Hotel chains in India have started paying closer attention to their F&B outlets and the business it yields. And with good reason too. According to a HVS-Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) report, the revenue from F&B segment (which includes banquets and restaurants) rose to 42.6 percent in 2014-15, up from 36.6 percent in 2010-11. Room revenues for the same period declined to 50.9 percent from 57.2 percent. These figures show that F&B has emerged as an important revenue source for most hotels, and in case of some properties it contributes almost 50 percent to overall revenues. Today, hoteliers, who are facing competition from standalone restaurants, have to come up with F&B concepts that are relevant and interesting for their target audience. Not only do they have to tap their resident guests, they also have to create concepts that will tempt local guests. We ask David Mathews to share some pointers on how hoteliers can do all this and more. After all, with over two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, he has worked at premier hotels across India as well as in the Middle East where he used his expertise in F&B to increase room occupancy rates and revenue besides enhancing guest satisfaction scores. Along with his team he initiated many F&B concepts at The Oberoi, Gurgaon, where he was general manager, including the ‘The Fine Wine Affair’, ‘Rivaayat – the Indian Culinary Conclave’ and ‘The Golden Crust – Bakery and Boulangerie Conclave’. Here are his tips:
Know your audience: Long-stay guests usually prefer comfort food, while non-resident guests want something fancy. You need an F&B operation and menu that can tap both clienteles. Also, don’t expect long-stay guests to eat at your property all the time; it is alright as long as they enjoy 50 percent of their meals at your property. Restaurants falter when they try to be everything to everybody and at the end of the day they are nothing to nobody. It is not economically viable to have enough culinary experts in a kitchen to cater to a massive palate. So, create menus that will excite your resident guests as well as your local clients, who might have different needs, after careful consideration. It is better to restrict yourself to what you do really well.
Get creative with promotions: F&B promotions are a great way to entice resident guests to venture into your restaurants. In most hotels, we have had 30 to 40 percent success rate in converting these to regular diners based on active selling. Also, these events help in attracting the local crowd. These promotions have to be unique and interactive as guests today are well travelled and knowledgeable about food and cuisines. It is also the ideal platform to showcase your chefs as brand ambassadors, because they can discuss culinary matters with guests. It is a great way to entrench your brand in your guests’ consciousness.
Keep It Simple: Take a closer look at your buffet counter. Does it need to have 65 dishes? How often do your guests go back for second helpings? It begs the question whether you can go a smaller spread that is curated with a lot more attention, so that the guest will return for another round. At the same time, you can offer your guests more choice by varying the dishes on the buffet regularly. Your chef can cook in smaller quantities, so the food that is served is fresh, wastage is minimised and you are offering a basket of possibilities to guests. It is a win-win all around!
Increase interactivity: Buffet counters are great places to increase guest engagement. Also, you can use this interactivity to reduce your cost, because by the time the actual cooking is done, you have a confirmed diner rather than food that is sitting in a bainmarie. Khow Suey is a great example as it is more cost effective than premixed soup. Likewise, lasagne is not a buffet dish as its sauce starts oozing out after the first 10 people have sliced into it, which also looks unappetizing. Instead of preparing lasagne in a two-gallon pan, the chef can prepare it in one-third of the pan size so it gets finished a lot faster and a fresh batch can be served. These are simple ways to control costs and yet offer variety.
Market in-room dining: Train your staff to market F&B menu to guests who call the in-room dining service. Of course, a lot of this has to be intuitive since guests who use this facility could be tired, busy or plain shy. Hence, your team has to be coached to understand whether the caller is in a hurry and accordingly fulfil their order, or whether they are open to suggestions and then offer them recommendations. Staffers taking in-room dining orders often view it as a punishment posting; you need to change that perception and make it a more sales-driven role and equip them with the required expertise. You can also identify inventive sellers in your restaurant and shift them to in-room dining on rotation basis.
Stick to what you do best: While standalone restaurants can go eclectic with their design with elements like brick-exposed walls, there are some expectations about standards from hotels with star ratings. Adhere to what your guests expect from you rather than trying to please everyone, so that there is no disconnect. For instance, Trident, Bandra Kurla, Mumbai is a business hotel in a corporate location. So business lunches are a given for our clientele. If I have to create non-resident dinners, my F&B team and chef need to devise a strong value proposition for guests to travel from various corners of Mumbai. This needs serious brainstorming, especially keeping in mind the competition from the standalone restaurants. Hence, hoteliers need to identify the two or three core elements that their F&B outlets stand for and then craft unique propositions around it.
