduce the content of the standard and run through the delivery, eligibility, funding available etc.

Importantly, there will also be an Employer and current Apprentice on the panel discussing their experience of the programme.

The Webinar will take place at 10.30 am on Wednesday 4th May 2022 and is open to anyone in the industry. You DO NOT have to be a ceda Member company/employee to take part in the Apprenticeship or join the Webinar.

ceda’s Adam Mason said, “The shortage of commercial catering equipment engineers is a huge challenge – you only have to open your LinkedIn feed to see the reality that there are literally hundreds of vacancies. The standard was developed by the Industry, for the Industry and it now needs the Industry to recognise that they have to invest in bringing new people into their businesses and train them appropriately in order to ensure their future growth and sustainability. I look forward to welcoming people on May 4th and outlining in detail, how the process works, what funding is available and why this Apprenticeship standard is the way forward.”

Background

ceda’s Apprenticeship Standard was created by a Trailblazer group of ceda Members who recognised a qualification gap in the market. The Standard was developed to attract and retain the next generation of commercial catering engineers, helping to address a skills shortage the association fear is only likely to increase in the coming years.

Apprenticeships have been proven to increase staff productivity, improve staff retention and loyalty to that business. The Commercial Catering Equipment Technicians Apprenticeship Standard will enable the individuals to achieve nationally recognised formal qualifications, delivered through a highly supported, relevant, industry specific learning programme and equip them with the necessary skills to become excellent employees not just at the end but throughout their journey.

ceda’s Technical Support Manager Peter Kay has worked tirelessly to secure government funding to create this new Standard, working in partnership with ECTA Training, who will be delivering this 27-month programme.

The funding for the apprenticeship is £15,000 which covers the cost of all the training and the End Point Assessment.  Employers who do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy (those with an annual payroll of less than £3 million) are entitled to 95% of the total funding and have to pay the balance of 5% (£750).  Employers who do pay the apprenticeship levy will be able to claim the full £15,000 from their levy account.

To make this viable, there needs to be a minimum of 20 new apprentices joining the next cohort.

The Standard will require the apprentices to attend ECTA’s Training Centre in Stockport, Greater Manchester, for one week every couple of months, which will then enable them to enter the concluding three-month End Point Assessment gateway. ceda are currently in talks with training providers in the South, as they look to maximise opportunity and minimise travel for Southern and Central businesses.

If you are interested in learning more about the Commercial Catering Equipment Technicians Apprenticeship Standard, please register for the FREE 1hr Webinar here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DXjIFWoxTyuPRodIswX5Uw

At MKN, we’re committed to supporting our valued distribution partners. That’s why we’re making changes to further enhance our service and standards.

New team structure, new ways to get in touch

We’ve appointed Richard Robinson as Business Development Manager and Donna Town as Sales & Marketing Assistant – two new starters to support grown, enhance sales and improve after-care service for you, our dealer network.

• Richard joins from Unox UK where he was active marketing chef. We now have
  dedicated BDMs for the North, South and South West & Wales regions.
• Donna has 25 years of experience in retail and customer service. She will provide a
  link on sales and operational matters between the MKN factory in Germany and our
  UK customer base.

You can contact them using the following email addresses:

Richard Robinson robi@mknuk.co.uk
Donna Town doto@mknuk.co.uk

We’ve also introduced a dedicated UK landline for incoming service calls and warranty management. If you have any queries on service, maintenance or warranty issues, call 01329 757890.

New MKN Digital Centre

We’ve also launched a new digital broadcast studio, including an integrated show kitchen, to raise the standard of our digital customer support materials.

Online training and support materials will now be filmed, produced and streamed around the world from the state-of-the-art MKN Digital Centre in Germany. This includes livestreams, cooking shows, expert talks, webinars and podcasts, individual training courses and digital seminars.

The technology will enable you to ask questions and request technical details in real time and face-to-face.

Read more about the new Digital Centre here.

Get in touch

To speak to our team about MKN’s professional cooking technology, get in touch. Visit www.mkn.com or call 01329 757890.

Hello and a warm welcome to this month’s edition of connected, and ceda’s 50th anniversary year!

In this landmark year for the association, we’ve got lots to share and celebrate with you. In each edition of connected in 2022 we’ll be reliving ceda’s past, decade by decade, capturing the key events and developments in our history.

On pages 5 and 6 you’ll find a fascinating timeline of ceda over the last 50 years, including some grainy but wonderful images from the very first ceda council meeting and AGM, as well as our very first logo!

This month’s edition also includes details of the Commercial Catering Equipment and Hospitality Industry Walking Group, something many of you will already be familiar with and may have taken part in. Organisers Nick Archer and James Connolly tell us more about the independent well-being group, and how you can join in.

There’s also a write-up on this year’s Northern Restaurant & Bar show and a recap on The Northern Hospitality Scene from the ceda Conference.

We delve into what it means to be sustainable, and how that translates to our sector and there’s an educational piece on SEO (search engine optimisation).

We hope you enjoy this issue of connected and we welcome your feedback and contributions for future editions.

Maidaid are delighted to see that normality is definitely returning. Through hard work, strategic buying and utilizing our warehouse space we have increased our stock holding by more than 25%.

This enables us to meet current demands and continue to support our distributors in anyway we can.

Not only have we increased our stock holding we have also added to our core team here in Brackley, with new people joining throughout the business and the creation of new roles we’ve been able to maintain and enhance our high level of customer service and support.

As a result of the above we are delighted to be able to offer stock and continue same day dispatch across our product ranges.

