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Two hotels in Birmingham are the first in the UK to install an innovative new hot food vending machine which uses technology first pioneered by NASA in order to deliver a range of hot foods in just 90 seconds.

The ‘Brasserie Express’ vending machine will mean that the Express by Holiday Inn hotels in Castle Bromwich and at the NEC Birmingham will for the first time be able to provide guests with hot meals and snacks 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; without having to employ any extra staff.

Owned and operated by London-based company Brasserie Express UK, the machine works by combining a rotating stock freezer with a high speed combination oven which moves air at jet velocity; a rate of over 1200 metres per minute. This allows heat transfer of up to 60 times that of a conventional oven and when combined with microwave technology, the oven can reheat frozen food faster than ever before without compromising food quality. Uniquely it will also brown, bake and crisp depending on the item being cooked.

Menu options include a cooked English breakfast, pizzas, pasties, savoury slices and fries; as well as a range of healthy options. Food choices can be changed to suit individual market needs and ingredients are only sourced from UK specialist food suppliers to ensure the very highest standards of hygiene, quality, taste and freshness.

Brasserie Express UK has completed successful trials across the UK over the past 14 months and is currently placing a number of machines into the marketplace. A similar roll-out programme by a separate company in the USA has seen the concept placed in over 2000 locations.

David Batchelor, Managing Director, Brasserie Express UK commented: “Brasserie Express is creating real excitement in the hotel and hospitality sector and we are currently in talks with several hotel groups and FTSE brands which are keen to provide their customers with our hot food 24/7 option.”