The first edition of “Restaurants Cafés & Lounges” Conference and Exhibition will be held on the 7th & 8th of October 2019, at Roda Al Bustan Hotel. The first of its kind event in the region is organized by Great Minds Event Management, with the goal of gathering a selected group of F&B and hospitality experts, to discuss improving efficiency and delivering an improved holistic experience to cater to the rapidly changing consumer behavior in the F&B sector, and to help restaurants, cafés, and lounge owners and F&B stakeholders to discover the latest strategies that can drive innovation across all business functions to survive and grow in an ever changing business environment.   

Leila Masinaei, The Managing Partner of Great Minds Event Management said: “We are organizing Restaurants Cafés & Lounges to bring together all the stakeholders who are involved in creating business models from menu selections, growth strategies, location mapping, to technology implementation, from across the Middle East & North Africa”.   

“The number of F&B outlets in the region, with new concepts popping up daily, while the existing restaurants, cafés and lounges are actively scouting for new strategic locations to expand their business. However, we noticed in the last few years, the F&B sector has been struggling to catch up with the rapidly changing consumer trends, behavior and habits. Technology disrupting the market greatly and the economy’s effect on consumer’s spending patterns have made many previously successful businesses obsolete, losing their business and customers to raising competition. We saw the necessity to invite top experts and stakeholders to brainstorm new strategies to cope with the ever-changing consumer behavior and maximize the gains from technological advancements”, Masinaei added.  

Arvind Shekar, the Event’s Director, said “More than 250 attendees from 25 countries, mostly business owners, operation heads, chefs and experts in the F&B industry and hospitality sector will discuss the latest consumer trends, and growth strategies in the MENA market, and share their experiences and ideas during 10 hours of networking sessions, while enjoying the chance of meeting 40 Exhibitors, showcasing the latest technology trends and new innovative products”.  

“Restaurants, Cafés, & Lounges will honor 5 industry leaders with 5 awards, and the event will include a Chef Contest, in addition to 3 workshops, plus a Cocktail Zero Live demo bar: a concept in which ICCA Dubai in partnership with Alembic will showcase a whole range of non-alcoholic innovative drinks.” added Shekar.  

The event’s activities will include onstage celebrity chef interviews with Chef Thomas A. Gugler, President, World Association of Chef’ Societies, and Chef Manal Al Alem “The Queen of Arabian Kitchen”, in addition to Workshops and Emerging brands spotlight sessions. 

Chef Thomas A. Gugler, President, World Association of Chef’ Societies commented on participating in Restaurants, Cafés, and Lounges: “I am looking forward to having some fruitful discussions, some exchange of thoughts and work experiences and to support the colleagues from all around the world. As I am running millions of chefs around the globe for me it’s a must in supporting the event and the organizers which has the credo to make the great minds of the world coming together and work on our future. ‘Knowledge’ is the key for success and the essentials of a good business and proper execution of work tasks” 

In such professional gatherings, the benefits of attending and participating is worth the time and effort, especially with a carefully selected agenda, speakers and topics to discuss, such as remodeling of businesses to cater to the emerging trends and consumer behavior, delivery business and consumer buy-in, building a better kitchen culture, the role of commercial/dark kitchen in a business expansion plans, and business start-up and scaling, that’s why I encourage all stakeholders and interested hospitality and F&B professionals to join the discussions”, added Gugler. 

Restaurants, Cafés & Lounges discussions will focus mainly on consumer behaviors, habits and trends affecting F&B business models in middle east, such as the changing pattern of dine-in versus, take-away and delivery, the change in consumer spending, discount culture and ‘offer’ driven sales, as well as technology inspired behaviors like the social media influence on consumers to choose fancy restaurants and food, and, delivery aggregators and how technology is disrupting the market, as well as consumer behavior influencers  with constantly changing diet preferences.