THE FUTURE OF FOOD & BEVERAGE (F&B)
Let’s explore the Future of Food and Beverage (F&B) in this episode of the Design & Hospitality podcast series featuring industry experts Alex Moser, Cluster Director of Food & Beverage at the Address Hotels + Resorts and James Knight-Paccheco, Co-Founder at Group JKP.
In this enlightening session, the speakers delve into pivotal aspects of the F&B landscape from addressing key initiatives for enhancing sustainability to highlighting the crucial link between mindful eating and individual well-being. Gain valuable insights into sustainable practices for F&B businesses and strategies to attract and retain skilled professionals. Our speakers also provide a glimpse into the future, offering predictions on the trends that will define the F&B industry, guiding businesses on staying ahead in this dynamic and ever-evolving sector. Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation filled with expertise and innovation, unraveling the secrets of the future of F&B.
Transcript:
Intro:
Welcome to the Design and Hospitality Podcasts! This is your weekly dose of inspiration, brought to you by INDEX and The Hotel Show.
In each episode, we invite visionary architects, industry experts, tech pioneers and enthusiasts to unpack bold ideas as we explore the latest global trends shaping the industry's future. So, turn up the volume and enter a world of creativity and insights.
Hello, I'm Shu, and today we are going to be talking about the future of FNB as a part of our Design and Hospitality podcast series.
Joining me are two highly admired FNB professionals, James Knight-Pacheco and Alex Moser.
Before we begin, would you like to introduce yourselves, please?
So, my name is James Knight-Pacheco.
I am the co-founder of Group JKP, I'm also the co-founder of the Dubai chefs collective.
My name is Alex I work for email hospitality group and I'm a chef for the last 24 years and really happy to be here I am so glad that you have joined us today.
Thank you so much for your time I'm super excited to actually understand a bit more about FNB and one of the key things that we hear is sustainability Which leads me actually to asking you?
What are some of the key initiatives or practices that FNB businesses can adopt to enhance sustainability?
sustainability within their operations nowadays.
Alex, would you like to go first?
Yeah, I think, you know, looking at the overall and looking especially at the hospitality segment, I think there's a lot of things from us to actually work on a more sustainable future.
Again, one of the main key initiatives which we are taking as a group is literally to reduce single-use plastic.
We implemented bottling plan in some of our hotels to really minimize the usage of this, you know, Food waste, I think, is one of the main factors we are constantly working on, you know, introducing life stations on the buffets rather than having this big cheving dish.
And again, I think everybody has a big part to play, even from the customer perspective.
Local farming is something which is very close to my heart, and I always believe that, you know, we as chefs need to get more initiatives on understanding where our product comes from, especially in the UAE.
surprisingly I came 20 years ago and there was nothing in the desert and now we literally have a lot of opportunities to source locally and I think we should you know focus on this more which obviously helps the carbon footprint and really helps the environment.
Yeah I totally agree I think number one the word sustainability gets thrown around a lot but people don't necessarily seem to understand it so I would like to have more of an education piece, not just from the government, but from everyone.
I think that's really important to understand it.
The local farming, I think absolutely.
In Dubai, we're used to sort of importing everything in, and that carbon footprint is massive.
So really, to work very closely with the government, certain individuals who understand about the land, and then actually work with everyone as closely as possible.
You know, everyone in Europe has been doing it for thousands of years, and I think, you know, we really need to focus on that.
So The sustainability is massive.
So talking about local farming, do you think this is something that has increased over time, something that you've seen massively happening within UAE?
Because I don't think this is something that has happened quite a lot.
Is this a newer concept?
Over the past four years, it's definitely been pushed.
Obviously, our land is not soil and super nutrient heavy.
So we've had to work with a lot of hydroponics, obviously, and that's been developed a huge amount.
As well as that, we've seen in Dibba, we've got the oysters, which is fantastic to see, and they're an international brand, which is beautiful to see here.
As well as that, I think there are so many smaller projects happening here, and it's really exciting to see.
What do you think?
No, I think exactly, I think the, first of all, I think where we all need to work on is awareness, because even you as an individual, as a consumer, you're not aware that there is a mushroom farm which is growing, the mushrooms growing in the UAE.
You're not aware probably that there's a fish farm who produces salmon in the UAE.
Again, oysters in Dubai I think is a great example.
So I think there's a lot of activities happening over the last year and I think the whole initiative of the UAE is to go more local.
So I think there will be in the future more communication around the subject.
And again, but I think we as a chef, I think we can already start with it already.
Now we don't have to wait for somebody in the government to make the announcement.
I think it's us already to understand where does the produce come from?
Do I really need to bring my oysters from Australia if I have amazing oysters in Dibba?
So that's something where we as a group also work very strongly to implement those communities and these farmers and actually give them also an opportunity.
So as chefs you are very mindful of how you know you are working with sustainability.
Now, talking from an individual's point of view, a term that is actually quite common now is mindful eating and how this actually caters to the overall well-being of individuals.
What do you think this can play in terms of a role within the FNB establishments for promoting mindful eating?
What can they do?
