Event details:

Caterer Middle East Bar & Nightlife Forum
Date: October 5, 2015
Venue: Grosvenor House, Dubai
Details: www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/conferences/nightlife/
To attend: Contact michael.mcgill@itp.com
For speaking opportunities: Contact louby.maktari@itp.com
For sponsorship opportunities: Contact clayton.rodrigues@itp.com or amanda.stewart@itp.com

Suppliers in focus

During the discussion, the panel spoke about suppliers and their ongoing concerns with the supply chain in the market.

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Andrew McGregor from Utopia Group, pointed out that the supply chain charges double than the UK. “Year on year, there’s a price increase irrespective of what’s happening in the rest of the market, 10% minimum. Part of that is because it’s a duopoly. I’m sure everyone around this table would like to see an open market.”

The fact that Abu Dhabi has six suppliers was pointed out by Hakkasan’s Olivier Gasselin, while Media One Hotel’s Motorga Heathcliff said it would be useful to have direct contact with the factories rather than always work with the suppliers.

Whissle Group’s Thomas Gillgren also said that handling fees make it difficult for venues to be profitable because they have to charge a certain extra on top in order to generate revenue.

While Gasselin has to sometimes rely on special imports, he said it was not the ultimate answer. However, he explained: “We are not competitive if we take only portfolio items. For wine it’s definitely a trend, we have a shortage of stock because the two suppliers have reduced the stock drastically in the last few months. If we don’t have our own wines, we have 50 wines out of stock on the menu.”

Mullins suggested that bringing more suppliers in the market would help the entire industry.