The lines between retailing, wholesale and foodservice just got even more blurred with the recent controversial announcement of the proposed merger between the UK’s biggest retailer Tesco and one of the UK’s biggest wholesalers Booker. Opinions on the merger differ widely and depending on your view point, this could either be a big opportunity or a big threat.
The popularity of food-to-go (FTG) has never been greater, showing stronger growth than both the eating out market and food retail market over the last few years. Quick service restaurants and convenience stores across the country are learning to quickly adapt to the growing demands of the consumer. The three pillars of food-to-go – tasty, good value and convenient, no longer cut it for the hard working, tech savvy customer. Now it needs to be fresher, hotter, faster and healthier too.
It’s fair to say, that as the leading foodservice agency, eating out is pretty much always top of mind for us, so it was fitting that last Thursday morning saw us heading along to the MCA’s Eating Out ‘Top of Mind’ briefing, where they showcased their decision makers’ survey along with consumer insight, 2017 forecasts and concepts to watch out for. As ever the morning managed to cram in a huge amount of information and insight, but here are my top five take-outs.
Last Monday it seemed was the official start of Christmas in the world of foodservice and hospitality. Not only was it the Arena Christmas Event, it was also the Hospitality Action ‘Star Filled Night’ gala Christmas dinner. Of course as the leading foodservice pr agency we were at both (Oh you poor things I hear you cry!). Lunch at the Jumeriah Carlton Tower, followed by dinner prepared by chefs including none other than Raymond Blanc OBE, at Brassie Joel at the Westminster Park Plaza Hotel – not too shabby a start to the week by anyone’s standards.
On a cold and frosty Thursday morning myself and fellow ‘bean’ Gemma made our way to the M by Montcalm hotel in Shoreditch to hear the latest insight on the UK hotel market from MCA. As the leading foodservice agency, representing a number of clients for whom the hotel sector is a key market focus, we were there ready to take it all in. Simon Stenning and his team took it in turns to run us through every aspect of the report including quantitative market data, consumer insight and even decision maker opinion, but here are our top ten take-outs…