NRA Wrap Special

The NRA Show in Chicago is an awesome event for anyone interested in the hospitality industry. It brings together 55,000 professionals from around the world, offering a unique opportunity to explore the latest trends, products, and technologies. Attendees can network with industry leaders, attend informative sessions, and see live demonstrations. I go on about this show a lot as the must attend event of the year and the 2024 edition did nothing to change my mind. For those not able to attend here is my snap of the highlights.

Innovation

The show has a dedicated area for innovation and one of the halls tends to feature smaller producers and operators (and therefore some more innovation) and there are product launches and new concepts floated every year. Office coffee plays a huge role in what I do and so I naturally gravitated towards coffee solutions and innovation and wasn't disappointed.

Franke Coffee Systems have provided some great innovation in the form of the Mytico machine. In simple terms this takes the traditional super automatic machine and spins it around from self-service to assisted service but adds some elevated design and user features so that as a consumer, you get the full feeling of a freshly prepared espresso based drink but as an operator you're doing nothing more than pressing a button and pouring.

That might not sound like the most innovative move, but with labor and skill shortages being matched by increased customer AND employee expectations around the coffee they're drinking this really nails a number of pain points, removing the restrictions around milk and non-dairy varieties that single machines give without the need for a whole new level of skill from a workplace team.

Over at Gruppo Cimbali the team launched the two new products, the most interesting to my world was the S-Lite. Aimed at smaller hotels this is also a great fit for smaller offices where lower capacity can be a challenge to justify one of the larger machines.

Finally, in coffee is a growing response to a growing trend. The US market is falling in love with brewed coffee all over again, the guys at Dunkin' will be wondering if those millions ploughed into espresso were worth it after all (they probably were) and for those operating in warmer markets where up to 80% of drinks will be served iced and over 70% of those will be sweetened, improved brewed technology will be the go to for convenience stores and fast food.

This insight is coming through so strongly our R&D team in Manila are opening a public facing outlet to put it to the ultimate consumer test - more on that another time.

Bunn the long time purveyors of all things brewed have stepped up and developed some seriously good 'bean to cup' and bulk 'bean to brewed' products that improve the operator efficiency beyond transformation and deliver an outstanding customer product. Brewed in all its formats is on the rise but at the lower end of the convenience, iced and sweet market is where it will grow fastest

Away from coffee I was glad to see that robots were largely MIA. The realization that cookline and bar automations, in terms of robotics, need to be developed around operator needs more than robotics capability seems to have finally hit home.

Vision technology has reached a point where it can be relied on to a point where errors are rare. UNOX S.p.A. are deploying this into their oven technology so that the unit can 'see' what has been put into it, on what shelf and then proceed to start a cooking program without the operator needing to further instruct the unit. In a low skill world, this will no doubt be a valuable innovation for operators. Similar technology is being deployed by 365 Retail Markets to enhance the customer experience, pioneers of the original smart fridge technology these are now at the point where a consumer can use a payment method to unlock the door and then whatever is removed can automatically be charged without need for further human intervention, even if products are put back on the wrong shelf or moved around the tech has developed to the point where errors are negligible. This small format micro-market technology is far more desired and useful than similar technologies being deployed in larger formats where an experience beyond convenience is still required. The brakes being applied to 'walk out' stores relative to the explosive growth of micro-markets is testimony to that.

Deconstructed Convenience

The other clear element coming through from the show was what I am terming deconstructed convenience. This comes through in different formats but essentially meets an operator trend, driven by consumers. The short version of that is that consumers aren't satisfied with pre-prepared convenience products, they want more customization, they want more quality, often signaled by freshness.

Take the humble pizza, five years ago, or even less you would have a whole bunch of people with 'authentic toppings and bases' showing off ready to bake in various formats. Whatever your view of those products, they could move, as easy to add items on larger menus, hotel room service, sports bars etc.

However, now we are seeing much more specialized elements of that same pizza with gluten free bases, dairy free toppings and flavor infused sauces. This is not 100% new BUT what is new is the confidence amongst these manufacturers and the need from operators to be able to flex menus to suit these various elements and to bring that 'freshness' to the plate that this 'Lego construction' format brings.

This elevates those 'ding' Pizza solutions but also opens up opportunities from the fast casual market where a skills drain is leaving operators struggling to deliver consistency but at the same time their price point and consumer palette won't allow them to go full wham, bam, thank you ma'am on the menu.

San Diablo Artisan Churros and Golden Cannoli have both got great dessert products that can combine a traditional carrier finished locally to give some really outstanding results from very little skill at operator level and oodles of customization potential. Wonder going deep into the science of this are also creating positive waves, although I still have some challenges in their overall model and Sevillo Fine Foods are one of the manufacturers that are set to reap the rewards from being very very good at one category

Plant-Based on the ropes?

Sevillo is a good example of where we'll see more great products in the form of real vegetables. I get asked why I'm anti alternative meats, but I'm not - I'm a massive cheerleader for OmniFoods and THIS? because they make great tasting products and for the same reason I adopt a 'call shit, shit' approach to other producers doing a less good job.

The show was a mix. There were more 'real vegetables' type producers doing smart things with real vegetables, this will be a huge growth area in the next 12 months and then there were some niche products like those from Jinka who's calamari and tuna products are very strong. I was actually surprised that Beyond exhibited, their very average products with some added coatings were the best they could come up with.

The category is adjusting and its going niche, its going premium and its going 'real vegetables'

Other notable areas

The two main areas that are not described in depth here, for another time, are the growth in prepared beverages and available technology.

Beverages, prepared especially, continue to create good incremental sales opportunities particularly for independent restaurants and as stand alone delivery concepts. Boba has been the next big thing for a few years now but I sensed that the more practical, easy to deploy solutions that we saw at NRA might actually find their way to the market.

Technology, particularly software in the areas of cost control, menu planning, allergen reporting, profit optimization, labor planning and controls and POS solutions were, as expected, big talking points at the show. There is more than a paragraph of discussion to be had on these so I will be publishing a technology special in the coming weeks.

In summary, if you have the means to attend just one show in 2025 I would strongly recommend NRA Chicago. I also attend the big shows in Europe, UK and Asia and I genuinely believe that this is the place that more happens. More networking, more deals done, more fun had.