DWTC completes US $2.18mn kitchen upgrade
Dubai World Trade Centre’s (DWTC) Hospitality division has completed an AED8 million (US $2.18mn) kitchen upgrade of its 3650m2 facility at the venue, as it looks to drive growth for its on-site and offsite catering businesses and meet anticipated capacity increases until 2020.
A majority of the investment has been focused on installing state-of-the-art equipment across the catering operation, including smart technologies to integrate and automate processes, helping increase capacity output to 20,000 daily covers – up from 15,000.
It has also led to a significant 30% like-for-like reduction in energy usage as well as enhanced hygiene and safety standards, with the kitchen facilities being both HACCP-compliant and ISO22000K certified.
The upgrade was driven by the expansion of DWTC’s exhibition space, which will see an additional 15,000m2 of floor area coming online early next year across three new halls, an upgraded in-venue retail offering and further increases in the business’ offsite catering operations, which includes events such as Dubai Airshow and the Formula 1 Eithad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as well as Royal weddings and state functions across the UAE.
“Due to equipment limitations, we were seeing enforced blackout days negatively impacting business opportunity, especially in the off-site catering business, which continues to be a major growth driver for Hospitality moving forward. This significant investment not only allows us to be better optimised and utilised but it also allows us to provide an even more premium product to our clients, both at the venue and across the UAE,” said Mohammed Al Jumairi, vice president – Hospitality, DWTC.
“To this end, the newly refurbished production kitchen reinforces our commitment to providing unrivalled resources to support the growing demand for event catering. It is not just about quantity, it is about delivering a greatly enhanced, fresher, tastier and more precise catering offering that sets us apart from the market, ensuring we remain the go-to partner for hospitality in the UAE.”
The upgrade includes deck and rotation ovens, flexi chef pans, as well as flexi/combi ovens which allow for recipes to be pre-programmed into the high-tech machines, cutting cooking time down by more than half the average expected time. The automated systems also allow chefs to devote more time to preparation, where cooking can be done closer to the time of the event, ensuring fresher and higher-quality food.
The refurbishment took a total of 82 days to complete.
Article continues on next page with fast facts...
Hospitality by Dubai World Trade Centre catered to 2529 international, regional, and local events in 2014, equating to over 2.1 million guests, a 27% increase year-on-year.
The company has 148 chefs from 19 countries and more than 300 full time service staff.
FAST FACTS:
- Total facility size - 3,650m2
- Automated smart technologies increase capacity to 20,000 daily covers
- 33% increase in daily covers
- Energy efficiency up by 30%
- Cooking time cut by half
FOOD FACTS:
OLD EQUIPMENT vs NEW EQUIPMENT
Chick peas boiled for hummus: 4 hours vs 1.5 hours.
Moroccan lamb tagine: 2+ hours vs 25-30 minutes.
Chicken biryani: 30 minutes vs 10 minutes
Steamed rice: 30-40 minutes vs 15-20 minutes
Capacity to make Croissants: 2000 vs 2400