Shifting Strategic Approach to EOI – A Win-Win Solution for Food Operators, Landlords & Developers

Macquarie University - The Hub - Food and Hospitality Precinct

Firstly, let me set the background to why we have written this article. The ups and down of the past 24 months has; and is continuing to batter the food and hospitality industry from every angle. It is hard to plot a road map for the industry’s short and medium terms due to the non-stop challenges that face each specific sector, none bigger than the shortage of trained staff, increased operating costs, rent, and fitout costs.

There are many questions around does the food service industry needs to revert to the old-life, pre-covid, or is this a chance, a unique chance, to do something new when it comes to how best-practice food and hospitality operators partner with developers and organisations of all types. Change can be good and for Future Food, we are seeing a new approach to how food and beverage operators and hospitality groups wish to partner with Landlords across all industry sectors. Whilst the traditional leasing approach is well-established, the focus has shifted to the Expression of Interest (EOI) process, where clients are seeking more than just rental return and strong commercial terms, they are seeking unsullied food and hospitality outcomes.

Increased competition across the industry has initiated this shift, where operators are becoming more selective, and landlords are putting greater emphasis on food and hospitality as a key driver and amenity to their projects.

Abbotsford Convent - Catering and Hospitality Partnership

Today’s food and beverage tenant/landlord partnerships have come a long way from a handshake on a lease deal for the opening of a café or restaurant. Securing a food and hospitality partner for your project involves a new set of criteria and will hopefully result in a sustainable and profitable outcome for all stakeholders. There is significant value to be realised in utilising food and hospitality as an attractor and an anchor for new developments, through adding a lifestyle component that has wide market appeal.

The focus is on “partnering on the risk and the profits” to achieve a win-win outcome.

Our Food Consultants are specialists in Food & Hospitality EOI, RFP & Tender planning, campaigns, and reviews, with this forming a core component of our business. We bring a specialised skill set to EOI Strategy Development and RFP Management, through in-depth knowledge of market conditions, trusted relationships with best practice food and hospitality operators, current industry expectations and unique and forward-thinking strategies to achieve solutions-focussed outcomes.

Future Food are specialists in consulting to and partnering with our clients to understand their key strategy drivers, formulating customised solutions and leading consultancies to maximise the benefit that food and hospitality can contribute to their assets, whilst understanding the many nuances that combine to create benchmark destinations with a food and hospitality focus.

What we bring to our projects is much more than a list of industry contacts. We bring an innate understanding of what leads to successful food and hospitality outcomes, from fit for purpose design, location maximisation, operational requirements, customer demographic assessments, project objectives and managing Landlords/Developers expectations.

Appointing Future Food as your EOI / Tender Food and Hospitality specialist ensures that the process is always conducted through a food and beverage lens.

Future Food’s EOI and Tender Management Expertise Covers Many Sectors

Our application of industry best practice strategies, services and models are utilised to ensure that all key deadlines and deliverables will be achieved and our systematized approach to pre-planning certifies the business case prior to the subsequent stages of Future Food’s proven three-stage process being delivered.

Our customised three stage approach provides a framework for us to work to, which is adaptable dependent on the project. Some projects require a more thorough

feasibility assessment and business planning prior to launching a campaign, whilst others require a more comprehensive strategy that plots the road map to achieve a shared vision and outcome. Irrespective of the approach, Future Food assign equal importance to our pre-planning as we do to our campaign and subsequent review process, as a project with no merit or a campaign with no foresight, is often destined for failure. 

Future Food’s Unique EOI
MeTHOdoLOGY and Approach

Pre-planning – Feasibility/Business Case & Strategy

Stage One has been specifically developed by Future Food as a pre-qualifying stage focused on what we call the “business of food”, thereby assessing if the proposed project is both potentially sustainable and worthy of going to the market and if it can return the result that our client is seeking. The outcome of this initial business case then helps inform the strategy to follow. This stage is crucial as it allows for intervention prior to taking the opportunity to market and will determine how Future Food progress to subsequent stages of the consultancy. Why is stage one so important? Because it allows Future Food to combine its extensive food and hospitality experience to assess the business case from several assessment angles to test the nuances of the project and its location using tools and criteria that Future Food have developed over many years of EOI consultancies.

 Campaign - Direct and Open Market Approach

Stage Two can be seen as a direct result of our stage one strategy and business case and is highly customisable dependent on the project and opportunity in question. Future Food’s extensive database and relationships with industry leading operators and new to market concepts ensure that our campaign can employ a tailored and targeted approach or a wide market approach to gain maximum interest across the market. Our in-house systems and technology allow for efficient management of this stage and ensures a documented and traceable record of the process can be reviewed and audited as required.

Future Food utilise their networks and reach to secure discounted advertising rates and develop all advertising content for press, media and socials in-house to ensure the open market approach is thorough and the opportunity is professionally presented to the market.

Our professionally created documents effectively communicate the opportunity and generate interest from the industry due to them being written and created by hospitality professionals. Our unique position allows us to speak credibly about the opportunity, we can empathise with the industry, and we can connect the creative and proven talent to the opportunity more efficaciously than others.

Review – Assessment and Formal Recommendations

Stage Three can be seen as our pièce de resistance, where our industry expertise can truly be harnessed and utilised to determine best case outcomes and suitability for the project. Leading the assessment process and providing independent and impartial advice to our clients is a crucial step to achieving desired outcomes. Our detailed assessment methodology, scoring matrix and due diligence provides an infallible structure to assess all submissions by and leads to a genuine understanding of best fit operators. Finding the right match between project and proponent leads to long term success and profitable outcomes for all stakeholders. This stage can similarly be customised to client’s needs, from providing formal written recommendations to facilitating a more complete end-to-end process, where Future Food can be utilised as part of the key project team through to concept execution.

MTC - Southbank Theatre - Restaurant, Catering and Foyer Bar Partner

The aforementioned process that Future Food apply has been mastered over many years; and has proven time again to deliver exceptional results that are unmatched across the industry. It is for this reason that many organisations across industry sectors, choose to partner with Future Food, be it developers, property teams or landlords seeking to maximise the benefit food and hospitality can bring to their projects. Similarly, Future Food have also become the preferred partner that industry leading operators choose to engage with due to our credibility in understanding the industry, their need states and the critical success factors that lead to successful food and hospitality outcomes.

Future Food’s consistency and positive results sets us apart, whilst our trustworthiness and professional integrity defines us!