“Real insights lie beyond surface impressions”
Francis Loughran, Managing Director. Future Food 

Food and hospitality has evolved into much more than just eating, it has become part of our customers’ lives and the communities in which we serve it

This is an exciting time to be part of the Food and Hospitality industry.  Increased focus on eating and drinking from the media, customers and landlords means that innovation, competition and choice have never been higher.

In thinking about where we have been over the last 12 months and where we feel that the next year will take us, Future Food has distilled our observations into a few broad categories.

“Food and hospitality has evolved into much more than just eating, it has become part of our customers’ lives and the communities in which we serve it” Francis Loughran, MD, Future Food

THE FUTURE OF FOOD IN SHOPPING CENTRES IS BRIGHT AS IT IS BUILT UPON FOOD AND DESIGN IN NEW URBAN SPACES AND PLACES

Small, Medium and Large shopping centres and precincts - Each must seize their food and hospitality opportunity and plan for success. No mall, retail centre or mixed-use development, can afford not to offer great food and service. The simplest café or food truck can offer great food, coffee and snacks thereby generating rental income for the landlord and a profit for the operator. It is all about positioning, professionalism, people and profitability regardless of size and location.

Authentic and Honest Food, Service, Entertainment and Community – these are the cornerstones for future retail centres and mixed use developments of all sizes.

Today’s requirements for living, shopping and eating have changed. The broad construct of lifestyle has been integrated into retail and this needs to be reflected in the food, hospitality and entertainment. I think by now we have all moved on from the brick versus clicks dilemma and realised that retail centres are alive and well and have a bright future provided they can change and evolve with their customers. 

More and more people are opting for modern hospitality spaces with a strong natural theme and overlay when they are choosing where to spend their quality time.

As part of Future Food’s European projects and our most recent project in Budapest, our team sets off to Belgrade to explore what the city has to offer.

There’s plenty of reasons to visit Belgrade, The capital of the Republic of Serbia, but as usual for us, it’s all about food!

In the changing retail landscape Neighbourhood shopping centres are facing competition from online shopping, high street food deliveries like Uber & Deliveroo, high street dining precinct and the inevitable introduction of smart casual/ family restaurants within the building footprint of stand-alone cinemas and other entertainment precincts.

Smart Casual and Family Dining precincts are no longer the BASTAN of the larger malls and retail precincts. The smaller malls are starting to recognise the many benefits of increasing the food GLA and the development of dining precincts. They want to include roof tops and dining lanes.

Francis Loughran’s projects and study tours take him far and wide in search of the best food and the best brands when it comes to food. Over the past few weeks Francis has been reviewing some of New Zealand’s newest and hippest new food designations; The Press Hall in Wellington’s CBD (80 Willis Street) and Queen’s Rise in Queen Street, central Auckland. Today, the focus here is on Wellington.

Future Food’s master planning work on the Starfield Cheongna Mall in Seoul has required Consultants Allan Forsdick and Francis Loughran to spend considerable time in Seoul over the past year. This is the third mall Future Food have Masterplanned for Shinsegae and the senior team at Future Food are very familiar with the culinary diversity and delights of food across Korea and in particularly in Seoul.

NH Architecture is one of Melbourne’s leading architecture studios and currently they are working on a number of retail precincts where food and hospitality are central to the development. Having partnered with Future Food on a number of projects over the years, we sat down with NH’s Managing Director, Roger Nelson, to talk about his view on food and design and what is considered by an architect when a hospitality precinct is being developed.