As Summer begins and the Hospitality and Foodservice Industry looks to re-open, everyone seems to have the same thing at the top of their list, “Traveling”. The desire to leave the house, and quite honestly the immediate area, has not escaped the HoReCa Industry. With over 100,000 Restaurants closing and over half a million jobs lost during the Pandemic, the attention is very much welcome.

The last year of challenges has tested the resilience of our industry, and proven our “family at work” mentality is a keystone quality of Hospitality and Restaurants teams. Personally, I have been very lucky to even see some of talented people in my network evolve during this time and push the needle in Foodservice further.

Opportunity has especially extended itself to the Hospitality & Foodservice Equipment market, with Buyers and Operations Managers alike, open to almost anything that will keep them (or get them) open. This abnormally wide-open door has even given birth in a way to a new major category in Air Purification, at one time somewhat of an afterthought at room level.

Now, as we see a true push for a larger scale re-opening, we find Buyers and Operations Managers are looking to settle into Equipment relationships and identify the partners who are ready to scale. With somewhere north of 500,000 Restaurants and around 9 Million Rooms this opportunity requires a real place in the Supply Chain.

For some, big market opportunity isn’t always necessarily “good” market opportunity. There is more at play here from manufacturing capabilities, to delivery schedules, and even regulations. The extra factors at hand make plenty of room for failed expectations or even worse unforeseen liabilities with Enterprise level entities. Leaving one to maybe think, what is the cost vs value of entering or beefing up my companies presence in this market?

That answer sits behind an understanding of how flexible your business is, and knowing what you actually need to accommodate of the “requirements” that may be heading your way. As in any market the “Crawl, Walk, Run” approach is suggested, not only to allow your teams to get acclimated, but to make sure you are prepared for success.

The decision making process here can be long, but innovative products that fit what the industry needs could also see multi-million dollar contracts appear over-night. With over $30B spent annually in equipment annually and major “re-growth” on the horizon post-Pandemic, the road ahead could even see some significant lift. Surges in Consumer Travel may help as the “Work Travel” world figures out how to establish a new set of rules around more acceptable “Remote Work” culture.

Thankfully the only thing really longer than the decision making process in HoReCa Equipment is the standards cycle. Independents and Chains alike look for products they can purchase consistently for years. Some of these products can live in environment for over 10 years with brand-centric products pushing into “driving-age” and beyond. This kind of buying model does lend itself well to forecasting and streamlining your process for profitability, not to mention allow manufacturers to pay more attention to quality.

Furthermore, relationships at this level are not unseated easily and many times, because of contracts, can only be disrupted if the incumbent fails supply demands considerably. If it is security in the pipeline you are looking for, this is an advantage to the Hospitality and Foodservice Equipment Channel that is hard to match.

Let’s break down some of the key areas that can make a difference in building Hospitality and Foodservice Distribution relationships:

• Consistency & Uniformity
• Commercial-Ready Finishes & Flexible Color Variations
• Quality Components
• Wholesale-Friendly Packaging
• Sustainability & GREEN Initiatives
• Warranties & Service Level Agreements
• CSR: Product and Sales Resources

Mass Production items aren’t exactly a favorite of the Hospitality and Foodservice industries, whether it is from a sustainability or brand identity view, it tends to be a necessary evil. That has opened the door more and more over the years to medium and low production products that appeal with higher quality, unique designs, and commercial durability. With this extra appeal usually comes a high price tag and longer wait times, both against the grain of the fiscally responsible yet fast moving HoReCa establishments.

However, we have found that many properties do not mind making the investment, especially if it elevates their brand. Yet there is a key factor that tends to arise with some of these smaller scale manufacturing facilities, consistency. With less automation and sometimes a human touch being required, quality control becomes even more important.

Hospitality and Foodservice Programs can serve thousands of locations that need to be “on brand” and functioning as a unit. This means Glassware must consistently fit into “spec’d” dish racks, Equipment finishes are identical, and no Wares are left to “wobble”. As simple and straight forward as this may sound, you would be surprised how quickly quality control can fail as quantities rise. A few too many inconsistencies will have chains looking elsewhere, but a proper process will make your business indispensable (to a degree).

Repetitive use, abuse, and misuse is pretty much just a day in the life of Hospitality and Foodservice Equipment, so make sure it is ready for it. In many ways this is one of the few markets where you can’t go wrong really “overbuilding” your product. That being said this doesn’t mean you should pack as many features in as possible, quite the contrary, the goal here is consistency and longevity.

Amenity Tray Wall Thickness Comparison

You products need to accomplish their purpose day-in-day-out for the better part of 5 – 10 years if you want to be considered a quality supplier in most categories. More stationary products such as FF&E, Decor, Tabletop, and OS&E should be built to last. This means the right materials depending on what elements they will be exposed to, and stable structures that can take some abuse. Sometimes just the difference of wall thickness in your product could really make the difference to decision makers.

Others, with service, may expect upwards of 20+ years out of your equipment offering, seeing it change hands a few times in the huge refurbished HoReCa Equipment marketplace. With the high turn-over rate of restaurants, this aftermarket industry has a strong presence and offers additional brand exposure if your goods stand up to the times.

