This year we have had the privilege to provide food consultancy for some of Australia’s best fresh-food markets; both existing and under redevelopment. Our exposure to projects such as the new Sydney Fish Market, Adelaide Central Market (both under redevelopment), plus Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market and Camberwell Market have provided us with contemporary insight and research into the opportunities, challenges, management and direction of large and small footprint, fresh food and specialty produce market-retail.

As the cost of living pressures continue to bite in Australia, consumers are becoming increasingly discerning about where, when and how much of their disposable income they spend on eating out. For shopping centre management and F&B operators, this scenario presents a partnership opportunity to plan and implement strategies to adapt to new consumer F&B spending patterns and continue to drive visitation, overall spend and maintain or increase asset value. In this article, we delve into practical strategies that shopping centres and F&B operators can employ, considering the specific needs of different customer segments, to maximize visitation frequency and spending in a time of escalating cost of living.

Future Food has long been recognised as a leader in Food & Hospitality Master Planning. However, in the past 5 years, we have assembled a new specialist skill set that involves actively managing expressions of interest (EOI) and tender campaigns for a wide range of companies and sectors. This niche service is gaining popularity in the food and hospitality industry, and at Future Food, we have revolutionised the methodology of connecting our clients with the talent they have been seeking for the betterment of their assets, precincts, and venues.

The craft beverage movement has been building significant momentum over the past 10 years and has subsequently reshaped the liquor industry as we know it. With craft brewing, small scale local distilleries and small batch wine production capturing greater market share year on year, we are seeing a shift in the market towards quality over quantity and experiential over mainstream.

Retail Relationships Rewarding Foodies

As we witness the gradual relaxing of restrictions placed on food operators state by state and an uncertain return to trading, one thing is certain – the Food & Hospitality will inevitably recover. In fact, the latest credit card data from both the ANZ and CBA shows that spending on F&B is coming up from its lows.

People are social creatures by nature, with hospitality ingrained in our way of life - albeit it to differing degrees from person to person granted! Moreover, there is still a considerable amount of latent demand: Pre-COVID levels of demand for F&B were not a fad as consumers’ interaction with Hospitality is a practice that has been building over the last two decades.

We as an industry are back and open for dine-in business. The profound power of the anticipation and excitement these simple words hold is balanced by the weight of a new normal for food and hospitality operators. This Monday has seen every state government now relax restrictions sufficiently to reopen our dine-in service – albeit in differing degrees from state to state. If reports of Monday night covers around Melbourne are anything to go by, diners are quite literally salivating at the chance to return to their favourite venue; as competitive as this has become as the reality of seating limitations make this once relatively simple pleasure, not quite so simple.

We live in a digital era where we are all critics. Social media and the Internet, in general, drive our ability to offload our opinions on every element in our lives. Food is a major part of this because our exposure to food globally has dramatically changed. We can view the latest trends from around the world while sitting on our couches. All businesses, but especially F&B operators, need to adapt to this new normal and recognise that their presence cannot just be confined to within their four walls.

Use social media but use it tastefully. The key to remember is that the online personality of your business has to match both the in-store experience and the profile of your customers. Use digital communications to draw customers in and then deliver the best. Represent who you are and what you have to deliver. Above all, be genuine and be real.

Determining a hospitality strategy that maximises food and hospitality revenue is the goal that many of our clients wish to resolve when they partner with Future Food. However, in order to do that we must first understand the size of the project’s food and hospitality revenue potential and then the important part – aligning that available spending with the need states and aspirations of their target market(s) in order to maximise the potential for the project.

The sustainability of any restaurant or F&B business is always dependant on meeting the needs of the intended target market and remaining relevant to those customer segments with authentic food and a range of promotions, offers and experiences that encourage repeat patronage. Although COVID-19 virus is extreme business interruption and thankfully not an everyday event, it does demonstrate how an external event can devastate a business or sector of hospitality reliant on a narrow target market focus. The everyday trading lesson is for restauranteurs and F&B operators to boost the sustainability of the business with active, customised and well communicated promotions, offers and experiences, expanding the target market base to create a more sustainable revenue base.

Will Guidara, one of the owners of Eleven Madison Avenue in New York, has been quoted as saying that it’s “compassion and passion [that] gives a fantastic dining experience.”

As every successful restaurateur will tell you, passion is the reason that they started their venture in the first place. It’s what continues to drive their activities. But passion alone can only take you so far.

Jay Rayner, the UK food critic, has recently written that he, “does not regard the table primarily as a place of nutrition. That’s just something which, happily, comes with the territory. It’s a place of joy.”