Food & Catering Zone given more prominence at Glee
With catering and food sales continuing to offer major add-on profit opportunities for garden centres, Glee will be offering retailers extensive inspiration at a more prominent Food & Catering Zone this year, supported by sponsors Vision Commercial Kitchens.
The Glee Food & Catering Zone, now in its second year, is designed to give garden retailers an unrivalled opportunity to gather best practice examples, advice, contacts and products to help them initiate or improve their catering offering.
As well as a wide range of exhibitors offering food and drink products, equipment and related services, retailers will find three dedicated areas of catering inspiration to explore.
One area will comprise a walk-through Case Study gallery showcasing catering excellence across a range of sectors, from food courts and hotel chains to farm shops and pasta bars.
The gallery will also pinpoint the trends and tastes that matter to today’s shoppers, for garden retailers toapply to their own locations.
A second area will offer hands-on Workshop sessions each day, enabling visitors to pick the brains of experts in areas such as menu selection, catering equipment, staffing and consumertrends.
A third section will bring together a selection of innovative, on-trend Product Ideas to help garden retailers enhance their catering presentation techniques, tableware and more.
Would-be caterers will also be able to watch live ‘cook-off’ demonstrations, using Rational Combi Ovens to show the impressive speed and quality that can be achieved in commercial cooking – from breakfasts through to evening meals.
Vision Commercial Kitchens’ managing director Jack Sharkey, who is also Chairman of the Catering Equipment Distributors Association (CEDA), explains: “Glee’s aim, like ours, is to arm garden retailers with every tool and technique they need to meet the growing demand for on-site food and refreshments.
"Our galleries, workshops and cooking demonstrations will offer a chance to learn from best practice in a range of sectors, to meet the experts and to explore the latest trends. It’s a chance not to be missed for any garden centre wanting to build their catering profits.”
Glee Event Manager Matthew Mein added: “We are delighted to welcome Vision Commercial Kitchens back on board as sponsor of our Food & Catering Zone, as well as all the exhibitors in this field.
"Catering plays a significant and growing role in garden retailing these days, and we invite everyone looking to enhance their food offering to make the most of the unprecedented expertise, contacts and ideas that will be brought together at Glee.”
To find out about the Glee Food & Catering Zone, or how to exhibit, visit www.gleebirmingham.com, or call the Glee team on 0203 033 2197. Glee takes place at the NEC on September 15-17.
"Our galleries, workshops and cooking demonstrations will offer a chance to learn from best practice in a range of sectors, to meet the experts and to explore the latest trends. It’s a chance not to be missed for any garden centre wanting to build their catering profits.”
