Anuga in Cologne:

❚ 7-11 October 2017: Ten trade shows

under one roof
❚ Featuring Anuga Culinary Concepts
❚ Focus on the global restaurant &
catering market

Special:

Food & Foodservice

Industry Outlook
❚ 40 pages of facts & figures,
2017+
concepts & trends, insights &
perspectives
❚ Market research & benchmark
cases highlighting successful
national and international multi-
concept players in the out-of-home
market
❚ Future trends in F&B: Food for
thought by HoReCa experts

Proudly presented by:

www.anuga.com
www.koelnmesse.com www.food-service-europe.com

Taste the Future
The world’s leading food fair in Cologne, Germany, from 7 to 11
October 2017, brings together ten trade shows at the same time
and place. Covering the spectrum from Anuga Frozen Food to
Anuga Drinks, Anuga is the world’s biggest food and beverage
exhibition. And, this year for the first time, includes Anuga Culin-
ary Concepts – bundling cooking skills, technology, equipment
and gastronomy solutions. It is aimed at decision makers from
the foodservice sector.
This supplement demonstrates the growing importance of the
out-of-home market in the everyday life of millions of con-
sumers. It underscores the importance of Anuga as a major
trade show for the industry. It concentrates on market research on
the one hand and multi-concept operators and trends on the other.
40 pages packed full of brain food at its best.
We would like to invite you – and to inspire you – to come to
Cologne in October 2017. Discover the taste of the future at this
unique market place for the worldwide food industry. And come
to the Anuga FoodService Power Breakfast, on offer every day at
11 am, from 7 to 9 October 2017 – for a great start to a successful
day (see page A5). We look forward to seeing you there.
Katharina C. Hamma Gretel Weiss
Chief Operating Officer Publisher FoodService
Koelnmesse GmbH Europe & Middle East
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Content ❘❙
4-5 Anuga in Cologne: Ten Trade Shows Under One
Roof – Anuga Culinary Concepts Addresses
Foodservice Professionals
Food & Foodservice Industry Outlook 2017+
Consumer Research
6-9 Global Diversity and Common Trends: A Comparative
Analysis of Structures and Changes in Major
Out-of-Home Markets in Europe and Beyond
What’s Hot in Foodservice?
18-19 Trend Statements I: Professionals from Denmark,
UK, South Africa and Germany
28-29 Trend Statements II: Professionals from Germany,
The Netherlands, Italy and Lebanon/
Middle East
38-39 Trend Statements III: Professionals from Switzer-
land, Germany/DACH, New Zealand and
the USA
Case Studies: Leading Multi-Concept Players in Profile
10-13 Italy: Cigierre – Market Leader in the Country’s
Casual Dining Segment with International
Ambitions
14-17 Germany: casualfood – Fast-growing Privately
Owned Player Specialised on Travel Locations
20-23 Poland: AmRest – The Largest Publicly Listed
Restaurant Operator in Central Europe
24-27 Switzerland: Two Spice – Playing in the Top
League of the Swiss Restaurant Industry
30-33 UAE: Al Tayer Group’s Hospitality Division –
Focus on Casual Luxury All Over the
Middle East
34-37 Germany: Studierendenwerk Hamburg –
Among the Top Class when It Comes to
Campus Catering
SPECIA L
Food & Foodservice Industry Outlook 2017+
For the next edition of Anuga international trade show from 7 to 11 October 2017
in Cologne, Germany, featuring Anuga Culinary Concepts – particularly de-
voted to foodservice professionals (hall 7)
A Special produced by FoodServiceEurope & Middle East (trade magazine) in part-
nership with Koelnmesse (Anuga exhibition). www.koelnmesse.com
Publishing House Deutscher Fachverlag GmbH
Mainzer Landstrasse 251, 60326 Frankfurt, Germany
Contact Tel. +49(0)69 7595-1512, Fax +49(0)69 7595-1510
foodservice@dfv.de, www.cafe-future.net, www.food-service-europe.com
Publisher Gretel Weiss
Editors-in-chief Boris Tomic and Marianne Wachholz
Editorial Team Ulla Dammer, Flavia Fresia, Bob O’Brien, Jutta Pfannschmidt-
Wahl, Bettina Quabius, Ulrike Vongehr, Katrin Wissmann (Statements)
Pictures Thomas Fedra, Companies
Layout Ines Knetsch, Ina Wudtke
Sales Manager Friederike Smuda
Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 3
 ❙❘ Trade Show

Chef of the Year 2015: 1. Stefan Lenz, 2. Cornelius Spienle, 3. Sven Pietschmann

Anuga in Cologne:
New Ideas for Better Business
With almost 7,200 exhibitors from 100 trade show and is thus doing justice on an international level to
countries today and around 160,000 the theme that is attractive for both the trade and the out-of-home
market. The new Anuga section does justice to the segment‘s
trade visitors from the retail and away-
big significance within the trade and in the out-of-home market,
from-home sectors, Anuga is the largest which has grown over the last years. Anuga Hot Beverages met
food and beverage trade show in the with great interest from the very beginning and is very popular
world. 89% of the exhibitors and 69% of among the exhibitors of coffee and tea. Located in hall 7.
the visitors come from abroad. Staged
Bundling cooking skills, technology and gastronomy concepts: Anuga Culinary
from 7 to 11 October, Anuga covers the Concepts. The theme ‘cuisine’ is also being re-defined at Anuga. To
entire fair grounds in Cologne, which after this end, the trade show ‘Anuga Culinary Concepts’ is bundling
all are one of the largest in the world. cooking skills, technology, equipment and gastronomy concepts.
Here, as in the previous years, the finals of the two established
www.anuga.com
professional competitions, ‘Chef of the Year’ and ‘Patissier of
the Year’, will once again take place. Customers from the out-of-
284,000 sq m gross exhibition space in eleven, in some cases multi- home market have numerous points of contact here, which offer
storey halls, four entrances, a continuous trade show boulevard information, entertainment and contact to the stars of the cooking
and a central piazza ensure clear structures, fast connections and scene. Located in hall 7.
a high quality of stay. The concept of Anuga ensures a well-arran-
ged layout: ten trade shows under one roof, among them Anuga More highlights for foodservice professionals
Culinary Concepts, customized to the needs of visitors from the Anuga Wine Special. As part of the ‘Anuga Drinks’ trade show, the
away-from-home sector. special event ‘Anuga Wine Special’ will once again be also loca-
ted in hall 7, which perfectly enhances the culinary approach of
New in 2017 the ‘Anuga Culinary Concept’. Anuga Wine Special will feature
Coffee, tea & co. get their own arena at Anuga: Anuga Hot Beverages. For the an attractive tasting area with many wines from all over the world.
first time, Anuga is presenting coffee, tea and cocoa in their own As in previous years, the event will once again be professionally

A4 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
 Anuga FoodService Power Breakfast
Take-off for a successful day with inspiring lectures from
international speakers, sharing their knowledge and ex-
perience, and the opportunity to establish new contacts.
Moderated by chain restaurant management expert,
Prof Chris Muller, Boston University, each one-hour session
starts at 11 am and will be held in English.
Saturday, 7th October Marlijn van Straaten, HMS Host, Amster-
dam/The Netherlands: Securing diversity and quality with
own and licensed brands at international transport hubs.
Sunday, 8th October David Singleton, Al Tayer Group, Dubai/ Chris Muller Marlijn van Straaten
UAE: Challenges and opportunities for multi-brand players
in the Gulf region.
Monday, 9th October Michael Weigel, casualfood, Frankfurt/
Germany: Growing fast by specialising on travel locations
with the right brand portfolio.
Where? Dehoga Marktplatz Gastronomie, hall 7. Partici-
pation is free. Breakfast snacks & drinks at disposal.
Please register online: www.anuga.com/Registration_Power_
Breakfast
Organisers: Koelnmesse GmbH and FoodService Europe &
Middle East
David Singleton Michael Weigel

organized by the renowned World Champion sommelier Markus
Del Monego and his team. Seminars on wine related subjects and
the Anuga Wine Award will round up the wine experience at An-
uga 2017.
Anuga FoodService Power Breakfast – Short and handy information, presented by
experts from the business.
For the fourth time, Anuga and international trade magazine,
Foodservice Europe & Middle East offer interesting and exciting
presentations on the newest trends and perspectives in the world-
wide catering market. Again this year, three high-calibre inter-
national speakers will give glimpses into their strategies and
what’s going on in their respective action fields. Moderated by
Prof Dr Christopher C. Muller, Boston University, the one-
hour lectures will take place in hall 7 at the Dehoga Marktplatz
Gastronomie platform (Dehoga Catering Marketplace) each of the
first three days of the fair (see box).
Another highlight is the 27th Forum for System Catering on Tuesday,
10 October, organised by the German Hotel and Restaurant As-
sociation (Dehoga). Aimed at decision-makers from the entire
away-from-home market and its supply chain, the congress fea-
tures high-profile speakers such as Thomas Mack (Europa-Park
Rust) or Jochen Pinsker (npdgroup Germany). It takes place at the
Congress-Centrum Ost, Messeplatz 1, from 11 am to approxima-
tely 1.15 pm.
Under focus: Out-of-home-business
Because of its structure and its comprehensive offer Anuga
reaches the most important decision-makers not only from the in-
ternational trade, but also addresses the leading customers from
the out-of-home market: not only representatives of the big food-
service and system gastronomy companies as well as hotel chains, Once again,
but also institutional foodservice, i.e. the operators of hospital kit- Anuga presents
chens, company restaurants, school and university canteens from ten trade shows
Germany, Europe and overseas. in one, including
Over 4,000 exhibitors of Anuga’s 7,200 participants said that in Anuga Culinary
2017 they will have products for the out-of-home-market on offer. Concepts, fea-
Thus Anuga is the world’s most comprehensive and largest sour- turing culinary,
cing platform for food and beverages for the foodservice sector. technology and
equipment for
Supporting tools to find the right contacts the foodservice/
The exhibitor database enables the visitor to search for suit- catering market.
able industry partners using keywords. Looking for products for
the out-of-home-market from France? Find it in the database.
Looking for meat from New Zealand for your catering service?
Find it in the database. Looking for all the manufactures of organic
products in the frozen food section? Identify it with the help of the
database.
The exhibitor database will be available from August onwards.
Professionals can learn about the registered exhibitors on the Anu-
ga website and download the Anuga App. Onsite on the fairgrounds
all the services can be called up on the mobile devices, too. ❘❙

F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17 Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 5
 Global Diversity and
Common Trends
2016 marked a new direction for the com-
mercial foodservice markets in continental
Europe and brought some hopeful trends
around the world. Lunch caught a bit of
growth in several markets. Spain returned to
growth after nearly ten years of struggling.
Still, the aftermath of the global economic
crisis has left consumers skittish and some
new societal trends are showing up around
the world. Findings by The NPD Group’s
Global Senior Vice President, Bob O’Brien.
The global foodservice market is, to say the least, a diverse market.
From overall rates of use to the times of day that people eat to
where they choose to eat their prepared meals and snacks, con-
sumers in each country exhibit unique patterns of behaviour.
Russians, for instance, spend the least per person in any of the
countries tracked by CREST; considerably less than even Bra-
zil, where global chains have only recently begun to penetrate.
The biggest spenders are the East Asians. Continental European
consumers tend to spend less at restaurants than do consumers in
the former British Empire despite (or because of) generally larger
average cheques for meals.
A6 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+
Italians, Spaniards, Chinese and Canadians like to use restaurants for their
morning meals to a much greater degree than others do. Russians,
in sharp contrast, barely use restaurants before late morning.
Countries that have a late dinner time tend to also have a very
distinct moment in the afternoon when consumers get a snack of
some sort.
Japanese and Americans should be forgiven for thinking of res-
taurants as places to acquire food that will be eaten elsewhere.
Consumers in both of those countries actually sit down in restaur-
ants on less than a third of all their restaurant visits. For Japane-
se, this represents the dominant role that convenience stores play
in the market. This sort of behaviour is nearly inconceivable to
Spaniards or Italians who eat more than eight out of every ten res-
taurant meals while sitting in a restaurant.
Trends this Decade. Within all this variety of behaviour, some common
trends have emerged around the world in the current decade.
Sustained growth has been hard to find around the world over the
past five years. Yes, consumer demand for prepared meals, snacks
or drinks in China has grown. Australia and Great Britain have had
a couple of years of growth after some stagnancy. And, the USA
and Canada are up a bit over the five year period. Most of Europe
has been weak over the past five years.
As weak as the European markets may have been over the past
five years, all of them posted growth in 2016. Germany and Great
Britain arguably had the strongest growth in spending (not lifted
by inflation) in the world.
 Consumer Research ❘❙

