BrandPortunity Hospitality Consultancy

In addition to our business schedule at BrandPortunity Hospitality Consultancy, we attended several hospitality events last week, including a 2-day at the hotel show and IMAGES RetailME F&B Business Forum. The hotel show featured numerous international companies showcasing the latest innovations in the industry. We enjoyed several panel discussions that shared amazing takeaways. These discussions highlighted the creation of unique experiences and customer journeys at hotels and restaurants, with a strong focus on sustainability and the rapid evolution of technology. At the IMAGES RetailME F&B Business Forum, we had the opportunity to engage with colleagues in the field, focusing primarily on food tech and the importance of creating experiential lifestyle concepts. It was a great networking opportunity, and we met many genuine and humble leaders. We had the pleasure of hearing H.E Mohamad Al Abbar share his thoughts and experiences in successful food and beverage ventures. The Retail ME F&B Forum was a busy and productive catch-up day. We shared BrandPortunity Hospitality Consultancy's evolved services and achievements with speakers, organizers, and attendees, and established new business relationships. It was great to chat with Faisal Younes, CEO of Cenomi, about the growth of brick-and-mortar establishments and the rapid expansion of the QSR business. Additionally, we discussed the evolution of the food technology industry with Naji Haddad, VP EMEA Deliverect. The grocery topic is taking its place, and the panel discussion was very insightful on how to make grocery shopping an experiential activity, whether in physical stores or via e-commerce, amidst tough competition with key players. Mohamed Al Hashemi, CEO of UnionCoop, shared valuable insights on this topic. Last but not least, I also had the pleasure of meeting Amitabh Taneja, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of IMAGES RetailME , a visionary retailer, and furthermore, it was wonderful to network and re-connect with former colleagues and peers in the industry.

Day 3 of the Franchise Expo Paris was quite busy and filled with several qualitative meetings, and conferences. I had the pleasure of reconnecting with the PAUL International team, sharing valuable information about the bakery and pastry industry in France and internationally. On this occasion, I had the opportunity to have a brilliant chat with Maxime HOLDER, President of PAUL. It was a time I greatly cherish, reflecting on the successful moments during my journey at both Azadea Group and Paul Boulangerie, and exchanging business insights and on the continuous international growth of PAUL.   As a wrap-up of day 3, on behalf of BrandPortunity Hospitality Consultancy:   - Being well-prepared with a good pitch deck and solid business planning is crucial when seeking funding, especially when dealing with a successful franchise that supports your case (suggestion to use an expert or advisor to draft the pitch and business plan). - Franchisors, particularly in the QSR model, are aiming for a simple store design with a focus on core design elements to minimize the initial investment of the franchisee. - The importance of franchisee (or franchisee’s team) training, especially in the food and beverage industry. A well-structured franchise manual is a must, and scheduling a proper training plan is as crucial as opening the store. - The significance of savoir-faire and a deep understanding of every product. - Creating a single product concept continues to make a hit, especially with key celebrity chefs, ensuring its sustainability for long-term business growth. - Sharing thoughts and best practices with entrepreneurs and newly created concepts on the importance of being flexible and adapting the product offering when entering international markets to cater to different cultures. - Connecting and networking with founders and chairman and discussed potential collaboration with BrandPortunity Hospitality Consultancy for new market entry analysis, business planning, creation of a franchise deck and connecting with potential franchisees.   In brief, the franchising model can be successful when a clear vision is put in place, and where founders and the franchise team are always supportive of the franchisee, accompanying them on their journey (win-win). The franchise business model is witnessing solid growth in today’s times and will continue to grow strongly, as long as exceptional scalable concepts and product offerings are concerned. It is more than a partnership; it is a journey to providing the community with exceptional consistent products and experiential moments in a lifestyle setting!

It was great attending the 42nd edition of the Franchise Expo Paris The event was well-organized, showcasing a mix of unique French vintage brands and newly created concepts (French bakeries, Fine pastries, Chicken concepts, Burgers, Italian QSR pizzas, Chocolates, Ice-cream and other European brands). One notable trend was the continuously high rise of QSR concepts in Europe. Here are some key takeaways on behalf of BrandPortunity Hospitality Consultancy gathered from the expo and conferences on day 1 and 2:   - Networking opportunities were excellent and connecting with ex-colleagues and peers in the field. - Meetings with brand founders, chairmen and initiators were insightful, especially with those who grew their concepts up to 30 stores in 4or 5 years. - Discussions covered challenges facing the food industry in general, such as social, economic, and communication obstacles. - Solutions were proposed to overcome these challenges, emphasizing the importance of business re-structuring and concept revamping while creating an ecosystem. - Coffee shop trends, especially catering to millennials and Generation Z, and the positive reaction to qualitative coffee such as Coutume lead by Tom Clark - The importance of launching on the right time the franchising business model's to supporting brand development, both locally and internationally. - The Franchisor supports and readiness versus the franchisee’s expectations. - Re-structuring of nowadays commercial terms giving the opportunity to franchisee to have healthier cash-flow management. - The perseverance of French entrepreneurs in making things happen was evident during special conferences throughout the event. On this occasion, had the chance and full focus to listening to Raibed Tahri presentation! A well-done and amazing journey! - Happy to announce agreeing with several well-known brands to considering international franchise to the middle East in collaboration with BrandPortunity Hospitality Consultancy (for inquiries, you may get in touch with Christian Salloum)   Day 3 recap in the making! Stay tuned!

What a great moderating session about the latest F&B trends, concepts' sustainability, homegrowns versus franchising, menu diversification, and consumers' preferences in 2024 with amazing audience participation (Executive Chefs, Directors, Entrepreneurs, Food Bloggers) in collaboration with Hospitality News Middle East and Trade Investment Queensland! #food #beverage #foodandbeverage #conceptdevelopment #entrepreneurs #chefs #franchising #franchiseopportunities #homegrown #brands #opportunity BrandPortunity Hospitality Consultancy