Leading hospitality concepts in the spotlight at first edition Lightspeed Hospitality Awards

Plant-based burger concept The Sunny Burger Co. goes home as big winner 

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), the complete POS and payment platform for thousands of ambitious entrepreneurs worldwide, hosted the first edition of the Lightspeed Hospitality Awards on Monday 25 September at SOIA's city beach bar in Utrecht. The Lightspeed Hospitality Awards recognises leading hospitality entrepreneurs for their creativity, unique vision, and efforts in sustainability, innovation and digitalisation. Winner, Sunny Burger Company, the popular vegan burger concept on Amsterdam's Leidseplein. The other nominees were Poké Perfect, Un.Common, Bee Hospitality and Factory Girl. 

The jury was represented by four objective hospitality professionals, each with a unique perspective and link to the hospitality sector: Daniël Bundel, editor-in-chief and project manager of media platform Hotelvak, Aukje Van Dongen, chairwoman of hospitality association AF&BM, Kris Sienaert, Partnerships Manager at Bacardi, and Habiba Bougrine, Account Manager at EPSON Europe.

The public and judges were asked to judge each nominee based on three criteria: sustainability, innovation and digitalisation. Voting was done via Lightspeed's online ordering and payment platform, Order Anywhere. 

The big winner of the evening was The Sunny Burger Co. The vegetable, good-humoured, and "guilt-free" guilty pleasure concept convinced both the audience and the four judges with an impressive presentation. As a reward, Boyd Baptist, founder of The Sunny Burger Co. received a free one-year licence on Lightspeed Restaurant and a brand new projector from Epson, partner and sponsor of the Lightspeed Hospitality Awards.

"It's fantastic that Lightspeed provides a platform where hospitality professionals can come together and share experiences," Boyd said after the awards ceremony. "I was extremely happy to be nominated, and of course you hope you have a chance, but to be allowed to win in such a way is fantastic and it gives us confirmation that we are on the right track. We still have a long way to go; we keep fighting hard to build a great company. I am also very grateful to our team - without them this would not have been possible."

"It was quite an honour to be here tonight as a judge," says Kris Sienaert, Partnerships Manager EUROC at Bacardi. "What I paid particular attention to in judging the nominees was their use of data to take their hospitality businesses to the next level. All nominees had a very inspiring story to tell, but I thought The Sunny Burger Company was the rightful winner of the evening, because they have a strong business story, and have thought about all aspects."

"We feel honoured to support countless inspiring, innovative and entrepreneurial hospitality businesses in their growth and ambitions," says Emine Youssef, Benelux Regional Manager at Lightspeed. "That is also exactly what we want to achieve with the Lightspeed Hospitality Awards: putting unique hospitality concepts in the spotlight and inspiring start-up hospitality businesses with the success story of these entrepreneurs, their entrepreneurial spirit, creativity and perseverance. The presentation by The Sunny Burger Co. was a wonderful business case that was not only grounded in sustainability and digital and innovative ways of doing business, but also brought spontaneous smiles to the faces of all present."

Daniel Bundel: "It is good that entrepreneurs like Boyd Baptist are put in the spotlight. He shows that with passion, creativity and technology you can run a successful and forward-looking business in these challenging times. The overall picture is right, in my opinion the rightful winner!"