The right ingredients

[L-R] Ghaith Zeidan, Sid King, Etienne Haro, John Quick, Shaun Roesstorff, Giorgio Vallesi and Nick Hancock strike a pose in Eclipse Bar at the Inter

Top beverage professionals met up at the InterContinental Hotel Dubai Festival City this month, to share some honest advice on exactly what it will take to bring the Middle East bar industry up to international standards

What is the biggest challenge facing the Middle East bar and beverage industry right now?

Nick Hancock: One thing we’ve talked about before is the lack of any official bar guild in the region — and that’s still applicable. The main issue in this market is that there are more bars now and there are also less people.

On top of the effects of the downturn, it’s the summer, so people go away, and there are fewer tourists because of the weather. It’s a difficult time of year; I think quarter four is the focus for most operators.

Ghaith Zeidan: A lot of companies are looking at Q4; it should represent the best time of year for everybody.
But just going back to the issue of a bar guild, that’s definitely something we want to arrange. Myself and representatives from Monin and MMI are in touch with Derick Lee, the president of the International Bartenders Association, and we’re definitely looking at bringing the IBA here. It would bring more credibility to training, to events, and really move the industry to a different level.

Etienne Haro: I don’t think it’s too bad here — a lot of suppliers have really tried to fill that training gap, bringing specialists over and hosting events for beverage staff. Having said that, it is still too contractual and too infrequent.

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What we really need to do is challenge staff to be more creative, more outgoing, because that’s what makes a bar great. That’s why competitions are so good — because they take bartenders out of the work place and let them try something new.

Giorgio Vallesi: For MMI, we see competitions as one of the most important things to do for the industry. It gives bartenders the chance to socialise, to network, to learn and share ideas.

Also I think one of the main issues we’re facing comes down to the importance bars attach to training: business was always booming here, you just opened the doors and people came in. But the reality today is totally different — customers are looking for value, and that includes great service as well as a great product.

But I think a lot of people thought the way to solve this sudden slowing of business was to offer discounts, which isn’t right or sustainable.

Sid King: Challenge-wise, forecasting is a bit of a disaster at the moment. We are facing issues in meeting the budget and are now focusing on forecast, and the only way to do this is to offer the best possible service and the best possible products. Plus we’re not sitting around idly in quiet times; we are focusing on training, making sure staff are knowledgeable and confident, so the customers we do have are getting the best possible service.

Hancock: There are two types of forecast: a bad forecast and a lucky forecast, especially in this environment. So you can’t aim too low, but you’ve got to be realistic and have confidence in the numbers you’re giving and the reasons you’re giving them.

Haro: Forecasting is key to your cost management, and that’s the biggest problem. Whether your forecast is right or wrong is not really important — what is important is that a lot of things are coming out from your forecast, so if you’re way off, and you get orders wrong, for example, that’s not good.