4 – 5 March 2015, SECC
With only days to go before Scotland’s biggest event for the catering, hospitality, food and drink industries, the programme for ScotHot 2015 reveals a host of influential speakers, a brand new Liquid Academy Live stage and the largest collection of new catering products available anywhere on the market.
Running from 4 to 5 March 2015, the event will take place at Glasgow’s SECC and will be opened by Scotland’s Tourism Minister, Fergus Ewing MSP, with a host of industry leaders also lined up for the show.
The brand new Liquid Academy Live will be run by the LA Group which will be hosting talks and providing interactive seminars for the drinks and bar industries. Speakers include world authorities on aroma; specialist drinks writers; mixology experts; global spirits ambassadors and award-winning drinks writers. There will also be cocktail competitions and information designed to keep the audience at the cutting edge of the drinks world. The stage will see taster sessions from the brand new Aroma Diploma, a world-first in mastering the sense of smell run by Master Perfumer Kim Lahiri.
The live final of the UK Barista Championships will see 20 competitors from across the country tested at ScotHot on their coffee knowledge, presentation, preparation and all round barista ability. The winner of the competition will represent the UK at the World Barista Championships in Seattle in April 2015.
Sessions on the Spotlight Stage range from those designed to improve industry standards to discussions on future developments in technology and innovation. Experts range from marketing and technology leaders to those involved in the development of nationwide tourism and hospitality strategy and comprise:
- Geoff Morrison of Destination Stirling and Yelp’s Rosie Akenhead talk PR, Marketing and Managing Your Online Reputation.
- Ray Lorimer from the Institute of Hospitality chairs this session on Skills & Development. Ray is joined by Ralph Porciani (Trump Turnberry), Lawrence Durden (Skills Development Scotland) and Kate Tetley (People 1st)
- Scottish Terroir: A Sense of Place with Ewan Henderson of Scotch Broth Events.
- Calum Ross of Loch Melfort Hotel (and chair of British Hospitality Association Scotland) chairs a session on 2015 as the Year of Food and Drink with a panel including Fiona Richmond (Scotland Food & Drink), Riddell Graham (VisitScotland) and Andrew Fairlie (Restaurant Andrew Fairlie).
- Karen Fewell from Digital Blonde, Nadine Pierce of eatingedinburgh.com and Ben Gateley of Born Social looks at how successful social media can help businesses.
- A session on accessible tourism with Chris McCoy (VisitScotland), Helen Gallagher (Scotsman Hotel), Angus Foreman (Microsoft) and Phil Biggs (consultant) and his hearing dog Marsh.
- Gleneagles, Zero Waste Scotland, Unilever, Glasgow Restaurant Association and Inspire Catering join an audience discussion on how to be a more sustainable, profitable and responsible business.
- A session in which John Langford of SECC discusses a year at the SSE Hydro.
- A discussion on the importance of raising the appeal of the industry attracting youth and nurturing their talent. Chaired by Ufi Ibrahim of British Hospitality Association, this will include speakers from G1 Group, Springboard UK, Apex Hotels, and MacDonald Aviemore Highland Resort.
- Jim Beveridge, Senior Director of International Technology Policy at Microsoft will join Andrew Stirling (Larkhill) to discuss latest developments in broadband connectivity.
ScotHot 2015 will also include the 30th Scottish Culinary Championships, which challenges chefs to create show-stopping food sculptures as well as being judged in a live cook-off on the main stage.
In addition, cutting edge developments in catering equipment will be showcased in the CESA Innovation Zone, providing the largest collection of new catering products available anywhere on the market. These will include winners of the event’s coveted New Product Awards.
This year, in partnership The Buell Group, ScotHot will also offer free specialist business advice at the new Buell Business Advice Clinic. Offering practical solutions designed for each individual business, the Buell consultants, all experts in their fields, will be on hand to discuss any aspect of business in complete confidence.
ScotHot brings together suppliers of food and drink; catering equipment; décor and design; tableware and technology products with chefs and buyers from hotels, restaurants, bars, catering outlets and tourism destinations. This year, marking the Year of Food and Drink, a broad range of food and drink companies will be showcasing produce from artisan coffee makers and award winning dairies to local rape seed oil manufacturers and Scottish charcuterie producers.
The event is taking place within Scotland’s Year of Food & Drink as part of Scottish Tourism Week’s Signature Programme in Glasgow’s SECC on the 4th and 5th of March. With a heritage dating back over 40 years, the show runs every two years.