So as Alex mentioned earlier, there used to be a lot of, and still is, unfortunately, a lot of food waste.
And I think that, again, is something of an education piece.
And the mindful eating is obviously talking to people about making sure that they're not overeating as well as that and also healthy eating and being conscious about what they need to do.
And I know that hotels are doing a phenomenal job in playing a massive role in that.
They really are.
And the HR departments, the chefs, the F&B, they're really doing a phenomenal job.
but different restaurants, again, it's not so, they don't really focus on that too much, unfortunately, but when they're coming into the forefront of mindfulness and mental health and things like that, it will play a much bigger role here, I feel.
Yeah, and I think mindful is a very broad word which goes in all these segments of what we're talking about today, right?
I mean, mindfulness in terms of the environment, mindfulness in terms of what you really, What's your intake in your body?
Is it really necessary to bring this giant burger out and make a picture because it's cool on Instagram?
That's something everybody needs to ask themselves because again, it goes back to mindfulness, mindfulness of the environment and at the same time, also to see, is this really necessary, right?
And put nutrition on the menus, right?
See, and I give an example, we had a customer, he ordered pizza and he looked at it, your nutrition was 1,200, he said, oh, well, you know what, too many calories, I'm not gonna order the pizza.
Maybe that's something, you know, which again, the decision is on the individual, but I think we need to be there and explain and, you know, give people the opportunity to understand what's actually happening around them and not just get soaked into the environment we are in.
So mindfulness is a very, very important subject for the wellbeing of the human kind.
I personally think I need to pay more attention to mindfulness and mindful eating as well, I think after this podcast is done.
But do you think that this generation is more driven towards mindfulness, because of course things like mental well-being and wellness has come more into the picture now.
So is it a challenge, you know, when you're trying to invest in talent, retaining them, how do you actually attract and retain talent today?
I mean, yeah, talent obviously is the fundamentals of our business, right, because that's our future, that's where we have to invest in.
It's great that we have customers coming into the door, but yeah, we don't have the you know, employee the associates to support us That's obviously a challenge.
I mean to build people are more conscious Even the employees think they're more curious about what's the outcome of their job?
So I think it's our job is again as a group and as individuals to really, you know foster this Engagement to our associates give them an opportunity to learn You know make them feel loyal to us because in the end of the day if I look back at my mentors it was really about loyalty being with you know looking up to someone so we need to give them that platform and you know we are very strong on trainings and you know make sure that the goals are set so you also need to know where we are going in which direction are we going and I think if you put all that points together I think you have a great opportunity and chance to actually create a loyal talented employee and look everyone's very time poor these days, everyone.
So that sort of healthy work relationship you have to have.
You don't want to have a toxic work environment, number one.
Everybody talks about it.
They want to have more days off.
They want to be more comfortable.
But at the same time, if your employees feel that they're at home in their workplace, you're going to retain them.
That's really key.
And these days you see a lot more people, again, due due to, number one, the pandemic, things that are happening in the world.
Let's not forget that in Dubai, 90% of the expats here, their family are away.
So as you rightly said, you need to have those mentors that you feel that they're sort of family, especially within FMB, you spend so many hours with people, you know, and you really need to make them feel comfortable, listen to them, understand, yes, we do have a job to do, but if there's anything else that we can care for, what we can help you with, we really do that.
And I feel now that this is really being nurtured with larger hotels, restaurants, different individuals.
I think it's a really big deal.
And fortunately now, everybody is having those conversations as to what's going on.
Are you all right?
How can we help?
It's much better.
How's your family?
Exactly, exactly.
That question in Europe, we wouldn't ask necessarily how's your family.
Never, never.
Correct, that's true.
So, but no, I think it's got much better.
And the thing is, what I feel, and I've noticed a lot, is that the F&B industry general as a whole in this region, we tend to celebrate each other, we tend to support each other a lot more, and it's a beautiful ecosystem that works, not just from the farmers, not just from the government, but everyone involved.
We all want to really continue to be lifted up, and as you can see, what's happened over the past three, four years, regarding all the accolades, all the gastronomy, everything that's happening here, you can see how quickly we're moving.
And now the world is coming here and taking a real eye on us.
Yeah, we do have some fantastic homegrown brands as well.
And they're going abroad now.
Yeah, I'm sure.
And then Michelin Star, you know, local homegrown, so that really speaks volumes.
I would like to really touch base on something you mentioned on collab, celebrating and supporting non-toxic environments, loyalty, trainings, goal setting.
I think this is beyond FNB as well.
This is every organization, every industry.
I'm an employee, you're an employee.
So this just falls for everyone across organizations.
And I think the importance of wellness and mindfulness as employers is so much more important.
And I'm so glad that we can have these conversations now compared to you know back in the days where probably this concept was probably non-existent industry right yeah absolutely but you do really work long hours weekends the holidays I've had couple of friends in F&B so I do understand but it's really nice when you work as team you work as a family you're working in an ecosystem and you're not just working as a person alone, so great, it's really good to see that.
So besides this, there are a lot of emerging trends that come, they go, some of them hardly last, but what are a few of the emerging trends that you see are gonna shape the FNB industry over the next five to 10 years?