Adande is pleased to introduce its new, super energy efficient, open display cabinet for retailers and food service operators.

Adande introduces next generation hold-the-cold refrigeration for hospitality, with its new BORA open-display refrigerated cabinet. The integral cabinet brings a new level of energy efficiency to open units of this type with the BORA achieving a B energy class rating, a rating only seen, until now, on refrigeration complete with glass doors. The energy efficiency achieved can save operators up to £1000 per year in electricity alone, per cabinet, compared to other existing open-display units. The Bora helps any company that sells chilled produce reduce their carbon footprint thereby supporting sustainability goals.

Borne of Adande DNA, the Bora like all Adande refrigeration, ‘Holds-the-Cold’. Powered by Adande’s Aircell patented air management technology, the new  cabinet consistently holds the cold air in place, barring it from falling out. This delivers both a stable temperature and precisely controlled humidity which keeps food fresher for longer, reducing food waste.

The energy efficiency and advanced design of the unit, combined with use of a natural refrigerant, R290, means the Bora has one of the lowest impacts on the  environment of any modern refrigerated cabinet.  

In what is yet more good news for operators, the Bora also holds more produce and has high merchandising capacity for its footprint. It has been designed for  convenience at every level with the unit fitting comfortably under a standard door frame, making transport easier. The Bora has also been designed to be a low maintenance refrigerator and as such it contains a reversing fan which keeps the condenser clean to maintain operating performance.  

The cabinet comes in a black or stainless-steel finish (a white finish is also available). Customers may also choose from a wider range of colours, to match a  company’s brand colours or product promotion, for example.

Global Sales Director, Karl Hodgson: “We are really pleased to be able to launch today the new Bora open-display cabinet. The B energy class label rating is a  concrete achievement and leads the way for UK retail refrigeration. I thank all of the  team at Adande for their work to develop it into the best open-display cabinet on  the market. It will undoubtedly save money for customers, in electricity, food waste, and maintenance costs, plus help increase revenue with its large display areas and open-access for shoppers and buyers. I am thrilled that the HRC show is the first venue we can show it, given its suitability to hotels, and restaurants alike. We are taking orders at the show, so do come and see us on stand 419.”  

The Bora is available to order from today, and will now replace the Adande Sarma cabinet. The Bora range qualifies for the super deduction tax scheme introduced  last year by the UK government. See www.gov.uk/guidance/super-deduction for details. 

Since opening its first UK store in 2020 during the Coronavirus pandemic, healthy fast food and casual dining chain, Kauai has served over 200,000 customers at their Edinburgh store. Despite such significant customer footfall, not one of their staff has caught Covid during this time. This is not however, purely down to luck but, according to their recent Tweet, the investment that they made in HyGenikx; the air and surface sanitisation system from Mechline, which has helped to protect staff, despite serving 200,000+ customers.

“We opened KAUAI into Edinburgh during pandemic Aug 2020. After serving more than 200,000 customers no one has caught COVID at @KauaiUK. Kauai have 9 Mechline HyGenikx machines that destroy RNA viruses, SARS-CoV-2 the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.”
– @KauaiUK

Nick Falco Product & Technical Director at Mechline commented:

“It’s great to hear that HyGenikx is helping to protect and reassure staff and customers 24/7 at leading operators like Kauai – and it is essential to the whole economy that we keep the doors of business open. Unfortunately, physically keeping the doors and windows open is not so great when it comes to customer comfort and sustainability in the colder winter months.

“Indoor air quality is a primary driver when it comes to the transmission of Coronavirus. As a tried and tested technology, HyGenikx has a huge role to play in controlling infections – in fact, we believe HyGenikx is the most rigorously tested unit of its type on the market. Affordable and easy to install, HyGenikx is a plug and play solution for a challenging world.”

The Kauai team installed nine HyGenikx units throughout the Edinburgh store where James Wilson, Managing Director at Kauai UK believes its absentee record and food shelf-life bears witness to the effectiveness of HyGenikx, as he explains:

“We have four HyGenikx units front of house, two in the kitchen and one in each toilet, to help protect all areas, staff and customers, and so far, our staff have reported no viral illnesses. Our air is permanently cleansed, and, without question, HyGenikx has helped us maintain a healthy work environment.

“We have also noticed that ingredients are lasting longer. Front of house we have a display kitchen where fresh food is made from scratch and people can watch it being made. Our ingredients are certainly keeping for longer than you would expect, and I believe it is down to the fact we have the HyGenikx machine. Mechline products are certainly going into the next Kauai store!”

The Kauai endorsement for HyGenikx follows independent laboratory trials conducted by Campden BRI, which confirmed that HyGenikx is effective at removing airborne Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 which causes Covid-19 – as the results of the trials proved that HyGenikx removed up to 99.99% of an airborne Covid-19 surrogate.*

HyGenikx is a revolutionary wall-mounted air and surface sanitisation system which is proven to quietly and efficiently eradicate bacteria, viruses and microbes on contact — providing 24/7 hygiene and safety protection without the need for human intervention. It improves infection control for staff and customers, neutralises all odours and is also proven to reduce spoilage by extending the shelf-life of perishable food on average by 58%, and up to 150% for certain produce.**

The HyGenikx range has models to suit every business from restaurants to bars, hotels, care homes and offices – with specialised units available for food preparation areas, cold rooms, washrooms and refuse areas.

*For more information on the HyGenikx testing at Campden BRI visit: https://info.mechline.com/hygenikx-testing/

**For more information on the ALS fresh food shelf life study visit: https://www.mechline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/HyGenikx-Success-Story_-Testing-_-SHELF-LIFE.pdf