< PreviousPITCH ME BIOPAK COMPOSTABLE PACKAGING With humanity’s appetite for convenience, consumption habits showing no signs of slowing down, and with a mounting global waste crisis, the need for sustainable packaging solutions is critical. SUSTAINABLE FOODSERVICE PACKAGING SOLUTIONS In a circular economy, there is no waste. This model is slowly replacing the current linear ‘take-make- dispose’ model where vast amounts of resources end up in landfi ll. BioPak products are designed for a circular economy, using rapidly renewable and sus- tainably sourced materials that can be organically recycled in commercial compost facilities, along with food scraps, after use. PLASTIC BANS ARE COMING There is a growing awareness about the negative effects on the environmental caused by single-use foodservice packaging, in particular packaging made from conventional plastics derived from fi nite fossil resource. An increasing number of countries and cities have announced that foodservice disposables made from conventional plastic will be phased out and eventu- ally banned. We support the adoption of reusables wherever possible, but are also aware that single-use foodservice packaging provides the most practical, cost-effective, effi cient and hygienic way to serve food. PACKAGING MADE FROM PLANTS, NOT CONVENTIONAL PLASTIC BioPak produces more sustainable alternatives to disposable single-use packag- ing for the foodservice industry, offering compostable packaging solutions made from rapidly renew- able, plant-based raw materials. Plus, plant-based materials have a lower environ- mental footprint than their fossil counterparts. 100% CARBON NEUTRAL PACKAGING All BioPak products are carbon neutral — meaning all the carbon emissions associated with the produc- FIND OUT MORE E: @biopak.packaging W: duni.com tion, transport and disposal of our products has been offset. And all manufacturing facilities are certifi ed to local and interna- tional environmental standards. TOWARDS ZERO WASTE BioPak designs products for a circular economy – where there is no waste. Products are certifi ed either home or commercially compostable, and this year, in a bid to reduce impact BioPak launched its own Compost Service in Australia and New Zealand – a recycling revolution designed to close the loop, divert waste from landfi ll, and stop plastic pollution. Plant-based compostable packaging is the fi rst step towards zero waste with the next step being the introduction of industrial composting to close the loop and address the broader issue of food waste ending up in landfi ll. We hope to partner with the local waste management industry to explore circular solutions for our packaging in the United Arab Emirates. Pitch Me BioPak Compostable Packaging www.caterermiddleeast.com 40/ Caterer Middle East | October 2019New Pr oducts Every month, Caterer brings you a selection of the must-buys on the Middle East market Monin Fruit Mixes and Syrups Date fruit mix A symbol of wealth and abundance in many countries in the Middle East, dates have great nutritional value due especially if had with a glass of milk. Rich, complex fl avours with hints of herbs and fruitiness, this date puree provides unique functionality when used with milk, yoghurt and other drinks and desserts. Take a journey to the Middle East with this great tasting date puree. Saffron syrup The king of spice when it comes to price, saffron is the world’s most expen- sive spice. This is in part due to its growing process where only a small part of the saffron fl ower is used to produce this luxury spice. With its unmistaka- ble fl oral, herbal and exotic scent and taste, it is easy to see why saffron is always in demand. Le Sirop de Monin Saffron is great for adventurous cocktails as well as teas, coffees, lemonade and culinary applications. Fig fruit mix Soft pear-shaped fruit with dark fl esh and many small seeds. Fig is a species of fl owering plant in mulberry family and widely grown throughout the world. The fl esh of ripe fi g is pulpy, jellylike, but also grainy from the seeds, and a dense stringiness. Le Fruit de Monin used the fi nest quality of ingredients. With strong and sweet in taste with a hint of sour, Le Fruit de Monin is ideal to use in cocktail, mocktails, smoothies and in hot drinks. Monin T: +971-52-746-5222 E: ocassidy@monin.com W: www.monin.com Bravilor Bonamat Hot Water Machines Tea is the most popular hot drink worldwide, so it is only logical that Bravilor Bonamat has replaced its hot water range with a completely new product line. Earlier this year, Bravilor Bonamat launched five new HWA machines, developed to meet the current needs of the customer. For example, the machines take up little space thanks to the narrow product design and compact footprint. The 6D and 14D models feature dosing buttons that automatically fill each cup making them ideal for busy hospitality businesses. The models with a free-flow tap are for manual use and fill each cup, mug, or decanter quickly with the desired amount of hot water. The automatic refill system ensures that hot water is always immediately available. Bravilor Bonamat W: www.bravilor.com Nespresso Vertuo The Vertuo system changes the way coffee is made by introducing Centrifusion, the unique rotational extraction technology, and a new range of capsule sizes that