In most countries lunch is the largest day part and in most countries most parts of the world. They began to slip and for the past few
lunch trends dominate overall industry trends. Naturally, lunch is years have been flat. In Europe, Spain and Italy (two of the wea-
related to employment. As employment has expanded very slowly ker markets recently) have recently posted gains in family parties.
in the years since the global crisis, the potential demand for the This brings some hope that consumers are becoming more com-
workday lunch has been held in check. And, consumers need to fortable and optimistic.
feel like their prospective life is positive if they are going to choose
to spend extra money to go out to lunch. These elements have held Chains have been the driving force in the global restaurant industry since
lunch down in many countries. (or even before) the global crisis. For the entire decade, year after
Of all the lingering effects of the global economic crisis, anemic year, traffic to chain restaurants grew and independents declined
lunch demand has been the most stubborn. There has been consis- everywhere (except China where everything seems to go up).
tent, if unspectacular, growth of lunch traffic in Great Britain, Aus-
Total away-from-home spending is calculated on the basis of two
tralia and Canada over the past few years. And finally, in 2016, all
factors: the number of visits and the average check. For example,
the European markets except France posted lunch traffic gains.
spending in Brazil rose only 4.2 % despite a jump in the average
Perhaps a corner has been turned on the last effects of the global
check because the number of visits went into decline.
crisis.
This strength at the lunch day part was, in many mar-
kets, added to growth at the morning day parts that
have given so much support to the industry around the
world in recent years. Morning meals have consistent-
ly grown in most of the markets tracked by CREST.
In the weak environment after the global crisis, chains
and independents sought new paths to growth and ma-
ny found it at breakfast and morning snacks. These day
parts provided some relief, although at a lower average
check level than at other meals.
In 2016, consumers chose to eat more of their prepared
foods in the places most comfortable to them. In the
English speaking countries we track, that means traffic
growth came to the off-premises locations. In parti-
cular, consumers increased the number of meals that
were purchased prepared and consumed at home. In
Continental Europe, on-premises service not only ac-
counts for a good bit of the traffic but it also accounted
for nearly all the health in nearly all of those markets
in 2016.
The vast majority of all visits in the global foodservice market The same thing held true in 2016. What was jarringly different,
come from adult-only parties. These can be in groups, couples however, was that independents grew in six of the markets tracked
or singles and they rise and fall with the state of the economy by CREST in the fourth quarter of 2016. We don’t know if this is
and employment. Parties with kids are an element of the market the start of a new trend. It is, however, a clear break from the over-
that varies from country to country. From Australia where family riding trend of the past ten years.
parties account for nearly a third of all traffic to Russia where
they account for less than a tenth, these parties represent a kind Millennials. The plight and habits of millennial consumers around
of cream rising to the top of the market when things are just right. the world has been a front-of-mind issue to foodservice marke-
In the early years of this decade family parties were on the rise in ters. Consumers in their 20’s, all around the world, make more
purchases than other consumers. Their greater number of
Bob O’Brien, Global purchases leads to greater variety. That greater variety gives mar-
Senior Vice President keters insight into what new tastes and behaviors might drive the
for the US-based NPD market in the coming years. AND, they tend to take their higher
Group, is one of the purchase frequency with them as they age; lifting the base for the
most knowledgeable entire market. Their drop in purchasing in the aftermath of the glo-
foodservice-industry bal crisis and their subsequent anemic rebound provided much to
insiders worldwide. An worry about.
excellent speaker, he has Fortunately, they have begun to come back to the market. All
given numerous lectures around the world, outside of a couple of countries, millennials
all over the world. have begun to boost their purchase rates. This has led to a new

Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 7


thread of thought about how to satisfy their tastes. Millennial
consumers are broadly thought to have exotic and different tastes
relative to other age cohorts in their countries. In broad strokes,
however, they are not the least bit exotic. All around the world,
the most commonly consumed foodservice foods and beverages
of millennials are nearly identical to the favorite foods and bev-
erages of other adults.
A8 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+
But, if we examine the foods and drinks that
millennials are more likely to choose than are ave-
rage consumers, some differences can be seen. In
China, items like pastries and caffè lattes rise to the
top, reflecting young consumers’ taste for the cof-
fee shops that are popping up all over the cities. In
Spain, their choices of drinks and snacks that are
most likely to come from convenience stores stand
out and indicate a future where more items are car-
ried out in that market. For Americans and Cana-
dians, the choices that rise to the top reflect group
sharing and a taste for South Asian food that other
consumers don’t have.
❙❘ “Morning meals have
consistently grown in most of the
markets tracked by CREST.”
All of these items account for a very small share of
the choices that Millennials make. Focusing solely
on them will not automatically bring success to a res-
taurant operator. These choices, however, provide a
hint of where tastes will move over the next several
years as young adults marry, have children and take
on the trappings of family life. These marginal tastes
will likely stay with them and evolve.
Mobile Ordering on the Fast Track. It is a rare thing in
the global foodservice market that comes along
and excites consumers and businesses seemingly
everywhere and seemingly simultaneously. Mobile
ordering has done just that. From literally nothing
just two or three years ago, mobile ordering has
found an important place in foodservice markets
around the world. As important as mobile ordering
is, only about 1% of restaurant purchases come via a
mobile app in any country tracked by CREST.
Companies that ‘aggregate’ multiple restaurants in-
to a single place have captured consumers’ imagin-
ations with their apps by providing more choices in
any given situation. This trend offers a tremendous
opportunity on one hand. It creates new connections
to consumers. It opens the door to new situations
that restaurants might not have been able to serve in
the past. It is especially good for independent res-
taurants that might not have the ability to organize
the communication or payment methods that mo-
bile orders from aggregation companies can provide. On the other
hand, this is less good news for chains which lose control of their
branding and positioning to the third party provider. As a result,
chains have embraced the idea of having their own apps.
It is important to keep in mind that, as exciting and revolutionary
as mobile commerce is for restaurants, it is very, very small. All
around the world the vast majority of consumers still place their
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17

restaurant orders the ‘old boring way’ with a telephone or actually
face to face. In China, the country with the least ‘boring’ ordering,
96% of all restaurant visits use the old fashioned way of ordering.
In the USA it’s 97%.
Mobile ordering, small as it is, has (along with Internet ordering)
accounted for nearly all the traffic growth in restaurants around the
world in the past few years. In China, mobile ordering is roughly
four times the size it was at the start of 2014. In the USA it in-
creased nearly 600% from the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2016.
To date, consumers have not embraced mobile applications with
the same gusto in Europe. Traditional ordering
methods have been relatively flat over the past
couple of years, just as they have been elsewhere.
Mobile ordering, while up, is less dramatically or
inexorably up than it is elsewhere.
This is another case, like millennial food tastes, that
gives a hint about the future. Consumers of all ages
respond to the convenience that mobile ordering
provides. It will be a long time before mobile is a
dominant force in any foodservice market. Any res-
taurant operators that hope to succeed will need to
get the basics of the ‘old boring way’ right. They
will also need to understand how to harness the new
kind of relationships that mobile ordering can form
in order to maximize the satisfaction of their guests.
Still, it represents the future. And, it is a source of
growth for everyone that creates new ways for res-
taurants to connect with their customers.
Consumers Out and About. All around the world, one of the things that
is understood to be ‘true’ is that physical shopping is steadily dy-
ing along with other ‘out and about’ activities. The long shadow
of the economic crisis has dampened consumers’ enthusiasm for
shopping nearly everywhere. In addition, e-commerce has opened
a new channel that supports spending but doesn’t create a situation
where consumers might be out and about in need of some repast.
❙❘ “It is important to keep in mind that, as exciting
and revolutionary as mobile commerce is for
restaurants, it is very, very small.”
And, new forms of entertainment like video streaming or gaming
on high quality hardware remove more reasons when young and
old consumers might have left their homes.
This has all led to much writing about the death of shopping malls.
Or, in some cases, the re-framing of shopping malls where restaur-
ants are the thing that draws consumers and retailers bask in the
glow of the traffic generated by diners.
CREST shows that this has not been a trend over the past five
years. In nearly every country tracked by CREST, the number of
meals consumed in shopping-mall food courts was larger in 2016
than it was in 2011. It may, however, be a new trend in the market-
place. In the English-speaking countries we track (Great Britain,
Canada, Australia and the USA) food court traffic declined from
2015 to 2016.
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Consumer Research ❘❙
Shopping-mall food courts contribute a small amount of restaur-
ant traffic all around the world. This alone won’t mortally wound
the industry. This trend only underscores, however, the need for
restaurants to provide a reason for consumers to walk in the door.
Whether it’s unique atmosphere, special foods, outstanding ser-
vice, entertainment or all four of those things, consumers need
a reason to act. There are plenty of times when consumers will
make a purchase when doing something else. Whether it’s at a train
station or after a sporting event or while travelling, consumers are
often in situations where they need to eat and are away from home.
Summary. So, consumers, and the industry, appear to have come out
of the long shadow of the global economic crisis. In most countries
traffic counts grew in 2016 and, in Continental Europe, generally
improved over the course of the year. There are some new trends
in play as millennials come back to the market, mobile emerges as
a consumer favourite ordering method and physical retail demand
wanes. All of these trends, which may indicate big parts of the
future of the industry, are marginal and, while important, are not
the core things that restaurant operators need to focus on right now.
Consumers in every country have core tastes in foods and beverages
that need to be addressed. Consumers have core habits that take
them to restaurants at specific times of day or days of week with
specific needs that restaurants need to satisfy. Consumers want to
interact with restaurants in ways that make them feel good about
the purchase whether it’s via a mobile device or sitting at a table.
Satisfying those tastes will bring success while keeping an eye on
how to be in position to grow with emerging tastes. Bob O‘Brien
About The NPD Group
The NPD Group began tracking consumers’ purchases of prepared
meals, snacks, and drinks in the USA in 1975. Since that time, coverage
has been expanded to include Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK,
Japan, France, Spain, Italy, China, Russia, Brazil and, most recently,
Korea. Every day, in 13 countries around the world, the NPD Group
tracks the restaurant and foodservice industry to enable operators,
manufacturers, and other foodservice companies to make the best-
informed business decisions.
The NPD Group’s consumer panel ‘CREST’ is the industry’s leading
source for trends and performance indicators as well as consumer be-
haviour. www.npdgroup.com
❙❘ Italy

