The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF), Craft Guild of Chefs (CGC) and Fresh Montgomery will be teaming up at the International Food & Drink Event (IFE) at ExCel London to promote frozen foods. During each day of the March 19-22 trade show a pop-up Ice Café will feature skilled chefs cooking with frozen components from 11:30 AM to 3 PM opposite BFFF’s lounge in the grocery section of the exhibition center.
Sponsored by Bidvest, the event is designed to challenge perceptions of frozen food held in some quarters of the foodservice and retail markets, while illustrating the diversity as well as economic and environmental advantages of using frozen components. CGC chefs will cook-up a range of authentic bowl food recipes including stroganoff, honey and lime prawn stir-fry, and cod loin served on a bed of ratatouille.
Chefs Lee Maycock, national chairman of CGC, Jason Gordon and Steve Walpole will create inspired dishes using quality frozen ingredients. The audience will be invited to sample the meals while learning how caterers, chefs and retailers can create tasty, nutritious and sustainable cuisine from frozen fare.
Event Director Soraya Gadelrab commented: “The Ice Café is very topical as the increasing pace of consumer lifestyles means convenience is more important than ever. Frozen as a category can play a key role in many areas, but above all we want to demonstrate that it tastes great.
“Overall, the purpose of IFE’s first pop-up is to help raise awareness of the advantages of cooking with frozen produce, including budget, flavor and ease of use without compromising on menu quality. Frozen ingredients also play an important role in effective management of food waste, which is a critical issue to the whole industry.”
For more details about the event, including show registration information, visit www.ife.co.uk. The IFE is expected 1,350 global food and drink manufacturers, among them many leading suppliers from Britain, continental Europe and beyond.
