Food and Drink

The latest news and updates on food, from the business journalists at Catering Today. We bring you the latest on what’s happening in the restaurants, bars and catering industry, with exclusive stories, analysis, best practice and industry comment.

Sep- 2018 -

11 September

Number of licensed F&B businesses drops by 3000 in a year

Britain has 3,116 fewer restaurants, pubs, bars and other licensed premises than 12 months ago, according to the latest Market Growth Monitor, from CGA and AlixPartners. The report showed there were 119,800 licensed sites across the country in June 2018 – a fall of 2.5% since June 2017. On average,…
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10 September

Padella faces vegan and vegetarian ‘backlash’ over Instagram post

Padella based in London’s Borough Market has faced a vegan and vegetarian backlash over an Instagram post which showed a dead grouse alongside a knife with the caption “Grouse soon to be ragu”. In the image the grouse is placed on a red chopping board with visible blood with the…
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6 September

London jerk chicken restaurant Buster Mantis goes vegan

South east London jerk chicken restaurant, Buster Mantis has announced it is to make “dramatic” changes in the kitchen in order to turn fully vegan. The change to plant-based food inspired by Jamaican cuisine was made following successful pop-ups hosted by chef Denai Moore, who is famous for her vegan…
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5 September

Mandatory calorie labelling could cause ‘serious burden’, warns UKHospitality

UKHospitality has warned that the introduction of inflexible mandatory calorie labelling could present a “serious burden” for hospitality businesses. The warning follows reports that the government is preparing the launch of a consultation on a requirement for businesses to provide calorie labelling on menus. The Department of Health is proposing…
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3 September

Mille Patisserie to open Paddington site

Mille Patisserie has announced it is to open a new Paddington site this month offering the mille crepes made famous in London by Kova Patisserie. The mille crepe consists of layers of crepe and creme patisserie stacked together to form a cake. Ingredients for the company’s chocolate, lemon, matcha, and…
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Aug- 2018 -

28 August

Food prices to increase following ‘extreme’ UK weather

Food prices in the UK could increase by as much as 5% due to the heatwave and ‘Beast from the East’, research by Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has suggested. Between March and July, the wholesale “farm gate” prices of some staples increased by up to 80%. The…
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23 August

Frederick Forster returns to D&D London as Plateau’s head chef

Luxury restaurant group D&D London has appointed Frederick Forster as the new head chef at its Plateau restaurant in London’s Canary Wharf. Forster has already worked for the group, joining in 2015 as its head chef at Le Pont de la Tour, but left in 2017 and was replaced by…
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23 August

New research reveals beef burger is the most popular restaurant meal

New research has revealed the beef burger as the most popular “out of home dinner” for the second year in a row. Burgers are closely followed by curry and then pizza, which overtook fish and chips this year according to research by food service specialists Kara, which says the results…
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21 August

MP accuses Jamie Oliver of ‘cultural appropriation’

Labour MP Dawn Butler has accused chef Jamie Oliver of “cultural appropriation” over his ‘Jerk Rice’ product. In a Tweet to Oliver, Butler said: “I’m just wondering do you know what Jamaican jerk actually is? It’s not just a word you put before stuff to sell products. Levi Roots should…
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9 August

AccorHotels reports ‘success’ with UK urban gardens initiative

AccorHotels has reported successful growth in its sustainable food initiative, with 26 of the group’s UK properties now containing an urban vegetable garden. According to the brand the garden at Novotel London Waterloo produced enough pesticide-free salad last year to supply the green salad bar for 28 days in total,…
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