NEW YORK—Five exhibitors received Editors’ Choice Awards during the Opening Ceremonies of the 99th annual International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS), Sunday, November 9, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The awards recognize best new products within the categories of kitchen design, green, operations, tabletop and technology. From the five winners, the Kenneth F. Hine “Best of Show” Award also was selected.
The 2014 Editors’ Choice Award winners are:
Kenneth F. Hine “Best of Show”—EcoWalls: Chef’s EcoWall Garden.
Green: EcoWalls’ Chef’s EcoWall Garden. This sophisticated design successfully blends form with function with its specifically designed system that controls water, nutrients, and lighting to create a sustainable growing environment for a wide variety of fragrant herbs, leafy greens, and other edible plants year-round.
Kitchen Design: Franke, BKON. The BKON Craft Brewer’s proprietary brewing process called RAIN (Reverse Atmospheric Infusion) uses reduced air pressure as a brewing or infusion variable that produces deep and layered flavor profiles.
Operations: FlexCart, LLC, FlexCart Hotel Engineering Cart. Compact, lightweight and very maneuverable, this cart has been proven to substantially increase productivity, inventory control, and the overall professionalism of property operations. Includes removable tool bag with 84 tools in 42 labeled pockets, and can carry up to a 6′ ladder.
Tabletop Winner Uses Reclaimed Balsa Wood
Tabletop: VerTerra Dinnerware, Collapsible Box with Attached Lid. These new collapsible boxes, made from reclaimed balsa wood with a rice paper finish, feature an innovative reflexive lid and pop-up design, allowing for everything to ship, store, and lay completely flat, saving space while still presenting food beautifully.
Technology: Partender, Partender. Bar inventory and ordering in 15 Minutes on iPhone, iPad. Partender reduces the time it takes owners and managers to do full bar inventory and ordering from six hours (or more) to just 15 minutes—all on iOS. While users take inventory of their virtual bars on Partender’s patent-pending system using any iOS device, they can view accounting and order reporting on the web or Excel.
Editors from leading hospitality trade publications reviewed over 120 submissions of the latest products for the industry, and selected winners based on innovative product design, how a product answers a particular industry need, creative use of material or construction, and development or use of a new technology.
Judges for the 19th annual IHMRS Editors’ Choice Awards were Kris Burnett, Hospitality Upgrade; Glenn Hasek, Green Lodging News; Beth Lorenzini, Foodservice Equipment Reports; Michelle Renn, Hotel-Online; and Christine Trauthwein, Hotel Business.
The 99th annual International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show ran through Tuesday, November 11, 2014, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Following a full day of conference and networking activities on Saturday, November 8, the IHMRS featured three full days of exhibits from Sunday, November 9, through Tuesday, November 11. The market presented more than 650 exhibitors and attracted some 16,000 industry professionals. It was co-located with Boutique Design New York (BDNY), featuring more than 450 manufacturers, designers and representatives of furniture, lighting, wall coverings, fabric, seating, accessories, artwork, carpet and flooring, materials, bath and spa, and tabletop.
