The team at Hellmann’s are always looking to invest to help accelerate category growth.

This spring welcomes the launch of their best performance mayonnaise – Hellmann’s Professional!

Chefs have been asking for a mayonnaise that delivers every time in the toughest applications for a quality product they can rely on, a product made by chefs, for chefs.

“In a busy service, I need to trust that my mayo performs every time, over time”.

Hellmann’s Professional in detail:

• Perfect coating & minimal water loss for 72 hours in bound salads
• Great binding & consistency for signature dips & sauces
• Heat stable in grill & oven
• The classic Hellmann’s taste, perfect for a base you can build your signature dishes with
• Free-range eggs and sustainably sourced oils, no artificial colours, gluten-free & lactose-free
• Designed by chefs for professional kitchens
• Even more profitable

This ingredient is “versatile in hot and cold dishes, holding its thickness and delivering maximum stability” and provides an “ideal thick texture to my sauces and dips – even when I add my own twist”.

The post Introducing Hellmann’s New Professional Mayonnaise – Designed for your Kitchen Needs appeared first on Stir it up Magazine.

About the Competition

On March 21st, eight student chefs from across the country took part in a brand-new cook-off competition, designed to unearth the next generation of young Scottish culinary talent from the best catering colleges across the country. Hosted by Knorr Professional and City of Glasgow college, students battled it out to win the crown of Student Chef of the Year, as well as a culinary experience in Italy with their team.

To win, Jacintha and the other student chefs were challenged to prepare a two-course menu comprising main and dessert, inspired by this years’ themes of ‘modernised comfort food’ and ‘irresistible vegetables’ and using Knorr Professional bouillon.

The Winning Menu

For her main course, Jacintha prepared pan roasted chicken breast, stuffed wing, birria tacos, mole elote corn ribs, puree and salsa coriander finished with a lime dressing. And for dessert, she prepared a celeriac blondie, candied and feuilletonism, toasted barley ice cream, celery salted caramel and fermented plums.

The Runners Up

Winning the silver medal was Aimee Boland from Ayrshire College, and the bronze medallist was Alannah from West College Scotland (Clydebank). A skills test for assistant chefs was also held, focusing on preparation of chicken and vegetables, with Yingying Tang from Ayrshire winning.

The Judges

The judging panel was led by Head judge and ambassador Gary Maclean. Born in Glasgow with his own sea food restaurant in Edinburgh, Maclean is Scotland’s first National Chef and won MasterChef: The Professionals in 2016. Gary Maclean says, ‘As a proud Scotsman and chef, witnessing the student’s culinary talent truly warmed my heart. Each participant’s dedication and commitment to the process was remarkable and the standard of cooking and creativity exhibited in their dishes left a lasting impression on me and the other judges. The students should be very proud of themselves’.

Joining Maclean were two other highly esteemed judges, Adam Handling MBE, Chef & Restaurateur, Owner of the Adam Handling Restaurant Group, and executive chef of Unilever Ireland, Audrey Crone.

Knorr Professional and the Competition

Knorr Professional have a 25+ year legacy Student Chef of the Year competitions in Ireland, with winners going on to lead their own kitchens, feature on TV and own their own businesses. With such a strong start to the Scottish leg of the competition, Knorr Professional look forward to hosting many more in the future.

The post Knorr Professional Scottish Student Chef of the Year appeared first on Stir it up Magazine.

Research has shown that burgers were the most missed out of home dish during the UK lockdown*. So now, more than ever, it’s time to give the people what they want by serving up brilliant burgers paired with the nation’s favourite mayo** and range of condiments.

Do you have what it takes to get creative and cook up the nation’s best burger? This year its easier than ever to enter, all you have to do is take a picture of your delicious burger (which has to include a Hellmann’s condiment, of course!) and upload it to www.ufs.com/crgburgercomp with a description.

Need more convincing? We talked to the 2019 Best Burger Competition Champion, Nigel Steele of Port Rush Atlantic Hotel to find a little bit more about him and see why his burger was the best!

Tell us how you became a chef?

I sort of fell into it about 5 years, I was a sous chef and unfortunately the head chef at the time passed away. Just moving through my qualifications really quickly and ended up where I am today.

What makes your burger such a winner?
Definitely local produce is key, I brought over a number of products from near Portrush in Northern Ireland as I know it’s what gives my food something special. For the competition, I brought over homed smoked beef brisket made with Lacada Brewery Devil, Broighter Gold Hickory Rapeseed Oil and locally smoked salt and pepper, and I infused Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise and Smokey BBQ Sauce  with Lacada West Bay Larger to make the burger sauce.

What made you choose Hellmann’s for your burger?

Quality of course, you know  what you’re getting, great for quality control every single time.

