Evolve to Thrive: Strategic Food & Beverage Planning for Clubs

By Allan Forsdick

Clubs continue to adapt and evolve their hospitality and its relevance to the communities they serve. With modern leadership, food and beverage (F&B) has emerged as a cornerstone of success, shaping how clubs are perceived both internally by members and externally by the wider public.

Strategic F&B planning is no longer just about serving food — it's about creating a vibrant, memorable experience that fosters a strong community bond and drives long-term sustainability.

Elevating club perception through F&B

The quality of a club's F&B offering can profoundly impact its brand image. A club with a well-curated food and beverage programme is viewed as a dynamic and progressive destination, reinforcing its standing as a community hub. An outstanding F&B venue not only satisfies member expectations but also attracts a broader audience, enhancing the club’s reputation far beyond its immediate membership. This positive perception can open doors to new partnerships, sponsorship opportunities and growth avenues, helping the club to thrive in an increasingly crowded landscape.

Many aspects of club life are uniform across the board (gaming, community facilities, event spaces, etc.) but a unique, strategic food and beverage platform can differentiate one club from another.

F&B Case Study: Greenbank Services club

The upcoming re-development of Greenbank Services Club in southern Brisbane is a great example of a forward-thinking club with an evolving food and beverage strategy; setting the foundation for future hospitality success.

Renders courtesy of Altis Architecture

Barrel Room

Glasshouse

Marketplace

Marketplace

The Lifecycle of an F&B Venue

The most rewarding area of working with proactive clubs is seeing the evolution of their hospitality as they undertake strategic development of their offer to align with key market trends, evolving consumer lifestyles, or changing demographics of the surrounding catchments of the communities they serve.

Like any business venture, F&B operations within clubs go through various lifecycle stages. These stages - growth, maturity, and decline - demand different strategies and levels of investment, leadership, and community engagement.

Club management teams need to assess their venue's lifecycle stage honestly and implement appropriate tactics to ensure long-term success. The evolution of an F&B venue should be guided by strategic decision-making aligned with changing market conditions and member needs.

Growth Stage, Building Momentum

During the growth stage, an F&B venue is expanding its customer base, increasing revenue, and building its reputation. This phase is characterised by innovation, high energy, and a push to establish the venue in the market.

Management teams at this stage should focus on investment in marketing, staff training, and enhancing customer experience. It's essential to remain responsive to customer feedback, regularly refine menus, and adapt to market trends. This stage often involves significant capital expenditure to improve infrastructure or launch new venues.

Whilst this can seem like the exciting period of any venue’s lifespan, getting the offer right is a constant loop of evaluation/feedback, planning and implementation. Refinement is a dynamic process, ensuring that any early-stage impediments to positive experience are quickly rectified.

Maturity Stage, Maintaining Excellence

As a venue enters the maturity stage, it has likely established a stable customer base and consistent revenue. This phase is typically marked by operational efficiency and a high degree of consistency. While this stability is a positive indicator, it can also lead to complacency. The risk is that the venue could become stagnant, losing its edge in the market.

Management teams in the maturity stage should focus on maintaining high standards and finding subtle ways to innovate. Enhancing member loyalty through personalised service, regular performance reviews, and continuous refinement of the offering is essential. The changes here may not be as dramatic as in the growth stage, but even small adjustments, such as menu refreshes or facility upgrades, can make a big difference. Marketing strategies shift towards customer retention and building long-term loyalty while seeking out incremental growth opportunities.

Decline Stage, Navigating Challenges

When an F&B venue enters the decline stage, it may face dwindling revenue, reduced footfall, and a diminishing brand presence. This decline can occur due to several factors—shifts in consumer preferences, market trends, or operational inefficiencies. Management teams must act decisively to turn the tide.

A thorough analysis is crucial at this stage. Management needs to pinpoint the exact reasons for the decline and chart a recovery plan. In some cases, more drastic action, such as a refit of the venue, may be required. Tight cost control and maximising remaining assets are important whilst planning for the next cycle and provide a really important period for preparation and development to lay the groundwork for the next growth phase.

Strategic Evolution for Long-Term Success

Understanding and managing the lifecycle of an F&B venue is essential for the continued success of a club. Each stage - whether growth, maturity, or decline -presents its own challenges and opportunities.

By approaching these phases with clear strategies, clubs can ensure that their F&B operations not only contribute to financial stability but also enhance their role as vibrant community hubs. Effective leadership, candid assessment, and a commitment to adapting to market trends will keep F&B venues evolving and thriving.

To learn more about Future Food’s commitment to Clubs and the value that food and hospitality can bring to your organisation, reach out to us!

'Local' Food and Hospitality influences in the Business of Food

By Allan Forsdick

Successful dining clusters across Australia have adopted a place-first ‘local’ strategy that creates a destination in the heart of the community. This local strategy requires a shift to prioritise a hospitality experience over just a generic paint by numbers F&B amenity. Contemporary centres have expanded their success metrics from the size of the retail spend to now include the overall experience metrics. Food and hospitality continue to be the big driver of the experience economy across all sizes of centres, especially when delivered in company with entertainment and social experiences.

Ed Square, Sydney

To create a unique destination and increase frequency of visitation, food and hospitality must be given a foundation for success. A key factor of locally-focused precincts, such as Ed Square by Frasers Property, in south-west Sydney, is its external ground level dining precinct. This presents not as a shopping centre experience, but a laneway and town square experience. It provides a streetscape, personality and al fresco dining opportunities. Notably, it has the ability to trade completely independently of the retail trading hours and forms part of the Entertainment & Leisure Precinct (ELP).

