Casual Dining Innovation Challenge Awards 2019

Casual Dining Innovation Challenge Awards – new product preview

Press Releases

Buyers looking for the latest innovations will have plenty to keep them busy at Casual Dining 2019, with more new products to see, sample and demo than ever. The Innovation Challenge Gallery is a great starting point to see what’s new and launching onto the market.  Vote for your favourite at the show (10am-4pm on Wednesday 27 Feb) and then watch the live Innovation Challenge final – where shortlisted exhibitors wow this year’s judges with a killer innovation pitch in 90-seconds or less – on the show’s second day (from 11.15am on Thursday 28 Feb in Keynote Theatre 2). This…

‘See you at ExCeL’: UK’s biggest Casual Dining event back in London this week

Press Releases

Thousands of restaurant, pub and bar buyers will be heading to London for Casual Dining this week.  Doors open this Wednesday at ExCeL (10am, 27 February) with 5,000+ attendees expected over two days. Among them will be some of the biggest buyers in the business, with nearly a third of pre-registered visitors (to date) citing a corporate spend in excess of £1m (15% report £10m-plus budgets).

Casual Dining 2019

Casual Dining’s drinks menu set to refresh the nation

Press Releases

Menus across the UK are set to get a refresh next week, as thousands of restaurant, pub and bar buyers head to the Casual Dining trade show (at London ExCeL on 27-28 February) for their annual tasting extravaganza. Thanks to a 35% increase in alcohol brands, this year’s event (which boasts 220 exhibitors in total, including food, drink, equipment and catering tech) will showcase hundreds of beers, ciders, wines and spirits (plus low/no alcohol variants) for casual dining operators.  Plus, another 40+ exhibiting brands (there’s 220 exhibitors in total, including food, equipment & technology) will be sampling premium soft drinks…

Jo Fleet, MD of Flat Iron

Speaker Q&A (2019): Jo Fleet, Flat Iron

Speaker Q&As

Next up is Jo Fleet, MD of Flat Iron, who’ll be taking part in an exclusive panel session on ‘Coping with Crisis’.  Head to Casual Dining’s Keynote Theatre 2 on opening day to hear expert advice from Jo — plus the Yummy Pub Co’s Tim Foster, MEATliquor’s MD Scott Collins, Brian Keeley-Whiting, owner of Whiting & Hammond, and Simon Stenning, founder of FutureFoodservice.com — on how to protect yourselves, your teams, your customers, your property and your brand in the event of disaster. Prior to joining Flat Iron in 2017, Jo was MD at Wahaca for seven years.  She also spent over…

Speaker Q&A (2019): Anna-Marie Mason, Mitchells & Butlers

Speaker Q&As

Next up in our series of speaker Q&As, we speak to Anna-Marie Mason, director of brand marketing at Mitchells & Butlers. In her talk ‘No channel is an island – the crusade for seamless guest experience” on the second day of the show, she’ll be discussing how to design and deliver the ideal guest experience, to meet and exceed their expectations, profitably. What restaurant & pub operators do you particularly admire and why? I value brands that consistently deliver on their image and ‘promise’ – that’s why I admire the Inception Group for their innovative concepts and ability to deliver…

Gordon Ker, Blacklock

Speaker Q&A (2019): Gordon Ker, Blacklock

Speaker Q&As

Meet Gordon Ker, a former lawyer turned waiter turned restaurateur, who founded Blacklock in an old basement brothel on Great Windmill Street in Soho in 2015. His second steak restaurant and chophouse, Blacklock City, opened in 2017 and the latest member of the family, Blacklock Shoreditch on Rivington Street, opened its doors in September 2018. He’ll be appearing in an opening day panel session alongside other industry high flyers (including Sarah Weir, MD of Albion & East, Steve Moore, CEO of Flight Club, and the NWTC’s Chris Hill) to talk about what’s next for their brands. What restaurant & pub operators do you…

Dave Lewis, Operations Director – Browns, Brasserie & Bar

Speaker Q&A (2019): Dave Lewis, Browns Brasserie & Bar

Speaker Q&As

Dave Lewis is operations director of Browns Brasserie & Bar. A new speaker for Casual Dining 2019, he’ll be taking part in day two’s must-attend Operations Director panel (28 Feb), alongside Baton Berisha from The Ivy Collection, Brian Trollip from Dishoom, Jo Childs from Yo! Sushi, Gavin Smith from Pizza Pilgrim, and Mark Stretton, MD of Fleet Street Communications. What restaurant & pub operators do you particularly admire and why? Over the last few years I have kept a keen interest in Brasserie Blanc, their food and drink proposition has adapted over the years staying true to their heritage. I am particularly…

Brian Trollip from Dishoom speaking at Casual Dining show

Speaker Q&A (2019): Brian Trollip, Dishoom

Speaker Q&As

Our next speaker Q&A features Brian Trollip, chief operations wallah of Dishoom, who has been overseeing the day-to-day running of Dishoom’s operations since 2010.  He’ll be taking part in the show’s first ever Operations Director panel discussion (28 Feb), alongside Baton Berisha from The Ivy Collection, Jo Childs from Yo! Sushi, Dave Lewis from Browns Brasserie & Bar, Gavin Smith from Pizza Pilgrim, and (chair) Mark Stretton, MD of Fleet Street Communications. What restaurant & pub operators do you particularly admire and why? Brian and the guys behind Super 8 restaurants do a brilliant job with Brat, Kiln and Smoking Goat. On…

Casual Dining Innovation Challenge Awards 2019

Going for gold – Casual Dining’s Innovation Challenge Awards boasts record entries  

Press Releases

Buyers looking for the latest must-have innovations will have plenty to keep them busy at Casual Dining this month, at London ExCeL on 27-28 February, with more new products to see, sample and demo than ever. The UK’s biggest restaurant, pub and bar event of the year has already confirmed a record 220 exhibitors (all space is now sold), including recent additions like Kellogg’s – Pringles, Uber Eats, Tudor Tea & Coffee, Kingfisher Beer Europe, Vivera, Quorso, and Food Alert.  Now it’s announced that a record 54 Innovation Challenge Awards entries will be going head-to-head to be named ‘best new…