Ambience, bread and hygge

Ambience, bread and “hygge”

There’s a new buzzword around this winter – and it comes from our friends on the other side of the North Sea. Hygge, pronounced “hoo-ga” is a Danish word that roughly translated means cosiness. But it’s also about a feeling of well-being and enjoying life, whether that’s snuggled up in front of a fire toasting marshmallows and sipping hot chocolate; spending quality time with close friends and family; or the feeling you get when you put on warm, dry clothes after being caught in a downpour.

It doesn’t mean over-indulgence or total luxury, but it is the opposite from all the dieting and deprivation and pounding the treadmill at the gym that we’re told we should do to achieve health and well-being, and therefore we like the idea.

The growing popularity of boutique hotels probably has something to do with creating that hygge ambience; the attention to detail, the personal touch and intimate surroundings that instantly make guests feel comfortable and content.

The great thing about developing this warm, welcoming and cosy atmosphere is that it can be done in any hotel, guest house, restaurant, pub or B&B without spending a fortune on a total makeover.

Little things like fresh flowers and scented candles or snuggly throws and cushions give instant ambience to public spaces and private rooms. Simply providing nice toiletries, thick, all-enveloping bath towels and tea and coffee making facilities that include more than a couple of teabags, a sachet of coffee and some UHT milk, will make a huge difference to a guest bedroom.

It’s the same with food. For example, how much more cosiness value is there in presenting a variety of warm, freshly baked artisanal bread or pastries (Danish of course since we’re talking hygge) than simply offering a basket with a few pieces of pre-sliced baguette or a cold croissant? And how easy and inexpensive is it to add that value?

Total Foodservice introduced Panesco range of breads and pastries to make it simple for caterers to offer freshly bakery products at any time of day. With small rolls taking under 5 minutes to bake from frozen products can be out of the freezer into the oven and ready to go into a bread basket in the time it takes to serve the pre-dinner drinks round! This ability to bake to order, little and often, also means there’s limited waste.

Baking bread this way also provides another opportunity to make guests feel really special by offering them a “bread menu” from which they can make their individual selection before it goes in the oven. Makes a big change from “would you like a white or a brown roll?”

Take a look at our extensive Panesco range here https://www.totalfoodservice.co.uk/142-news-quality-bakery-products.html (click for brochure) for inspiration and give bake-off bread a whirl.

Just the aroma wafting through your premises will add to your hygge!