Award-winning hotel company reveals secrets of its F&B success

The perfect opportunity to share success stories came at the 'Food for Thought' F&B MEA Conference held at the end of last year, the second of its kind organised by InterContinental Hotels Group and aimed at consolidating the group's approach to innovative market-leading F&B concepts.

The 'Food for Thought' event is an initiative developed by InterContinental Hotels Group's F&B committee and is part of its commitment to driving excellence across the group's F&B sector by looking at all F&B outlets, chefs and the role of F&B managers in a consistent and effective way.

Pascal Gauvin, Co-Chairman of the F&B Committee and Director of Operations, InterContinental Hotels Group, UAE & Qatar reflects on the successes that have resulted from the 206 event.

"With an average of 50% of a hotel's revenue coming from its F&B outlets we recognised the importance of consolidating our approach to the sector," said Gauvin. "Since the committee's inception three years ago and the first F&B MEA conference in Cairo in 2004, we have made great strides and this year's event was testament to that hard work."

The event united InterContinental Hotels Group chefs and F&B managers from throughout the Middle East in a two and half day event that incorporated elements of the group's Total Quality Programme, including a workshop on how to make and present the best breakfast!

"The event was really interactive and used our Total Quality Programme as a basis to teach brand standards across the board," said Gauvin. "We even sent the participants on a research project across Dubai's restaurants in order to benchmark ourselves and determine what levels of service and value are now being adhered to in this fast-paced city."

Speakers invited to present included Alburn William, a reputed kitchen design consultant who works closely with the group and is currently advising on the Dubai Festival City project properties. William focused on the current trend of bringing the kitchen into the restaurant itself and gave advice on when this concept works and when it doesn't. William stressed to employees that cutting edge trends, while desirable, are not always appropriate for specific markets and a balance must be reached between contemporary 'know how', practically and local tastes.

Following the event, three inspired

InterContinental Hotels Group employees revealed how they manage their outlets to ensure customers keep coming back, and how their adoption of InterContinental Hotels Group's policies, as outlined in this year's conference, is already paying off.

Marc Boge, F&B manager at Crowne Plaza Kuwait has had so much success with the individual branded restaurants within the hotels he looks after, that several additional branches are now planned for locations around the city as stand alone concepts.

Five outlets will be expanded across Kuwait including 'Sakura', a Japanese eatery, 'Noukhaza' a popular seafood restaurant and 'Ayam Zaman' a rib-eye concept that's proved a real hit with regular guests. Boge believes the increased presence across Kuwait will drive yet more traffic to the flagship brands which will remain at the hotel.

Global insight, local knowledge
The secret of Boge's success is the extensive research he does at pre-opening stage on both a local and international level.

"Concepts are decided based on current trends in the global and local market and always based on guest feedback," confirmed Boge. "We want to incorporate the highest standards without losing sight of what local residents want. Therefore visiting example outlets, to get a feel first hand of whether they will work in each specific market, is also vital."

The surrounding area and the facilities it offers must be taken into careful consideration according to Stuart Nielsen, Director of Food & Beverage, InterContinental Hotels Group, Dubai Festival City. Still in the development stages, the restaurants and bars at both Crowne Plaza and InterContinental Dubai Festival City must complement but also stand out next to those properties set to compete against them.

"The mix of outlets are being carefully considered to make sure our properties are unique options, but also complement the 90 other proposed F&B concepts within Dubai Festival City shopping centre planned at Festival Centre," said Nielson. "The predicted range of internal and external guests has also been factored into this process to ensure our F&B facilities will be well received."

In Kuwait, the business traveller market is significant and with most guests from this sector having come from overseas, close attention is paid to offering a diverse mix of international cuisine. However, despite the influx of global corporate trade, the local and expatriate segment account for the major share of the F&B business.

"Our on the ground, 'in the know' understanding of the cultural environment in Kuwait and the residents' eating practises are key when catering to this segment," said Boge. "As such, we will always keep at least one eatery per property in which this loyal market feel comfortable."

Nielsen agrees that locals are the backbone of any hotel and the Dubai Festival City projects are representative of the group by always incorporating local flavours somewhere in the cuisine. In Kuwait, the hotels recognise locals' loyalty by using their database of regular clients to identify special occasions - both on a cultural and individual level - to offer personalised celebrations for religious holidays or even birthdays.

"For us, it is about providing a clever rather than multiple mix of F&B options in each property," said Nielsen. "This approach is indicative of InterContinental Hotel Group's standards, especially at flagship InterContinental properties that carry the torch for the established brand, which is as much about providing the guest with an authentic experience of the destination as it is a luxurious night's sleep."

Boge attributes increased success across the board to recently implemented 'Total Quality Management' projects, which through standardised toolkits are helping F&B staff deliver added value directly to the paying guest.

"Giving F&B managers the means to teach tried and tested brand standards that can be simply yet effectively implemented has helped raise the bar enormously," said Boge.

Many expert minds (and hands)
Consultation with several members of the management team internally is a standard procedure at InterContinental Hotels Group when deliberating new ideas for F&B outlets. While Boge includes the hotel's General Manager from the initial stage of a project and then brings in outside expertise throughout, at the InterContinental Semiramis in Cairo, Egypt, consultation is between the General Manager, the Director of F&B, the Director of Sales & Marketing and usually an outside designer.

InterContinental Hotels Group is the world's most global hotel company and as such, world-class standards need to be met throughout all its facilities, not least all the F&B outlets. This expectation leads to external advice being sort from the best of the best.

For the Dubai Festival City project, InterContinental Hotels Group is tipped to be launching one of the city's most stunning gastronomic destinations with an anticipated opening in 2007, an unconfirmed Michelin starred chef will be bringing a unique take on cookery to the InterContinental property, setting even the taste-buds of Dubai's extensively travelled 'foodies' alight.

Not short of stars in Egypt, the InterContinental Citystars, Cairo also boasts an award-winning chef who advises on new concepts and menus to attract the increasingly discerning mix of travellers to the city. 'Hany' as he is known to staff and guests alike was recently named Egypt's top Egyptian Chef by the Egyptian Hotel Association.

Alongside the taste of the food itself, the designs of the dining areas are imperative to their success, especially as the region opens up more and more to global travellers. Again in Egypt, the team at the InterContinental Semiramis have employed world-renowned designer Tony Chi as part of an ambitious phase of renovation for the hotel.

"Chi has developed beautiful concepts for 'The Grill', 'The Tea Garden' and the 'Night & Day' restaurants," said David Traynor, Area Director of Sales & Marketing, InterContinental Hotels Group, Egypt. "The project will be finished in 2007 and has been positioned to appeal exactly to both our upmarket local visitors as well as our international guests."

It is clear InterContinental Hotels Group is in a position to exploit the skills of the finest F&B advisors the world has to offer. However, alongside this factor, all F&B managers and those making decisions about dining options across the group agree that it is their own staff and their own customers that must be listened to most acutely.

"The investment in outside expertise must be followed up with the Total Quality Management Training we offer and then passed onto all employees working in the F&B sector," said Boge. "The F&B committee has been an invaluable addition to the group's commitment to F&B excellence and certainly here in Kuwait we can see their hard work paying off."

"The opinion of our staff is key to us in Egypt," adds Traynor, who believes the 'daily chef's table' staff tasting sessions are vital. "They know the business and, more importantly, they know the customers and we need them to tell the management what menu will work and what combinations won't."

"We believe customer driven endorsement is the best advertisement one can get," said Boge. "Each client comment is used as part of wider research into what we can do better to ensure complete customer satisfaction and stay one step ahead of our competitors. Our customers are part of our success story and we want to keep them part of all future successes."