Trendy Tradition in the Cool Season

Held originally throughout the German-speaking cities of Europe for centuries as events where retailers could stock up for Christmas, modern Christmas markets are meeting places for young and old. For today's visitors, many of whom travel long distances just like their forefathers, these temporary villages are a welcome opportunity for finding gifts and making social contacts. Additionally, eating and drinking is at the top of the to-do-list for many people. The choice tends to be characterised by local and traditional products - an opportunity for regional foodservice suppliers to present their specialities. And these markets represent a multi-million euro business. A European overview.

[31863 Zeichen]

DE: Top Christmas Markets

€ 5,75

Growing Demand for Artisan Bread

Bakery cafés rank among the upcoming concepts in the European foodservice market. Their major strength: they not only satisfy the new consumer desire for hand-made food but are also ideal for take-away consumption and go perfectly with coffee specialities. In Germany, Switzerland and France in particular, stand-alone formulas compete with innumerable bakers' shops, many of which have sharpened the gastronomic profile of their retail-focused concepts to such an extent that they can rightly be counted among the most expansive players on the growing bread-foodservice scene. In North Europe, the preference for sandwiches of all kinds means good perspectives for bread specialists. And, after decades of Soviet mass production, Russian consumers are discovering the advantages and variety of hand-made bread. Part 2 of our pan-European survey.

Pasta Is Everywhere...

... naturally, on the dinner table at home and in traditional Italian restaurants, too. And this throughout Europe. New, in addition to the dominant full-service scene, is the growing spectrum of fast-casual and quickservice solutions, which include not only classic variations from Bella Italia but also product and concept interpretations from the Far East. Branding and chaining in this segment is still relatively young and almost always nationally oriented. Which means that pasta & noodles continue to have a great potential.

Bigger, Better, Quicker

The trend in stadium foodservice is towards more: more menu variety, more upscale offerings, more corporate hospitality, more entertainment experience. Anyone in the sport-stadium business wanting to stand a chance against live TV broadcasts and multi-function arenas must continuously optimise their catering arrangements. The challenge is to maximise output in the minimum time because the window of selling opportunities is mostly only very short. Being fast, good and flexible, that's the name of the game. The key to the future: business seats, VIP boxes, commercial events or - in Germany - the FIFA World Cup 2006. A pan-European overview focusing on (soccer) stadiums.

[43076 Zeichen]

GER: Soccer Stadiums for the World Cup 2006 - by seating capacity

Erdgeschoss Color Line Arena

USA: Top 5 Stadiums

€ 5,75

Only a few US Chains

In Europe, pure steakhouse chains emerged in UK in the 50s, in France in the late 60s and in Scandinavia and Germany in the 70s. However, it was not until the late 80s that they reached Portugal, Spain and Italy, where chain operations still are in their early stage. Located centrally or as freestanders, often with farmhouse design or (modern) Argentine style, they all offer tableservice and are focused on grilled meat (up to 50% of sales). Average checks are about EUR 15-30 and sales go up to EUR 2-3 m/unit. After 2000, BSE and foot-and-mouth disease created great consumer uncertainty and many steakhouses expanded their menus to include fish, chicken and vegetarian alternatives. The demand for meat has been rising again since it has been possible to give consumers assurances about its origins. This has encouraged some chains to expand internationally - and not just within Europe. Interesting in this connection is the fact that US concepts hardly ever succeeded in Europe.

[42174 Zeichen]

UK: Top Steakhouses

UK: Pub Chains with Steaks

UK Steak Sales - beef frying/grilling steak -

€ 5,75

'Pizza Unlimited'

In May (2/02) we portrayed the British, Spanish, French and Italian pizza markets, now follows part II of our Paneuropean survey. Everywhere, competition is getting fiercer by the day, especially in big cities where competitors tend to be within walking distance and frozen pizzas can be bought from retailers on virtually every street corner. Almost all markets are dominated by one-man/family operations while the majority of fullservice and home-delivery chains operate within their national borders. Europe's big players have been hesitant in risking the (not always successful) step into foreign markets. Nevertheless international expansion is very likely to be an extensive process of learning by doing for many of Europe's big players. As a low-priced product capable of a wide variety of interpretations, the pizza is still distinguished by a broad demographic appeal.

[34964 Zeichen]

Pizza in Poland

Germany: Top 5 Pizza Players

Pizza Chains - US Sales/Units - 2001 -

€ 5,75

Shopping Centres with... ...Railway Connections

Most of Europe's biggest railway stations are well over 100 years old. Their architecture is cultural history. And inside? The nineties were a decade of modernisation. The railway operators saw that these highly frequented places were also ideal for shopping and foodservice. The result: shopping centres, especially for quickservice brands, with bakery-snack concepts of all kinds topping the popularity poll.

[39244 Zeichen]

Areas Group - at railway stations (total)

Spain: Local Services - millions of travellers

Termini, Rome: F&B Outlets

€ 5,75

Rating:

Future-compatible

How to create foodservice concepts today that will still capture the spirit of the times tomorrow and satisfy future consumer needs and tastes? This is a key question at innumerable symposiums, congresses and market-research projects. One approach is to collect basic facts, study the parameters and evaluate trends. The other, to add intuition and inspiration. The best source of innovative impartiality: travelling, keeping your eyes open and learning. Hence our 'virtual' sightseeing tour of Europe to discover future-oriented ideas for concepts of supra-regional interest. Although the selection is subjective, the perspective is always professional. Country-by-country, we present 25 concepts - some individual, some already multiplied. The spectrum ranges from restaurants for kids to wine bars; from fast-food to a new interpretation of fine dining.

Macchiato's Mainland

Over the last three to five years no other subject has generated so much hope of growth in the away-from-home market as coffeebars. In many countries, coffeebars are one of the hottest segments. Starbucks, the US brand, is seen as the archetype. The bars represent a big new chance for multi-concept restaurant companies, young entrepreneurs and, of course, the roasters and the coffee-machine manufacturers. All efforts are aimed at the young generation, more and more of whom prefer to go without coffee unless it goes hand-in-hand with the appropriate lifestyle setting. The (European) coffeebar strongholds are London and Barcelona. Everybody is watching what the people from Seattle do in UK and Switzerland, their start in Zurich in March this year was very successful.

[33102 Zeichen]

Top 10 UK Coffeebar Chains

Spain: Top Coffeebars 2000

Germany: Top 10

€ 5,75

Meat-free and Healthy

Everywhere you look, sales of vegetarian meals are rocketing and not just since the BSE and foot-and-mouth crisis either. Vegetarianism has become nothing short of a mega trend amongst young female customers, who are deciding in droves to live on a meat-free diet. We analyse the concepts behind vegetarian restaurants and their evolution as well as the current status of vegetarian meals in 'normal' restaurants.