Conference Matters 141

FOOD NEWS

INTERVIEW

Koninklijke Jaarbeurs' new chef is committed to sustainable catering

Meetingselect appoints Jeroen de Hooge as Program Director Global Events

As the new chef of the Koninklijke Jaarbeurs, Peter Scholte’s main goal is to make the event and exhibition centre more sustainable. The event and exhibition centre Jaarbeurs in Utrecht has a new chef, Peter Scholte, who is fully committed to sustainability. With a large team in the kitchen, Jaarbeurs provides the entire catering for all its restaurants and on loca tion. “I’m pleased to see that Jaarbeurs has already taken significant steps to make its catering range more sustainable, including collaborating with Greendish, Too Good to Go and De Koek- fabriek”, says Scholte. “The world demands solutions, which is why it’s no longer a matter of wanting to change the kitchen but needing to change it.” Circular catering concept As a concept and development chef for Albron Horeca & Hospitality, he was jointly responsi ble for setting up The Green House, a circular catering concept next to the Beatrix building in Utrecht where responsible and sustainable cooking are the main focus. “With what I learned there, I devised many con cepts for cooking with sustainable, local and pure ingredients at Jaarbeurs. I have learned that only the best is good enough for our guests, so I’m working here with this in mind.” Dutch cuisine “If we don’t go green now, there won’t be any future. There are still so many opportunities to cook with vegetables and herbs directly from urban farms or locally grown. Enjoying food as it was meant to be, in season,” says Scholte. “I think that it’s important, and it’s all Dutch cuisine. In my opinion, this also fits perfectly

Armando Mastrapasqua joins AIM Group International

AIM Group International strengthens the division AIM Sport, focused specifically upon the manage ment of sports events, with the appointment of Armando Mastrapasqua as its General Manager.

Meetingselect, meeting management plat form and venue marketplace, announces the appointment of Jeroen de Hooge as Program Director Global Events. De Hooge brings more than 17 years of experience in events, strategy, and project management. After graduating from Hotelschool The Hague back in 2002, De Hooge worked his way up the corporate ladder. Starting his career at Smit & Dorlas Koffiebranders, he quickly moved on to work at Fletcher Hotels, the largest hotel chain in the Netherlands. After some years, he left Fletcher to join BCD travel, a company for smart travel management, as Head of Sales to eventually become Coun try Director the Netherlands within 7 years. He focused on strategic meeting management, coaching, and business development before returning to Fletcher Hotels as Director Corpo rate Sales. Jeroen de Hooge’s work with Meetingselect will cover the full scope of corporate events, with an immediate focus on the short- and long-term event projects on a global scale. He will lay emp hasis on both the existing relationships with event bookers and suppliers in the international market and potential new users and partners. He will also bring attention to commercial and mar keting areas in the program of Global Events.

Armando Mastrapasqua is an experienced manager who has held key positions in such important companies as FIAT Financial Services, Hertz, General Electric, and other key players in the tourism and major events sector. He has an impressive track record of experiences in the field of sports events, including the Milano 2018 World Figure Skating Championships, the Cortina 2021 Alpine Skiing World Championships, and the 2022 Volley Nations League. “We decided to invest in the sports management field by further developing our specialist division and making our offer more efficient and competitive,” explains Gianluca Scavo, CEO of AIM Group International. “We are delighted to have secured the services of Armando, a professional with solid skills, experience, and relationships in the industry, who we are certain will lead the division success- fully, making it a reference point for the market.” The Hague launches digital platform to build event programmes

Norway. Scholte also worked as a chef at El Bulli in Spain and gained knowledge of Hawaiian and Italian cuisines. “Taking people on a culinary journey through the most beautiful culinary dishes is what you can wake me up in the middle of the night for! I’m really looking forward to taking the Jaarbeurs catering team on my culinary journey through the kitchen.” A leader in sustainability “I believe that the Jaarbeurs kitchen should be a leader in sustainability at all levels. From a show in the exhibition hall to a fancy dinner with digni taries in one of the beautiful conference rooms.”

with the ‘Koninklijke’ (‘Royal’) designation of Jaarbeurs. My wish is that we work with pure Dutch products at Jaarbeurs and that we’re a frontrunner in doing so.” “The various exhibitions and events are a source of inspiration for me. I feel that the BouwBeurs (construction show) should have a completely different dish than, let’s say, the Vakantiebeurs (holiday show).” Taking people on a culinary journey With so much international experience, Scholte does not only focus on Dutch cuisine. He has worked for British MasterChef Raymond Blanc and was a star chef at the Hotel Continental in

• Date – month and event duration (from 1 day to 5+ days) • Delegate numbers – from 10-300+ • Style – sustainable, historical, modern, city centre, cultural and more • Theme – Hague highlights, hidden gems, adventurous etc • Comfort level – 3* to 5* Once selected, the tool provides a range of potentially matches and itineraries for the event as well as contact options to tailor the programme and recommendations from con cept to fruition.

The Hague has created an online tool that allows event planners and conference organisers to easily identify potential hotels, venues, restaurants and activities. The simple tool takes basic information before recommending suitable solutions from amongst The Hague’s wide range of partners. The Create Your Event tool takes the organiser through a series of simple questions to refine their choices. This includes: • Programme elements – venue, activity, res taurants and hotel

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