Old Wild West

Old Wild West Old Wild West

Old Wild West

Wiener Haus

F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE M IDDLE E AST 3/17

A 10 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ &

Cigierre is the market leader in the Italian casual
dining segment. It operates more than 230 restaur-
ants under half a dozen proprietary brands, from
flagship Old Wild West (164 sites as of April 2017)
to newly acquired Pizzikotto. www.cigierre.com
It’s All about ‘Foodtainment’
The company was founded in 1995 by Marco Di Giusto, with
the aim of playing a different role in the very traditional Italian
restaurant market. For a few years, it focused in developing and
operating fast-casual concepts in shopping centres, which back
then were opening thick and fast in Italy but still lacked distinctive
fast-casual formats, their F&B offer being limited to fast food.
The beginnings were marked by a sort of trial and error process:
”We had a string of successes and failures, we opened and
closed sites,” recalls Di Giusto, “until in 2002 we opened the first
Old Wild West and it was an immediate hit“. Old Wild West is a
themed burger & steakhouse concept with a decor recreating the
atmosphere of a saloon in a Wild West frontier city. Its menu is
centred on grilled meat, burgers and tex-mex cuisine, while cli-
ents waiting for their orders can nibble free peanuts. All red meat
is certified and beef comes from cattle raised and grazed on South
American pastures. A family-friendly and fun atmosphere, and a
‘foodtainment’ approach, mixing good food and entertainment,
are other ingredients of the mix.
With Old Wild West Cigierre struck gold, but they were also good at
streamlining the concept into an efficient and replicable business
model with standard operating procedures, rigorous food cost
control and carefully studied recipes, attention to customer ser-
vice. A breakthrough came in 2006, when the logistics provider
Havi Logistics, that up to then had been working exclusively with
McDonald‘s, started acquiring new customers. “We rapidly struck
a deal with Havi Logistics and this enabled us to become more
competitive in purchasing and more efficient in supplying our
units in all corners of Italy.”
As the Old Wild West brand rapidly grew, back office operations man-
agement grew apace, to reach what Di Giusto terms “total site
control”: “Today, we know and measure everything that happens
in our restaurants.” This kind of industrial organisation and total
control mentality is relatively exceptional in the Italian restaurant
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE M IDDLE E AST 3/17
&
Italy ❘❙
Pizzikotto
market, still notable for its high fragmentation and mom-and-pop
approach.
The development of Old Wild West was initially achieved mostly through
franchising, though in the last few years the group has taken a new
direction and equity stores are now preferred over franchising due
to better profitability. Already, the ratio is 50/50, with a goal of
increasing the share of equity stores in the next few years. “Fran-
chisees, though, will always have a healthy share in our system,”
says Di Giusto, “as they remain an important lever to optimize
costs.” Especially now that Cigierre is launching its international
development. Old Wild West already has a foothold in France (2
sites), Switzerland (2, soon to become 3), Belgium and Croatia.
“We are very focused on the French, Belgian and Swiss markets,
where our restaurants are performing better than the average Ita-
lian unit,” reveals Di Giusto. And he goes on to say that “interna-
tional growth will be both organic and by acquisitions. We are in
the market for acquisitions and are looking at opportunities as they
arise. We might be interested, for instance, in acquiring a small
French steakhouse chain and convert it into Old Wild West to ac-
celerate our growth pace.”
Cigierre in Figures
Founded 1995
Brands Old Wild West, Old Wild West Express,
Wiener Haus, Shi‘s, Pizzikotto
Restaurants 227 (117 directly operated, 110 franchised)
Countries of activity Italy, Belgium, France, Switzerland,
Croatia
Total system sales (2016) c330 m net (+16% on 2015)
Ebitda (2016) c36.963 m
Staff >4,000 (2,300 employees in directly operated sys-
tem only)
Meals served (2016) 19 m
Average check Old Wild West c15
Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 11
❙❘ Italy

Shi’s

Shi’s

Pizzikotto

Pizzikotto

Pizzikotto

A 12 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+


Apart from Old Wild West, the group is also building its portofolio of own
brands in different market segments.
Wiener Haus is a brand developed by Cigierre itself and offering the
atmosphere of a typical Bavarian brewery. It now has 30 stores
in Italy. In 2015 Cigierre acquired the Shi‘s restaurant in Udine
(sushi and Asian-Italian fusion cuisine, prepared with quality
Italian ingredients) and in 2016 the Pizzikotto pizza chain, a full-
service pizza concept with ten units located in the Emilia Rom-
agna region.
Pizzikotto features both thin and crusty pizza and Neapolitan style
pizza, as well as a distinctive dessert menu and 100% organic raw
ingredients. Both Shi‘s and Pizzikotto offered a different take on
their respective markets and had potential for growth. After the ac-
quisition, Cigierre has been working on their formulas, fine tuning
menus and standardizing operations in order to start their chain de-
velopment. “We are working to optimise both these brands,” con-
firms Di Giusto. “We think Pizzikotto has the potential to replicate
the success of Old Wild West. We’ll open Pizzikotto in shopping
malls, cinema complexes and downtown locations. Average sur-
face is 500 sq m. As for Shi’s we‘re working to make it perfect not
only for high street locations but also for shopping malls, which
are in our DNA.”
Overall, Cigierre has plans to double the current number of restaurants in
five years, reaching 450-500 restaurants through a tight schedule
of about 50 new openings a year. Most of this growth will be in
Italy, both with selected new openings of Old Wild West in choice
sites that are sure to perform well, and development of the other
brands, especially Pizzikotto, which now has twelve sites and will
have 20 by the end of 2017, and Shi’s, six sites at the moment plus
another eight by year end. Cigierre are also currently working on
a new concept.
Shi’s
Historically, along with its proprietary brands, such as Old Wild West
and Wiener Haus, Cigierre has also operated brands under licence.
This last route, though, has been abandoned and the group is now
orientated to only develop and operate own brands. “We’ve lear-
ned from past errors,” explains Di Giusto. “We’ve been master
franchisee of two international concepts for years and we’ve come
to the conclusion that a franchisor can’t only sign a franchise
contract and then disappear, but has to sell to the franchisee a
whole range of services. Signing the deal is only the beginning.
That’s why we’ve decided to only build our own brands.“
Flavia Fresia
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Italy ❘❙
Marco Di Giusto, Co-founder of Cigierre
You‘ve coined the term ‘foodtainment’ to describe what Cigierre‘s
concepts are about. Can you explain it?
It‘s all about emotions. One of our first objects has always
been to give our customers on an exciting experience.
We have a lot of repeat customers and we think they
keep coming back not only for a good
steak or burger, but because of the
experience they live in our themed
restaurants. Here they find a poten-
tially fun and buzzy atmosphere, an
entertaining ambience in an original
setting. The average age of Old Wild
West‘s customers is 18 to 45 years,
with a lot of families. We like to say that
Old Wild West is a family restaurant
and are happy to see children enjoying
themselves.
Marco Di Giusto co-founded Cigierre
in 1995 in Udine, his hometown in
Northern Italy, and has been at its helm
since. In 2016 equity firm BC Partners
acquired a majority stake in Cigierre,
and Di Giusto stayed on as the CEO of
the company.
How important is innovation for you?
It is very important. We are always looking for innovations
that will make a difference for our customers. In the last
few years we‘ve mainly implemented technical innovations.
We try to relate to technologically savvy clients by, for
instance, enabling them to pay their checks with their
smartphones. All this allows for a simpler and quicker meal
experience. We have also launched virtual loyalty pro-
grammes. And we are also constantly introducing product
innovations.
Cigierre was a pioneer in pizza delivery back in the 1990‘s, but the
times weren‘t ripe then and you abandoned it. How do you see the
Italian delivery market now?
International players like Foodora and Just Eat have
entered the Italian market and consumer behaviours re-
garding take-away and delivery are changing. We are
thinking about delivery and we can‘t rule out that we‘ll roll
out our own systems for some of our brands, for instance
Shi‘s, where delivery already makes up a significant share
of revenues.
International foodservice brands like Starbucks and Wagamama are
coming to Italy, which up to now has been a relatively closed market.
What do you think of the new competition?
Growth in the Italian foodservice market is very slow and
to succeed you need to diversify your offer. I hope that
the Italian restaurateurs are aware that, with the arrival
of international players, they will have to keep improv-
ing both their service and product if they want to be
competitive.
Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 13
❙❘ Germany

Hermann‘s

Natural

A 14 ❘❙ F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17


With 13 different foodservice brands, casualfood,
the German travel-location caterer, can be found
since 2005 at airports, railway stations and motor-
ways. In 2017 there will be over 60 units, including
convenience stores, restaurant and snack formats.
Since 2015 the multi-brand players have also been
operating outside Germany: at L JU Ljubljana Airport
in Slovenia. Further European expansion not ruled
out. www.casualfood.de
The Taste of Travelling
When, twelve years ago, Michael Weigel and Stefan Weber open-
ed their first mobile snack counter, serving pretzels, sandwiches
and beverages at a departure gate in Frankfurt Airport, they did
not know what a growth and success story they were triggering.
By going for the location – still only sparsely provided with food-
service facilities – the pair of young entrepreneurs, with no exper-
ience at all of the sector at that time, proved they had a good sense
for what was to come in the travel-location category. Stefan We-
ber, still working in his own advertising agency during the launch
stage, was the ideas man from the beginning. Michael Weigel
threw his experience as a marketing expert into the scales and is
still in charge of statistics and operations.
In the launch year of 2005 the young company, in just under five
months, with two Mayer’s snack trolleys at Frankfurt Airport, ear-
ned around ¤250,000 of sales revenue (net). Five staff served some
60,000 guests.
In 2017, the ‘little’ idea of selling pretzels at the airport, has grown into a ‘big’
catering empire, with net annual sales revenues at the last count of
¤43.7 m (2016). The number of guests has risen to over 7 m a year.
Mobile pretzel counters continue to be the core of the business,
but Weber and Weigel have gradually expanded the concept range
and created a multi-brand company with 13 different types of out-
let – clustered in three categories: mobile snack bars, fast-casual
bars and restaurants, and convenience stores. This year will see
numbers pass the 60-unit mark.
Hand in hand with this, the two casualfood players have expanded
their location philosophy. If until 2011/12 they were still based
exclusively in airports, in the following years the business took off
in railway stations and motorways, too. At the end of 2016, along
with 47 stores at airports, casualfood had seven outlets at railway
stations and three in motorway service stations. Examples of the
company’s own successful concept developments are brands such
as Mondo, Goodman & Filippo and Hermann’s.
Whether the first year was the most challenging one, or whether
the first five years have remained in memory as a particular growth
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Germany ❘❙
challenge, is something about which the two 50-year-old entre-
preneurs, who get on well privately, are – unusually for them – in
disagreement.
They realised early on that a high visitor-frequency location such as Frankfurt
Airport could be handled more effectively and with less risk with
a mix of different concepts and pillars. “So, it was our aim, along
with the mobile outlets, to take fixed sites into the portfolio, with
long-term contracts, focusing on fast-casual food,” explains Ste-
fan Weber.
The two entrepreneurs took the next step towards multi-concept
expansion at the same time as they were expanding their mobile
outlets: in 2006-07 they added Quicker’s Convenience Stores, the
first at Dusseldorf Airport, the second at Frankfurt Airport. The
combination of shop, kiosk, bakery and cafe offers everything
which travellers want to buy quickly before their flight departs,
from a snack to toothpaste. A good third of the casualfood outlets
belong today to the C-store category. The importance enjoyed by
the convenience concepts in the sales mix can be seen by their
share of turnover, which is 50%.
After casualfood began by sharing management of the Quicker’s
Stores with the duty-free specialist Heinemann, in 2010 they took
casualfood in Figures
Founded 2005 as Mayer’s Mobil at FRA
Headquarters Frankfurt, Germany
Executive Partners Stefan Weber, Michael Weigel
No. of outlets 59 (all company-owned and run under
own management) at 5 airports, 5 railway stations and
2 motorway service stations (as of June 2017)
Distribution focus FRA – 29 outlets
Brands basta! Pizza & Pasta, Beyond, Goodman &
Filippo, Hermann’s, Italissimo, Kilkenny Irish Pub, Mayer’s,
Mondo, Mondo Bianco, Natural, Quicker’s (some under
varying formats from mobile outlet to bar, restaurant or
C-store), plus 2 outside brands: Kamps, DB Service Store
Sales c43.7 m (2016) vs. c37.1 m (2015)
Sales target approx. c49 m (2017)
No. of guests about 20,000 a day
Staff >600
❘❙ A 15
❙❘ Germany

