With a jam-packed agenda for the day it’s quite a challenge to cram all the key take-outs from M&C Allegra’s Food on the Go conference into one blog, but as the leading foodservice agency we’ll do our best!

1)      Currently the on the go market is possibly the most innovative, dynamic and competitive sector of the out of home market. Growing an impressive 5.4%, it’s outstripping the rest of the market by some way, as food bought to eat off premise (the definition of on the go) accounts for 1 in 4 of every pound spent out of home! With lunch hours now around 27 minutes (dropping from 36 minutes in 2000) the pressure is on for operators to deliver great food, fast!

2)      Highly fragmented, the top ten players account for only 33% of the market with large retailers dominating at the top due to their proliferation of sites. C-stores are gaining share but suffer from a lack of innovation and often limited offer due to the independent family run nature of the business.

3)      Street food is still on the increase and millennials are driving the market with their demand for high quality, good value food on the go. As for the recipe for success? Well, according to M&C Allegra it’s simple – fresher, faster & hotter!

4)      What does the on the go consumer look like (versus the general outing out consumer)? Research findings from M&C Allegra indicates the following: 53% Male (vs. 49% of total Eating Out participants), 66% Under 50 (vs. 51%), 17% London (vs. 13%), 67% Full-time workers (vs. 56%), 36% Earn £40k+ (vs. 31%). What consumers want when it comes to food on the go is pretty simple – fast service, close to work, product freshness and healthier options. Queuing, unsurprisingly, is the biggest frustration, joined by lack of choice and over pricing. Whilst promotions definitely drive sales with 65% of consumers using promotions and 1 in 6 consumers stating they would choose to go elsewhere if a promotion was removed. As for what people are buying on the go, sandwiches and cola are key purchases, as is bottled water, but the popularity of sandwiches is in decline as the rise of other bread carriers and salad options increases.

5)      The rising trends in on the go food include: Pan-Asian, gluten-free, vegetarian, healthier, hot product, Americana, premiumisation and hotter sauces.  And if you’re looking to be inspired by some new and different food to go concepts it’s worth visiting: Wolf Street Italian, The Bowler, Hai Street Kitchen, HOP (exciting Vietnamese concept), ŰGOT (too cool for school, clean eating concept set up by an unfeasibly precocious (in a good way!) gluten avoider instead of a frozen yogurt bar), Friska (with a real vision to ‘refine expectations within our industry from the inside out’), Coco di Mama (owned by Azzuri who also own ZiZi and Ask), Crussh Juice Bars (so much more than just food!), Hackney Eat 17 (a Spar convenience store!) and Vital Ingredient (defining healthy on the go).

6)      Transport hubs are of course a key focus of food on the go and Tom Dobson from Network Rail is responsible for the 18 largest stations in the UK and their F&B offering. In 2020 he predicts 1 billion people will visit these stations and this will generate 1 billion in F&B revenue – impressive stuff. In 2015 alone they experienced 900 million visits to these top 18 stations, an increase of 7%, with like for like sales growing at 6% last year, so food to go concepts looking for a sure bet could do worse than consider key stations for their next opening it would seem.

7)      McDonald’s is the goliath in the food to go market and also boasts some impressive stats….90% of people visit McDonald’s, they have seen 39 consecutive quarters of sales growth, from their research with 5,000 consumers they know that 17-24 year olds want more spice on the menu and don’t feel that McDonald’s is contemporary enough. This is something the company is addressing with its roll-out of new concept stores, which include: a signature range of more thicker, more premium burgers, customisation, a new look including a new style uniform and convenient touch screen ordering points. Keep an eye out for these new and improved stores coming soon! The bad news, unlike the US they won’t be doing all day breakfast (sad times).

8)      The challenges and opportunities common to operators big and small consist of – the crazy London property market with exorbitant rents and unreasonable contracts, minimising queue times, getting and keeping good people, competition, standing out in the market, creating an emotional engagement to their brand which keeps customers loyal and delivering consistently high quality food to a highly discerning and increasingly impatient customer base. Whilst opportunities include: focusing on what they do well rather than becoming a jack of all trades, the use of technology around payment and pre-ordering both in store and pre-store visit, social media engagement and use as a real time customer relations and service tool, expansion into other locations and even countries, partnering up with other operators (e.g. Starbucks and Pod / Costa and Chop’d), understanding consumer behaviour around food on the go, the rise of Pan Asian, Middle Eastern and free from.

9)      In at nine and more of an observation than a take-out, it would seem that the majority of food on the go start-ups are run by ex-bankers who obsess about their lunch for years from the confines of the city before taking the plunge and leaving the trading floors, boardrooms and city bonuses behind to make lunchtimes more enjoyable for the rest of us!

10)   Finally and possibly the key take-out for the day – if you stack two keep cups from Friska they are the same height as a groundhog! Good to know.

Thankfully having been to the 2015 Food on the Go conference, I can say without a doubt that this year’s was far from a groundhog day (see what I did there!) as it brought together all players in the food to go market from the big boys like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Leon, Wild Bean Café and Pret to new innovative start-ups like Friska, Hop and ŰGOT offering up the latest market data and insights to keep everything aptly fresh. Well done to the team at M&C Allegra on another great event. To find out more about M&C Allegra visit http://www.mcallegra-fs.com/

Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing agency. We help top brands with foodservice web design,  pr, food service marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

The Propel Multi Club events are a must attend for those in the pub and casual dining world. Offering a range of expert industry speakers covering everything from the economic outlook to practical case studies, these events throughout the year have to deliver solid content in order to justify a day out of the business for these key players in the industry. The programme is very much aimed at multiple operators looking to build and grow a successful business and as such they offer a great opportunity for brands to highlight their products and services and even get to sample their wares. With an exhibition area used for breaks and lunch there is ample time to get face to face with the kind of individuals that are very difficult to pin down any other way.

