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What does the hospitality industry roadmap for the next curve look like?
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Thursday, 28 April, 2022, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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Rajan Sethi
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Sure, you’ve heard this title of the bestseller book by author Ayn Rand. To answer the question of what is the roadmap for the hospitality industry in the next curve, this title is important. In two words, it almost says it all. But, we will delve into it in detail.
In Greek mythology, Atlas was a titan. He holds the entire globe on his shoulders after a feud with Zeus. With respect to the book title, creative people, who are responsible for supporting the world, are always mistreated or met with roadblocks. The title suggests the protagonist going on a strike, literally shrugging off the weight of the world and carving his own path.
Forward to the real world of 2020, when the first lockdown struck the F&B industry, every roadmap vanished into thin air. There was no road, leave alone a map. There was no direction, leave alone a compass.
Every trend a restaurateur had followed became redundant overnight. The past two years have been a total guess-work.
Shooting in the dark, and learning how to aim. How to retain customers, and how to give them a dining experience sans a restaurant.
With two years behind us, some semblance of sense has set in. The past two years have shown hospitality the mirror of truth: nothing gimmicky will stand the test of time. Food is a language, and it can have no grammatical errors.
Restaurateurs have woken up to a new class, where the test is to gauge the pulse of the customer, who has just come out of a pandemic. The customer has changed, and how.
They are picky eaters, they want the experience of the world on a plate, they are dead sure of what they don’t want and are rejecting everything that is offered to them with half a heart. This, in no way, is a boon. It is the biggest blessing a restaurateur could ask for. There is no need for guess work anymore, because the customer, in this new world, is giving a clear map of expectations.
Wellness Takes On A New Definition
The word of the 2020 lockdown was not banana bread or Dalgona coffee. It was immunity. The word means; is the capacity to understand what should be accepted into the body and what should be discarded.
All of us took up this war, and began to shield ourselves from the virus, which eventually now has become a way of life. A sneeze was the new sin, and we turned to turmeric lattes, Ayurvedic herbs like giloy to waking up at 4 am for an online yoga class or to just breathe in “cleaner” air.
Wellness in hospitality begins with a healthy kitchen, a clean service and a menu that helps gain trust of a customer. Is the food good for them? Is it ethically sourced? Is it taking measures to support the environment? The customer today is invested in exercising, turning inwards (meditating) and feeling a oneness with the world which makes them pro-environment.
Tapping Into Technology
The time is not too far when drones will do deliveries and robots will take orders. While cases have been reported in countries like Japan and America, that day for Indian hospitality is not far. Meanwhile, online delivery platforms are promising to deliver within 15-30 minutes. No more waiting, no more delays, the world has become faster that fast. Will this affect the operations? Hell, yes. It is a nightmare waiting to unfurl , but we will have to play this by the ear. It is important to note that not every trend or new way of life is going to work out fine. This, as restaurateurs, we have learnt to expect and tackle.
Be Genuine For Loyalty
Customer is not interested in being king anymore. The customer wants to be friends. The customer wants to know who the chef is, who the owner is, who is growing the food, the customer wants to be part of the story we tell. For this, the customer wants to be given access to the world of the restaurant. Social media and even offline events are bridging that gap.
Up Your Standard
The customer is so woke today, that they are sniffing out false claims. If the format of a restaurant is not clean eating or environmentally friendly, it is not advisable to say otherwise. Be true to the format, and the customer will appreciate that. They want the facts, and they will take that step when they crave that kind of food. What a kitchen and front end must work on is the standard. The customer is now used to eating at home, watching Netflix. But, a restaurant can never die. One must understand what is it that the customer is coming to you for? The experience. From the person who welcomes them in, to the server who asks them about their day. The mixologist pouring a drink off the menu and the chef dishing out a special request.
Clean Eating
There is a big misunderstanding that clean food is vegetarian. It is ethically sourced. A non-vegetarian can still be a clean eater, by the choices of the meats he makes. Farm fresh eggs, meat from animals that have not been pumped with antibiotics and fish that is seasonal.
Vegetarians want dishes with fresh produce, and they are adopting alternatives. From jackfruit flours to almond milk to coconut oil. Vegans are enjoying the time in the sun. There was a time when there were hardly any options for vegans to choose from. Today, they have an entire menu, even a whole restaurant dedicated to plant-based foods, which includes mock meats.
The Road Map
To conclude, what is the roadmap in the hospitality industry really? There is one word I can suggest: an authentic story. A restaurant must learn to tell its story with genuine facts, warmth and a possibility of an immersive experience for a customer to resonate with. The pace has picked up, from dine-ins to delivery, but the only mantra to be on track is to be honest with the customer. While it may seem that it is a customer’s market, chefs are also inspired to create new possibilities using the current demands. A good chef will interpret this roadmap and take the road less travelled to carve new roads that the customer comes back for.
(The author is founder and managing director, Bright Hospitality Pvt. Ltd)
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