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EP Insights & Action

Expert observers comment on the Industry. This magazine is designed to bring together the thought leadership, ideas and opinions of leading consultants and operators from across the industry. EP's vision is to create an open narrative and debate that explains the perspective and thinking on the market and Industry. It will help all progress, so let us know your thoughts, subscribe and be involved.

Expert observers comment on the Industry. This magazine is designed to bring together the thought leadership, ideas and opinions of leading consultants and operators from across the industry. EP's vision is to create an open narrative and debate that explains the perspective and thinking on the market and Industry. It will help all progress, so let us know your thoughts, subscribe and be involved.

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<strong>Insights</strong> are great but<br />

then what do you do?<br />

Sodexo’s recently-appointed food transformation director, Adrian<br />

Evans, explains the importance of taking action following research.<br />

Having discovered what customers feel about their workplace and the impact it has<br />

on their productivity, what needs changing in the way workplace dining is delivered?<br />

We all rely on insight to ensure<br />

our offers are providing what<br />

the customer wants, not just<br />

what we think they want.<br />

We invest heavily in gathering insights and<br />

shouting about what we have learnt but what<br />

happens next?<br />

Using the results of our research amongst<br />

knowledge workers we are looking at how we<br />

can support our clients by delivering a bestin-class<br />

foodservice offer which not only<br />

positively impacts the productivity of their<br />

employees but their overall wellbeing too.<br />

One area which we cannot ignore is the<br />

impact technology is having on how we work.<br />

Longer working hours and larger amounts<br />

of information being processed mean the<br />

mental and physical health of employees and<br />

creating social spaces for them to interact<br />

has never been more important.<br />

As we all know food is brain fuel and<br />

without it we simply cannot function at our<br />

best. With 10 out of 21 meals eaten at work,<br />

foodservice providers have a key role and<br />

responsibility in ensuring people have access<br />

to healthy, nutritious meals which they want<br />

to eat. With such a large proportion of meals<br />

eaten at work, we do have an influence on the<br />

food choices people make at home too.<br />

It is not simply about ensuring we provide<br />

healthy choices, we need to strive to create<br />

the right food experience by providing the<br />

healthiest choice as the best and favoured<br />

choice. Today’s consumer wants more<br />

than what is put on their plate – they are<br />

looking for a whole experience. To satisfy<br />

this need we need to look at the whole<br />

customer journey, from ambience,<br />

environment and choice through to<br />

availability and frequency – work is<br />

changing, so is the workplace and therefore<br />

workplace dining has to change too.<br />

We are working closely with our clients<br />

to help ensure the foodservice offering is<br />

aligned to the workplace strategy of their<br />

organisation. Some are more advanced<br />

than others but the common theme is<br />

collaboration and understanding the<br />

customer needs.<br />

Our research revealed we are moving<br />

away from just breakfast and lunch<br />

service. The restaurant space can become<br />

an expensive space if it is not utilised<br />

throughout the day. We are all more<br />

mobile, we work in a less structured way,<br />

the restaurant offers the opportunity for<br />

colleagues to collaborate more, restaurants<br />

need to be designed to help encourage those<br />

all-important casual collisions, enabling<br />

teams to collaborate, which in turn helps the<br />

organisation succeed as its people are more<br />

engaged and productive.<br />

For the last nine years, before joining<br />

Sodexo, I led the operations for Google’s food<br />

programme across its offices in Europe, the<br />

Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific region.<br />

Although it was a free issue programme I<br />

truly believe we as foodservice providers<br />

have to look at this model and make it work<br />

in a commercial operation as it really is the<br />

way forward for organisations which rely on<br />

their people to make their business a success.<br />

By making food important again,<br />

restaurants and dining spaces can become<br />

active social hubs that improve productivity<br />

and communication. By opening restaurants<br />

for longer hours, extending food offers,<br />

28 | <strong>Insights</strong> & <strong>Action</strong> | July 2017

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