together allow for different coffee styles from espresso to a large cup. At the touch of a button, the intelligent system automatically recognises the coffee capsule through barcode reading and adjusts extraction parameters to create the perfect full-bodied coffee, fi nished with a silky and generous crema. Vertuo also offers three different sized capsules, creating a range of fi ve coffee cup sizes. Each of the 28 Vertuo coffees is carefully blended and roasted to deliver a quality coffee experience, whatever the occasion. The Mug size (230mL) gives a well-balanced body and bouquet of gentle aromas, complementing The Gran Lungos (150ml) offering the prolonged pleasure of an espresso. The largest size, Alto (414ml) serves up delicate aromatic taste to be enjoyed in a longer cup size. Finally Nespresso drinkers can enjoy a the intense fl avors of the Double Espresso (80 ml) and Espresso (40ml). Nestle Nespresso W: www.nestle-nespresso.com www.caterermiddleeast.com 42/ Caterer Middle East | October 2019 Supplier News New Products Santos Kitchen Blender Santos kitchen blender #37 is the ideal appli- ance for mixing, liquefying and crushing all kinds of hot and cold preparations such as gazpachos, soups, purées and creams. In addition to a silent, powerful and reliable commercial motor, the kitchen blender #37 is equipped with new highly resistant blades which give it a high quality blending by crushing hard in- gredients such as ice cubes and lobster carcass. Its variable speed (up to 15 000 rpm) creates a powerful vortex that can mix any kind of ingredients, liquid or solid. The new blender #37 also includes a pulse function (18 000 rpm) for an optimal result. The exclusive patented Santosafe locking system for the bowl and the cover allows a hands free use and protects the user by stopping the motor when the locking system is opened. Santos W: www.santos.fr Ajax Chef ’s Knife Friedr. Dick has created an impressive chef's knife that will not just have men's hearts beating faster. The blade design can be traced back to the historic shape of a cleaver, a tried-and-tested tool for butchers and meat traders. The 22 cm long blade glides through meat like a knife through butter and continues even when it encounters small bones. Wheth- er meat, poultry, fruit, or vegetables — the Ajax is a real all-rounder. The knife's curved cutting edge make rocking cuts easy, enabling raw fi sh and meat, but also herbs, to be cut effortlessly. The 1905 series combines a historic design with state-of-the- art production technology and continues to captivate with its exceptional appearance. Friedr. Dick W: www.dick.de Being a baker means always aiming for the best. Saf-instant has developed a new, even more efficient yeast, which guarantees stronger powers of fermentation and top quality bread to help you meet the challenges of the industry on a daily basis. Let’s make it happen ! NEW LOOKING FOR TOP PERFORMANCE? www.caterermiddleeast.com /43 October 2019 | Caterer Middle East New Products Supplier News PRODUCTS Chum Salmon Chum salmon has a mild fl avour, medium texture, is low sodium and has a well-balanced fat content which is higher than wild Pink Salmon but lower than the Sockeye Salmon. Chum Salmon is best when its skin is bright and meat colour of a deep violet pink. This fi sh is arriving IQF frozen of 2,5+ kg average fi sh weight and separate frozen fi llets of 0.8kg to 1 kg weight. Sealand Pacifi c Seafood Trading T: +971 50 945 8303 E: info@sealand-resources.com W: www.sealandresources.org Trading platform: www.sealand-resources.com David Herve Oysters To cater for the upcoming end-of-the-year season, Chef Middle East is intro- ducing a well-known brand of premium fresh oysters from France, David Hervé, coming with a wide selection of types and sizes, including the popular “Fine”, fi ne de Claire, the round “Ronce”, the “Royale”, ideal for a hot dish and many more to surprise and impress your guests. Chef Middle East W: www.chefmiddleeast.com Industry experts talk us through the depths of the seafood market ALL AT SEA Seafood www.caterermiddleeast.com 44/ Caterer Middle East | October 2019 Ingredient FocusWith online searches for seafood increas- ing hugely in the GCC, could we be seeing a surge in popularity for all types of fi sh? According to digital marketing fi rm SEMrush, searches for seafood increased by 820% in the KSA and by 170% in the UAE, and homegrown fi rms such as Dibba Bay Oysters are pioneers in producing local seafood. It’s something noticed by Marina Buznikova of Sealand Pacifi c Seafood Trading who tells us that, “historically the Middle East has been more carnivore than anything else. Nowadays, the situ- ation is rapidly changing. The UAE was a bit faster than others at responding to consumer demands and changing prefer- ences. The last couple years has seen the emergence of an oyster and a salmon farm. Both seem to be quite successful in their endeavours. The trend for higher fi sh consumption is observable in other countries of the Middle East as well and will most probably be growing as trade relationships with other countries grow and improve.” With regional demand expected to be over US$7 billion by 2021, there’s surely never been a better time to be involved in the sea- OPERATIONS food industry — but unfortunately, a number of issues