Four key concerns for manufacturers and suppliers of catering kitchens

If it is up to Sebastiaan van Rijgersma, General Manager of the largest IBIS hotel in the Netherlands (near Schiphol-North), the "Look and Feel" of the (hospitality) kitchen will not have changed substantially by 2030. Nevertheless, he has wishes - call it an appeal to kitchen manufacturers - to take into account important developments in the hotel industry. Especially at IBIS, part of the Accor Group. "We are substantially different from 'stand-alone restaurants,'" Sebastiaan says. "We need - partly because we are an airport hotel - to be able to deliver 24 hours a day."

First the picture of this hotel just east of Badhoevedorp: as many as 644 rooms, more than 1,000 hotel guests daily, and often extra peak traffic when things go wrong at the airport itself with departing flights and/or delays. "At most two hours in advance we then hear that hundreds of 'stranded' passengers have to be accommodated. And they then also want food and drink."

"For us, then, the credo is that we want to work unabatedly fast and efficiently," Sebastiaan explains. "We need to process large volumes in 'no time'. This demands quite a lot from our work logistics. I think that really needs no further explanation. However, if I then cast a glance into the future, say to the year 2030, there remains a major challenge: where can we find the right quality of employees on the labor market? So also for the kitchen. For us it is therefore essential that we can offer good training-on-the-job in a kitchen, where we can make the kitchen processes more efficient."

That need for efficiency, according to Sebastiaan, is an important first "condition" for kitchen manufacturers who (want to) supply the hospitality industry to consider. "Secondly, I mention our business goal of being energy efficient. I don't think we will be unique in this, by the way: this will be an issue for many hospitality companies. Yes, energy costs have gone up for us too. But even more important: for the entire group - the AccorGroup - it has also become a mission to take good care of our planet. This means that we must also be able to switch to fully electric in the catering kitchens. Sustainability is really a theme."

Sebastiaan continues with a third area of concern, which has been even higher on the agenda since the corona pandemic: hygiene. "Of course we have always paid attention to this in the workplace. But since the corona virus, a new awareness has emerged. I am thinking, for example, of the surface cleaning of (kitchen) countertops. Actually, we want to limit the use of cleaning agents. After all, that also provides sustainability. But that does mean that those countertops must also be - or become - of such quality that you hardly need any cleaning agents. But there's something else, when talking about hygiene. Designers and builders of (kitchen) spaces should want to cooperate more with kitchen appliance manufacturers in the future. Because how troublesome is it when there is a beautiful curve in a wall, but kitchen appliances are still rectangular. You then get gaps and holes. Not good for your hygiene goals!"

Finally, Sebastian mentions the fourth goal: reducing waste. "You want to be able to reuse food items, that were not chosen from a buffet, for example, preferably the next day. So there will be more need for Blast Chillers, for example. Or Alto Shaams. As far as I'm concerned, those technologies may develop even further."

"Therefore, I think that in the market - and also in the chain - by the year 2030 we have been able to make a big step," Sebastiaan concludes. "On the other hand, I also say: these themes will never disappear. They are continuous developments. But ... we as a group do think that the success of implementing all these necessary requirements for the catering kitchen is very much dependent on the willingness of the producers. In other words: how do they take on this role?"