Last but certainly not least, make your equipment easily serviceable. Hospitality and Foodservice Techs are some of the most talented people out there, but if it can’t be serviced efficiently you will be affecting the bottom line of your true customer…Ownership.

We know you worked really hard with your graphic team to get those boxes to “pop” on the shelf, but there are few shelves and even few customer looking for anything that “pops” in general. The only thing an attractive box in Hospitality and Foodservice will get you is a bigger bill from a few vendors.

HoReCa is all about bulk case pack, properly labeled boxes, and making sure your products don’t tend to break before they arrive. Even though it is harder than ever to have your SKU “Stocked”, there are still some serious guidelines that will help you start at drop-shipping and work your way into distributor inventory.

• Create Case Packs of 12 to 24 pieces, depending on the size and use case of your product you may even go up to a 48 piece Case Pack.
• Complete an in depth discovery on Case Pack shipping rates, we recommend utilizing 6 – 8 shipping zones within the continental United States.
• Pay attention to Case Marking guidelines & requirements even if you haven’t hit “stocked” status. It helps customers with a uniform inventory process and makes your product easy to push to stock.
• Make sure Case Packs are “drop-ship” ready in terms of durability, shipping less than a pallet will open many doors. Breakage can cost you profit or even Key Accounts.

Seek insight from the Product Management teams or Buyers, and you may likely save your company time and money in the pursuit of moving the needle.

We can safely say over the past few years 50% – 60% of Strategic Sourcing requests we have seen are led by sustainability and impact efforts. This includes from how the products are made, to how they operate, and what their “end of life” process is.

This doesn’t just stop at “can it be recycled”, Hospitality and Foodservice brands are looking for products that carry the sustainability story throughout the lifecycle. If your items can carry any of these tags, you are off to a great start:

• Made from Recycled Materials
• 100% Recyclable
• Biodegradable
• Compostable

Better yet, if your manufacturing operations is carbon footprint friendly in any way, this is something worth including in your brand story. There are some other factors that may or may not help with sway, it really depends on initiatives:

• Made in America
• Women Owned Business
• Minority Owned Business
• Veteran Owned Business
• Small Business Status
• Fair Trade Certified Products

Some of these denominations may take some paperwork and time, but in the effort of building a strong business identity, they are well worth it. None of them are too complex or require any information outside of the normal metrics you would track in day-to-day business. There are many free and government sponsored resources to even walk you through the application process.

If your company or products don’t already have a presence in another commercial market, you may want to consider a commercial use specific warranty. Offering priority Service Level Agreements, depending on your type of product, is likely the best way to keep costs flexible but keep critical system “uptime” high.

Make sure “user-replaceable” parts are clearly outlined along with guidelines for basic wear and tear, including life expectancy in a 24hr operation. Setting up contracts with Hospitality and Foodservice specific Service Partners gives you access to teams that may already have relationship in the market. This always helps with customer retention where tricky service calls come into play, and as inevitable growing pains may pop-up.

Service is actually your best opportunity at customer influence. They may have decided to buy your goods, but that doesn’t mean that they are guaranteed to stay in environment or influence future purchases positively. Exposure to your Customer Service and other Support Departments is much more likely to seal the deal on long-term relationships.

You could compare the Hospitality and Foodservice Equipment Channel to a Broadway Show. All we have covered thus far would be everything from the script to the soundtrack, but your Collateral and Communication Resources are the Stage. Things may be slow to start and take real effort to build, however when that first Distributor is ready to “on-board” you BETTER be ready as well.

The window of opportunity may be short purely due to workload, and if it is deal driven, even shorter. The expected response rate in Hospitality and Foodservice is yesterday, and waiting for product images in an acceptable format or a new catalog just doesn’t work. If your product is a bit more complex or pushing the innovative throttle, the addition of product videos and “how-to’s” could be crucial.

To avoid having to call the curtain early on your HoReCa Equipment push, take a look at our CSR “Checklist”:

• High Resolution Product Images on White & Transparent Background (2000 x 2000)
• Lifestyle product images in a relevant environment, IE: Hotel or Restaurant.
• Channel specific “Features, Advantages, and Benefits” (“FAB”) Sales Sheets
• Competitive Product Comparison, preferably 3rd Party.
• Product “Tutorial” or “How-to” Video covering common usage.
• Cost & Time Savings Sales Sheets
• Branded Technical Specs, Certifications, and Testing Documentation
• Product “Line Review” Deck
• Online AND Offline, up-to-date, Catalogs.

It may be a lot of work, but it is surely worth it beyond even the Revenue. The people component of Hospitality and Foodservice is perhaps one of the most rewarding pieces of the puzzle. Sometimes (very) complex, but always dedicated to a solution and the clientele they support. This industry pools together some of the most creative minds in the world and not just behind the food, but behind the every aspect of the operation.

The level of detail we encourage for your Brand’s presence in this industry only mirrors what we see from it. With the proper tools in tow, you can truly focus your teams on relationships and even building life long bonds (not to be too sappy).  Once you understand the exhausting efforts and time put into each property, it starts to make sense, and with some help so can the HoReCa Channel.