mean it’s not all plain sailing. “Availability and seasons are the two biggest challenges for the seafood sourc- ing business. As a distributor, we really try our best to source all our products in the right season and at the best possible price. Our supply chain network is help- ing us a lot in sourcing our products with a very competitive price. We are directly sourcing from all around the world– USA, Europe, India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam etc. - which allow us to get the best quality products at a competing price point,” says Chef Middle East’s Mathews Philip — sea- food and Asian category manager at Chef Middle East That search for quality is uppermost on the customer’s mind, agrees Buznikova, who says that Sealand “observe that the general consumer is becoming much more attentive towards his food quality and content. People are more aware of the possible presence of chemical preserva- tives, heavy metals, antibiotics in their plate and are trying to avoid them. The present trend is to consume ‘organically bred’ seafood but sooner or later people will turn back to the basics and recognize that the healthiest alternative is the one presented by nature itself, i.e. wild fi sh and wild seafood.” Customers’ knowledge is also improv- ing, and they are beginning to question the provenance of their seafood, and demanding that it is sustainably sourced. Philip says this keener interest in their products is a positive thing. “There are many types of misleading practices happening in the market. We, at Chef Middle East, are very transpar- ent with our products and sourcing and always try our level best to educate our customers about our products standards and specifi cations. Most of them are ready and eager to learn about it, though it is not always so easy to convert them imme- diately. Some customers would need to be more knowledgeable about the products to ensure they are not being cheated. Buy- ing their products from reputed source is also one of the best way to avoid such trouble from some malevolent suppliers.” Ultimately though, Philip believes “the growth of the seafood industry is on the right track”. www.caterermiddleeast.com /45 October 2019 | Caterer Middle East Dibba Bay Oysters have become the must-have item on any seafood menu, founder Ramie Murray tells us how the UAE- based company is navigating the industry Main challenge Dibba Bay Oysters is facing in the industry? We are currently blessed that the biggest problem we have at the moment is meeting demand! We have had a great few years raising awareness about our locally grown product and have been lucky enough that interest and support from chefs and consumers has been growing rapidly, however keeping up with the growing demand has meant a break neck speed of expansion. We recently took on a large investment to enable us to expand the farm and the fruits of this expansion will start to kick in early October with our projected monthly output to hit around 150,000 oysters per month by the end of the year. We have been previously limited to 30,000 a month, but not consistently — with the new expansion we have the resources to start to meet demand and maintain this higher level of production every month. How concerned are you about the rising cost of raw seafood? Dibba Bay Oysters, despite being of the highest quality are incredibly well priced. As a producer I am of course a bit biased regarding pricing and feel farmers and fi shermen should be getting a fair price for their products. Globally, wild fi sh stocks are dwindling so it makes sense that prices for wild caught seafood will only ever increase. As the world switches NEWS to satisfying seafood demand with a higher and higher percentage of product produced by aquaculture, then, as long as there is adequate investment in the sector (which I believe there is for main species such as salmon) then theoretically prices should be fairly stable for farmed products. How quickly is the industry growing in the Middle East and what direction do you see it taking? As I said we are expanding aggressively to meet demand. There is large farmed bass and bream output now, mainly from Fish Farm who amazingly have also started indoor salmon production. There is now farmed hammour from Abu Dhabi (such a tasty fi sh but is endangered in the wild here now, so fantastic it’s being farmed) and locally farmed prawns also from Abu Dhabi. Oman and KSA have several aquaculture projects but I think the main thing is that regionally every government now recognises the huge importance of aquaculture for food security and also the carbon footprint and unnecessary transport costs generated by importing up to 80% of their seafood when they are surrounded by the sea. What are you doing to improve sustainability and what does the industry need to do as a whole? We are 100% sustainable as we are buying spat (baby oysters) from a hatchery and so not taking anything from wild populations, this is where farmed products are fantastic compared to wild capture. The world’s wild fi sheries are all over exploited and most are in terminal decline - consumers are waking up to this but more needs to be done with the fi rst step being for the industry to get serious as a whole about traceability. What is the one main trend you’re seeing in the