PUBLISHED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SWISSCOM HOSPITALITY

How Barack Obama willaffect the US hotel industry

Economic woes in 2009 :Managing in a downturn

Four CIOs join our firstTechnology Roundtable

The GM of the « Best Hotel in the World »tells us where luxury is heading

Thoughts on 2009 from the CEOsof Scandic and Mövenpick

food & beverage

Hotels are not only places where we meet, mix, and sleep – we also eat in hotels. And since F&B makes up a vital part of a hotel’s revenues and profits, managers must be attuned to the ever-changing trends and tastes in this most eclectic aspect of the business. GRETEL WEISS, Editor-in-Chief food-service/FOODSERVICE EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST identifies for us eleven key trends that will have an impact on Food & Beverage in 2009.

How the world will eat next year

In the foodservice business, the following P’s have high

priority : professional performance, profile and profit. There

is no success without great ideas, powerful concepts – and,

most importantly, entrepreneurial energy. Continuity is what

counts. At the same time, there is a tremendous change in the

market. Keeping an eye on that change and transferring it to

the specific individual formula is in your own best interest – for

the future’s sake.

That’s why future trends are so significant for our business.

They seem to belong to professional foodservice‘s temper.

Have a look at these 11 trend theses - the latest findings

resulted from my daily work : the perspective observation

and analysis of a fantastic & fascinating industry – from fast

food to fine dining. Facts about future trends are meant to

be stimulating and inspiring. They want to pave the way for

growth and turn it into a road to success.

1. More interfaces with work, leisure, retail, transport

Nowadays, the central question in all industries is : how can

we achieve more growth ? Looking ahead, what does the

future have in store for us ?

Most of the additional revenues will be generated at the

interfaces with work, leisure, retail and transport – all the way

from fast food outlets, takeaways and sports stadiums to event

catering and back. Locations where the key threads of our

lives criss-cross, where networks are created and somehow

platforms are built – locations that are booming and very

promising for the future.

And : outdoors will be mega-‘in’ in 2009. The more time

we spend working and being indoors, the greater our hunger

for leisure time in the open. In a nutshell, « The garden is

tomorrow’s living room. »

2. A mix & match of fast & fine dining,

discipline & pleasure

For millions of people, the pattern of culinary consumption

has long since become as much of a patchwork as their

curricula vitae. To get it straight : for breakfast, they have a

healthy muesli. At lunchtime, they gobble down a hamburger

and fries, then in the evening they make their way to the most

expensive Italian restaurant around. That’s real life ! Healthy

living is OK – but it definitely shouldn’t become dogmatic. The

result : a mix & match of fast & fine dining, discipline & pleasure.

Menus are becoming more and more feminine ; people have

enormous expectations when it comes to freshness ; and

their desire to be served individually is high up on the list. The

challenge in 2009 will be to create a harmonious duo out of

what used to be a contradiction in terms : health and pleasure.

3. Coexistence of the world’s culinary heritages

As consumers, we will find ourselves between market place

and world market, between traditionally domestic and

ethnic cuisine. Modern foodservice stands for the peaceful

coexistence of the world’s culinary heritages. More and more

local ingredients are now available around the globe.

Asian inspirations and Asian food are massively popular and

likely to remain so. Thai cooking has the greatest culinary

appeal to European taste buds. And Thailand’s position in Asia

is comparable to Italy’s in Europe. Moreover, in 2009 a wave

of enthusiasm for all things Indian will follow in the wake of

Bollywood’s success.

Creating new taste experiences is both the biggest challenge

facing the foodservice sector and its biggest opportunity. New

adventures for the consumers are on demand – new taste

profiles, new products, new cooking methods.

4. Regional dishes will be « in » again

Regional cuisine has taken off again, and people are once more

enjoying local dishes. In the past, local food was always in

the spotlight – shaping us, from a culinary standpoint, for our

entire lives. Naturally, what we consider to be « local » is also a

question of the generation to which we belong.

The motives behind the comeback of local cuisine include

a yearning for things familiar, for security and

HOTELyearbook2009 2

RU

NN

ING

HO

TE

LS I

N 2

009

transparency. Television chefs have made a big contribution

to this renaissance.

In 2009 the optimum mix to assure successful, modern offers

will be 70% familiarity, memories of the past, warmth and

security, and 30% elements of surprise, such as lighter, crispier,

fresher. What guests will want is trendy-traditional.

5. Baking will gain in popularity

Due to the demand for quick service, bakery products are

finding increasing acceptance as real alternatives to cooked

food for the away-from-home market. Our daily bread has

a great emotional value, which underscores this development.

In our everyday nutritional life, bread-based meals are

genuine all-rounders.

Thanks to modern technology, baking has become a thermal

process that has been decoupled from its previous space and

time constraints. This means that nowadays, fresh baked

products are available any place, any time. No longer are there

any limits on baking, filling, packaging and selling. Hand-held

snacks and take-away food dominate. Hot bakery snacks and

(milk-)coffee drinks will be 2009’s rising stars. And, of all meal

times, the greatest unexploited potential is breakfast.

