SubscribeFood has become fashionable! Take a look at prime time television and there are chef's programmes in abundance all telling you how to do it, what flavours go with what ingredients. We even have wine connoisseurs appearing like Game Show hosts! So what then have airports been doing while this culinary re-awaking has been going on?
History for whatever reason has not been kind to the food and beverage offers for passengers. Even before the vast global brands such as McDonalds and Burger King ever set their stall up in an airport, the offer was usually poor. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that airports were only about taking-off and landing rather than making the whole travel experience as pleasant as possible. Passengers are people and people need to eat.The UK never had a good reputation for its food and in airports; the standard was appalling and even worse than its retail offer at the time. Passengers would even bring their own flasks and food rather than brave “The Cafeteria”, for that is what it was like.
Once again, and in tandem with the evolution of airport retailing, a choice of food started to be made on offer. True it was not much of an improvement but the global players like McDonalds and Burger King did at least serve a known product of a given quality, at an affordable price. This however still went hand-in-hand with the school canteen style facility. Fast-forward to today and the picture in many places across the world is at last moving forward.From as far apart as Bordeaux and Nairobi the food and beverage offer is both extensive in choice and at the haute cuisine end of the marketplace, virtually Michelin star quality. At last there are airports that offer something for everybody from fast to slow and passengers are now taking up this offer.
Before one talks about who the customers are there is one over-riding factor and that is ‘dwell times’. Since 9/11, in many places around the world, these have increased dramatically as security checks and check-in times have grown for certain flights. This is to the benefit of the food and beverage providers, whether fast or slow meal offers. The provision of an extensive food and beverage selection offers even more than retail, this has the benefit of being a calming influence in what can be a frustrating time for the traveller. More than ever passengers pre-plan a meal to make full use of the time available between check-in and departure. It now also helps those passengers at the best airports to know that the food and beverage offer will be of a standard that they are accustomed to when they dine out.
So for a food and beverage company and airport operator alike what are the commercial opportunities? One obvious route and one that is prevalent in the USA is the Master Concessionaire. Here there is one body being responsible for all the food and beverage offers whatever they are.On the face of it a Master Concessionaire makes good practical sense to both airport operator and the food & beverage company. It is easy to run from the airport’s point of view as there is only one contact point to deal with and from the company’s angle there is the potential for the economies of scale, the elixir of catering – purchasing in bulk! However this kind of operation does have many important drawbacks, not least of which is the true competition between distinctive and different operators.
Although many master concessionaires will introduce independents into the mix, all are beholden to one master. A much more bespoke airport food and beverage offer is achieved by the airport leasing individual spaces to different companies that in turn target specific sectors through their own food & beverage offer. These can range from a simple coffee-deli offer right through to a table service with space leased on the ‘best principles of choice’ quality and price as well as maximising rental income. If an airport operator adopts this approach, the benefits to the airport are more comprehensive and therefore more likely to attract a better range of brands leading to better passenger penetration and adding up to higher returns.
O'Neills Heathrow Terminal 3, a traditional Irish pub serving food throughout the day.
What then of the food & beverage operators and just who will be the defined customers from the food and beverage companies’ perspectives? Global players have a very active part to play especially in the ‘fast food’ sector where relatively cheap food in a recognised format served swiftly has many attractions, invariably these operators have been very active in bidding for airport sites. However speed of service has different benefits to different passengers, to many transfer passengers with time to kill it is a definite disadvantage where travellers are looking at ways to wile away the hours.
Conversely if the airport is based on domestic flights then the dwell times will be that much shorter requiring the food and beverage offers to have a quick through-put. In short ‘international’ usually equals longer dwell times and ‘domestic’- short. This is a key defining point and cuts across other factors such as spending power, socio-economic groupings and cultural preferences. What is clear is that food and beverage even more than retail is sensitive to many key defining factors.
The food court concept has many merits. Clustering a variety of fast food offers within one overall environment has satisfied large segments of the market, especially in countries such as the Far-East and USA. Food courts can often, in the right country, offer the blend of choice and scale within one location. Whilst they can be expensive to kit-out and operate, there are many success stories. The essential element here must be that it has the correct cultural backdrop. There is then a requirement that there must be a level of high passenger volumes at the key times of the day or as in America, a constant flow of people who are, not so time specific and can ‘graze’ all the time. It is a principle that does not suit all cultures or even airports.
