HTA Catering Conference 2018 - ‘A Recipe for Growth’
Bookings are now open for the HTA Catering Conference 2018, ‘A Recipe for Growth’, which takes place on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 June at Birmingham Botanical Gardens. This successful two-day event and dinner is aimed at all those in garden centre catering from business owners and managers to chefs and front of house staff.
The conference this year moves to a new apt venue – Birmingham Botanical Gardens, which provides a great in-keeping back drop to the event. Alongside the conference and dinner there will be an exhibition showcasing garden centre catering suppliers with plenty of opportunity for networking with peers across the industry.
Amongst the first speakers to be confirmed for the conference are Jim Cregan, Founder of Jimmy’s Iced Coffee’s. After getting incredibly frustrated with working as a labourer, shifting bricks in the winter and hosting major UK festival stages dressed as a mermaid in the summer, Jim realised enough was enough and decided to head to Oz, it was there he fell in love with iced coffee and returned home to start his own company. Jimmy’s Iced Coffee was formed in 2011 and with his sister as his business partner, a great deal of hard work and enthusiasm, they’ve built a successful business in the UK.
Jim will be the keynote speaker on Tuesday 5 June where the focus for the day is on strategy and operations.
The second day of the conference, Wednesday 6 June, focusses on food. We will be joined by Paul Hargreaves, Founder and Chief Exec of Cotswold Fayre, a speciality & fine food wholesaler. Paul will be focusing his session on food trends to watch out for throughout 2018 and into 2019.
Jane Land, Founder of Veganuary, a charity that has encouraged over 200,000 people to try vegan for the month of January, will also be joining us on day two. With millennials moving towards meat free and free from foods, Jane will be talking about how you can make sure you are catering for all diets and why this shift in attitude towards plant based diet is gaining momentum.
HTA Communications Manager Gill Ormrod comments, “The HTA Catering Conference provides an unrivalled opportunity for all those involved in garden centre catering to get the latest ideas and inspiration about trends, issues and views from the industry and the wider hospitality sector. With the new venue of Birmingham Botanic Gardens this year’s events promises to be better than ever!”
Look out for further details about the programme which will be available in the coming weeks.
Exhibitors booked to attend so far include BIRA, Citation, Frobishers Juices Ltd, Newbery International Produce Ltd, The Handmade Cake Company and Vision Commercial Kitchens.
For details about sponsorship opportunities at the event please contact the HTA Commercial team: Tim Bell on 07808 775177 / tim.bell@hta.org.uk or Phil Swainston on01235 776181 / phil.swainston@hta.org.uk
