It all began with Whole Foods. Not simply the idea of a prepared food section of a grocery store with eat in or take out options, but rather the notion that food offerings, whether prepared at the store or to be prepared at home, need to be based on a relatively small number of identifiable and understandable principles. These principles then need to be clearly and consistently articulated to intended customers. That communication needs to be constant so that the expectations of the customers are that they will always find food products aligned with the principles.
Perhaps most importantly, Whole Foods does not try to be all things to all people. In order to make customer expectations clear and consistent with the principles, shoppers will not find Pringles or Miracle Whip or other foods that have contents labels that sound more like chemistry experiments than menu items.
Fast forward to 2010 and the introduction of the Italian marketplace/restaurant/cooking school, Eataly. This transplanted phenomenon from Torino, Italy, was introduced in New York and later Chicago by celebrity chefs, Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich. Upon entering the store one is overwhelmed by the smells and activities associated with great Italian food. Pasta is being made by hand as are pizzas and various mozzarella cheeses by cheese makers trained in Puglia. The messages transmitted to the customers are clear: high quality, great tasting Italian food in an approachable environment. To be in Eataly is to be entertained. And much like Whole Foods, Eataly does not try to be all things to all customers.
The common principles shared by the stores is that the brand needs to stand for something, deliver on that promise consistently, and communicate to its customers constantly both that and how it is delivering on that promise.
The market concept in hotels
The market concept has been around the hotel business for a long time. In the 90s, as lobby gift shops declined in popularity, a number of brands attempted to replace them with small markets that featured coffee, baked goods, and often wine and beer. Most of these concepts failed as they had little in the way of a defined concept and stocked a little of everything. Guests did not know whether the baked goods came from the hotel bakery or out of the freezer, or whether the wrapped salads and sandwiches were from the chef or were originally manufactured offsite by someone whose principal business was stocking vending machines.
The only consistent thing about these markets was that they were generally overpriced. More recently, and particularly in the limited airline food environment that began post-9/11, the market concept has become known as “Grab-n-Go,” generally a converted closet located near the front desk, containing a small variety of suspicious looking pre-packaged and frozen food items offered at what appear to be high prices for the anticipated value proposition.
The remarkable success of Eataly has spawned a new generation of imitators in the hotel business. Several of the major brands are introducing concepts for three-meal restaurants that incorporate active food preparation stations in an informal café setting with display cases for grab-n-go items for consumption in the room or outside the hotel. Generally, the idea of the markets is to have several food preparation stations contained in an open space that includes seating, but which also promotes take-out service. The idea is the guests can decide what they want to eat based on what they see being made and then either eat in a casual café area or carry it up to their rooms.
These new market concepts should take a lesson from both Whole Foods and Eataly and base their design and offerings on six simple, easily understandable principles:
- The message to the guest should be “freshness.” If you are offering baked goods, then the guest should smell them on the way into the market. The goods need to be stored on a baker’s tray, not in plastic wrap. If your market has a rotisserie, ensure there is always a chicken roasting on it. If you are selling salads to go, make sure the ingredients are displayed, not just prepared food in plastic boxes.
- Make your market local. If your hotel is on Cape Cod, you need great clam chowder and seafood dishes, not veal chops. Your guests expect to find foods indigenous to your area when they go out to eat. Put fine examples of those foods in your hotel market, and your guests will stay in and either dine in your café or in their rooms.
- Train and retain knowledgeable staff. People like to be entertained when they eat. Servers and food preparers who know the food and can talk about it to your guests are not only entertaining but also provide a sense of confidence to the guest that the product is likely to be good.
- Focus on the profit margin, not the average check. As an industry we tend to overprice food and beverage in order to hit the metrics of revenues per occupied room or average ticket amounts. In the market environment, fresh food cost could be higher but labor likely will be lower as guests tend toward self-service, so reasonable margins should be achievable. Also, the market should promote browsing. More importantly, the idea of the market is to be casual and approachable, and if your guests develop the expectation, based on experience, that your latte is more expensive than Starbucks, they will find the local Starbucks.
- Don’t be all things for all people. The location of your hotel is in a place with unique character and cuisine. Focus on getting that right and doing it fresh, and don’t try to add so much variety by combining cuisines (Asian/Italian/French/Fusion, for example) that your guests cannot figure out what you are trying to do.
- And above all, stand for something. Tell your guests in every way possible what you stand for. And deliver on the promise. The marketplace restaurant offers a great opportunity to provide guests with new dining and entertainment options. Remember the lessons of Whole Foods and Eataly, and your marketplace should be a great success.
Peter D. Connolly, executive vice president of operations and development for Hostmark Hospitality Group, has had a distinguished career in a variety of legal and business roles with prestigious travel and hospitality organizations. He was of counsel to Jeffer, Mangel, Butler & Marmaro in its global hospitality practice, where he designed and documented hotel financial structures, including hotel condominium and traditional hotel structures, and negotiated management agreements, hotel purchase and hotel finance agreements on behalf of various developer and management company clients. From 1982 to 2000, Connolly was with the Hyatt organization as general counsel, where he was responsible for hotel operating legal issues, acquisitions, divestitures, financings, management arrangements and owner relationships. In 1996 and 1997, Connolly ran Hyatt’s development department, and was responsible for the acquisition and/or development of a number of Hyatt properties. Connolly retired from Hyatt in 2000 as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Information Officer of the company. He is a member of the bars of Illinois, the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. He is a graduate of Providence College and Catholic University Law School.
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