Goodman & Filippo

Italissimo

causualfood: Sales Mix

15%
Mobile
snack
50% counters
Convenience
stores 35%
Bars &
restaurants

A 16 ❘❙ Goodman & Filippo


over the ten existing Quicker’s outlets in full, with a value of
¤10 m in sales. Now this format represents the company’s star
growth area.
2007 saw the next step in diversification: three Mayer’s Bars were
launched at Frankfurt Airport, meaning that suddenly design and
shop-fitting concepts were needed, which Weber and Weigel ob-
tained from outside. Thus, casualfood entered on a new business
era: “The combination of brand, design and catering formula as a
major whole became an important trademark. This brand message
plays an immense role even now,” emphasises Weber. “A guest
decides in ten seconds if he is going to eat at our place or walk on
past. We have to grab him.”
2008 saw a further jump in expertise, in the shape of the Mediter-
ranean concept Mondo: the format, in two varieties, as Piccolo
and large restaurant unit with kitchen, fullservice and take-away,
was designed to appeal to all guest categories. “At this level, we
had to overcome a real inhibition threshold. All of a sudden, we
had to work as fullservice restaurateurs, were running our own
kitchen and dealing with quite different factors in terms of sales
area and guest frequency. But speed was to remain our trump card;
we aimed never to lose sight of our corporate DNA, the fast-casual
approach, nor have we done so,” says Weigel. Now a part of their
own brands is run with different formats, from mobile snack outlet
and take-away, to restaurant and bar with take-away area, to con-
venience store.
Until 2011/12 growth was concentrated exclusively on airports, then the
time was ripe for further site categories. They launched the first
railway-station site in the shape of the sausage concept Hermann’s
and then, expanded to include the pizza concept basta, went on to
include motorways.
That their pleasure in the catering business has not slackened in
their twelfth year is exemplified by the format of Goodman & Fi-
lippo, opened in Dusseldorf Airport at Gate A in September 2016.
This fresh deli-concept, featuring daily on-site production, like-
wise an idea of their own, exploits the specialties of two countries:
Italy and the USA. To sum up so far: “Goodman & Filippo has
started up well beyond our expectations. The take-away share was
about 75% at the start. Now the restaurant business has established
itself more and more, reaching a 40% sales share. We expect this
development to continue and thus that the average net checkout
bill, currently ¤6.80, will rise to ¤7.50. There is further room for a
rise. The same applies to the net monthly sales figure of just under
¤270,000. The food favourites to far: surf’n’turf burger and chi-
cken club sandwich,” says Weigel in short.
And 2017? March saw the opening of one Quicker’s in Essen rail-
way station and another in the new Ryan Air section of Frankfurt
Airport. A further Goodman & Filippo will get going at Cologne-
Bonn Airport in July. A Hermann’s is planned for November at
Gate A in Frankfurt; the present Beyond, also Gate A, will be
converted into another Goodman & Filippo, too. “Further projects
for this year, including projects outside Germany, are also in the
pipelines but not yet advanced enough to talk about.”
Jutta Pfannschmidt-Wahl
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Germany ❘❙
Michael Weigel, Co-Owner of casualfood
What makes an airport so permanently attractive to you as a location?
What would you say is the outlook at railway stations and motorways?
Air traffic is continuing to increase world-wide every year,
a clear growth area. Many customers come with high
spending power and our concepts are tailored exactly to
this frequently international clientele, who want fast, good,
uncomplicated eating and drinking on their journey. That
we meet our customers’ taste can be seen from our con-
stant growth in this segment.
Michael Weigel, born 1967, one of
the co-founders, has been master of
statistics and at the heart of operations
and personnel from the launch. At the
start, he was himself actually one of
the sales staff behind the first Mayer’s
pretzel trolley, today joint owner of the
multi-brand company casualfood. The
former sales professional cannot quite
deny his expert view even when eating
privately, for he wants to stay receptive
to new ideas. But he certainly never
allows this to interfere with his enjoy-
ment of good food. What he notices,
however – always and everywhere – is
particularly good service.
At the railway stations, we are likewise constantly grow-
ing. Along with our own successful concepts, we recently
entered into a partnership with Deutsche Bahn, to run more
service stores at attractive sites. An initial successful pilot
has been under launch since September of last year at the
regional railway station of Frankfurt Airport.
How do you keep your staff on the hop at these busy locations?
The need for flexibility and speed is extremely high in
all catering for travellers. And the staff need to be able
to handle the very widest range of customer groups and
cultures. Of course, that can be very attractive, for no two
days are alike. A member of our staff will meet travellers
from all over the world and can show off his language
skills. We teach this to our staff. And we support them with
numerous measures, from on-boarding and a permanent
training cycle, to training programmes, including those in
the company, to part-time degree courses. Naturally we
most prefer to develop our own staff further!
How do you combat all the wear and tear, how do you relax?
Of course, that doesn’t always succeed. Seriously, the way
of combating stress is to enjoy your work in a great team.
That’s what we do. I find relaxation best with my family.
In Croatia, in a small town on the coast, you can let your
mind run wonderfully free. But when I am with friends,
over a good meal and a fine bottle of wine, I can relax
very well.
Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 17
❙❘ Trend Statements

Greener Menus and Digitized Restaurants

Kim Rahbek founded Sticks’n’Sushi together
with his brother and brother-in law in 1994 in
Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2012, the restaurant
group went international with a first unit in Lon-
don. Berlin followed in 2017. “Food is all about
design,” says the CEO, who pays close attention
to the fashion and design industry as well as
architecture and philosophic trends.
www.sushi.dk
“In our market, organic greens and vegetables are on the rise, and
having a vegan menu is a must today. In fact, at Sticks’n’Sushi, we
have a much greener menu today than we did five years ago, and
we expect this development to continue. There’s an overall trend to-
wards going more green and sustainable with customer interest and
hence foodservice offers moving away from red meat and ever more
often towards organic farm-produce. In recent years, the quality of
biodynamic wine has increased significantly, and it has found its
way onto our beverage card. We have also added fermented bev-
erages such as Kombucha and Kefir. While traditional soft drinks
play only a minor role in our beverage menu, we’ve decided to
include alternative soft drinks with less added sugar and additives.
Topics like climate change and sustainability are on everybody’s
radar today. Consequently, our guests want to know where our
food comes from and how it is produced. I believe that they will
expect even more transparency in the future coupled with the same
high quality in service, but in an increasingly digital environment.
Already today, technology plays a decisive role in the foodservice
realm, and we believe that it will influence our business quite signifi-
cantly in the coming years, as guests expect any relevant restaurant
to be digital. We aim to use the modern technology to ensure a
seamless guest-journey in-house and for take-away.
Speaking of which, take-away has increased dramatically in the
last couple of years, as has delivery. We’re observing this trend at
both the low and high-end of the market.”

For wagamama’s Head of Inter-

national Marketing, Michele Young, Focus on Wellbeing & Street Food Influences
India and Asia are a great source of “Looking back ten years to 2007, we’ll see that the food trends
culinary inspiration: “Where else then were an increased focus on healthy eating, wholesome, fresh,
can you enjoy such a celebration of organic food, convenience with a healthy twist. Those trends are still
different and distinctive tastes and prevalent if not stronger today, and I expect that they will still feature
savour such aromatic, spicy and bold on our menus in another ten years time.
flavours? I admire the way that With consumers more aware about what goes into their food, the de-
vegetables can become the hero on mand for healthier alternatives and focus on wellbeing has continu-
the plate in these countries.” ally grown. This has also had an impact on the demand for free-from,
www.wagamama.com vegetarian or vegan products. All these issues – including food-aller-
gies and intolerances – have been on our radar for some time.
When it comes to indulgence, street food from around the world
continues to inspire both consumers and development chefs. We
are seeing more flavour influences and innovation from countries in
Southeast Asia. Korean food is gaining attraction whilst Vietnamese
is becoming more mainstream in its appeal.
Overall, consumers are increasingly demanding on service quality,
dining experience and more adventurous in their tastes. To cement
loyalty, they want to find a personal and emotional connection with
the brands they are dealing with.
As for operations, it’s no longer an option for restaurants to run
without a good technology infrastructure. At wagamama’s it’s pret-
ty much engrained in every area of the business form managing or-
ders with suppliers through to taking orders from customers – both
in the restaurant and online. We also have an internal platform for
business as well as an internal social platform.”

A 18 ❘❙ F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17

 Trend Statements ❘❙

Sharing Opportunities, Choice & Better-For-Me Options

“Observing the UK market, we see that eating away from home is
a big trend due to time-poor consumers as well as customers wan-
ting choice of cuisine. Besides, people now embrace the feasting
concept as a way of socialising – and an affordable way of dining
out. There’s great demand for both sharing plates and small plates
(tapas) across cuisines like American BBQ and Mexican.
The Nando’s concept is reflective of these trends: Stemming from
South Africa with a Portuguese influence of chargrilled chicken
infused with peri peri from Mozambique, it gives a unique propo-
sition to consumers. Our menu also comprises a selection of sharing
platters for up to six people.
While keeping to our core products, we also utilize ingredients that
are on trend and work well with our foods, e.g. sweet potatoes or
grains. In answer to customer health perception needs for ‘better for
me’, we recently introduced the Supergrain Side: a mix of grains, A London native, Nando’s Group
greens and beans including wheat berry, freekeh, edamame, can- Head of Food, Blair Smethurst,
nellini, quinoa, green beans, barley, kale, and avocado. We’ve took an interest in food from an
also introduced a burger innovation. The Trio Burger with peri- early age on. He studied culinary
peri chicken breast fillet, grilled halloumi cheese and Portobello arts and travelled other countries
mushroom meets customer demand for flavoursome products. to work and learn. Before joining
As for the future, I believe that trend cuisines will be a patchwork Nando’s in 2015 he held positions
quilt of traditional flavours and cuisines mixed with modern tech- at Coles Supermarkets (Australia)
niques. Customers will expect to trust brands, i.e. restaurants to do and Marks & Spencer (GB).
the right thing regarding sustainable sourcing, and offer foods that www.nandos.co.uk
are nutritionally responsible, fresh, unique and innovative.” www.nandos.com

What’s Hot in Foodservice?

Booming Delivery Market & Oriental Cuisine KP Kofler founded the catering company Kofler
“The food business has always been shaped by social develop- & Kompanie in 1991 in Frankfurt, Germany, and
ments, take digitalization or the sharing economy, for example, grew it into an internationally renowned premium
with their huge impacts on the whole industry. Food delivery is on a hospitality service. The business has already
completely different level today than it has been during the past few hosted three World Cups and three Olympic
years. Thanks to new delivery services, the access to high quality Games, including VIP catering for the FIFA World
food has become much easier – at least in major cities. Cup 2014 in Brazil. For culinary inspiration, Kofler
The London delivery market is expected to grow by about 28% over turns to London: “the silicon valley of food.”
the next ten years. That’s why White Rabbit Fund, a restaurant and www.koflerkompanie.com
advisory business that we launched in 2016, and which built up two
innovative foodservice start-ups in London, will focus even more
strongly on this market segment. We are currently working on a
solution that will support restaurants in dealing with major
challenges connected to handling both take-away orders and on-
site business successfully.
With regard to food and menu items, the world was a different one,
ten years ago. While sushi used to be something truly special, it has
become a common treat for most consumers. New trends like poké
food have entered the market. Middle Eastern cuisine, i.e. oriental
food especially from Israel, is set to conquer our menus in the next
decade. Tel Aviv will become the new Copenhagen. We’re also
witnessing the rise in popularity of high quality Mexican food.”

F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17

❙❘ Poland

La Tagliatella

KFC

Pizza Hut

A 20 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17

The goal is clear, the timeline is set: AmRest aims to
become the leading restaurant company in Europe in
five years. The Polish-American company is the
largest publicly listed restaurant operator in Central
Europe. As of May 2017 it operates more than
1,200 restaurants under seven brands in 13 coun-
tries and has nearly 30,000 employees. Its growth is
tightly scheduled: 250 new restaurants are to be ad-
ded this year, pushing up the pace to 400-450 new
restaurants in the next few years. www.amrest.eu
Everything Is Possible!
AmRest is equally clear about the strategy it has chosen to reach
its goal: consolidation and organic growth, but at the moment es-
pecially acquisitions and agreements.
Indeed, in the last few months the pace of m&a and new deals
is so fast it is difficult to keep up with it. In April alone AmRest
first signed an agreement to become a majority shareholder in the
Polish company that operates the PizzaPortal.pl platform, thus
partnering up with Delivery Hero, a global leader in the online
food-ordering segment. Then, a couple of weeks later, AmRest
announced plans to enter the Austrian market with the KFC brand,
with the first restaurant due to open before the end of 2017. Final-
ly, on April 24, AmRest disclosed to have signed a binding deal
whereby one of its subsidiaries would become the Pizza Hut mas-
ter franchisee for 36 restaurants currently operated by multiple
sub-franchisees in Russia and acquire 18 Pizza Hut restaurants
operated by Pizza Hut Russia.
In March, AmRest signed deals aimed at becoming Pizza Hut mas-
ter franchisee for Germany and acquiring two Pizza Hut delivery
stores in Dusseldorf, announced the forthcoming acquisition of
42 KFC restaurants in France and finalized the acquisition of 15
KFC equity stores in Germany. Previously, it had struck deals with
Pizza Hut in Central Europe and in France to buy their delivery
business. And in 2016 AmRest had acquired 144 Starbucks equity
stores in Germany, thus more than doubling their Starbucks port-
folio overnight.
”We are a growing and acquisitive company,” comments AmRest co-
founder and CEO Henry McGovern. “Our focus right now is on
Europe, where 95% of our restaurants are, though we also have a
nice business in China.“
This fast growth couldn‘t be handled without a strong organisation,
a strong company culture and the right attitude. The last is ex-
emplified by the company motto ‘Wszystko Jest Możliwe!’, i.e.
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Poland ❘❙
‘Everything is possible’, a belief forged in the early days of the
company, back in the 1990’s, when a young McGovern and a
friend came to see for themselves what Eastern Europe looked like
after the fall of the wall and decided to stay and start a restaurant
business, overcoming difficulties and refusing to be stopped by
setbacks.
”We started a company with no one from the restaurant business because
there were no restaurants at the time in Central Europe,” recalls
McGovern. “So we had to do and learn everything on our own,
which created an incredibly strong bond between us. Of our se-
nior executive team, the newest person has been with the company
ten years, many of them are with it since the very beginning, 20+
years. Once you build that kind of comraderie that comes from
having gone through those early years, you stick together.“
AmRest in Figures
Group founded 1993
Headquarters Wroclaw, Poland
No. of brands 7 (Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks,
La Tagliatella, Blue Frog, KABB)
No. of restaurants 1,203 (as of 27.4.2017)
No. of restaurants by brand (2016) 519 KFC (excl. 15 in
Germany acquired in 2017), 275 Starbucks, 214 La
Tagliatella, 92 Pizza Hut, 45 Burger King, 32 Blue Frog,
4 KABB
No. of countries where AmRest is present 13
No. of restaurants by country (2016) 389 Poland, 245 Spain,
145 Germany, 123 Russia, 114 Czech Republic,
66 Hungary, 36 China, 28 Romania, 11 Bulgaria,
10 France, 6 Croatia, 5 Serbia, 3 Slovakia
Group sales PLN4,207 m (c985 m)
No. of meals/clients served ~ 200 m per year
No. of staff 28,771 (23,623 in 2015)
Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 21
❙❘ Poland

