In the wake of rising inflation, F&B continues to be a major challenge for many hotels. The reality is it is now much more difficult to make a decent profit than it was pre-pandemic. Research from Hotstats last year suggested that F&B profits were 10 percentage points down compared to 2019.
It’s not just the cost of ingredients and equipment that has risen, wage growth has been a significant factor as well. All this points to a fairly bleak future with some owners deciding to remove dining options entirely.
Last year we caught up with Kateline Porritt, head of trends and insights at food consultancy Egg Soldiers to get her take on how to make F&B a success.
On the two different routes hotels can take
KP: [We] talk a lot about the two different routes you can go down. You can go down the cheap, the affordable [...] all the way through to the other side of how do you make it worth it and valuable to the customer. So how do you add value, And how do you add additional experience and activities and make food a very joyful occasion so that it that becomes something that's actually really worthwhile for your customer to spend their money, which maybe they're being more cautious on.
On making hotels an F&B destination
KP: We talk to our clients about what license they have, what credibility they have. And if they're a city centre, business-centric hotel, perhaps we're not talking about fine dining Michelin star, but they were talking about investing in what's the coolest technology with vending machines, or food delivery direct to your door or working in partnership with food delivery around the city. Versus if you're a family friendly hotel, what are your opportunities with big family sharing roasts and becoming a destination for that, in addition to being the hotel.
On keeping things simple
KP: I think what we bring to the table and what we really try and do and certainly what I try and do is reduced the sense of complexity, because I think when you talk to operators, they feel like 'oh well we have to offer you know breakfast and brunch and then we're doing a personal service and we do this and we do that and it really doesn't have to be.
On trends to watch out for
KP: I think one for me in the more luxury space is the addition of tableside service. And it's something that we expect when we go to a fine dining restaurant or go to a luxury hotel, the service is going to be impeccable, the food's going to be great, but to deliver that element of the unexpected and the experience is we're seeing hotels are beginning to offer more of a tableside experience.