Dining out is so much more than food on a plate – think street-labels, authentic flavours and eclectic food offers all amounting to memorable customer experiences. These are the key elements to develop the food and hospitality within our shopping centres and mixed-use developments, to cater to the needs of our growing cities, the spend potential of millennials and how food is a crucial anchor for many shopping centres.

Mall Developer’s recipe for success – The Key Ingredients? FOOD, HOSPITALITY, ENTERTAINMENT & BEAUTIFUL SPACES!

Shopping Centres are Living Centres, around the world. As Shopping centres are changing rapidly, food and hospitality is central to the business case, physical environments are crucial in creating the Centre’s Point of Difference (P.O.D.).

Food Halls are not just food courts in different guise.  They are new food destinations that are exciting consumers around the world by putting food, design and experience first.  These new dining meccas are all about hospitality - built on a strategy of the structure of traditional food courts and the success of Eataly and the great food markets of the world. All of this is informed by understanding the importance of modern biophilic design principles which are aimed at enhancing the well-being of users through “green-place” features.

Last week, I wrote about authenticity – how customers are looking for an authentic and positive food and beverage experience. This leads to the simple conclusion about the Business of Food: Retailers can only maximise sales and generate profit if the product is great. Sales are driven by satisfaction.

Let’s start off by saying that commercial hospitality is everywhere we look.  From our morning coffee to our brunch on the weekend. We are looking for the same thing – an authentic and positive food and beverage experience.

“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.