Starbucks

La Tagliatella

Starbucks

A 22 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+


Teamwork as well as in-house training and mentoring programmes
based on supportive development and feedback are some of the
policies that today stay AmRest in good stead when planning and
organising its development. Another of the company’s core values
is ‘trust in the good intentions’, meaning specifically, let people
have autonomy and trust that they are going to do things well.
”We are very much a people business and in a partnership we bring an
entrepreneurial attitude towards the business,” says McGovern.
This also explains AmRest‘s recent acquisition strategy and why
the development is focused around a few strong brands: “We have
seven brands and it sounds like a lot but when you look at the seg-
ments they are in, it‘s really not,” underlines McGovern. “As we
are focused around the people side of the business, we need to have
full teams and have to build an organisation to handle the growth
we want, so we must be able to afford our systems and processes.
We already have more than 100 people in our development team
including architects, site locators, and engineers. Therefore, we
look for businesses that can get to scale and scale for us today is
a 100 m Euro business. We need to have exclusivity or a large
territory for doing that.”
AmRest‘s portfolio is made up of a mix of proprietary (La Tagliatella,
Blue Frog Bar & Bistro, KABB) and franchised brands (KFC,
Starbucks, Pizza Hut and Burger King).
La Tagliatella is an Italian themed chain offering a true Italian trat-
toria experience. ”It‘s a quality-driven, food-focused brand that has
become synonimous with the best Italian food in Spain, as well as
our most profitable business,“ reveals McGovern. The brand had
105 restaurants when AmRest bought it in 2011. Today, it has over
200 restaurants in Spain, with an average ticket of ¤20 per person,
and a dozen sites in France and Germany, with plans to further
develop it both organically and through franchising. Blue Frog is a
Western casual-dining concept with 36 restaurants in ten cities in
China and plans to open in Spain and Poland later this year. ”Our
China business last year grew about 30%, this year it will grow
another 30%,” reveals McGovern. “We have crossed the ¤100 m
mark, which means we have enough scale to do other things.“
But AmRest is also notable for taking a unique approach to ”exe-
cuting“ its franchised brands, that are among the global leaders in
their respective product categories. In some of their restaurants,
AmRest transformed Pizza Hut from a fast-food into a fast-casual
brand, where the food is prepared in front of the customers with
the ingredients they want, and a focus on freshness. In Poland,
about half of AmRest‘s Pizza Hut locations are fast casual now.
With KFC they did the same thing, for instance only using fresh,
locally sourced chicken and redesigning the restaurants to have an
open kitchen. “We go after whatever will make the brands more
transparent and better quality to the customer,” sums up McGo-
vern. As for Starbucks, AmRest is currently working to ”elevate
the impact“ of the recently acquired German stores. “There’s a
reason why Starbucks is by far the world leader and it’s because
of the quality of the brand. In Germany we want to deserve the
leadership position we have,” concludes McGovern.
Flavia Fresia
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Poland ❘❙
Henry McGovern, Founder of AmRest
What is the job description of a Chief Emotional Officer?
My role is to drive the energy of the
company. I‘m not an executive any
more. About ten years ago I realized
that there were more and more people in
the company who were better at things
than I was. I had started the company,
I was very hands-on, I had to know
about everything, but then I grew out of
it. I realized what I really do is just keep-
ing AmRest more exciting, interesting,
fun, challenging and developmental.
Henry McGovern is currently the self dub-
bed ‘Chief Emotional Officer’ of AmRest
Europe and a member of its supervisory
board. A US citizen, in 1993, when he
was 25, he co-founded AmRest and
served as Chief Executive Officer from
1995 to 2008.
Fun and enjoyment are important parts of AmRest‘s company culture?
I‘m a believer for good or for bad that we‘re only here
one time, we might as well enjoy it. What a shame if
someone is not enjoying life. We just don‘t take it too ser-
iously. We hear a lot of things about life-work balance.
For me that seems so antiquated. Today our lives are just
intermatched, there‘s not this separation. If you need to
separate your life into compartments, you‘re not taking the
most out of it. If you have to work one evening, you have
to work one evening, but then take another day off and go
to the beach or whatever. So, try to find more of the soft
line as opposed to the hard line. Also, the restaurant busi-
ness is what everyone talks about and wants to be a part
of. It‘s a fun business, we should have fun.
Where do your drive and inspiration come from?
In my coaching I try to help people find one word that is
meaningful for them and helps them define what are they
are good at. My word is freedom. I must make sure that I
give myself freedom and I don‘t box myself in too much.
I‘m definitely driven by challenges.
If you could turn back time, what would you do differently?
I don‘t know. You never know what the road ahead is.
Very bad roads end up in very good places. All of my busi-
ness ventures have been interesting. It‘s hard for me to say
what I would change, because it has taken me down that
road. Life is good.
AmRest recently entered the German market thanks to two major
acquisitions (Starbucks equity stores and KFC equity stores). What have
you learnt firsthand about the German market so far?
That it is price sensitive. I hope that we can encourage
Germans to recognize that eating well brings a certain
enjoyment to life that‘s worth paying for. We need to get
Germans out, enjoying their time in restaurants more. The
market has its idiosyncrasies but we‘ll work through all.
Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 23
 ❙❘ Switzerland

Yooji’s, Kesselhaus, Zurich Yooji’s, Kesselhaus, Zurich

Yooji’s, Westside, Zurich

Bohemia Cheyenne

A 24 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17

Two Spice AG of Zurich plays in the top league of
the Swiss restaurant industry. The multi-concept com-
pany unites 23 businesses and ten different brands
under its roof and in 2016 earned revenues of al-
most CHF80 m. The group has been successful over
the whole of German-speaking Switzerland with its
sushi concept, Yooji’s. Last year the restaurateurs
were host to over 3.7 m guests. www.twospice.ch
Trendsetter from Switzerland
Whether it’s Yooji’s, Iroquois, Bohemia, Totò or Nooba: their res-
taurants have long made Marc Saxer and Daniel Kehl, the two
brains behind Two Spice AG, major players on the Zurich cater-
ing scene. Their portfolio is diverse – including both individual
restaurants and multiplied concepts. The best known of them is
no doubt the sushi chain Yooji’s. First opened in 2000 in Seefeld,
Zurich, today this system-catering formula can be found at 13 sites
in Switzerland. It was through Yooji’s that the two entrepreneurs
once pioneered on the Limmat what is now a popular food – initial
guests were largely unaware of maki, sashimi, nigiri, and all the
rest. It’s all quite different now. Not just the guests, but Yooji’s
itself have developed over a decade and half. “We take new ideas
and apply them to every project,” says Marc Saxer. Today the con-
cept includes the classical sushi belt (kaiten), touch screens for or-
ders at every seat, and a take-away area. If you want, you can even
order the sushi creations via Yooji’s app and get them delivered to
your door. When it comes to their products the two restaurateurs
place great emphasis on sustainability: fish and seafood come from
sustainable sources and there are environmentally friendly take-
away packages.
Another approach is taken by the better-burger concept Jack&Jo, which is one of
the latest Two Spice projects. To date there are two outlets in the
Winterthur railway-station concourse, a protected monument, and
on Zurich’s Europaallee, which with their modern, atmospheric
design give a very inviting impression. The focus is on ‘slow fast
food’, which for these entrepreneurs is no contradiction. “Despite
increasing time pressures, our customers want to enjoy their food.
Source and quality of products play an ever greater role,” explains
Saxer.
At Jack&Jo these two players are highlighting healthy, home-made food
with ingredients from local producers. The menu features burgers,
soups and salads, plus a broad breakfast and brunch range, includ-
ing trend-setting offers such as overnight oats or chia pudding. All
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Switzerland ❘❙
Yooji’s
dishes can be eaten in the restaurant or ordered as a take-away.
Production takes place in an open kitchen, allowing an insight into
the preparation and creation of the food. “More and more vegetar-
ians, vegans or people with gluten allergy are finding their way to
us,” says Saxer. This is not surprising: over half of the dishes at
Jack&Jo are vegetarian.
For over 25 years the ideas factory at Two Spice has been giving birth to res-
taurant concepts and brands. It all began with the live-music cafe
CaBaRe, which newly qualified chef Marc Saxer and the then ban-
ker Daniel Kehl opened in 1990. The two organised innumerable
concerts and made CaBaRe into a well-known venue. Right up to
today the two entrepreneurs, who have themselves worked long in
kitchen and service, preserve a wider view, are interested not just
in the food, but also in culture, music, art and lifestyle. “We have
always thought it important to run catering at a professional level.
Nevertheless, in our outlets we aim to encourage a good overall
experience. Everyone, both guests and staff, should feel good, in
a fantastic atmosphere,” is how Saxer describes the spirit of Two
Spice. The uncomplicated form is close to their heart, as is the
Two Spice AG in Figures
Founded 1990 in Zurich, Switzerland
Founders/Owners Marc Saxer, Daniel Kehl
Headquarters Zurich
No. of outlets 23, plus 1 franchised (Nooba Laax)
Concepts and brands 10: Bohemia (American brasserie),
Boilerroom (bar&lounge), Cheyenne (American sports
bar), Iroquois (fullservice), Jack&Jo (slow fast food, 2
units), Nooba (pan-Asian, 2 units), Rice Up! (take out),
Ristorante Totò (Italian, fullservice), Yooji’s sushi deli (fast
casual, 13 units), Weindepot (wine store)
Staff about 600
Revenues 2016 CHF80 m
No. of guests more than 3.7 m a year
Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 25
❙❘ Switzerland

