Here are products we found intriguing at Hotelympia (London ExCel, Feb 28- Mar 4)

Adande (Suffolk, England)makes insulated refrigerated drawers that efficiently retain cold air (compared to a fridge with a door) and have excellent temperature stability. Their new "matchbox" design allows drawers to be pulled out of either side of the unit, with a simple lock bar that stops the drawer from sliding out the other side when you don't want it to. All moving parts are outside the cooled area and the drawers are removable for cleaning. 

PEL's Model BB01 bottle crusher, a sound-proofed device designed to fit under a bar counter that will reduce bottle volume by 5:1, immediately decreasing demand on for storage space. According to the inventors (who were in the booth), it is the first of its kind worldwide. PEL has a range of commercial waste disposal equipment, including a bin press that acts like a compactor for your standard waste bins on wheels - and is looking for US distributors. See more products at their website.

In the "why didn't we think of that" category is the commercial microwave oven liner from Cavity Protection Systems Ltd. It's a patented plastic (TPX) liner that fits inside a microwave oven. The liner does not interfere with air flow and can be washed in a non-caustic dishwasher or by hand. Designed by a service engineer who saw the costly damage that grease and food particles do to a microwave, the liner is currently sized to fit a Panasonic and a Sharp compact heavy duty commercial microwave oven. 

I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't notice the XDX (Arlington Hgts, IL) device that won a Kitchen Innovations award at NRA in 2008, or when it was written up in FER in 2001. So it's not new - but it's worth mentioning. The XDX valve that can be added onto any refrigeration or cooling system to improve efficiency (reducing energy costs 20-30%).  XDX allows a thin coating of refrigerant to line the entire inside of the evaporator tubing, resulting in rapid removal of heat from the product or conditioned space. Temperatures improve, the system runs less and equipment performs better in this controlled manner of refrigerant feed. 

The UK, being a bit smaller than the US, can have waste hauling companies at their foodservice equipment show. That's a good thing - kitchen operators encounter companies like Biogen Greenfinch (Bedfordshire, England), which takes food waste and turns it into fuel and bio-fertilizer. Biogen Greenfinch picks up 100,000 tons of waste per year for their five plants. Three of the plants generate about 3.5 mW/hour which makes them self-sufficient as well as supplying the power grid.  

Ille Papier-Service GmbH of Germany uses capacitance resistance to register the presence of a hand on its automatic paper and soap dispensers, instead of the more commonly used IR sensors. 

Waterscan (West Sussex, England) provides water management solutions; they recently introduced a new greywater (from baths, showers & sinks) recycling system which can reduce water consumption by as much as 20%. Waterscan can also combine the greywater system with rainwater harvesting for flushing toilets, irrigation and cleaning. The company provides online services for managing water consumption. While they focus on hotels, there is potential savings for other heavy water users. 

Frima Vario Cooking Centre, a new line by Rational, combines tilting pan, deep fat fryer and kettle into a single unit with some revolutionary new features. For example, the rim of the unit is always cool to touch; sensors in the bottom of the pan eliminate a drop in temp as cool product is added; an internal drain removes the need for tilting the pan to empty it, so it doesn't require a floor drain. The Frima line was introduced to selected markets in Europe in 2005. It is not available in the US. Yet.