Digital Transformation in the Foodservice Industry

20 years ago, when I joined HORECA Trade, Dubai’s Foodservice market was growing super-fast and demand for food & beverage supplies was increasing day by day. Availability of products was a key ingredient for foodservice companies to strive and win market share.

I remember once a Chef calling me:

Chef: “Samer, do you have good mayonnaise?” ?

Me: “Yes Chef… We have the original and the light mayo. Which one would you like to try?”

Chef: “Send me 10 cartons tomorrow”

Me: “Would you like me to send you a sample or a price quotation?”

Chef: “I trust you! Just send me 10 cases before 12 pm please!”

?????????????The key to success was primarily the availability of products, then with competition increasing and many brands came into play, service levels determine the best Foodservice partners. The Chef trusted that we were going to send him a good quality mayonnaise but also counted on us to send it before 12 pm the next day. This is service!

?????????????For many customers, we were the best food and service company in the UAE. Does this stand in today’s world? Nah!!!! At Bidfood Middle East we transformed our DNA into FOOD, SERVICE, & TECHNOLOGY partner. Digital advancement into the foodservice industry is reshaping priorities, strategies and most importantly customers’ expectations.

?????????????From tools to track food waste in hotels, artificial intelligence and robotics to automate repetitive order processing, to ordering apps, to smart solutions measuring trucks’ temperatures and ensuring food is delivered at the right conditions, to customer relationship management tools to track leads and customer service, to human resources management systems to upload and store employees’ files on the cloud. Many things have changed since the day I started my career as a Foodservice professional. Gone are the days of having big safes, drawers, passport copies, the white, red, and yellow printed invoices, etc…

?????????????To be future ready, Foodservice companies must adopt digitalization, transform their operations, and most importantly transform their IT department into a Digital Transformation Team with a seat on the Executive table! This is so important for departments to connect, align, and deliver an exceptional customer experience.

?????????????From my role as the Director of People & Culture at Bidfood, and specifically from a talent acquisition perspective, it is very important to hire people who are digitally savvy, endorse technology, and see themselves as transformation agents. It’s not only the job of ICT managers; it’s all of us! We used to screen for IQ (intelligent quotient), then EQ (emotional intelligence), today we should screen for DQ (digital quotient).