What is one piece of advice you would give to young chefs wanting to succeed in the industry?

Just go for it! Don’t be scared, pretty much anyone can do it if they put their mind to it.  

THINK YOU’VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES? HERE’S HOW TO ENTER IN 2020’s COMPETITION

2020 has been a strange year for our industry, but we’re determined to bring Hellmann’s Best Burger Competition back even bigger and better. We believe that a great burger has the power to drive footfall back to your establishment – and an award-winning burger even more so. What’s more, you’ll have fun along the way! So, chef, do you have what it takes to inspire a nation of burger lovers?

ENTRY IS EASY, JUST SNAP A PIC, DESCRIBE YOUR CREATION – AND MAKE SURE YOU USE HELLMANN’S CONDIMENTS OF COURSE!

Sadly the current climate means that we can’t host a live cook off for this year’s final. Instead, we’ll be visiting shortlisted entrants personally at your establishment between 11th and 25th November – at a time to be pre-agreed. We will need to sample your creation and will judge based on a list of criteria that all shortlisted entrants will be evaluated against.

Prizes this year will include £500 Amazon vouchers for you to use however you wish, as well as a one-year supply of Lifebuoy hand sanitiser for your establishment. You will also benefit from PR coverage as we follow-up with a visit to your establishment to present your award and snap some photos. The winner will be decided in early December (so please be available the week commencing 7th December).

To showcase your creativity on the grill with the CRG Best Burger Competition please visit www.ufs.com/crgburgercomp between October 1-31st 2020 to enter.

Good luck! 

References:

*Diner Track, Out of Home Recovery Report conducted by Street Bees for Unilever Food Solutions, 25th April – 26th May 2020, n=123 respondents.

**Nielsen Retail Grocery Value Sales MAT 18/04/2020

The post CRG Best Burger Competition: The Reigning Champion appeared first on Stir it up Magazine.

Research has shown that burgers were the most missed out of home dish during the UK lockdown*. So now, more than ever, it’s time to give the people what they want by serving up brilliant burgers paired with the nation’s favourite mayo** and range of condiments.

So, chef, do you have what it takes to get creative and cook up the nation’s best burger? Read on to find out more about the event and how you can get involved…

 LAST YEAR’S CRG HELLMANN’S BEST BURGER COMPETITION

2019 saw entrants show off their creativity with Hellmann’s range of condiments for the first ever Hellmann’s Best Burger Competition.

Following a first round of paper judging, four shortlisted finalists came down to Unilever HQ for an exciting live cook off, creating their burger submissions and demonstrating their amazing culinary skills. On the day we hosted social media foodie influencer Kate Ovens along with the Unilever Food Solutions expert culinary team, who together judged the finalists’ work. And the winner was…

THINK YOU’VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES? HERE’S HOW TO ENTER IN 2020’s COMPETITION

2020 has been a strange year for our industry, but we’re determined to bring Hellmann’s Best Burger Competition back even bigger and better. We believe that a great burger has the power to drive footfall back to your establishment – and an award-winning burger even more so. What’s more, you’ll have fun along the way! So, chef, do you have what it takes to inspire a nation of burger lovers?

Hellmann’s and CRG are once again collaborating to find the very best in burgers served out of home. The competition will be open for entries throughout October (1-31st).

ENTRY IS EASY, JUST SNAP A PIC, DESCRIBE YOUR CREATION – AND MAKE SURE YOU USE HELLMANN’S CONDIMENTS OF COURSE!

Sadly the current climate means that we can’t host a live cook off for this year’s final. Instead, we’ll be visiting shortlisted entrants personally at your establishment between 11th and 25th November – at a time to be pre-agreed. We will need to sample your creation and will judge based on a list of criteria that all shortlisted entrants will be evaluated against.

Prizes this year will include £500 Amazon vouchers for you to use however you wish, as well as a one-year supply of Lifebuoy hand sanitiser for your establishment. You will also benefit from PR coverage as we follow-up with a visit to your establishment to present your award and snap some photos. The winner will be decided in early December (so please be available the week commencing 7th December).

To showcase your creativity on the grill with the CRG Best Burger Competition please visit www.ufs.com/crgburgercomp between October 1-31st 2020 to enter.

Good luck!

The post CRG Best Burger Competition: Do You Serve The Nation’s Best Burger? appeared first on Stir it up Magazine.

Written in partnership with UFS’ pub food expert, Chris Barber, the guide offers a wealth of practical advice and useful insight. The trade pubs generate over the festive period can be the difference between profit and loss for the entire year. So get it right and there’s no better time to maximise your food and drink sales.

