April 2009 Archives

As you can imagine, Product Junkie unearths a wealth of new products including everything from sausages to saucers so we didn't bat an eyelid when John Artis sent an email about its new spoons...until we opened the picture.

Check it out - looks like Uri Geller has had a field day! The other cutlery pales into insignificance by comparison. As the eye flits from left to right the brain says, normal, normal, standard and then whooaaahh!

Of course, this spoon has a practical purpose, the designers at John Artis didn't just decide to rebel against creating standard shaped spoons. This weird and wonderful spoon is designed to hang.

The six strong line of Latte spoons also includes Oval, Tuscany, Tulip, Simplicity and, new for 2009, Zen. All designs are between 7.5 and 8 inches long and are made from high grade 18/10 stainless steel.

And if latest reports showing that the lattè has overtaken cappuccino as the most requested speciality coffee in high street coffee shops are true, this artful range of spoons should be in hot demand.

Iceni bottled water has joined forces with England and Northampton Saints Rugby Union star Ben Foden to launch a campaign highlighting the risks of dehydration during exercise.

According to research commissioned by Iceni Water, two thirds of Brits massively underestimate the amount of water needed to stay hydrated during exercise.

Some 45% of 2,000 people surveyed thought one to two glasses of water was sufficient for one hour's strenuous exercise when in reality we need over twice that much.

The research also revealed that nearly a fifth of respondents didn't think they needed to drink any water before or after exercise.

Iceni Water comes from a sustainable source deep beneath the South Cambridgeshire countryside. It is bottled in 100% recyclable plastic bottles at source in Duxford. It is supplied in 330ml, 500ml, 750ml and 1.5l bottles.

Commenting on Iceni Water's sponsorship of the Northampton Saints Rugby Club, managing director Brett Fleming-Jones said: "We decided to commission some research to get a better understanding of consumer perception of the importance of drinking water during exercise and the results have been quite staggering.

"As a key member of the Northampton Saints team and also a new member of the England squad, we felt that Ben was the perfect spokesman to help us highlight the importance of maintaining hydration levels."

McVitie's has injected a flavour twist to the much-loved Jaffa Cake by launching a limited edition Strawberry variety.

Available until July, McVitie's Strawberry Jaffa Cakes come in single and twin packs and will complement the existing orange Jaffa Cake range.

Product Junkie is still mulling over the question of Jaffa Cakes being cakes or biscuits...what do you think?

Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal opted for Ramsay of Carluke black puddings (no relation to Gordon!) to help reinvent menus at Little Chef on the Channel Four show Big Chef Takes on Little Chef.

The family-run Ayrshire business offers everything you need for a good meaty breakfast from sausages and black puddings to hams and haggis.

The traditional range of cooked meats and hams are cooked in their own juices and the company only uses outdoor reared pork and beef reared on Scottish pastures and hillsides.

In the past year, Ramsay of Carluke has won eleven awards including seven Smithfield Golds, onw of which was for its Christmas sausage meat stuffing which received 100/100 points!

This heavenly decanter goes by the name of Eve, standing half a metre high and designed by Maximilian Riedel to double decant - a process that gives wine a double dose of oxygen.

The decanter has a long slender neck to allow wine to breathe as it descends to the curved base. When poured, the wine falls into the curve of the neck, making it glug and echoing the sound it makes when poured out of a bottle.

Black Tie, Face to Face and Black Tie Amadeo are other eye-catching designs to join the Black Tie range of decanters, also part of Riedel.

Created by a master glass blower in Austria, the distinctive decanters all feature a stripe of black crystal that runs along one side.

Face to Face decanter is mouth blown and characterised by two concave profiles facing each other in the bowl of the decanter, which can be personalised with your own silhouettes.

Caterers who'd like to offer their customers low-fat treats following the Easter chocolate binge might want to consider Skinny Candy's range of 99 calorie "guilt free" confectionery.

The range comprises five products - two tempting chocolate lines, the Chocstick and Chocmaltie, and three portion-sized bags of confectionery treats, Fruity Bears, Cola Bottles and Crispy Bubbles. 
 
Skinny Candy, owned by Glisten and former Coffee Republic founder Sahar Hashemi, is made with high quality ingredients including natural fruit extracts and Belgian chocolate.
 

As Hell's Kitchen heats up for another series of flared tempers, the contestants can rest assured that it at least won't be the gas system that blows up in their faces.

Gas safety specialist S&S Northern is guaranteeing the safety of this year's line up of Hell's Kitchen celebrities with its Merlin gas safety system.

