- On 26 October in Barcelona, Nandu Jubany, Albert Boronat and around thirty exhibitors will showcase the uses of ‘ready-to-serve’ products through live cooking demonstrations, tastings and product presentations.
- The event, which aims to become an annual fixture in the sector, will launch the Ready T Awards, which recognise innovation and efficiency.
What role can fourth- and fifth-range products play in a gourmet restaurant? Does a restaurant’s identity necessarily depend on everything being prepared in its own kitchen? These are some of the questions that Ready To will address – the first professional event in Spain specialising in ‘ready-to-serve’ gastronomic solutions for the hospitality sector, to be held on Monday 26 October at the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower.
The event will bring together around thirty exhibitors, including companies such as Andilana Casa de Comidas, Nova Gamma, Now Cook, Can Bech, Cuina Justa (Fundació Cassià Just), GastroGreen, Jotri, Koppert Cress, La Cuina del Fèlix and Casa Toc, amongst others (full list here). In an exhibition area covering more than 1,000 square metres, they will showcase up to a hundred solutions and products aimed at catering professionals.
One of the programme’s main highlights will be the Gastronomic Bar, a dedicated space hosting 45-minute sessions limited to 24 people, designed to encourage a sense of community and interaction. Through live cooking demonstrations, presentations and tastings, attendees will be able to discover the applications of these products and learn about real-life experiences of incorporating them into professional kitchens.
Among the programme’s leading figures are Nandu Jubany (Can Jubany) and Albert Boronat (Colmado Llívia), who will share their experience and vision regarding the possibilities offered by these solutions. The programme will also feature talks and demonstrations by GastroEuphoria, Jordi Samper (Samper Food) and Pere Gotanegra (Pescadors de Roses), amongst others.
From efficiency to creativity: the fourth and fifth ranges under discussion
Ready To was launched against a backdrop where the catering industry is facing a shortage of qualified staff, rising costs and the challenge of maintaining consistent quality. Against this backdrop, fourth and fifth-range solutions are taking centre stage as allies of professional kitchens.
“The problem facing many kitchens today is not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of space, time and staff,” explains Albert Labastida, director of Ready To. In this regard, he points out that fourth and fifth-range products can make the teams’ work easier without detracting from the culinary offering’s identity. “Ready-to-serve solutions ensure that a complex dish turns out the same on a Monday as it does on a Saturday, whoever prepares it. And that does not detract from its identity: a restaurant’s identity lies in how the ingredients are combined, finished and presented, not in whether the stock or the sous-vide cooking was done in-house”.
In this regard, Ready T aims to contribute to this debate from a practical perspective, showcasing the possibilities of these preparations and how they can be incorporated into professional kitchens. The aim is for kitchen teams to be able to devote more resources to what sets their offering apart: creativity, the finishing touches to dishes, service and the customer experience. The key, Labastida points out, “is to use fourth and fifth range products judiciously”.
The proposal therefore combines an exhibition area with practical content and spaces for professional networking. The project is further complemented by www.readyto.food, an online platform designed to connect producers and professionals in the HORECA sector and facilitate access to the latest developments and trends in the industry.
First edition of the Ready To Awards
The first edition of Ready To will also host the Ready To Awards, which will recognise companies, products and initiatives linked to the fourth and fifth ranges in three categories: Optimisation, Originality and Adaptability.
Participating products will be available for tasting during the event, and the winners will be decided by a specialist jury (comprising food journalists, industry executives, hospitality schools and chefs) and trade visitors. The aim is to highlight those proposals that promote a more efficient, competitive and sustainable catering sector, one that is adapted to the new challenges of the market, thereby becoming a new benchmark of excellence within the sector.
Thus, Ready To will bring together products, cuisine, knowledge and business in a single day, with the aim of introducing professionals to the solutions that are transforming the way we understand the catering sector today.
With this first edition, Ready To aims to establish itself as a key annual event for a sector that is playing an increasingly significant role in the professional catering industry, bringing together products, cuisine, knowledge and business in a single day.
Source: ACEVEDO COM