Customers Demand Authentic Hospitality Experiences - Every time

Let’s start off by saying that commercial hospitality is everywhere we look. From our morning coffee to our brunch on the weekend. We are looking for the same thing – an authentic and positive food and beverage experience.

Customers have become better informed, they have choices and they will communicate their dissatisfaction when they feel food and service is second-rate. They no longer want to be served by the ‘B’ team; or eat off of bullet-proof crockery; or pay main course prices for over-sized, unappetising breakfast dishes. Today’s customer is demanding a positive experience in equal parts, food, service and price.

Blogs, social media, café reviews, Trip-Advisor, Zomato and Instagram are all telling us that customers are dissatisfied with over-priced food, small portions, disappointing food deliveries, bad service, rude staff and take-it or leave it approach to food and service.

The word authentic is used to describe an object that is not false or copied, it is genuine and real. Authentic food is food (or drink) that exactly meets its description and also meets a person’s reasonable assumption of its character.

Like food, the service proposition is also a customer expectation, this can be subjective, but overall, the commercial hospitality industry has a sound understanding of the touch-points relating to service-excellence. These are not always delivered due to poor staff training and supervision and as such, customer facing staff require coaching continually.

Over the past two months, I’ve had some great authentic dining experiences across a number of industry sectors, here are some that I would like to share with you….