The Merlin 1250s panel interlocks the gas valve with the kitchen's ventilation system and has a built-in current monitor to ensure the fan is running before the gas valve can open in compliance with BS 6173 standards.

The ITV series again stars celebrity chef Marco Pierre White while the competing celebrities include Anthea Turner, Ade Edmonson, Bruce Grobellar and Miss Dynamite.

S&S Northern Director Steve McMahon said: "We love the Hell's Kitchen TV show and are delighted to have been selected to help ensure the safety of so many celebrities as they do culinary battle."

Once again Hobart is also the sole supplier of kitchen equipment for the show, which began this Easter Monday.

It's the dream piece of equipment for beer lovers and according to TableTap, its new self-service beer dispensing system can increase draught beer sales whilst increasing customer retention and satisfaction.

Customers purchase beer credits at the bar for themselves or a group of friends which they can then use to serve beer at the table on demand. A monitor also displays how much credit is left and shuts off the drink when it has run out so that every drop is accounted for.

TableTap can be located at any chosen table and lends itself to environments where bar space is limited, or at busy bars that struggle to serve customers quickly enough during peak times.

"We believe TableTap will revolutionise the bar and restaurant industry, providing customers with a convenient and engaging product that is yet to be seen here in the UK," said co-director Jordan Law. "Driven by advanced technology, TableTap has been proven to dramatically increase draught beer sales, whilst helping to monitor and reduce costs at the same time."

Product Junkie would also like to know whether TableTap can be installed at office desks...

Little Chef is offering its customers some cracking Easter treats including bespoke Easter games, fun placemats, an Everyone's a Winner scratch card competition and the chance to win a £3,000 golden egg.

The 175-strong restaurant chain has also linked up with the happy egg co. to supply its free range eggs so that customers can rest assured the hens have enjoyed "only the highest standards of animal welfare".

The hens have plenty of green pasture and an assortment of activities to enhance their natural surroundings including perching platforms, sandpits, swings and brashings.

Blimey, they'll be entering the Olympics next.

"We are delighted to have teamed up with Little Chef," said head of marketing Rob Newell, adding: "It is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate that Happy Eggs are not just the best choice for hens but also the breakfast plate!"

Happy Eggs will be served at all Little Chef restaurants for a three month period through to the end of June.

London Mayor Boris Johnson showed his support for National Cask Ale Week (6th-12th April) by raising a toast to Britain's national drink with Greene King brewing director Steve Magnall.

Johnson pulled a pint of Abbot Ale behind the bar of the King's Arms in Tooley Street, London, and said: "I'm happy to pull a pint during Cask Ale Week and celebrate our national tipple. The traditional British pub is a unique cultural institution and cask beer is one of the things that makes them special. When you order your pint, you're not only supporting your local pub, but also the British brewers who craft the beer and the British farmers who grow the barley and hops. Cheers!"

It can't be much fun being a lobster or a crab. First you have your claws clamped and then you have to sit around in a small tank of water until a chef or diner selects you for their evening meal.

And then there is the matter of death by boiling water or a pin through the head, which can take two minutes for a lobster or up to five minutes for a crab. The other method of drowning crustaceans over a period of six to eight hours causes considerable discomfort as they expand in their shells through the process of osmosis.

Cue the new Crustastun, a humane stunning system for lobsters, crabs and crayfish which renders the shellfish insensible in just 0.5 seconds and dead within 10 seconds. A lobster can be anaesthetised with just 1.0 amps while a crab requires 1.3 amps.

Many people think crustaceans can't feel pain but recent studies suggest otherwise and a number of countries are considering extending legislation that requires food animals to be killed humanely to shellfish.

Approved by the Craft Guild of Chefs and supplied by Brakes Catering Equipment, the Crustastun looks a little bit like a metal photocopier. The tank is filled with a weak salt solution, the animal is placed on a stainless steel tray, the lid is closed and the stun cycle activated.

An electrode sponge conforms to the shell and provides the current path from the top electrode and the sponge is kept moist by the wetter that discharges salt water every time the lid is opened. The tray is also sprung to provide even contact with the top electrode regardless of the size of the animal.

We've had alternative medicine and alternative comedy, now get ready for...alternative smoking. It even has its own name - vaping.

Intellicig - a new 'vaping device'- aims to reunite smokers and their nicotine over a pint without banishing them from licensed premises or from any other place in which smoking became illegal with the advent of the smoking ban.

Its makers say the electronic cigarette provides smokers with their fix and satisfies cravings in the same way as a conventional cigarette but doesn't include the 4,800 chemicals found in a typical pack of 20 so it's less likely to send them to meet their makers.