Nooba Jack & Jo

Nooba

A 26 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+


public: their outlets are rated as trend-setting meeting places for
a diverse mixture of guests, in which relaxed places such as Bo-
hemia have something to offer on the culinary side.
Creativity and commitment, combined with a sense for quality and a well-
developed entrepreneurial awareness are some of the facts which
have made the catering duo successful. “Our strengths include the
way we always stick to something,” they say. This is also shown
in the classics from the Two Spice factory, which are constantly
being developed further, to keep up with the times. So it is with
Bohemia, opened in 1999 on Zurich’s Kreuzplatz: with a relaxed
atmosphere and good cuisine, the restaurant attracts guests from
early morning to midnight. Since its latest renovation, the Amer-
ican Brasserie also has a charcoal grill, on which food is grilled on
the Argentinian model. The Iroquois, opened in 1994 and known
for its burgers and sports programmes, underwent a refurnishing
in 2012 in country-house and vintage style. At the moment the
popular district venue is being rebuilt again, and by autumn 2017
will have a new look.
Almost all Two Spice AG restaurants run at a high sales level. With a total
of 23 outlets and ten different brands, in 2016 the group earned
revenues of almost CHF80 m. The portfolio includes not just res-
taurants, but also a wine dealer’s and the product brand yootea, a
bio-refreshment drink. Responsible for product development and
❙❘ “In our outlets we aim to encourage a good
overall experience. Everyone, both guests
and staff, should feel good.”
procurement is Two Spice Trading, the group’s central trading
company. Both their own brands and new products from all over
the world are distributed in Switzerland and world-wide by Two
Spice Trading. Thus the trading company has maintained many
years of collaboration with partners and suppliers – including
those in Japan and Korea.
Asian cuisines are a particular hobby-horse of these two players. Their
latest project, too, was conceived under the culinary aegis of the
Far East: last year, in the shape of Rice Up!, the two entrepreneurs
launched a take-away in the food court at Berne railway station,
inspired by the street-food markets of Asia. Rice will be found
at every point of the range. Meals are based on various different
bowls, which are prepared freshly and quickly to recipes which
they have developed themselves, or as the customer prefers, with
rice, noodles, salad, meat, tofu, shoots or other toppings. For thirst
quenching, you can select rice milk with chai or matcha and home-
made lemonade. In its very first year, on just 80 sq m of service
area, Rice Up! earned revenues of over CHF2.7 m. Following the
successful pilot outlet in Berne, now the restaurateurs intend to
test the concept in Zurich: from summer this year – fully reflecting
the spirit of the times – there will be a Rice Up! pop-up store in a
prominent position in the Bahnhofstrasse. Ulla Dammer
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Switzerland ❘❙
Marc Saxer, Joint Owner of Two Spice AG, Zurich
How would you describe the spirit of Two Spice? As a restaurateur, what
is your guiding light?
Bringing culture and catering together has been a major
preoccupation of ours from the start. We always thought
it important to run the restaurant business at a high pro-
fessional level. Nevertheless, in our outlets we wanted to
encourage a good overall experience. Everyone, both the
guests and the team, should feel good in a fantastic atmo-
sphere. This mixture of quality objective
and lively catering has always been the
defining feature of our restaurants – and
it is going to stay that way.
Marc Saxer, co-founder and joint owner
of Two Spice, has more than 25 years’
experience in trend-setting restaurant
operation. He founded the restaurant com-
pany in 1990, together with Daniel Kehl,
in Zurich. The two entrepreneurs – Saxer is
a trained chef, his associate an industrial
economist – have themselves long been
working in the catering sector and know
exactly what their guests want. They apply
their experience to every new food and
beverage project.
Your portfolio unites a mixture of stand-alone and system concepts. Is
there a common denominator?
Quality is our credo; that applies to the cuisine just as
much as to the staff. A love of detail. People like to think of
Two Spice AG as belonging to the trend segment – but in
fact we address a much broader target group. Being trend-
setting and cool was and is not necessarily synonymous
with quality, though. We have consistently pursued a
different philosophy.
You run trend-setting restaurants but don’t produce any nine-day won-
ders. How does that work?
It is one of our strengths that we stick with a thing and work
hard. We are work-buffs who are always in search of new
approaches and solutions – whether at the technical level,
as at Yooji’s, or in the food area. The secret is no doubt a
love of experimentation, combined with an entrepreneurial
base, and entrepreneurial spirit.
What do you see as the exciting trends in the food and beverage sector
at the moment? Which cuisine would still attract you?
In our ideas factory we create new impetus, new food
concepts almost weekly. We are always active and open
to new trends. We have long been attracted by the Orient
– not just geographically and culturally, but by its cuisine,
too. We can well imagine a varied and cordial mixture of
Israeli, Syrian and Lebanese cuisine, mezze in short, for
example. We have already begun our culinary journey
across the continent of Asia: Nooba features traditional
pan-Asian dishes with country-typical spices on the menu.
It would also be exciting to journey on further towards
India.
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❙❘ Trend Statements

Discerning the Social Role and Responsibility of Restaurants

“Time, today, is a decisive factor when we look at food and con-
sumption patterns. We’re living in fast-moving times and people
face a multitude of tasks and often heavy workloads. Little time
remains for (joint) dinner preparation at home. Concepts like
L’Osteria make excellent products at affordable prices available
to everyone.
At the same time, our society is highly influenced by technological
advancements. To offset the isolation caused by the continuous use
of laptops and mobile phones, I believe that restaurant visits are
also becoming increasingly important in social terms.
Nonetheless, at L’Osteria we’ve been noticing an increase in de-
mand for delivery and take-away over the past years. While our
F&B items have always been available for take-away, with Foodora
we have found a very reliable delivery partner.
In 2016, Mirko Silz joined the Overall, customers have become much more knowledgeable,
L’Osteria founders in the manage- which also means that we have to stay on top with social and eco-
ment board of the 58-unit strong nomic trends: more salads, sustainably produced products, or lean
German pizza & pasta chain. Look- supply chains are examples of how we can fulfil the requirements of
ing back, he says, his time as CEO of a healthy and environmentally aware lifestyle.
Vapiano SE (2006-2011) marked It’s hard to say which culinary trends will come to us in the future.
not only a major milestone in his Already today, we’re seeing that trends are not going in one pre-
career but held also decisive profes- defined direction, but are rather a combination of various elements
sional learnings. What he loves most such as particularly healthy foods, traditional ingredients, and fa-
about the foodservice industry? miliar cuisines. What guests crave at L’Osteria is our dedication to
“People!” www.losteria.de freshness in both food and drinks.”

After 15 years in the retail business, Bart van
den Nieuwenhof was asked to lead La Place in
early 2012. Following the bankruptcy of former
proprietor Vroom & Dreesmann, the CEO is cur-
rently working on re-strengthening the brand,
today owned by the Dutch Jumbo supermarket
chain. The father of three finds great inspiration in
Israeli cuisine: “I believe it will win the hearts of
more and more people all over the world.”
www.laplace.com/en
Price Sensitivity, Inquisitive Consumers & More Consumption Occasions
“In the Netherlands, the out of home market is growing fast this
year. After years of stagnation, growth is finally here and new
players – national and international (e.g. Five Guys, Taco Bell,
Dunkin’ Donuts) – are coming to the market.
While (New) Italian and Asian cuisines are still winning, we see
an increasing number of new concepts that focus on one speci-
ality only. Also, demand for ‘made-for-you’ as well as vegetarian
products is rising quickly. Our La Place concept is strongly aligned
with these trends. The market restaurant formula – by the way the
first to introduce front cooking in the Netherlands – is made for
personalized solutions. Besides, one major topic for us as well as
for the whole industry is burgers. Our new burger concept allows
customers to combine their bread and meat with a selection of eight
new toppings.
As for consumer behaviour, it’s clear that in the years to come,
price sensitivity will remain an issue and low prized offers will find
great audiences. Nonetheless, guests today are increasingly well
informed and better educated. In ten years time, they will want to
understand everything about their food. Demand will develop from
currently ‘what you see, is what you get’ to ‘what I understand, is
what I want’. As health consciousness will continue to grow, I also
expect concepts (Asian and others) with a focus on sustainable fish
to grow in North western Europe.
We will also see an increase in the number of consumption moments
per day – with less volume being consumed per occasion.”

A 28 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
 Trend Statements ❘❙

Local, Genuine Ethnic & Zero-Kilometre Superfoods

“Looking at Europe, we observe that ‘trueness’ (#truefood) linked
with ‘local’ are very strong drivers in the gastronomic landscape
today. The desire to ‘celebrate traditions and identity’ seems to
increasingly drive especially young generations into restaurants.
At Autogrill, we address this trend with our Bistrot concept, which
brings local and Italian dishes made from very local ingredients to
food lovers all over the world.
Another trend is ‘genuine ethnic cooking‘ in counter served and fast
casual formats. People want to experience the real taste of specific
regions and crave the experience of having their food prepared
in front of their eyes. The Autogrill Group has developed a whole
range of genuine ethnic concepts for different regions and chan-
nels, e.g. Asia, Thai Urban Kitchen, Seven Spices, Kebab Factory.
Exotic and previously unknown grains, fibres and vegan proteins
as well as soy products and functional foods have conquered the With a family background in the
European foodservice and retail market in recent years. We have food business, the COO of Autogrill
also incorporated them in some of our recipes, e.g. crushed Switzerland, Maximilian Schiedt,
smoothies with superfood ingredients, mueslis with ‘new grains and held various positions in the food
seeds’ like quinoa or chia. (wholesaler’s) industry (e.g. Tho-
In the future, driven by environmental concern and a focus on local mas Niederreuther, Hilcona) before
produce and quality, I expect that we will see the rise of local zero- joining the foodservice business.
kilometre superfoods. My personal favourite: domestic fresh water A world traveller and food lover,
fish, either farm raised or caught locally in our lakes. In parallel, we the avid angler finds inspiration in
will see the farming of exotic fish and other seafood in closed circuit every culture and tradition.
farms heated with geothermal energy.” www.autogrill.com/en

What’s Hot in Foodservice?

Creating Instagramable Food Experiences An Istanbul native, Mert Askin, spent the first
“The away-from-home market is currently shaped by advancements 10 years of his career in management consulting
on various levels. Experimentation with food formats is playing a vital before he moved to professional foodservice in
role in creating culinary experiences. Think of restaurant pop-ups, 2006. Today, he is in charge of the F&B division of
dinner in the sky or home-cooking events with professional chefs. the multinational retail group Azadea, operating
On site, on the other hand, the focus is on creating ‘Instagramable’ across the Middle East and Africa. He says that
or socially shareable food experiences. Providing such moments to the significant trend in the region is towards
our customers means rethinking every menu item in terms of ima- homegrown concepts that tailor their offering to
ginative plating and presentation, or creating a veritable culinary the resident clientele. www.azadea.com
theatre by applying different cooking techniques.
We’re also witnessing the rise of culinary tourism. The exploration
of local food cultures has become a major purpose of travelling. At
Azadea we offer a journey through Italy with our Eataly brand and
are also working on regional menus within our other brands.
In recent years, culinary interest in superfoods and traditional or
ethnic ingredients such as turmeric, saffron or coconut has gained
momentum. At the same time, it has become the duty of operators
to pay closer attention to their customers’ food sensitivities and diets
(vegan, dairy-free, paleo, etc.) and customize menus accordingly.
I believe that in the years to come heretofore unknown or rarely
used fruits, vegetables, grains, fish and meats will find their way
into the culinary spectrum.”

