Justify a higher price with quality ingredients and detailed menu descriptions
There is a growing trend for hotels to invest more in quality produce in order to deliver “story food”, said Meat & Livestock Australia regional manager Middle East & Africa Lachlan Bowtell at February’s Gulfood exhibition.
Despite the economic downturn, Bowtell said there had been a lot more interest from hotels and restaurants for products that give “an image of providence or greed”.
| Advertisement |
“We’ve seen 2000 tonnes of grain fed beef coming to the Middle East and North Africa in the last 12 months off a load base of about 200 tonnes the previous year, so a dramatic increase,” he said.
This was because hotels increasingly needed to differentiate their offering, said Bowtell, by creating a story around their food — just as they would with a wine list that highlights different regions.
"It’s only the start of a trend but you would think after what happened last year everyone would decide to buy chicken or cheap protein,” said Bowtell. “That was the immediate reaction in a lot of cases but what’s happened now is it’s all settled down and the focus is on quality — hotels are realising they need to bring in better quality product and give better quality meals and really just cop a bit of a break on margin.
“It’s a global trend. In Australia we’ve seen a real move towards higher quality beef and lamb; it’s story food. In the Middle East where the vast majority of its protein for food service is imported, you need story food, you need something that’s going to be different. It’s not good enough to have a certified Angus beef from America,” said Bowtell.
He explained that offering a choice of branded meat options on menus “takes away the reliance of selling by price, as it’s selling by experience”.
“I don’t look at the prices because I’m blown away by the description. It justifies a higher price.
“If you put a story around food, you’re going to pay more for the product but you’re going to get a higher price for it and it makes it unique to you,” said Bowtell.
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
