If you're a regular eBay shopper, keep your eyes peeled for 'Yellow dot plate' from a seller in Stoke-on-Trent while perusing the Pottery, Porcelain & Glass section.

You see, it may well have been painted by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall during a recent visit to the Tunstall factory of ceramic tableware manufacturer Dudson, along with her husband HRH The Prince of Wales who also tried his hand at plate decorating.

The royal couple visited Stoke-on-Trent as part of the centenary celebration of the formation of the City and were escorted around the factory by chairman Ian Dudson and managing director Max Dudson.

If you're anything like Product Junkie one of your first actions on being shown to a restaurant table, besides inspecting the menu, will be to scrutinize the cutlery and stemware and guess who manufactured them.

Okay, maybe that's just me then.

Now that little amusement could well get complicated when it comes to cutlery, as chefs' wear supplier Denny's has launched a personalised design and manufacture service of Damascus stainless steel knives.

The bespoke service is aimed at premium bars, hotels and restaurants where the operators require a design tailored to their décor or style, or even incorporation of an etched logo to reinforce their own brand.

One who has done exactly that is chef restaurateur Mark Hix, with a steak knife created especially for HIX restaurant and Hix Oyster and Chop House.

He wanted a design that would fit in with much of the vintage silverware collection in the restaurants and settled on a non-serrated blade - etched with the HIX logo - that can be re-sharpened easily and does not tear the meat.

Denny's says its Damascus range features the latest innovations in handle and blade technology combined with traditional sword making skills. The knives are crafted using 37 layers of the finest Japanese steel folded and layered for perfect sharpness and durability.

It's day three of Hotelympia and you have until Thursday 4th March to get along to the show and find that piece of innovation that will make a difference to your business.

The four category winners in the Innovation Awards have been announced and visitors can now vote for their favourite - to be named the People's Choice at the end of the show - on touch-screen pods in the Innovation Lounges.

In addition, lots of exhibitors have new products on show such as the Two-Way Matchbox from Adande in which the refrigerated drawers open on both sides of the unit for easy access (Stand N2438), Manitowoc's beer dispenser which pours pints automatically from the bottom up for speedy service at high volume sites such as stadia (Stand N2340), and Kraft's Tassimo Professional coffee machine for self-serve beverages (Stand S2036).

If you want some equipment buying advice or want to know more about energy-saving, training or warranty deals the Catering Equipment Distributors Association (Stand N2169) is providing personal shoppers to help visitors make the best use of their time at the show.

It's that time of year again when sweethearts manifest their affection in the form of cards, chocolates, flowers or maybe even diamonds.

But it's to heck with Valentine's Day tradition in the case of the West Cornwall Pasty Co which is hoping customers will say it with a pasty instead. Not just any old pasty either.

Available from 9th February for a limited time, the company's Pasty to Share is a heart-shaped steak pasty filled with beef, potato, swede and onion, lovingly finished off with a pastry heart in the centre and designed to be halved and enjoyed by two people.

While admitting it may not be the most obvious romantic gesture, chief executive Richard Nieto says it's certainly a tasty and unique one.

Well he has a point. Isn't there a saying, "the way to a man's heart..."?

Okay so it's not quite Avatar but the new Virtual Farmers' Market is an innovative way to source artisan producers.

It uses 3D games technology to allow you to stroll around over 45 market stalls to view and buy the sort of artisan produce you might find in a real-life farmers market such as Label Anglais chicken and Cornish Blue cheese.

There's also a 'meet the producer' element via a video stream where the producer gives a brief description of the goods, tells the story of how their food or drink has been produced, what ingredients have been used and where they have been sourced. 

Best of all, it's available 24/7 so you don't have to remember which day is market day.

They may not be contraband or overdue library books, but any licensees harbouring old Carlsberg fonts have until the end of March to hand them in and receive new ones without charge.

Carlsberg UK (CUK) has announced a Font Amnesty to encourage licensees to trade up to its Superhero font which was launched into the on-trade two years ago and is claimed to help create a creamier, tastier looking head and lead to less wastage of beer.

In fact CUK research indicates that pubs using the new fonts had nearly a 10% higher rate of sale than in those with Lowlines and T-Bar fonts.

"We are incredibly proud of our beer quality and want drinkers to enjoy a perfect pint of Carlsberg every time they order it," said David Scott, director of customer marketing. "So we are continuing to invest in the on-trade and quality by funding the font amnesty.

Stockists who want to replace their old Carlsberg font for free should call 0845 601 3432.

If you're one of the hundreds returning to work in the big smoke today after an enforced snow break then you may be in need of something warm and comforting at the end of your probably arduous journey.

Thank goodness then, that Heinz has chosen this very week to operate the It Has To Be Heinz Café at 3-10 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 where beans on toast will be served up today until 6pm and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7am to 3pm.

The café is right on trend with the recent phenomenon of pop-up restaurants and the popularity of comfort food and, even more important in these recession-blighted times, the dish costs merely a suggested 50p donation towards Capital FM's Help A London Child charity.

Mövenpick Cognac VSOP ice cream recently picked up a 2009 Caterer and Hotelkeeper Excellence in Food & Drink Award.

Now the ice cream gurus are suggesting operators put it on their drinks or dessert menu as a Café Affogato.

An affogato, which in Italian means drowned, is usually a scoop of vanilla ice cream or gelato topped with a shot of hot espresso.

However Mövenpick managing director Mike Godwin says the alcohol-infused ice cream will give it an extra kick.

We've had Pimp My Ride, now it's time to Punk Your Beer courtesy of BrewDog. The two-year-old beer company has launched PunkDog.com where you can customise BrewDog beer bottle labels by adding photographs and text.

Product Junkie hasn't tried it yet but it sounds quite straightforward - choose a background theme, upload your own image and add a personalised message. Then order your beers.

BrewDog's range includes Punk IPA - a heavyweight beer with a fruity punch followed by an aggressive, hoppy bite; Trashy Blonde - a refreshing blonde beer with a strong passionfruit flavour; and the new 77 Lager - a continental style pilsner balancing caramel and malt with fruity flavours.

What's more, BrewDog also recently launched Equity for Punks - an online equity scheme that allows customers to buy shares in the brand for £230 and receive a lifetime discount of 20% off beers purchased from BrewDog.com plus annual dividends and an invite to the annual AGM.

Well, that's Product Junkie's Christmas shopping sorted.

"Born sinner, the opposite of a winner; remember when I used to eat sardines for dinner." So rapped Notorious B.I.G on Juicy.

Product Junkie wonders if he'd cottoned on to the fact that sardines are an oily fish rich in Omega-3 and packed with Vitamin D and as such would qualify as one of his recommended two portions of fish a week? No, maybe not.

But that, together with the value for money they represent, could well be the reason for a 7% increase to £34 million (Source: Nielsen) in UK consumer spend on fresh sardines in the past 12 months according to Seafish, the authority on seafood.

Karen Galloway, Seafish market insight manager, said: "The popularity of fresh sardines is growing as the quality is high and their sustainability record is impeccable."

In the UK, the majority of sardines are caught by small boats that head out at dusk from an ancient fishery off the Cornish coast accredited as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Previously known as pilchards, the fish were re-branded as Cornish sardines in 1997 although technically the difference is in the size - a sardine is smaller than six inches.

Sounds much better on a menu too.