F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17

❙❘ UAE

Almaz by Momo

Magnolia Bakery Magnolia Bakery

Ocean Basket NYD/Forty Carrots

A 30 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
 UAE ❘❙

The Al Tayer Group is one of the largest luxury retailers in

the Middle East, hosting a portfolio of some of the world’s
most famous luxury brands in the fashion, jewellery, home,
hospitality and department store sectors. Al Tayer Group’s
hospitality division operates numerous international fran-
chise and own brands across the UAE, including Armani
Dubai Caffè, Almaz by Momo,Caffè Nero and Magnolia
Bakery, to name but a few. www.altayer.com Almaz by Momo

Casual Luxury
Founded in 1979, Al Tayer Group is a privately-held company
with operations in twelve countries in the Middle East. With over
9,000 employees from more than 100 different nationalities, the
Dubai-based company operates businesses in automobile sales
and service, luxury and lifestyle retail, perfumes and cosmetics
distribution, engineering as well as interiors contracting. Over the
years it has successfully introduced more than 80 brands to the
Middle East, including several of the world’s leading brands such
as Armani, Bulgari, Banana Republic, Ford, Ferrari, Gucci, Gap,
Harvey Nichols and Maserati. The group’s retail division current-
ly operates over 200 stores across the region. In 2017, the group
launched the region’s first online luxury platform, Ounass.com.
The hospitality division at Al Tayer, established in 2007, is the master fran-
chise operator for several international hospitality brands across
the UAE. The portfolio includes Armani/Dubai Caffè, Almaz by
Momo, Atrium Café, Caffè Nero, Cosi, Emporio Armani Caffè,
Forty Carrots, Magnolia Bakery, More Café, Ocean Basket, Scene
and Serendipity 3. Each brand is usually represented by one to
three units across the country with the exception of Caffè Nero
with its 22 stores in the UAE. “We are focusing on developing
our casual businesses such as Caffè Nero, Magnolia Bakery and
Ocean Basket,” says David Singleton, Vice President Hospitality
at Al Tayer Group. “Serendipity 3 and Atrium Café are new brands
where we have more work to do before we are in ‘roll out’ mode.
We do have plans on the future to grow them, though.” And he
adds: “We will grow steadily and at the right time. We are develop-
ing exciting new concepts within our department store expansion
program, recently opening Scene, a luxury café in Bloomingdale’s
Kuwait and will do the same with Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s
in Abu Dhabi. We will expand our existing brands in the right,
affordable locations.”
Besides a few locations in commercial towers the vast majority of Al
Tayer’s stores is located in shopping malls, either in Dubai’s mega
malls or, increasingly over the last couple of years, in some of the
upcoming smaller community or strip malls that are more easily
accessible. The F&B portfolio is one of the key attractors to malls
in a region where eating is almost a pastime for many shoppers
who often have two meals during a single shopping trip. Conse-
quently, many malls such as Mall of the Emirates are seeking to
significantly increase their percentage of space allocated to F&B
and thereby sustain a continuous need for new brands in the region.
But Singleton also believes in other trends: “The new emergence
of unconventional – at least for Dubai rather than other more ma-
ture markets – non-mall locations such as Alserkal Avenue or Al
Quoz where regeneration has become cool and easy to access and
can be combined with arts, crafts and other non-retail activities is
changing the way how people spend their time which over time
will eat into the role of the mall.”
One of Al Tayer’s core brands, Caffè Nero entered the UAE market in 2009
and today has 17 stores in Dubai and five stores in Abu Dhabi. The
brand positions itself as a more premium coffee shop, staying true
to its European heritage whilst offering guests the highest quality
coffee and food inspired by classic Mediterranean recipes in an
environment that is designed to convey a home-like atmosphere.
“Our fantastic baristas bring this to life, giving each store its own
character through a combination of personal service and unique
design,” Singleton is proud to say. It certainly adds to its success
that the product range of-
fered by the coffee shop Al Tayer Group in Figures
caters to local tastes. The
menu contains items such
Headquarters Dubai, UAE
Owners Al Tayer family
as Zaatar Croissants, Fala-
Founded 1979
fel, Halloumi and Shawar-
Business areas Automotive, Retail (Beauty,
ma Wraps, taking inspir-
Department Stores, Fashion, Home, Hos-
ation from the region. pitality, Jewellery, Lifestyle), Real Estate,
Healthcare
Another key hospitality brand of Countries of activity Bahrain, Kingdom of
Al Tayer, New York-based Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE
Magnolia Bakery, opened Year of first restaurant 2007
its first international loca- Foodservice brands 12
tion in 2010 in the Dubai

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❙❘ UAE

More Café

Foodservice Brands in Operation

Almaz by Momo (2 Dubai, 1 Abu Dhabi)
Armani Caffè (1 Dubai)
Atrium Café (1 Dubai, 1 Abu Dhabi)
Caffè Nero (17 Dubai, 5 Abu Dhabi)
Cosi (1 Dubai)
Emporio Armani Caffè (1 Dubai, 1 Abu
Dhabi Intl. Airport)
Forty Carrots (1 Dubai)
Magnolia Bakery (2 Dubai, 1 Abu Dhabi)
More Café (1 Dubai)
Ocean Basket (1 Dubai)
Scene (1 Kuwait)
Serendipity 3 (2 Dubai)
Caffè Nero

Almaz by Momo

A 32 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17

Mall. The Bakery offers classic American baked sweet and sa-
voury goods and is renowned for its cupcakes, all prepared from
scratch on-premises all-day. More recently, the bakery’s product
range has been extended to an ice-cream range inspired by its
baked desserts.
Among the portfolio of a dozen hospitality brands are also the family res-
taurant Ocean Basket, a South African seafood restaurant concept
known for its simplicity and homely atmosphere; the stylish North
African restaurant Almaz by Momo, a blend of innovation and
tradition, ranging from food to décor, also featuring a juice bar and
Shisha salon; the exclusive Emporio Armani Caffè and Armani
Dubai Caffè, which reflect the distinctive and unique Italian style
of Giorgio Armani and offer traditional Italian cuisine; and, as the
latest project in development, NYD, a New York street food pop-
up within 40 Carrots that was primarily developed for the home-
delivery market and focuses on hot dogs and burgers.
Another more recent addition to the portfolio is Serendipity 3, a New
York institution with over 60 years of American tradition, offer-
ing an extensive menu of towering burgers, foot long hot dogs,
and the famous signature Frrrozen Hot Chocolate dessert, where
a one-of-a-kind whimsical décor with umbrellas on the ceiling,
clocks on the walls and bird cage seating promise to make for a
memorable experience. The implementation of the Serendipity 3
concept also serves as a good example of how Al Tayer is adapting
an international brand to the local environment while keeping the
essence and the integrity of it: both, an area in the guestroom with
mirrored ceilings and a modernized take on the Tiffany-style pen-
dant lamps as well as the open dessert kitchen are reinforcing the
strong points of the brand. “The emotional needs are so different
in every country,” Singleton points out and continues: “You have
to ask what the brand is famous for, never mess with that. We also
have a dedicated culinary and development team who works on all
of our brands. Adaptations vary by brand, but we’re also working
hard with partner brands to ensure they understand our market and
they develop for us too.”
One of Al Tayer’s latest concepts and created in-house is Scene, a
luxury café that was developed for Bloomingdale’s in Kuwait in
March this year. Mainly targeted to the coffee-loving local popula-
tion, shoppers are invited to a private dinner party in a Manhattan
style apartment where food and fashion merge to bring to life the
glamour of New York. Two blends of coffee have specially been
created for the concept and are served in stylish cups, alongside
cakes and savoury options. Singleton comments: “You have to
get inside the culture of the people you are serving and don’t be
arrogant enough to think just because you like it, it must be right.”
Al Tayer has obviously succeeded so far, which according to Sin-
gleton is due to the group’s strong commitment to quality: “We
are obsessed with quality and working with partners who share
our values and quality obsession. We care about our people, we
understand our customers, and we work with the best people in the
world to help us develop our systems, people and brands.”
Bettina Quabius
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
UAE ❘❙
David Singleton, VP Hospitality at Al Tayer Group
What are the strong points of Al Tayer Hospitality?
As the largest luxury retailer in the
Middle East, Al Tayer Group hosts a
portfolio of some of the world’s best
luxury brands in the fashion, jewellery,
home and department store categories.
Complementing its position in luxury
retail, the Group has also built new
frontiers in lifestyle retail, representing
leading brands in the Beauty, Home,
Fashion and Hospitality sectors.
David Singleton is Vice President Hospitality
at Al Tayer Group, heading twelve restaur-
ant brands spanning luxury, casual and
counter segments of the market. His career
so far has encompassed 35 years as man-
ager, operator and marketer, among others
with one of the UK’s top pub groups, as well
as Russia and Eastern Europe as a brand
director and new concept developer.
What challenges and opportunities do you see for the future of hospi-
tality in the Gulf region?
The market is in the midst of a very challenging economic
period, brought about by tourism numbers, global curren-
cy fluctuations and regional oil prices. The F&B sector is
becoming more crowded and continues to grow expo-
nentially, with no apparent slowdown in store number
growth. Apart from that, mall footfall has become an issue,
with lease costs remaining high. However, malls such as
the Mall of the Emirates are seeking to significantly ramp
up their percentage of space allocated to F&B which will
increase the need for more new brands on the market. F&B
has to play an important role in these malls, it’s just how,
and will the expression ‘build it and they will come’ be
challenged for the first time …?
Who inspires you in the industry?
I am one of the lucky guys in the F&B industry having
worked in different countries, really great companies and
for some extremely inspiring leaders, but right now here
in the Middle East I get great inspiration from my team.
With almost 800 employees, I try hard to spend time in my
stores and talk to them a lot. When I learn of their passion
for our business and their guests it’s heartening. With
such a stable team I can ask a lot of them, they embrace
challenge and become part of what we do. We have an
extremely diverse expat workforce, they make personal sa-
crifices to work for us, and culturally we really do take very
good care of them. I remember working with Tony Hughes
who in 2002 gave me a book, ‘The Servant Leader’, it’s
become one of my most important reference books in my
book case. As I’ve been fortunate enough to grow in the
industry, I’ve learned the simple thing, that in my role one
of the single most important tasks is to ensure my teams are
supported with all the knowledge, skills, and reasons for
why to do their job.
Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 33
 Café dell‘Arte

Café ins grüne

Mensa HCU Mensa HCU

A 34 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+

 Germany ❘❙

Among German universities the campus catering in Ham-

burg is among the top class. With sales of c14.6 m,
the Studierendenwerk Hamburg comes second place –
only Berlin earned more. The most important factor of
success is their intense closeness to their customers. In
various concepts, from classical refectory to pizza bar,
the head of university catering, Michael Gradtke, and
his team offer a broad range of F&B products, taking its
measure from current catering trends.
www.studierendenwerk-hamburg.de

Cooking for Generation Y

High Noon on a sunny Friday in May. Outside on the campus a
warm 18 °C is enticing everyone to start the weekend – on the
ground floor of the Philosophy Tower there is duck breast with
noodles, fresh asparagus from Spargelhof Meyer, or Greenitsch
brand fresh-fruit salad in a practical take-away beaker for hurried
eaters. The prices are so low it ought to be a record: budding aca-
demics must pay ¤4.50 for the duck-breast dish, while university
employees and other guests pay ¤5.30.
No surprise that the tables are all well occupied; you can also hard-
ly get a seat in front of the huge, jolly glass facade. There is a
relaxed, lively atmosphere – a good mood wherever you look, in
spite of the press of people. For the crowd spreads without a jam
or hold-up over the ample food-issue area – the mix of line-up and
free-flow islands epitomises modern communal catering.
The so-called ‘Philmensa’, one of the three refectories on the
central campus, is at the same time the outlet with the strongest
sales in the Studierendenwerk. A bit run-down as a building, it
is nevertheless highly popular – due to its long opening hours,
apart from anything else: from as early as 7 am early birds can
breakfast here from Mondays to Saturdays, two rolls, butter, jam
and a pot of coffee cost ¤1.50; you can have fried or scrambled
eggs on top.
The outlet opened in 2014 in the brand-new HafenCity University
(HCU in short) is also doing extremely well. Here, as in Finkenau
(launched 2015), a new generation of refectory has been estab-
lished, featuring a sophisticated freshness concept and front cook-
ing. From the beginning the guest numbers, at some 1,000 students
a day, have been way above expectations at the HCU. An innova-
tive F&B range, with a high freshness level – e.g. leg of lamb from
the smoker on the terrace, plus stylishly cool surroundings with
wooden stools and benches directly on the Elbe – attracts frequent
customers. The refectory on the Finkenau arts and media campus,
on the other hand, has a jolly, colourful look, just right for its target
group; a modern food-control system, networked with inventory
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
management, provides information via monitors about the dishes
and their ingredients.
In all, the Studierendenwerk, North Germany’s biggest communal
food and drink supplier, plays host every day to 23,000 guests in
13 refectories, 13 cafés and seven coffee shops. Makes about 5.2 m
a year. Its clientele includes aspiring arts and science graduates,
mechanical engineers, art students, freshers or honorary profes-
sors, young men and young women – a motley clash of all possible
demographic clusters, cultures, eating habits and tastes. To reduce
them all to a common denominator while covering costs – a chal-
lenging job, but one which those in charge take on nevertheless
with obvious enjoyment and good humour. “The food and drink
on offer reflects a multitude of criteria, such as guest preferences,
health aspects, regional factors and climate protection,” empha-
sises Jürgen Allemeyer, Managing Director of Studierendenwerk.
“It is as varied as the demand.”
Staying constantly on the ball, aiming to be close to the customers, but also
keeping an eye all the time on the outside catering market – this is
the motto of the F&B professional. After all, they are faced with a
particularly demanding clientele – according to market research,
Generation Y, of the 18 to 30-year-olds, takes little account of re-
gulated mealtimes, is cosmopolitan and open to the world, has its
smartphone always on, and wants to eat when and where it suits.
The people in Hamburg are correspondingly flexible, adapting
range, furnishing and opening
hours to the conditions required Studierendenwerk Hamburg
at the location in question.
Along with the classical refec- Managing Director Jürgen Allemeyer
tory operations in XL format, Head of university catering Michael
Gradtke, André Schütte (deputy)
acting as central venues for “ea-
Number of F&B units 13 refectories,
ting and meeting” in the breaks
13 cafés, 7 coffee shops
between lectures, small-format
Guests per day 23,000
cafes or cafe shops are playing Sales revenues approx. c14.6 m
(2015, excluding subventions)
Sales per guest c206.08 (2015)
Sales growth +5.4 % (2016)
 ❙❘ Germany

