At an industry conference earlier this year, a speaker speculated that when dining out consumers no longer care about the food and beverage offering, and instead prioritise and seek out the best ‘experience’. There has also been research carried out that would support this thinking with guests stating the experience is more relevant than the F&B proposition. This has been playing on my mind since and, if true, would be a sad turn of affairs writes Philip Harrison, Chairman of Harrison
The restaurant industry, and subsequentially consumer expectations, have come a long way and are higher than ever before. Diners are seeking – and rightfully so – an experience they couldn’t recreate at home, but surely the quality of the F&B and the service remains an important component in this mix doesn’t it?
As an industry, what we really need to dig deeper into is: what does experience really mean? Does it have to be somewhere where, at one extreme, people are singing, dancing, and entertaining diners, or that the environment itself is the whole experience. Or can it simply mean seamlessly delivering an exceptional level of food, service, design and ambiance.
There are experience-led dining concepts which blur the lines between entertainment and gastronomy. These venues exemplify the growing trend of immersive experiences with an F&B offer and include the likes of Putt Shack, Flight Club and F1, all of which have been on a rapid international growth path. These offers sit in a slightly different category because it is the “group entertainment” activity that is the dominant attraction, not the F&B. Although the F&B remains an important part of the whole experience and a significant revenue generator from what is a captive audience. So, quality in the F&B and service remains important.
This brings me back to my original train of thought. For experiential drinking, dining and socialising, whilst there is currently a trend toward much greater emphasis on the experience created through environment, a lack of attention to detail in the food and drink offer and the service standards will have a negative impact in the long run. It’s a balance between creating a unique experience for customers, but also truly meeting a level of quality of food and drink, ambience, and service which exceeds customer expectations and transforms them from one-off visitors to regulars.
Consider some of today’s most popular restaurant concepts, and the experiences they deliver. Dishoom, for example, has undoubtedly invested heavily in the experience it delivers. Encapsulating the Irani cafés that were popular in Mumbai in the 1960s, the design transports diners to another time and place. However, Dishoom’s success and continued expansion, and what truly keeps people queuing around the block, is of course partly due to the environment but also their dedication to consistently delivering excellent food and high standard of service.
This is underpinned by the research, too. CGA and Zonal’s Go Technology report highlights this delicate balance, revealing that while 45% of consumers are influenced by a venue’s overall experience when deciding where to eat and drink out, 50% still prioritise food quality as their top consideration1.
What restaurants like Dishroom, and on a much greater scale one of our cherished clients, Nando’s, have achieved is not only maintaining consistency of experience, but continuing to evolve in-line with changing and developing consumer expectations. A risk as brands ascend to the lofty heights of success and expansion and become a multi-site operator is that they don’t continue to evolve their experience to a point where it loses its uniqueness and is simply overtaken by newcomers to the scene. Or worse still there is a cost engineering exercise implemented that dilutes the experience. When either of these occurs then the quality of the food experience, and the level of interaction from the staff, which become that much more important. If both the experience and the food fail to deliver for the guest then that can spell real trouble.
It’s worth noting the recent observations of renowned critics Pete Wells and Marina O’Loughlin. Both have highlighted the critical importance of the human element in dining experiences2. As Wells puts it, “I thought of restaurants as one of the few places left where our experiences were completely human, [but there have been] a series of changes that have gradually and steadily stripped the human touch and the human voice out of restaurants.” According to reports, 55% of consumers value staff interaction as part of their overall experience and the human touch remains a crucial component of hospitality3.
While the allure of delivering a unique experience might get diners through the door, it’s the quality of food, drink, and genuine hospitality that will keep them coming back. As we navigate this experience-driven era, let’s not forget that at its core, hospitality is about nourishing both body and soul. The most successful operators will be those who can strike the perfect balance between memorable experiences and exceptional culinary offerings.
- CGA Strategy – New GO Technology insights from CGA and Zonal ↩︎
- Will Beckett Hawksmoor – Hospitality Activity ↩︎
- CGA Strategy – Growing consumer interest in digitalisation of hospitality experiences ↩︎
This thought leadership article appeared in MCA – Friday 13th September 2024.