The third edition of The London Produce Show was a bit different to other years, instead of kicking off with the Cocktail Party on Wednesday evening it was straight down to business on Wednesday morning with a brand new Foodservice Forum. It was a full house, or ballroom at the Grosnover Hotel in London's Park Lane.Perishable Pundit, Jim Prevor opened the event by saying how half a decade ago he started the New York Produce Show and had a dream to change the world by putting produce first, making vegetables the centrepiece of the plate and not just a bit on the side.
Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc and his son Oli took to the stage next, Raymond said we were entering a new era where the consumer will have a huge impact on growers, packers and retailers. He said it was not a French Revolution but a British Revolution!.
Oli spoke about the need to get kids involved in food, these days most kids think that fresh produce just comes from the supermarket and this needed to change starting in the home. This sentiment was repeated through the day by the various speakers.
Host Jason Danciger, Ian Nottage, Chef Director at Reynols and Sean Burlinson, Director of Food at POD discussed how Growers, Chefs and Foodservice providers need to work together and take some risks while trying to keep the prices down. In order for new, niche products to succeed risks need to be taken, some may fail but in five or ten years some will be mainstream.
They also discussed how consumers are becoming more aware of where produce comes from and are conscious of food miles but UK grown produce is not always an option as quality and price is what makes products sell. Predictions for future trends: Heirloom vegetables, sprouted grains and Jack fruit.
Richie Bisset, Senior Client Manager at MCA, a company who track trends and gather stats on the food and restaurant industry, spoke about the growth of the 'out of home' market which grew by 2.9% last year. Eating out is becoming more common and less formal and street food is seeing a massive increase.
Next up was Andy Clark, producer of Saturday Kitchen and popular daytime TV talk show Richard and Judy, who is passionate about putting live cooking and lots of food on TV. He spoke about the ups and downs of cooking on live TV and said that in his experience chefs want good quality seasonal produce and while some consumers want to see dishes prepared where they can just pop out and buy all the ingredients at the local supermarket, others want the challenge of having to source obscure items at markets or ethnic shops.
The Foodservice Forum panel consisting of Ian Nottage, Sean Burlinson, Stefan Catoui, Co founder of Vita Moja and Nicholas St Peter, Executive Chef at Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott Hotel, discussed how to create a successful menu and add new products without 'scaring off' the diners or consumers.
Sean said one solution is to combine new products with familiar ones and use them in a few dishes, while Nicholas said nostalgia was a big factor, take something traditional and add a twist.
When asked about the Brexit referendum most of the panel would like to stay in the EU due to supply, prices and labour issues.
The discussion ended with a general consensus that parents should be doing more to educated kids about food and healthy eating, schools should also do more.