Hospitality has changed. The pandemic has accelerated trends in guest experience that prioritise wellbeing while pushing brands to trade on their hygiene laurels. In F&B environments, properties suddenly find themselves catching up with gig economy brands like Deliveroo and Post Mates, who have long masked their delivery services as “contactless” and “rapid.”

Where conviviality and gathering were once at the heart of five-star hospitality, the industry is nuancing pandemic health guidance around contact and travel with robust hygiene and new, luxurious spins on in-room dining and single-serve cuisine delivery. Craster sits down with Jessica Corteen, Head of Product at Craster, to discuss Flow Bento and its development to support the new hospitality landscape.

Craster: What was the main challenge you were hearing from industry partners as you began to work on Flow Bento?

Jess Corteen: It wasn’t only one thing that we were hearing. Long-standing partners were bringing us feedback and regulations that impacted everything when it came to how they were considering guest experiences – especially in F&B. Concerns around safety and hygiene were at the forefront of everyone’s minds and we wanted to offer a solution to support creative presentation products whilst addressing these issues. The only truths were guests need to eat, chefs want to make cuisine beautiful and properties required solutions to both of those challenges. 

Craster: Presumably properties also had a number of now redundant buffet and bar items too.

Jess Corteen: One of the core challenges that our partners had was how to safely and elegantly provide covered food presentation. Our Flow trays were a natural starting point as the Gastronorm footprints are ideal for operational use and the design team worked through varying F&B set up options to design inserts which drop easily into separate elements within, combined with a smoked grey lid to provide a fully protected solution. Drawing on the rich history of bento boxes, the simplicity of adding drop-ins and lids to properties existing Flow trays offers our clients flexible and configurable solutions. F&B agility will be everything moving forward.

F&B agility will be everything moving forward.

Jess Corteen, Head of Product

Drawing on the bento boxes of the Kamakura period in Japan, Craster’s design team crafted an effortlessly elegant method to serve cuisine across properties safely while protecting and showcasing the chef’s gastronomic work. Craster Flow trays form ideal Bento boxes for sumptuous cuisine carriage and display. Crafted around a Gastronorm footprint with dividing inserts and lids, these boxes are ideal for a stacking, single-serve experience where elegance and understated materials are as important as wellness and hygiene. 

A property’s existing 1.1 and 1.2 Flow Trays are easily repurposed between buffets and Flow Bento for individual service, enabling greater agility as the pandemic’s impact is lessened. Dividers cut from oak hardwoods elegantly separate drinks bottles, condiments and courses while the lithe smoked acrylic cover offers tantalising views of the cuisine carried within.

Craster’s new Flow Bento system offers a dynamic set of interchangeable pieces. Launching 1 June 2021, they are available now to order.