The pool of innovations for bread snacks/bread-based meals

is enormous. There’s not only a German bread culture in this

country, but a European, Arabic, Indian, American bread

culture as well. Endless diversity and, with it, endless variety :

hot and cold, sweet and savory. With a daily window of

consumption that extends right around the clock.

6. Coffee bars : a powerful impact on the whole sector

The most instructive lesson is currently to be learned from the

coffee-bar, with the latte macchiato as its key product. Highly

relevant to the entire drinking and dining culture of the coming

generations. Coffee bars are public living rooms, islands of

emotion within the urban hustle and bustle. What’s more, they

are posting the highest rates of growth and are powerfully

influential on the whole foodservice industry.

Excellent performance with milk-coffee varieties has become

a strategic must for practically all quick-service concepts. Even

the mix of players in the coffee-bar field is exciting, ranging

from young entrepreneurs (in many cases outsiders who are

simply fascinated by the category) to major corporate groups

and Italian coffee roasters expanding by going vertical. Coffee

bars are also incredibly appealing to young people: staff,

clientele, entrepreneurs and shareholders.

3

RU

NN

ING

HO

TE

LS I

N 2

009

HOTELyearbook2009

MH0118 Dance Hotel Yr 203x267 FA.indd 1 25/11/08 14:03:23

Incidentally, the new generation of coffee specialities has, for

the first time ever, turned milk into an attractive product for

adults in the foodservice business. After all, the first name of

that bestseller, caffè latte, is coffee and its last name is milk.

7. Fresh – quick – attractive

Many future-oriented new outlets/concepts are based on the

formula « fresh – quick – attractive. » In other words, easy

and healthy pleasure for people in a hurry who nevertheless

want an experience : fast casual. This concept’s frontrunner in

Germany is Vapiano.

In 2009, the key question will not be what we sell but how

we sell it. Revenues are generated by the power of

persuasion. And among the elements that make a foodservice

product persuasive are the brand, product quality, service,

price and style.

The importance of the brand is growing, and brands are

evolving. When professional foodservice is focused on the

client, we may speak of branding. When it is focused on the

kitchen and suppliers, then it is more appropriate to say we

are speaking of systems. Typically the focus in Germany is on

systems, while in America it is on the brand.

8. New beverages : revolutionary drinking rituals

Revolutionary drinking rituals among young people are putting

pressure on innovation in the beverages industry. At present,

nobody knows how far the younger generation will take the

new rituals with them as they advance up the age pyramid.

One thing is clear, however : the revolutionary element has its

roots in the foodservice business, not in the retail trade.

Next year we can expect a whole wave of powerful impulses

right across the spectrum from water to wine. The following

aspects are almost always involved : taste intensification

(bold flavors), unbounded mixing, added value, bottles that

communicate lifestyle, top brands as anchors and advertising

via events.

Smoothies are synonymous with the new beverages, i.e.,

fruit and berries in beverage form. Liquid snacks. Not meant

to be enjoyed with food, they are positioned as something

quite separate.

9. Life style has replaced standard of living

Lifestyle and feelings are the keys to success. Thus, mere

functionality is « out », even at quick-service outlets. What is

« in » is a communicative atmosphere where guests feel at home.

How the world will eat next year cont.

food & beverage

5

RU

NN

ING

HO

TE

LS I

N 2

009

Everyone talks about design. However, what guests really

want is style, character and pleasing aesthetics. Style

identifies and underscores people’s attitude to life, and

lifestyle has replaced standard of living.

Anyone who wants to play a part in the everyday life of

their guests must offer a certain attitude to life. No matter

whether the setting is a beer festival, a coffee bar or a sushi

lounge, communicating a world of experience is of ever

increasing importance.

10. Searching for a new system of values

Hosts and guests – both sides are searching for a new system

of values. Guests are careful with their money when it comes

to everyday items. However, they are very willing to spend on

things they want – because they attach greater importance

to them, as, for instance, with sustainable production. And it

is only because guests value these things more that hosts can

impose higher prices on them (entrepreneurial value creation

via innovation, a head start and/or better performance).

The value guests attach to a product has nothing to do with its

cost – it is a subjective, individual quantity, and capturing this

value must be the aim of all work on brands.

More and more of disposable household income is being spent

on health & beauty, entertainment & communication (being

fit, looking good, going online). Our mindset is shifting. And

gastronomic services have to be embedded in this context.

11. Guests don’t search, they find

In the first place, therefore, attractive innovations must be

brought to guests’ attention. Only then is it up to them to

start discovering.

In every era, promising new concepts have features typical of

their time : in 2009, innovations in the foodservice business

must have four main attributes : they must be female oriented,

personal, emotional and straightforward. All four values are

invisible and revolve around relationships, guest knowledge,

empathy and simplicity.

The profile of the modern guest is more feminine, older, more

experienced, more mobile, more likely to be foreign, less hesitant

in making their choice, more under stress, better informed, more

self-centred and more emotional than ever before.

An increasing majority of our guests want to be seduced,

not simply fed.

RU

NN

ING

HO

TE

LS I

N 2

009

How the world will eat next year cont.

food & beverage

6