Taking a walk on the wild side

Part of The Marketing Society UAE LinkedIn series – Maria Gedeon, Board Member of the Marketing Society and Marketing Director at Majid Al Futtaim Leisure, Entertainment and Cinemas.

If you know me, you know how much I enjoy events, whether I’m attending, organising or advising on them. After a few months of quarantining and attending virtual events, it felt so good waking up this morning, getting dressed (formally) and taking part in Gulfood in-person! 

Imagine yourself walking through halls filled with delegates hungry to do business and getting hungry from the smell of food being cooked by some of the greatest chefs in the region (if not the world)! Imagine going back to stand-hopping and having the opportunity to catch-up with suppliers, partners, clients and marketing society-loving old friends and venturing from stage to stage to listen to inspirational leaders and informative workshops hosted by the Marketing Society. Today, we did exactly that at Gulffood, the world’s largest annual food, beverage and hospitality exhibition. 

 The Marketing Society’s workshops opened at 11:00AM with a keynote from Khaled Ismail, Chairman of the Board and Vice President of Communications - Europe, Central Asia, Middle East & Africa at Tetra Pak, followed by Peter DeBenedictis, CMO - Middle East & Africa at Microsoft. Then it was my turn to take to the stage where I was joined by Kamal Dimachkie, fellow board member and former COO at Publicis, and the lovely Belin Alev, Head of External Communications, EMEA, Tetra Pak to discuss the evolution of consumer behavior and trends in the F&B industry during and post the pandemic. 

During the panel discussion, we talked about F&B service industry and more specifically the restaurant and home deliveries side of things and below is a recap of some of my key takeaways:

• OOH consumption has been hit hard due to lockdown measures with 40% of consumers having reduced the frequency at which they eat out and 70% cooking more at home
• At the same time, going to restaurants and cafés was the most missed activity (53%) when stay-at-home measures were in place, demonstrating that customers still want the experience of dining out 
• While sales declined in full-service restaurants across MEA in 2020, there was a huge uptick in the number of home deliveries as customers started turning online for their dining needs
• The F&B service industry will experience growth mainly due to companies rearranging their operations and the market is expected to reach $4172.72 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 6%
• We live in an on-demand economy where devices and apps deliver instant gratification, which is setting a new standard for customer expectations
• The new consumer is demanding brands to have a greater sense of purpose and also require more transparency, reassurance and safer experiences
• Diners also want more variety, a faster service and higher quality at a lower price
• Customers relate more to empathetic brands and leaders

 What emerging trends will define 2021?

F&B trends will be no different than trends in other industries but here is my take on 2021. Of course some of these exist largely already but they will remain relevant in the near future. 

DIGITAL

• Digital, omni-channel, online ordering and e-commerce will keep growing and will remain increasingly important 
• Personalisation and hyper-personalisation is key - one size fits all messages and campaigns will not make customers loyal to you
• F&B outlets need to work hard to retain first-time ‘online’ customers and bring them back to physical restaurants
• Insights and analytics can help drive business growth
• To survive, businesses must be willing to fail fast, fail cheap, continuously test and iterate 
• Automation has taken many industries by storm and F&B is no exception

DESIGN & CX

• Rethinking restaurants design and operations to accommodate a change in the experience
• Experiences and experiential restaurants: Eating out is not merely about the food. The whole experience plays an increasingly important role and restaurants will need to rethink design and operations 
• There will be a huge growth in satellite kitchens from independent operators and large multinationals to support wider delivery areas - Euromonitor, recently estimated that they could be a $1trn business by 2030.
• Meal kits and prep at home are gaining popularity
• Farm to table - There is a growing awareness among consumers about where their food comes from
• We will see a rise of new restaurants and brands, out of which many will be virtual which is great because it gives an opportunity to owners to pilot, test and learn 

SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONTENT

• Increasing role of social media - Since the start of the pandemic, almost three quarters (73%) of customers are spending more time on social platforms. Creating ‘Instaworthy’ dishes is the new way to build buzz among our target audience also 68% of millennials post a picture of their food before they eat
• Brands needs to consider investing in inspirational and higher quality content
• Influencer marketing will be a key driver to increase awareness and consideration 

SUSTAINABILITY

• 73% of millennials are willing to pay more for a product it if is sustainable 
• Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious and are increasingly concerned about food waste, plastic-free options and recycling
• They are also becoming more health-conscious and trying to live a more balanced lifestyle, resulting in an increased demand for organic, keto, plant-based, gluten-free and vegan foods. As a result, many restaurants are curating special menus as per changing tastes and preferences of their guests

Congratulations to Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President Dubai World Trade Centre for putting together this fantastic event and huge thanks to Lori Maggy for producing the Marketing Society workshops. 

Stay safe and I hope to see you all soon, in person or virtually.

Maria.