The future of rapid delivery, the emergence of ethical foie gras and the industry's 100 most influential women

It's been a busy couple of weeks in the world of food, drink and hospitality. The chaos at Number 10 has been reverberating around the industry, as we watch with baited breath to see who might assume the top role, and the supply chain issues continue to cause significant challenges throughout the world of food & drink.

Here at Montgomery Events we've been busy preparing for our autumn trade shows - Speciality & Fine Food Fair (5-6 September) and the Independent Hotel Show (4-5 October) - which for both has meant awards judging days!

While judges from Selfridges, Harrods, Mindful Chef and more poured over innovative food & drink products and potential sustainability champions at Montgomery Group HQ for the Speciality & Fine Food Fair Awards, our esteemed panel of hoteliers were kindly hosted by Grosvenor House Suites to decide on shortlist for the Independent Hotelier award.

Innovation has been rife in the food & drink sector over the pandemic, with huge numbers of new products and businesses emerging to challenge preconceptions and inspire retailers in the sector.

Once such business is Foie Royale, an ethical alternative to traditional foie gras, which is set to launch a number of new products at this year's Speciality & Fine Food Fair. The team behind the business spent seven years of R&D working with the Institute of Food Technology to perfect their process, break down the cells and fuse them in the same composition as foie gras.

I spoke to Managing Director Mike Logut to learn more about the business:

Elsewhere in the industry, this week saw CODE Hospitality launch its Most Influential Women in Hospitality list for 2022. Since launching in 2018 the list has celebrating some truly inspiration women in the industry, from chefs and food writers to hoteliers and entrepreneurs, all with an amazing passion for what they do.

I caught up with Partnerships Manager Mike Daw, on behalf of Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC) to hear what the future might hold for the list:

At the end of June, the Federation of Wholesale Distributors held its final conference at St George's Park in Burton-On-Trent before a move to Manchester's Midland Hotel for 2023. Among a fantastic array of discussions over the course of the day, I was interested to hear the food & drink wholesalers' perspective on the rise of rapid delivery platforms, and how these businesses might settle into the sector long-term (following a meteoric rise thanks to the pandemic).

Check out my write up of the session here on behalf of IFE, International Food & Drink Event:

Lastly, for IFE Manufacturing, in the wake of the introduction of the Plastic Packaging Tax in April, I caught up with some of our industry friends and colleagues to hear about the impact it's had so far on the food & drink sector, and to discuss whether the tax might be too broad to account for the nuances in the plastic packaging sector, and efforts to introduce recycled plastics into the supply chain.

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