Blog Archives

5 Hospitality Trends for 2015

17/12/2014

As the year draws to a close we look at five trends set to shape the hospitality industry in 2015.

1. Health and wellness

In 2015 customers will increasingly be asking, “Where has my food come from and how was it produced?” They will be looking for locally sourced, healthy ingredients. A number of factors are driving this trend. Customers want local food because it is generally fresher and tastes better. They also want to support local farmers. Then there are environmental concerns. Locally sourced food that has low carbon miles will be in demand. Healthy eating will see the continued popularity of super foods and grains at breakfast. Dietary issues are also a factor in the health and wellness trend. There is an increasingly prevalence of gluten-free, dairy-free and low-FODMAP diets. As customer also ask, “What’s in my food” we will see more hospitality establishments cater for different diets.

2. Sharing

Restaurants have been doing share plates for a number of years now. 2015 will be the year drinks join the party. Welcome to communal boozing. Cocktail bars will increasingly put together large punches to serve you and your friends. There will be no limits on price or ingredients.

3. Real time marketing

The influence of social media will be as important as ever for hospitality outfits in 2015. Engaging consumers, eliciting feedback, gaining awareness and customers are all benefits that come with embracing the social trend. The ability to interact with customers on review sites is an especially important component of this. Figures from deloitte show that 51% of peope they surveyed purchased a product based on an online recommendation.

4. Profitability

With the Australian economy growing below trend, industry profitability will come under pressure in the new year. Restaurants with two sittings will become more prevalent. Popular restaurants will consider pay for table systems. Often this fee will be non-refundable. Hospitality venues could increasingly ask for meals to be prepaid. This will occur even before food has been ordered. Surge pricing could increase with restaurants and cafés charging according to how busy they are.

5. Technology

Call us biased but we believe technology will be the biggest hospitality trend in 2015. It will be driven by fierce competition, the need to offer leading customer service as well as the demands of tech-savvy Millennials. Multinational hospitality companies are leading the charge. Pizza Hut is looking into the option of customising orders by dragging icons of toppings onto their virtual pizza. McDonalds is testing apps that enable the customising of your hamburger in real time. For small business the use of tablets connected to a POS system like ViViPOS will become more prevalent. These will be used by staff or by customers to order meals. The option to make reservations and place orders off-premise will also increase in popularity. Long waits at the bar could become less common if bars choose to use technology that allows customers to order from their mobile.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the trends we have identified or what you see as critical drivers of the hospitality industry in 2015.

Melbourne or Sydney, Which City Is The Foodie Capital?

10/12/2014

As someone who has lived in both Melbourne and Sydney I often tire of the whole Melbourne versus Sydney debate and which city is better. I love them both, but for different reasons. I have to admit though that I do enjoy discussing their similarities and differences. So it was with some intrigue that I came across recently released figures by restaurant booking service Dimmi comparing Melbourne and Sydney’s dining scene.

The first comparison was price. The average bill at a Sydney restaurant was $57 while in Melbourne it was $52. No explanation was given for this, but cost of living is accepted to be higher in Sydney. Could this explain it? Mark Best of Marque (Sydney) and Pei Modern (Melbourne) claims that ingredients are 15-20% cheaper in Melbourne and rents are less expensive. Another theory is that Sydney residents are wealthier and like to be seen spending. Simon Thomsen, former editor of both the Queensland and NSW Good Food Guide claims “Melbourne diners with money spend it more discreetly than Sydneysiders keen to be seen splashing around their cash.” Perhaps this is why Sydney has a reputation for great fine dining? Terry Durack, the The Sydney Morning Herald's chief restaurant critic says Sydney’s dining scene is all laid out on a glittering silver platter. “There is huge pizazz, there are these incredible high-end, modern restaurants.” Melbourne in contrast is not so “In your face, it's hidden down laneways.”

While there may be differences in the cost of dining, the cuisines we enjoy eating are very similar. Sydney’s top choices are: Modern Australian, Italian, Asian, Japanese and French while Melbourne’s are: Modern Australian, Italian, Asian, Chinese and Spanish. Top emerging cuisines in Sydney are Chinese, American and Mexican while in Melbourne they are Mexican, French and Greek. The similarities in our food tastes are not that surprising. What did surprise me was that Chinese was listed as Sydney’s top emerging cuisine and Greek cuisine one of Melbourne’s. Sydney has a big Chinese community. Melbourne is well known for it’s large Greek population. Wouldn’t these cuisines be well established? This observation seems to be backed up by Durack who observes, “Sydney is the home of kick-arse Asian food… Melbourne is more heavily Greek and Italian influenced.”

The insight into when we dine was also interesting. When the temperature hits 30C or more then restaurant bookings soar in Sydney. It is the opposite in Melbourne. More people head out to restaurants when it rains. The CEO of Dimi Stevan Premutic pondered, “Perhaps Melburnians are drawn to the intimate, cosy restaurants when it rains.” It was also interesting to hear that diners in Sydney eat later than their Melbourne counterparts. The reason give for this was that in Sydney you can take advantage of alfresco dining options more so than in Melbourne.

So when it comes to comparing the two cities and deciding which was has the better dining scene Thomsen says it best ,“Don’t ask which city has better food.” Durack agrees. ''Having to pick one over the other seems a little like 'old' thinking. It's more about collaborating these days." He argues that it’s better not to have a food capital and that the competitive rivalry between the two cities lifts the quality of the dining scene in both cities.

What are your thoughts when it comes to comparing Melbourne and Sydney’s dining scene? Does Australia have a food capital?

Try ViViPOS for FREE

5 Hospitality Trends for 2015

Melbourne or Sydney, Which City Is The Foodie Capital?

ViViPOS Blog

Categories

Archives

Contact Us