The FCSI booth at HostMilano 2019 featured a number of high-level seminars and presentations as well as expert panel sessions chaired by the Foodservice Consultant team. One of those, on the morning Monday 21 October, addressed the exciting topic of ventless cooking technology and the types of relevant foodservice projects it is best suited to.
The panel, chaired by Michael Jones and sponsored by Middleby Ventless Cooking Solutions, featured FCSI Professional members Nahum Goldberg FCSI of NGAssociates Foodservice Consultants in the US, Brandon Kua FCSI of Citrus Consult Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, Armando Pucci FCSI of Pucci Sifuentes Foodservice Consultants Ltda in Brazil, plus Scott Heim, president of Middleby Ventless Cooking Solutions. Please watch the video below.
Seizing opportunities and dispelling myths
The panel session covered how operators can create new avenues of F&B revenue in areas considered as non-traditional (or, previously ‘dead’) spaces through innovative ventless cooking technology; how operators can benefit from the new technology and consultants’ role in guiding that process; not only the opportunities the technology presents, but also any current limitations it faces, globally; any pervasive ‘myths’ about the technology and how operators, consultants and dealers can successfully navigate a changing regulatory landscape, and assessed where ventless innovation is heading and what the future looks like for the technology.
“The main thing in our market of workplace dining is bringing fresh food opportunities to areas where you can’t normally have full ventilation. Our clients are looking for change and innovation and also finding solutions to problems in the field. There’s no doubt ventless technology offers a lot of that,” said Goldberg.
“You can do the kitchen islands and bring the action stations out front. You can handle the extra demand for the lunchtime hour or dinner time crunch. And there are incredible efficiency gains to be had,” said Heim.
And the potential cost savings ventless offers are proving attractive for consultants’ clients too. “I’m working with several hotels in South America. Ventilation systems and hoods and fire extinguisher systems can cost double what the cooking equipment costs. It doesn’t make sense,” said Pucci. “[With ventless] you can also save energy labour and it helps the environment as well.”
For Kua, while the benefits of ventless technology are manifest, the relative costs of electricity versus lower gas prices for kitchens in Asia are currently proving prohibitive to its implementation in some territories. “Because of the cost of gas, which is so much cheaper than electricity, Asia will take some time for a full conversion [to ventless],” he said.
Pictured (L-R): Michael Jones, Brandon Kua FCSI, Nahum Goldberg FCSI, Scott Heim, Armando Pucci FCSI
Further information
Please click here for more details of Middleby Ventless Cooking Solutions.