Around Australia & New Zealand, regional and local centres are strengthening their revenue opportunities with a strategic evening economy component. In areas of new or fast population growth this is especially relevant – here the population will support growth into destination centres, no longer just for retail purchases or a cinema visit. Restaurants, casual dining; and even bars play a pivotal role in this expansion.

Brickworks, Auckland

Whilst most centres over 100,000m2 are likely to have an ELP and/or independent dining destination as a key part of their overall mix strategy, it is now essential for any centre with the aspiration of moving beyond the standard retail trading hours that F&B becomes a significant segment of the overall mix.

Mind Your Demographics

For Millennials (1981-1996) and older Gen Z (1997-2012) cohorts, spending preferences have been notably chronicled by the rise of experience spending. Its less about what they have, than what they do. Food and hospitality frequently form the canvas on which these socially-fascinated cohorts engage with their peers and friends.

This appetite for social experiences and immersive environments has; and is, leading the rise of F&B spending. There is a clear trend of increasing F&B spending as a percentage of discretionary income. Mini Gun centres, with their smaller size and typically more convenient access, can capitalise on this trend with a generation that values convenience.

Providing the same cookie-cutter F&B mix in every centre, however, will not deliver long-term sustainable growth or differentiate the centre to maximise the opportunity provided by a remix or redevelopment. The modern consumer is hungry for new experiences in new environments; shopping centres must utilise food and hospitality to shape their appeal and create a strong point of difference.

This must be done by adopting a ‘local’ mindset that embraces a hospitality-forward approach rather than just a collection of national food brands in a shopping centre. Modern food and hospitality precincts should have a strong narrative: to excite, inspire and engage.

Activated edges around shopping centres and retail precincts (Geelong, Victoria)

Food as an Experience, Not Just a Service

The growth of entertainment, leisure and dining precincts has redefined the way we think about planning food in our developments, with lessons learned filtering into Mini Gun centres. If customers are willing to pay for an experience, what exactly does that experience involve; and how can mini gun centres differentiate themselves from their competition? How can developers create a sense of community through their F&B offers?

F&B environments need to be given an appropriate physical and experiential platform that will allow them to be successful, these factors are different from the retail environment.

Ed Square, Sydney

Activated edges present a message of – "we are open for business!"

Ensuring our customers inherently understand that we have a hospitality precinct distinct from a retail precinct provides both appeal and activation of the centre regardless of the operating hours of the retail. This will be especially important during the evening, when the surrounding retail may be closed.

Access to our hospitality precincts must be obvious, clear and intuitive. High connectivity with key access points such as car parking, street entries and retail precincts, supported by clear and obvious wayfinding are imperative.

A food & beverage mix strategy biased towards new precinct ideation, expanding concept ideas, original cuisine choices and diversity of service options that are not saturated in the local market. Your customers do not need more of the same.

Experience is the overarching concept. Diverse, vibrant, exciting, connected destinations require consistent planning and experience management. An ongoing calendar of events that drives engagement cannot be underestimated in developing resilient social destinations.

Moonee Ponds Central, Melbourne

Moonee Ponds Central in Victoria (Mirvac) demonstrates these principles, split over Hall street in Moonee Ponds and blending in with other food outlets along the street, but activating their main pedestrian artery through their own precinct. The focus on local concepts, diverse mix of cuisine, differentiated service options and convenient access is appealing and repeatable.

The Differentiating Factor: Future-Proofing Retail Centres

The answer lies in differentiation. Retail centres need a unique selling point to compete with non-retail destinations. By applying the 'Divide and Differentiate' principle to their F&B master plans, retail centres can future-proof themselves against an increasingly fragmented and competitive market. A well-curated F&B offering can extend the customer visit across multiple day parts, contributing to the evening economy and enhancing customer engagement, which in turn maximises turnover and asset value.

Timeout Mall, Dubai

To succeed, the customer must be placed at the centre of every decision. This means anticipating the desires of future shoppers and diners, who are increasingly knowledgeable and discerning about their food choices.

Bringing 'Local' to the Mini Gun F&B Master Planning

F&B strategies dictated solely by leasing tactics often result in lower average spending, which negatively impact a Mini Gun centre's turnover per square metre. By introducing local concepts that already have a strong following, centres can create a community-focused F&B offering that enhances customer engagement and increases spending.

It’s important to note that 'local' doesn't imply low quality or a rough-around-the-edges aesthetic. Customers still expect high standards in design, ambience, menu depth, and service. Local concepts are those that are homegrown, accessible, yet refined—non-national brands that still meet consumer expectations.

For mini gun centres concerned about competition from the high street, bringing successful local concepts into their spaces is no longer aspirational—it’s essential. By aligning local F&B offerings with the centre’s overall positioning, retail developers can create a vibrant dining scene that attracts both regular shoppers and new visitors.

The Future of F&B: Catering to Customer 'Need States'

As with fashion, food is now a key part of personal expression. Today’s diners are looking for an authentic experience that reflects their individual style. Whether it’s street food, a local grocer, or casual dining restaurant, customers are seeking out food that resonates with their personal values.

To meet this demand, centres must engage in thoughtful planning that blends various disciplines, from understanding consumer preferences to curating an experience that satisfies emotional and social needs.

If 'local' is the future of food, how will your retail centre respond to this growing demand for authenticity and connection?

Understanding the role of local communities in shaping F&B offerings is essential to the future of Mini Gun centres. By embracing homegrown talent and aligning with the values of the educated diner, retail developers can ensure their centres remain vibrant, relevant and successful for years to come.

Article first published in Shopping Centre News, 2024