Mensa HCU Café dell‘Arte

Café Finkenau Mensa Philturm

Café dell‘Arte

an ever greater role – including a supply of hot food. Some of them
are designed as modern coffee bars. These outlets have seen par-
ticularly favourable increases over the past years. According to
André Schütte, deputy head of the university-catering department,
they may well be the future drivers of upward sales revenues: at
least two new cafés are due to be launched by the end of 2017.
Particularly successful in the café segment is the take-away range,
which is also being further expanded. But in the refectories, too,
they have adapted to the ever more frequently heard desire for take-
aways: thus, students can take every dish home sealed in a menu
bowl. There is a selection of seven dishes and more here every day,
divided into headings such as ‘good and low priced’ or ‘campus
special.’ Along with this, you can put an individual composition
together at the vegetable, salad and pasta bar and partly with in-
dividual components. At least one main dish is for vegetarians:
sweet potatoes with Cajun vegetables and blue-cheese dip, for
example, of falafel with hummus filling, peppermint-yoghurt dip
and vegetable couscous. Vegan alternatives are also on the menu.
Since summer 2011 the Studierendenwerk, adopting the so-called
climate plate produced by the GreenFlux Association, has been a
pioneer in setting a clear signal for climate protection. Now sever-
al dishes every day carry the initiative’s label. And with the intro-
duction of light dishes, prepared to be particularly vitamin-sparing
and low-fat, under the MensaVital brand, the Hamburg Studieren-
denwerk has proved a trend-setter within the sector.
The catering professionals demonstrate their love of innovation and closeness
to their customers not just as regards food, however. Thus, for ex-
ample, working jointly with technicians in the Studierendenwerk’s
workshop, they have had some ideas about barrier-free access and
developed a special tray trolley for wheelchair users, which is now
also being supplied to interested parties outside. And, up to the
minute since mid-May, they have been scoring high marks with a
return-beaker scheme to avoid waste: if you drink your take-away
coffee in your own mug, you pay ten cents less.
Freshness and an emphasis on the home-made form the focus in
turn at the new pizza bar mono-concept. “Pizza, a product popular
on all sides, offers high variability in terms of size and topping,
can be well prepared, and guarantees high output at peak times,”
explains Schütte. “Plus, the capital investment is easy to control
and you don’t need much space.” At the university campus in
Harburg and at the HCU they are currently learning best practice
experience with a new module: from 11 am to 6 pm a pizza baker
prepares the classic Italian dish before the guests’ very eyes. “We
are going to do more with this idea!” But in a different form: for
autumn 2017, the opening of a large pizzeria is planned on the cen-
tral campus – with seating for 120 and production fresh to order.
“What students want and what they need is changing, just as the
general conditions are changing in our mobile society,” empha-
sises Allemeyer finally. Good now that the Hamburg City Senate
is heavily promoting the modernisation of the building infrastruc-
ture. Thus, for example, from autumn the Philosophy Tower will
be completely renovated – and the ‘Philmensa’ rebuilt to form a
jewel of the new refectory generation.
Ulrike Vongehr
F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
Germany ❘❙
Jürgen Allemeyer, MD of Studierendenwerk Hamburg
How satisfied are you with the current development of Hamburg
University catering?
In 2016, our sales went up by 5.4%. Behind this stands
an even greater range of food, both low-priced and more
high-quality dishes, such as steaks or
pulled pork burgers. Then the permanent
optimisation of the quality of the
products.
Jürgen Allemeyer: his duties as Managing
Director of Studierendenwerk Hamburg in-
clude not only foodservice for the university
but also student accommodation and fi-
nancing, as well as social and international
affairs. “Our many services are oriented
towards the students, as well as the uni-
versities and their needs. For example, for
smaller locations when it comes to refectory
supplies and timetable-oriented hours of
opening in the refectories.”
And the larger number of full-semester days brought add-
itional earnings. And finally, the two new outlets had
recorded a good performance: the Finkenau refectory saw
its number of guests rise in 2016, and the HCU refectory is
visited by considerably more guests than expected.
What are the opportunities and what are the challenges which you see
confronting you in the current year?
All indicators point to expansion and modernisation: we
shall launch at least two new cafes in 2017. Our refectory
with the strongest sales will move for three years to another
site, because the building is being renovated. The City of
Hamburg is also investing in other outlets: rebuilding, some
of it of wide scope, is planned at the refectories in Harburg,
Bergedorf and Campus. Internally we shall expand the
share of regional raw materials and work on centralising
purchasing.
What is the main task of student catering in 2017+?
Eating, including eating at the university, is more and more
to do with self definition and self portrayal; it expresses
what we long for. Sustainability, health, fun, enjoyment,
allergies, safety – we must take all these issues into account.
Providing transparency, including transparency through
the use of local food products with home-made appeal and
dishes with an authentic origin. Then the increasing time
pressure, the growing mobility, the trend towards snacking
and self-optimisation.
Amid these manifold and often contradictory pressures
campus catering needs a clear positioning and a sharp
profile. That is what we are working on – permanently.
Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ ❘❙ A 37
❙❘ Trend Statements

Veggie Choices, Optimized Efficiencies & Insect Proteins

“With increasing health awareness, customer demand for super-
foods, healthy carbohydrates and vegetarian foods is rising. Be-
sides, consumers no longer stick to the classic 3-course menu, but
instead wish to compose their meal individually. At Marché, we are
therefore strengthening our salad and vegetable buffet and include
superfoods such as avocado, sprouts, seeds, herbs but also healthy
carbs like quinoa in our offer. At select Mövenpick Marché restaur-
ants we’ve introduced a new vegetarian island where customers
can combine crudités, salads, vegetarian dishes, fruit and toppings
to their liking.
In recent years, Peruvian and Hawaiian dishes have become very
trendy. I believe that the next decade will bring even more inter-
national influences to our kitchens. Asian but also African cuisines
will likely gain in importance: insects might replace part of our
After 12 years as CEO of Marché protein intake, while African roots and spices might open up entire-
International, Oliver Altherr sees ly new taste experiences.
his task as being the company’s vi- Nowadays, people cook less and eat out more often, but even then
sionary. An early trend spotter, he have very little time at their disposal. Hence, operators must op-
tries to spread his enthusiasm and timize all processes to avoid long wait times. As digitalization is
implement new ideas and trends entering all areas of the restaurant business, new chances arise for
throughout the company’s busi- improving efficiency. In the future, we will increasingly offer mobile
nesses. His personal favourite is order and pay to help our guests save even more time. As customers
the Cantonese cuisine: “The fresh- will ever more often want to be able to access their favourite foods
ness (e.g. of fish) is unbeatable!” and brands from wherever they are, we are also planning to ex-
www.marche-restaurants.com/en pand our distribution channels with delivery partners.”

Before joining SSP in 2008, Cornelius Everke’s
career in the hospitality industry comprised lea-
ding positions with many renowned companies
including Steigenberger Hotels, Volkswagen Au-
tostadt, and Starbucks. One of his most exciting
work places, the current SSP CEO DACH & FRABEL
remembers, was the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in
Hong Kong, where he was Hotel Director.
www.foodtravelexperts.com
Flexible Food Consumption, 1114 & Personal Food Journeys
“Personal consumption patterns have changed decisively over the
past decades. Our guests look for experiences and are increasingly
interested in the ingredients of our foods. Major changes can be
seen in the growing consumer focus on health, individualization,
and entertainment and of course the need for flexible food con-
sumption. The busy and mobile lifestyles of today’s employees lead
to an increasing number of grab&go offers. In the future, smaller
meals for different dayparts will become more relevant.
On a meta-level, culinary mainstream trends are both premium-
ization and value-for-money. In travel channels, these trends are
driven by the pre-dominant factor ‘speed of purchase’. With our
franchise brands Pret A Manger (premium grab&go) and Back-
Werk (good-value self-service bakery) we cover both categories.
Currently, ethno food, chicken products and healthy foods with a
focus on vegetarian and vegan offers are on the rise. Besides, the
burger is definitely a must on the menu today. Contemplating fu-
ture culinary trends, we ought to consider the PIN code of the world
‘1114’: one billion people live in Europe, one billion in America, one
billion in Africa and an incredible four billion people live in Asia!
This is where I expect the influences of the next decades to come from.
As for our future guests, I think they will expect to pre-order from
home in order to have their menu served perfectly in time once they
arrive at our restaurants. Smart phone devices will dominate the
consumer footpath, which will in turn allow for customized promo-
tions and hence truly personal food journeys.”

A 38 ❘❙ Special: Industry Outlook 2017+ F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17
 Trend Statements ❘❙

Trend for Select Dishes, Craft Spirits & ABC

“We are in the fashion industry to some extent and cuisines can
come in and out of fashion quite regularly. While cuisines like Ital-
ian are perennially popular, new ones come out of relative obscurity
and can excite the market, like the current Nordic and Peruvian
trends.
Over the next decade, I think we will see trends for select dishes
from a cuisine. Currently, the Hawaiian Poke bowl is appearing
on menus. It’s a fresh seafood dish that works well with the health
maintenance trend.
At our Monsoon Poon restaurants, we have introduced a couple
of innovative menu items: Duck is not an everyday protein for our
guests and is quite time consuming to prepare properly at home.
Therefore, we now feature a number of duck dishes and have seen
consistently high sales. Another innovation is our South East Asian
‘anti pasta’ platter, which offers our customers a snap shot of what Today the National President of
our menu is about and is great for sharing. the Restaurant Association of New
Alcohol consumption, especially mainstream or low priced pro- Zealand and co-owner of Monsoon
ducts, is on the decline, but an increase in craft beers and cocktail Poon restaurants, Mike Egan
sales offsets any revenue loss. At the same time, craft spirits are started his hospitality career as a
becoming the new craft beer: distilleries are popping up every- waiter. A huge fan of the Chicago
where, creating interesting spirits with local flavours or using old restaurant group ‘Lettuce Entertain
school techniques not offered by the big players. You’, he finds great inspiration
For those who choose not to drink, the trend is ABC – anything in the US market, paying special
but coke. Hence, we use interesting syrups and flavours to create attention to L.A., Chicago and Port-
refreshing non-alcoholic beverages, which are very popular.” land. www.monsoonpoon.co.nz

What’s Hot in Foodservice?

Chicken, Burgers and Technology-driven Guest Experiences Having grown up in the restaurant business – his
“Information has never been as accessible as it is today. Thanks to father was CEO of the German steakhouse chain
Google you can find out everything about anything in just seconds. Maredo – Axel Schwan joined Burger King in
As a result, people have never been more informed about food 2011. Three years later he was named Executive
quality, meaning that overall expectations around food and the Vice President & Global Chief Marketing Officer.
food experience have risen to new heights. I believe that in the next Passionate about both foodservice and marketing,
ten years, technology will influence the guest experience like never Schwan collected the brand’s award for ‘Creative
before. The way we order, the way we pay, the way we communi- Marketer of the Year’ during the 64th Cannes
cate with the restaurant – all of this will change significantly. Moreo- Lions International Festival of Creativity in June
ver, the boundaries between back-of-house and front-of-house will 2017. www.burgerking.com
likely fade away, as everything comes together to deliver a superior
guest experience, which, of course, has to be ‘Instagramable’.
With regard to menu items, from our perspective, the key main-
stream trends centre around burgers and chicken. I am convinced
that especially chicken-based products will see even more growth in
the next five to ten years. Why? It tastes great, it’s a healthy choice,
and it can be enjoyed in many different ways.
So far, consumer trends around organic, vegetarian or vegan foods
have not had a major influence on Burger King menus. However,
thanks to a few exceptional markets, we do have substantial know-
how and success in this area as well: In India, we have fantastic
vegetarian offerings including a Veggie Whopper.”

F OOD S ERVICE E UROPE & M IDDLE E AST 3/17