Raw & Cured

Impressive health club menu, drinks and design at Lime Wood hotel in the New Forest.  The spa where you can do yoga on the roof in a herb garden. More details of their Raw & Cured food bar at http://www.limewoodhotel.co.uk/pamper/raw-and-cured/

Egg & Spinach Pot

Protein Pot from Pret - what a great way to get £1.50 for a hard boiled egg and some spinach leaves.

Hail the Kale

 Pret has kale in sandwiches.

Kid Appeal

 Good kids offer at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew by caterer Peyton & Byrne

 Healthy options with planty of eye appeal

Eat Beautiful

 Itsu have just announced a 20-site expansion in London, up from the current 38 locations  They are certainly one to watch with Pret's Julian Metcalfe in the driving seat.

 In-store flowers and story!

 Eat Beautiful is the message with lots of low-fat, low-carb, low-calorie recipes.

Seaweed Thins

 Clever Julian Metcalfe of Itsu and Pret fame is right on the money and calories.

He promises more innovative snacks are on the way.  After the success of popcorn and rice cakes he is most definitely one to watch.

 Taste good too.

Five Good Reasons

Good exhortation at Cafe in the Crypt, St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square 

Bouncing Balls

Spotted in Planet Organic's store and they are not cheap at £1.95 each.  A possible cafe item?

Skinny Dip

Skinny Dipping at Pret - all 190 calories and doesn't it sound better than "pea & mint humous with Crudites"

Kiwi berries

Spotted at my local neighbourhood store and you may have to wait until next year to feature them.  Season is December to March.

Healthy Eating and Chips with Sauce

This Wasabi kiosk is parked outside Liverpool Street Station.  The world is certainly changing when we have this rather than a burger van.  The City may lead trends but more healthy eating is on our customers' agenda.

Just to make sure we don't get too carried away, a unit spotted at a stately home half marathon event that just does chips, with added sauce!

You are definitely in the right sector

Two recent bits of research say cafes are a great sector.

Allegra Strategies Eating Out in  the UK 2011 and Mintel, as reported in the Caterer, state that:

• out of home eating is increasing in the low to mid-value end of the lunch market despite the economy
• coffee shops have the highest visit frequency of any catering outlets
• fast casual 'refuel' snack lunches are what consumers want
• local sourcing has real appeal and is the most important ethical initiative you can undertake
• customers are slowly getting the message about, and buying, healthy options

It is hardly surprising that there are new magazines (Lunch Business "for the 'grab & go' business professional"), new shows (Lunch!) and web portals (Caffe Culture).  I am delighted to say that this blog is now getting over 100 page views a day plus an increasing number of followers on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.  We're rocking.