Commercial property & office buildings are shifting into the new era that demands a flexible rethink to the traditional commercial model and this creates opportunity to challenge the conventional approach to food and hospitality only playing a passive ‘tick & flick’ role in this environment.

Driving in-office participation is now an all to familiar topic that many property managers and asset owners must address following a wave of commentary in the media, architectural journals and thought-leadership papers across the property sector.

The hospitality industry is undergoing significant change. After the pressures of 2020 & 2021, the food and hospitality industries have (as always) adapted. In many businesses, this has triggered the adoption of new practices, new standards of hygiene protocol, the evolution of service models and the accelerated adoption of technological innovation.

Future Food has been working directly with several mining companies in the mining and resources sector for over four years to reimagine food, hospitality and wellness in design-driven spaces for an ever-diversifying workforce that has high expectations of their remote village life.

The hospitality industry is undergoing significant change. After the pressures of 2020 & 2021, the food and hospitality industries have (as always) adapted. In many businesses, this has triggered the adoption of new practices, new standards of hygiene protocol, the evolution of service models and the accelerated adoption of technological innovation.

By need and by choice, our population is growing and the way in which we live and engage with our cities is changing. Consumers are looking for new and unique ways to spend our leisure time re-evaluating where we live and how choose to play, eat, and drink. In response, hospitality operators and food consultants have had to reimagine the possibilities of industrial space and unconventional hospitality locales, asking ourselves the question: ‘what is entertainment?’

Eating and drinking is “One of Life’s Pleasures” and it’s always much better when you’re eating and drinking with family and friends in one of your favourite cafés, bars or restaurants. However, due to the recent resurgent increase in Covid-19 numbers there are many factors disrupting so many aspects of our lives, especially during the first few weeks of summer when all we want to do is catch-up with family and friends and visit our local café, new restaurants and to make the most of the what we all though was going to be the post-lockdown era.

The last few months in the commercial catering world has been a hive of behind the scenes activity and jostling for position in a stayed market, as the pandemic has accelerated senior management team’s collective inertia or depending on who you talk to, the more fashionable ‘agile pivot’. Perhaps, some of these recent moves could be more accurately described as being wedged into a corner through previous strategic and/or marginal decisions (made under relatively normal and even buoyant times), come home to roost in less than exceptional times. But while the congratulations, back slapping and commiserations are shared around – who is actually looking after the customer? Let’s find out.

Towards the end of each calendar year, we like to take a look back at how the industry has shifted, the trends that have taken off, and try to pre-empt the future face of the industry. This year we are embarking on the same assignment, however the impact Covid lockdowns have had on the industry, especially in Melbourne, and to a lesser extent Sydney, we know that the future face of the industry may have been changed forever.

Australia’s two major cities have currently been in lockdown for over ten weeks with Melbourne now being in lockdown longer than any city in the world, 246 days so far and one month remaining. The prolonged closures on food and beverage venues have ranged from hard to devastating, not just from a sales perspective, but on the lives of hospitality workers and their families.

However, creative food and hospitality operators have managed to innovate, stay agile, plan for the end in sight and have reinvented their business in order to prepare for the huge demand that his been building up and will let rip once the lockdowns end. Cafés and restaurants, along with bars and hairdressers are at the top of everyone’s to do list.

Future Food gets to work on large projects, and we love the city shaping scope of a big development. Yet some of the more interesting projects that we've been working on over the last 24-36 months have been those from private independent developers.

The level of entrepreneurship, creativity, artistic direction, attention to detail and placemaking makes these vibrant projects and developments, truly exciting platforms to work with. Our recent partnership with companies like Perri Projects and Pellicano have allowed us to contribute to more boutique personalised projects. Creating a food strategy and operating model for these developments requires a subtle approach that considers each development through the perspective of its target users.

Future Food have been working with multinational companies in the remote mining and resources sector over the past three years to improve the working life of their FIFO employees through modernised food and hospitality standards. In an ever-tightening labour market, these forward-thinking companies have for some time identified that retention of the current work force is critical to supporting their company values, business goals, profitability and to providing value to their shareholders. As part of the retention strategy and general FIFO worker well-being, modernising the food and hospitality principles have become a key driver of worker satisfaction and improving camp life to create a ‘home away from home’ environment while at work in remote areas.

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.