Carlsberg adds 4p to a pint

Carlsberg UK is raising its wholesale prices by 4p per pint on average from 15 February. The figure is duty inclusive.

Chris Houlton, sales & distribution director at Carlsberg UK, said: "We have worked hard to minimise the price rise and have continued to implement cost reduction business efficiencies to reduce the impact to our customers and consumers as much as possible.

"We recognise the current trading environment is not easy but with Carlsberg UK's leading brands, sponsorship properties and support programmes such as our 'We Deliver More' we genuinely believe we can work with licensees in 2010 to help develop their businesses."

Last week Carling brewer Molson Coors announced it would add 4p to a pint from March. Heineken and InBev are both adding 4p to pints of beer from 1 February.

Crestron launches virtual touchpanel for iMac or MacBook

Crestron has launched the XPanel for Mac, which transforms an iMac or MacBook into a virtual touchpanel. It enables system managers or end-users to access and control Crestron systems from any connected Mac computer or laptop

XPanel for Mac is a free application available for download from the Crestron website.

XPanel for Mac replicates a Crestron touchpanel on a computer screen, so users can remotely check to see if lights were left on and turn them off, or arm/disarm the security system from any location. System managers can take control of a classroom and help an instructor get a presentation working, without physically going to the room.

Open Hospitality Launches Innovative Social Media Solution For Hotels

Open Hospitality, a global provider of hotel Internet marketing solutions, has announced the availability of fully managed Social Media services. Participating hotels can now actively join in various social media, while reducing the impact on staff time required to adequately support emerging media.

'Social media has evolved into a key marketing and service recovery system for hotels. By offering fully managed services, we allow hotels to eliminate the ramp up time spent creating and maintaining their social media. Managing these services for our clients insures that content is fresh with frequent updates, that promotions are creative and most importantly, that hotel resources are focused on their core responsibilities,' commented Chris Wichers, executive vice president of Open Hospitality. 'Our reputation for providing complete web marketing solutions insures that we can be counted on to quickly and accurately handle social media needs.'

Open Hospitality will create and maintain a hotel's Facebook account, adding images and logos, creating photo albums, reviewing and commenting on fan comments and posts. A Twitter presence will be created and maintained to include status updates and responses to follower comments and questions. Open Hospitality social media clients will be continuously consulted to insure fresh content and promotions are included in all social media distribution. Service recovery postings will be expedited and sent to appropriate on-property staff.

The Little Sauce Company launches new range

The Little Sauce Company has launched a range of fresh tomato-based and pesto sauces into the foodservice sector.

The tomato-based sauces include tomato and basil, tomato and chilli, the hot Arrabbiata and Puttanesca, the spicy roasted pepper

“The feedback from the trade shows was fantastic with chefs and operators praising the freshness and balance of flavours in comparison to the ambient equivalents,” said chef Marco Fontana Ros, who established The Little Sauce Company in 2008.

“Also, because of their superior taste, a little goes a long way so chefs will find this not only a multi-purpose, healthier meal solution but an ingredient that offers added value to any foodservice business.”

The sauces are available in 1kg, 5kg and 10kg foodservice packs.

For more information visit www.thelittlesaucecompany.co.uk