In a competitive market where many pubs begin promoting their Christmas menu as early as September, staying ahead of the game is essential according to the guide. Pubs need to keep one eye on their competitors’ prices too, for while you can increase your prices and margin you won’t want to price yourself out of the market.

Among the advice contained in the guide is the importance of good promotion. Making the most of last Christmas is a good start – so use photos and customer testimonials from last year on your website and in your marketing material. Another top tip is hosting menu tasting nights. These are a great way to get people excited about your food. Remember to publish your Christmas menu on your website early and print extra menus for your customers to take away.

When it comes to your Christmas menu planning, Chris Barber is a firm believer in less is more. He said: “The golden rule is to keep it simple – set menus are easy to sell at a fixed price. Have a maximum of three starters, three mains and three desserts. And don’t be afraid to give customers a treat by including highly priced fine food items on your menu.”

The new How to Guide has been launched in time to help pubs promote and maximise their Christmas food and drink sales.

The post Unilever’s ‘How to’ Christmas guide for pubs appeared first on Stir it up Magazine.

The guide can be downloaded from here

A BIT ON THE SIDE

>> Everyone knows the perfect roast dinner demands the perfect accompaniments, so if you fancy a bit on the side, this prize could be for you.

Our friends at Unilever Food Solutions are giving away an ultimate roast dinner kit, comprising of their guide to roast dinners, three cases of Colman’s condiments and a case of Knorr gravy granules – everything you need to make your roast delicious! With British Roast Dinner Week returning in October, this is your chance to get saucy! Visit www.britishroastdinnerweek.co.uk for details of their Best Roast Dinner competition, which closes on August 16.

In the meantime, to enter our competition to win the ultimate roast dinner kit, send an email titled “Roast Dinner Kit”, along with your name, contact details and the name of your Country Range Group wholesaler, to competitions@stiritupmagazine.co.uk

The post Unilever Food Solutions help pubs to get their Roasts right! appeared first on Stir it up Magazine.

Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) is leading the charge and is hoping to raise at least 200,000 meals for the World Food Programme’s School Feeding Project. The World Food Programme is the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. It is the food arm of the United Nations and is funded entirely by voluntary donations.

The Country Range Group is promoting the campaign to school customers and for every case of Knorr Create More concentrated sauces or Knorr Ethnic Pastes sold into schools up to October 31, UFS will donate 10 meals to the School Meals Project in Indonesia. Schools are also being urged to organise events as part of World Food Week, which runs from October 13-17.

James Alfred channel marketing manager at UFS says:

James Allred, channel marketing manager at UFS, visited Indonesia last November to see first hand the impact the programme is having on the lives of school children. He said: “The perception is that Indonesia is a G20 country and holiday destination like Bali but the truth is there are a large number of islands on the far eastern side in the ‘Ring of Fire’, an area which is prone to tsunamis, earthquake, volcanoes and droughts. The land is incredibly rugged which makes growing incredibly difficult and the extremes of the seasons makes building a sustainable framework very difficult. “I visited three schools and a health centre and saw a community which is really striving to get out of poverty. They know they are poor but they really want to become self-sufficient.

The World Food Programme plays a key role in providing an infrastructure to help the communities. This includes providing food staples such as maize and mung beans, training for the mothers and plans to help the schools become self-sufficient. “We were overwhelmed by the welcome we got – we were treated like film stars as the children performed ritual songs and dances as we arrived which was quite humbling. I was most inspired by the attitude of the people, they brought together the whole community. Mothers come from their farms to cook at the schools and some children walk 5km a day to go to school because of the promise of a good meal. Some of the children were quite stunted. If they don’t get the right nutrients in the first 1,000 days of life they can end up stunted for life. However, I was inspired by the amount of happiness and positivity that there was there.”

James is urging schools in the UK to get involved and said the media spotlight on school meals made it the perfect opportunity. He continued: “School meals are very much in the limelight at the moment so there has never been a better time to raise awareness of the importance of school meals to the health and wellbeing of children. This doesn’t just apply to children in the UK but globally. There is a big focus on improving food culture in schools and events like World Food Day (October 16th) are a great way for children to appreciate how important school meals are.”

UFS have created a fundraising toolkit to help educate and engage their students about the World Food Programme initiative. The kit includes menu plans, point of sale material to help promote the dishes and ideas on how to support the World Food Programme by spreading the word, organising events and raising funds. For more information visit www.ufs.com/schoolfood or speak to your representative from UFS or Country Range Group. As the School Food Plans new food standards and introduction of Universal Free School Meals come into action this month, we’d love to hear how you’re coping with the changes.

Please email editor@stiritupmagazine.co.uk or Tweet@StiritupMag

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Get the latest School and Education Catering News, along with helpful tips to support positive behaviour and student achievement

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