With an attendee list that reads like a who’s who of the pub and high street dining world the day kicked-off with a look at the current economic trends and how they may impact on the eating and drinking out market. Speaking with no notes (quite an achievement) Ian King of Sky News talked knowledgably about the past twelve months and what might be in store for the months ahead, in what he termed as currently a pretty ‘benign’ market, as the impact of the national living wage takes effect.

The day went on to cover the headline grabbing world of mergers and acquisitions, synonymous with the pub sector, with Peter Hansen from Sapient Corporate Finance looking at the structure of the market and the impact of the MRO (market rent only) option. He ran through and what models are available in the market, from free of tie leases like Duck and Rice, to joint ventures with pub co freehold and Managed Expert Programmes like Hippo, where everything apart from the labour is controlled by the pub co and the manager receives a percentage of income. With low food inflation, low interest rates and a recovering economy the pub sector is looking good for the moment despite uncertainty over the possible impact of the MRO and growing competition from casual dining and retail. However with rates in London soon to rise and the possibility of food and energy costs increasing we will have to see what happens. Although it is fair to say that with more flexible options available there are still opportunities in the sector, although those with less than five years on their leases face an uncertain future and would be well advised to look at what deals can be done with their pub co’s property director.

Keeping with the finance theme, accountancy firm haysmacintyre took to the stage to advise the audience on the best way to manage their tax liability. My main take out…I think I’m in the wrong job, as there looks like there is some serious money to be made in pubs! Then it was on to hear from Enterprise Inns about building an 800-strong managed pub estate and the investment and progress in the leased and tenanted part of the business. Paul Harbottle talked us through the profiling of the Enterprise Inn estate and threw in some top tips when opening a site, such as getting prominent PTA, WI or Parish Council individuals on-side to help ensure its a success. In his experience it takes twelve months for a pub to get up and running and you should never expect to change history, if a site has a drug or violence problem then the chances are it still will have when you take over. But most importantly he stressed getting the right people who were ‘up for the challenge’ and made the point that often a good landlord doesn’t make for a good pub manager.

Then it was time for delegates to catch-up and network over lunch and take a stroll around the sponsors’ stands and after a delicious meal from the team at The Lancaster London it was time for the afternoon session. Toby Smith of Novus Leisure showcased their makeover of the Balls Brothers concept along with their real time social media feedback loop employed in everyone’s favourite nightspot – Tiger Tiger. He was followed by the irrepressible Martin Wolstencroft of Arc Inspirations whose passion for his business came across from the off. With thirteen (and one in the pipeline) bars/restaurants, predominately in the North, he’s been building his operation for the last thirteen years and has a portfolio of nine brands, ranging from sophisticated cocktail bars in city centre locations like Manahatta to American inspired craft beer and ribs concept ‘The Pit’. By ensuring all his staff really care, sourcing locally and insisting on consistency across the estate, he has built up an extremely successful business with concepts to match any location.  Run on home-grown talent, many of his senior team started out as part time bar or restaurant staff as students, but by offering a culture they love (not to mention the odd performance related ski trip or jaunt to Ibiza) Arc have managed to keep staff engaged and motivated to deliver the very best for their customers.

Event Sponsor Fishbowl then took to the stage in a double header to take us through the technology behind sophisticated menu engineering which can help maximise both profit margins and customer base. With impressive case studies from the US, some of the more techy elements may have met a few blank faces, but the message was clear – with the use of the right programmes you can ensure you have the best money making menu possible. Whereas once gutfeel was all there was, now technology can let light in on the magic of a successful menu.

Loungers was next up to share their learnings. With seventy one sites and another four planned before Christmas the chain, which started with three friends and a vision, is big business now with venture capital backing. Their all day dining concept and strategic decision to go for secondary high streets has worked well. They even have their own in-house build team which means they can streamline fitting-out a site in five to six weeks. They also have the Cosy Club brand which although smaller is doing well with seven to eight opening every year. With Loungers seeing 100% overtrading honeymoon period for new sites, that can last up to four months, they are certainly doing something right and Nick Collins MD plans to continue the journey for a long time to come.

Another operator who seems to have made a niche for themselves is Brewhouse & Kitchen. With an actual craft brewery on every site they offer not just a bar and restaurant but an experience. With brewing days and masterclasses hosted by their master brewers, not to mention gift ideas I might very well have to take a trip up to Islington (the nearest one to us in leafy Leatherhead).

The day ended with an insight into what makes a great leader with Anne Elliott, event sponsor, sharing the outputs of many a conversation with some of the most successful individual in the industry. The answer? Vision, listening, asking why?, engaging, surrounding yourself with the best, helping people achieve what they never thought possible, saying thank you, putting yourself in others shoes, being yourself and leading from alongside your team. Indeed, many felt they were still learning every day. A topic which was then taken up by the panel discussion with business leaders from Spirit, Ego Restaurants and Thorley Taverns to get their thoughts on the principles of high quality leadership – and on that inspiring note the day came to a close.

Well done to Paul Charity, Jo Charity, Sharon Dickinson and Adam Dickinson, the team behind this great day, not to mention the sponsors who make it all possible. To find out more about Propel or sign-up to their e-newsletter visit www.propelinfonews.com

Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing agency and communications agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, food and drink pr, digital and foodservice design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.