Two of the UK's leading retail experts joined a data
analysis expert this week, to discuss the opportunities open to the
foodservice industry as part of a special briefing hosted by
Amadeus, one of the UK's fastest growing venue and event caterers,
at RHS Hampton Court Flower show on 7 July. This industry briefing
was hosted by Alyson Cawley, Managing Director of Amadeus, as part
of a breakfast briefing at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower
Show.
Richard Perks, Director of Research at Mintel - an
industry-leading supplier of market research - opened the event
with a presentation on consumer trends and outlined the
opportunities available to foodservice suppliers.
"Until recently, consumers have been resisting the recession and
continuing their 'boom time' attitudes. However, as a result of
continued financial pressures and waning confidence in the economy
and employment, the leisure industry in particular is seeing a
decline in sales," commented Perks.
Studies found that consumers considering their financial
situation as 'tight' had risen from 21% in mid 2009 to 31% in March
2011. This also sat alongside a general concern for finance, which
rose by 10%; from 48% to 58% in the period November 2009-March
2011. The research also stated that 'dining out' was still number
one for consumers on their entertainment agenda.
Also joining the expert panel was Ben Perkins, Head of UK Food
& Drink Research at Mintel, whose research looked further in to
the foodservice industry.
"Although the general retail market has seen a decline in sales,
our research predicts a steady rise in the market value of leisure
venue catering in the coming years, with the value of the industry
predicted to climb from £2.1billion to almost £2.3billion by 2015,"
commented Perkins.
Delving deep in to the buying trends of consumers, the Mintel
research identified the movement into 'fast casual' dining, with
37% of people stating that they prefer to "refuel" rather than sit
down for a full meal. With rising oil prices and lower disposable
income driving people to more UK attractions, Mr Perkins identified
that the emphasis be placed onwhypeople visit attractions
andwherethey make that decision. Over 50% of people said that
special events led them to specific venues and 48% stated that
recommendations and internet searches helped them make their
decisions. This, Mr Perkins said, was an opportunity for venues and
venue caterers to explore how they communicated with prospective
visitors.
Mr Perkins continued by telling guests that today's food
consumers concentrate on four key areas; provenance (local sourcing
and traceability), the ability to have a 'quick snack', the idea of
exclusive dining, and the ability to have a healthy lifestyle. By
taking these areas into account he said that leisure venue caterers
have the ability to resist the weak economic climate because dining
out still remained a strong priority for consumers and by
understanding and researching what they want, venues and caterers
could provide the most effective and profitable services.
In addition to the Mintel findings, Adi Clark, Head of Insight
& CRM at the NEC Group, built upon these ideas and discussed
the importance of research to the foodservice industry in surviving
the economic climate. Clark, who recently won 'Best Venue Marketer'
at the Exhibition News Awards, discussed how his in-house Insight
team uses consumer data to benefit the NEC Group's catering
business, Amadeus:
"With a key focus on visitor demographics and brand preferences
we are able to advise Amadeus on who their key audiences are and
what they want when visiting venues. By going into detail about
where people come from and what brands they buy we can then compare
this with extensive market intelligence, such as that displayed by
Mintel today, and shape strategies for Amadeus. Our industry
intelligence helps us in setting price points and developing menus
at specific venues, upselling hospitality and targeting our market
correctly.
Insight's ability to interpret customer behaviour enabled
Amadeus to take a unique approach to the menu planning for RHS
Hampton Court Flower Show, which alongside the expected great food
quality and innovation, helped secured the contract.
The RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show joins an ever growing
list of prestigious events that Amadeus cater for, including the
Barclay's Scottish Open golf tournament, who've been clients for
the past ten years, The AEGON classic Tennis and, most recent
addition, the 2012 Olympics, where the company is responsible for
catering throughout the Olympic Park North, serving around 100,000
people per day.
Alyson Cawley, MD of Amadeus commented:
"We brought together these leading experts to demonstrate not
only the current conditions we, as a whole, face in the foodservice
industry but to also provide an insight into the predicted trends
and ways that businesses can use them to their advantage. From the
findings we can see that despite the current climate the leisure
venue catering industry is strong and consumers still consider
eating out a key part of their lifestyle, so as caterers we need to
ensure that we're offering the best and most relevant services to
customers."
"As part of the NEC Group we have access to the unique work
carried out by Adi and the Insight team, which helps Amadeus shape
its offering not only to end consumers but to our partners and
clients too - at the end of the day we want to provide them with a
service that will keep their customers coming back. We chose to
host this briefing at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show as part
of the re-brand. We aim to bring more to the table for all our
customers. More Insight. More innovation. More care."
As a division of the NEC Group, Amadeus is well-versed in
catering for thousands of visitors a year, having spent the last 35
years supplying the NEC group's world class venues - the NEC, ICC,
NIA and LG Arena- where it supports around 900 events a year for
4.1million visitors, as well as sharing its expertise over the last
10 years at a number of external events and venues including The
Barclays Scottish Open and Dunhill Links Golf, plus numerous
historic houses within the UK. For more information, visit www.amadeusfood.co.uk.