Brakes videos add to Virtual Summer Food Festival

It’s festival season and Brakes is getting involved by launching a series of videos to help bolster their own summer celebration.

The foodservice wholesaler has created a suite of content as part of its Virtual Summer Food Festival that provides a chef’s eye view of practical support and kitchen inspiration, helping operators tap into latest trends and time-saving ideas.

The ‘In the Kitchen’ podcast-style series launches with a look at how some favourite multi-application ingredients can help save labour and time, as well as creating a variety of on-trend dishes.

This episode will be followed by a look at the post-Covid trend towards nostalgia and comfort food, which is a big theme for 2022. From familiar flavours with a cheeky twist to inspiration from around the globe, this edition will focus on what’s trending and show some fantastic menu ideas to help.

Other programmes in the series include Mediterranean Stretch, which offers ideas to capitalise on consumer interest in food from the Mediterranean region, with growing interest in the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa, joining long-time favourites like Italy, Spain and Greece.

This will be followed by Easy Experimentation, looking at consumers’ insatiable appetite for the latest flavours and how simple twists on traditional dishes can add excitement to any menu.  The series culminates with the hot topic of Sustainable Flavours, helping operators understand the sustainability trend and share practical solutions.

“We wanted to create a series of videos that are presented by our chefs who have the greatest understanding of the unique pressures of today’s kitchen,” said Brakes’ Head Development Chef, Mark Irish.

“By showcasing dishes inspired by the latest food trends, we have created a wide variety of recipe ideas that are simple in their execution, but look and taste fantastic.

“We are facing a perfect storm of labour shortages and increasing inflation caused by global events which are having a huge impact on the ability of chefs to run efficient kitchens.  Our video series takes the findings of some of the research and insight that exists and turns that into practical, chef-led ideas and recipes.”

The first episode is available now, with regular updates over the course of the Brakes Virtual Summer Food Festival, which runs until the end of July.

Brakes chef Foodservice Mark Irish Virtual Food Festival wholesaler