At the quality end of the spectrum the accent has very much been about countries building up a food and beverage reputation over a long period of time. France has long been known as a gastronomic paradise and this is reflected at airports such as Bordeaux. Even airports such as Nairobi had become well known for their quality food offers. It is because of this aspect of well-known tradition that other airports may have a perception of being the reverse but it is a market nevertheless.
Chez Gerard at Heathrow Terminal 3 and the North Terminal at Gatwick is BAA’s response in trying to tap into this marketplace but in general terms the jury in the UK is still out. This sort of offer has not traditionally formed an integral part of the tenant mix and will take some time to bed down. Quality does not need to mean table service. Caviar House have been running their Seafood Bar operation for nearly ten years serving seafood and a glass of Champagne to the more discerning passengers. Fast food in all but name.
The terrace outside Eskie Bar at Sydney Airport offers an attractive terrace to eat and drink on.
The actual food and beverage offer, as airports are virtually 24/7 operations matters a great deal. Garfunkels in the UK have grown a very successful table service offer by developing an extensive Menu range that allows for a wide variety of food that cuts across all the day segments. It’s ever-popular “all day breakfast” stretches through lunch and dinner. Even the more traditional pub operators have also successfully adopted this. O’Neill’s the well-known Irish theme pub operation runs through the day and as such is seen as ideal for an airport as it serves not only the indigenous UK passenger but also the global traveller looking for a traditional style operation.
A good climate offers great eating and drinking opportunities. Changi Airport, Singapore has for many years excelled itself at offering a quality passenger service and has a number of bars on the roof including one next to the outside pool. Sydney has just opened a new viewing gallery complete with a café bar managed by Eskie Bar, the operator directly below who already has an attractive landscaped terrace on which to eat and drink.
Smoking has become increasingly problematic when it comes to marrying customer service with more and more draconian smoking legislation, especially in the USA. Too often, smoking facilities are tucked away in soulless rooms when they can actually offer a commercial opportunity. Denver Airport has developed a range of “Smoking Bars” where passengers can drink and puff away to their hearts content. A location for this type of operation is rather immaterial, as a smoker will seek out the den of iniquity wherever it is!
A Smoking Lounge in Denver airport, a bar in any other situation
Location, location, location the three most important retail rules. These also apply to the food and beverage offer at an airport. Within most mature airports the real battle is for frontage. Every airport designer tries to preserve views over the apron and aircraft, which is often in direct conflict with the commercial team who are continually fighting for retail frontage. Restaurants and cafés and bars can offer the solution, by locating them against the façade, views are preserved whilst still retaining the commercial benefits of trading from prime commercial space.
We are all aware that ideally, all of the commercial space should be located in the primary passenger level and this goes for both retail and food & beverage. Where space is at a premium, this however may not be possible. There is however a number of instances round the world where food and beverage operators succeed at the upper or even lower level where pure retail would not survive. Both of the terminals at Gatwick have adopted this principle along with other airports such as Hamburg and the international terminal at LAX. Passengers will change levels to eat and drink and the key is to ensure good visibility, good access and most of all limited competition from other food operators at the main concourse level.
One interesting recent new kid on the block from a point of food and beverage is “food to go” market. In fact it should be termed “food to fly”, as that is precisely what the ventures are. These have come about partly because the low-cost carriers put a low priority on in flight services, you pay for what you eat and drink so why not buy at a food outlet close to the gate, generating this type of food genre.
From the passengers’ angle they can spend and choose as much as they need – a bespoke arrangement that even the airlines themselves on transatlantic flights cannot match! Upper Crust and the mini food court at Sydney Airport servicing Virgin Blue passengers and Metro-to-Go at Stansted targeting Ryan Air are two operators that offer good quality and large choice of food and beverage.
Metro to Go at Stansted, feeding the Ryan Air passengers.
With all these developments going on and the benefits of longer dwell times it is important that the future of food and beverage in airports is dominated by the airport operator choosing specialists who in turn maximise the commercial criteria of a terminal. The food and beverage choice at BAA airports has been transformed over the past few years. The concessionaires and airport operators all benefit and it goes without saying that the passengers win hands down.