seafood sector right now? The main trend I am seeing is an increasing end consumer interest in products that they can verify, the more local the better. I used to drive my wife mad when we went to restaurants and I would patiently ask the waiter/waitress exactly where each seafood product was from, which he/she would invariably respond that they would ‘get back to me’. Now I think enough consumers are starting to really care that restaurants have realised that they need to take into account exactly where their seafood is coming from, has it been sustainably sourced, and also make sure their staff are aware. What does the future hold for dibba bay? We will be opening the fi rst of several planned farm shop/cafes in Jumeirah (Um Sequim 1 harbour) from which we will also start home deliveries, we will be available in most major supermarkets as well as all your favourite hotels. We will fi nally be starting farm tours and beginning to export regionally and internationally. If you want to keep up to date with what we are up to I would recommend following us on Instagram (dibbabay) or Facebook (dibbabayoysters) as this is where we will announce when the shop is opening and the tours starting etc. © Seafood www.caterermiddleeast.com 46/ Caterer Middle East | October 2019 BrandviewMake a Bold Move. For the best results from your kitchen now is the time to think quick smart. The Turbofan range of convection ovens, proofer and holding cabinets and combi steamer ovens will deliver all the options for a truly huge range of cooking applications. From roasting and cooking, baking, proofing, cook ‘n’ hold and reheating, your protein and bakery products will be delivered with perfect results each and every time. With manual control, digital display and the one touch options, moisture injection and core temperature probe models, kitchens now have even greater choice. All the speed. All the smarts. 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Big performance, beautiful design and bold results - get ready to make your definitive kitchen statement.Richemont Masterbaker Pastry and Baking Championships Caterer Middle East | October 2019 www.caterermiddleeast.com 48 / Events PASTRY AND BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP FINALISTS REVEALED Eight chefs are through to the Richemont Masterbaker Pastry and Baking Championships fi nal in October After two days of intense live heats, the fi nalists of the Richemont Master- baker Pastry and Baking Cham- pionship 2019 were revealed. Qualifying chefs battled it out at the Richemont Masterbaker Centre of Excellence in Baking and Pastry in Dubai’s JLT, aim- ing to become the four pastry chefs and four bakery chefs to make it to the fi nal. With the prize of an all-ex- penses paid trip to Richemont Centre of Excellence for Bak- ery, Confectionery and Choco- late Luzern, Switzerland up for grabs, each of the chefs had to complete a number of chal- lenges aimed at testing not only their creativity, but their abil- ity to work under pressure and complete what was asked of them in the brief. Judge Paul Hayward said: “The competition is unique at the moment as a lot of others are static and all visual, there’s very few live cooking competi- tions for this amount of time in a real, live environment.” Another of the judges, Pascal Clair, said he and the rest of the panel would be looking for the basic fundamental skills in each competitor and then seeing who could take it the next level. After speaking to the chefs, judge Hayward said: “They were so happy to talk to us and get feedback and they were pleased with what they did. For me it’s a pleasure to see the next generation of chefs and the pas- sion they have.” Vieilleville added to that, call- ing on the chefs to “respect the product” as “someday these people will be leaders and they will have to pass down the knowledge to other people”. It wasn’t just the chefs learn- ing from the judges, with head of faculty for Richemont Mas- terbaker Christiane Trilck say- ing that even for the judges with upwards of 20 years’ experi- ence each in the industry, they never stop learning and had picked up new techniques from the competition. At the end of a tough but ex- citing two days, the winners were announced. Lawal Sharaff of Mix Pastry & Sweets Al Ain, Jisson Paul of Five Palm Jumei- rah, Cindy Kosasih of Caesars Bluewaters Dubai, and Rushi Mei-Li of Caesars Bluewaters Dubai will be the fi nal four pas- try chefs, and Mahesh Kamble of Grand Hyatt, Joseph Casapao of Scarlet’s Bakery & Patisserie, Dubai, Bishal Sunuwar of Grand Hyatt Dubai, and Sajan Pokhrel of Park Hyatt Dubai beat the competition to become the bak- ery chef fi nalists. The Richemont Masternaker Pastry and Baking Champion- ship 2019 fi nal heats will be held on October 1 and 2. For more images from the heats check out for updates on the gallery page at www.cham- pionship-richemont-masterbak- er.com or to fi nd out how you can develop your Pastry & Bak- ing skills see: www.richemont- masterbaker.com Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx Jisson Paul Lawal Sharaff Cindy KosasihRushi Mei Li Sajan PokhrelBishal SunuwarRichemont Masterbaker Pastry and Baking Championships www.caterermiddleeast.com /49 October 2019 | Caterer Middle East Events Joseph CasapaoMahesh Jaydas KambleThe judgesNext >