For me, I think not necessarily a trend, but I think something that we've touched upon and is going to carry on.
Sustainability?
Within sustainability, I think the vegan movement is going to be even bigger.
So I'll give you a live example.
You have a restaurant called Eleven Madison Park, who had three Michelin stars.
Before, they were all meat, fish, so on and so forth.
They changed to a vegan menu, and they were still charging the same super hardcore prices.
Now, when it comes to the sustainability, we know that when it comes to growing cattle, it's huge, huge, huge when it comes to the different numbers of, what do you call it, just the overall growth and the amount of effort it takes to grow one cattle.
Whereas with nature, we have that opportunity to work with the climate, with the season, so on and so forth.
So I think you're going to see a lot more of that.
even as a chef, it used to pain me, it was very painful, but now I have nothing against vegans.
I'm just saying that I feel that we're gonna be pushing even harder to basically work with so many more vegetables, to have restaurants which are completely vegan, eco-friendly, all of that sort of thing, I think it's gonna keep going.
And apart from that, the only other thing that I see moving forward, I can't ignore AI and I can't ignore robotics.
So I think that's something that as scary as it is, we have to embrace.
I don't wanna take away the human factor from cooking at all, but is it going to be with menus?
Is it going to be with reservations?
Is it going to be with certain types of preparations?
Because again, everybody wants to save money.
Efficiency.
And efficiency.
So I think those two things for me, I see growing and growing and growing.
What about you?
I think exactly the first part I think was one of the, I think is the most in your face movement, which is already happening and I think it's continuous.
So the plant-based movement, if you want to so-call it, definitely plays part, and if you look, just interesting fact, right?
80% of our farmland we are currently using in the world is used for live cattle, so which obviously needs to reduce drastically with the grow and I think that's definitely something which will play an important role.
I think- So those emissions as well.
100%.
So I think again, 11 Medicine Park is the best example of this, really going away from it.
And I think we, even if you see the consumer habits now over the last years, they have also drastically changed more questions about you don't have enough vegetarian, you don't have enough vegans.
So that's definitely moving forward.
I think one interesting fact, it might take a bit more than five to 10 years, but it's the new source of proteins.
I think insects is something which, you know, some people say, oh my God, insects, but looking at the protein source of insects will play in the next, yeah, more years to come an important role because again, you have more protein in a little cricket than probably in a piece of meat, which we should not underestimate.
So that's really something definitely which comes in.
And then again, I think farming, virtual farming in urban areas, which gonna become a very important role, Robotics will literally do the farming for you.
So it's largely individuals So there's there's a lot to come and it's gonna be very interesting for us to see how do women over this and I think and Again, we need to be always on top of our game because we want to understand what's going on So it's an interesting time ahead of us Would you consider becoming vegan?
Are you already vegan?
I mean, I need to I need to be honest with you I'm not vegan.
I'm not vegetarian.
I definitely reduce the you the the intake of meat a lot because I think there's a lot of bad meat out there in the market in the supermarket and I think it's something I just personally don't feel eating anymore just not because of the animal I mean I do care of the the well-being of the animals for sure but I reduce this a lot seafood the same I really make sure that I only eat the seafood where I know it's sourced sustainable in a way that we know the way it's coming from and you know it's not by trollers it's literally line cord you know so it consciously yes right so I look after vegetable the same you know if I have a chance to buy organic vegetable I would do buy organic vegetable so I do take care of it but I wouldn't say that I'm vegetarian yeah I mean I think I wouldn't say I'm vegan or vegetarian and I don't think I would ever turn that unless it was like a health from a health point of view however there are days when I'm just not eating any fish or meat I know there are lots of different hotels that also practicing meat-free days in their staff canteens to, again, reduce the emissions, so on and so forth.
And from a pure chef point of view, I think there is a fantastic opportunity and challenge to come up with vegan options, vegan menus, so on and so forth, because you do have, for example, this incredible mushroom farm, you know, and there's something that, there's so many things that you could do.
I need to really visit this mushroom farm.
Yeah, it's amazing.
That's really interesting.
From a creative perspective, it's really interesting.
And they have so many different types of mushrooms.
And if you're a geek, a food geek, mushrooms are now a super powerful food when it comes to brain health.
Interesting.
Honestly, when it comes to brain health and wellbeing of things.
So I think that's another thing is that that's gonna come into the forefront.
It sounds funny, but more mushrooms are coming in.
They're doing lots of tests in the US with specific psychedelic mushrooms in order to help people with depression, for example.
So it's very, very interesting.
And again, the insect side of things.
When I first started cooking, when I was, I think, at 15, 16, I saw a program about Thailand where they had deep-fried crickets and scorpions and stuff like that.
But actually, at the time, I didn't think it was disgusting.
I thought it was quite cool.
But I think it is happening from a nutritional point of view.
Surprisingly, again, 2 billion people in the world are already eating insects on a daily basis.
So we don't really know about it.
Again, I'm not going to say that you have restaurants which are going to serve only insect-based food, right?
But I think they're going to play an important role when it comes to protein supports in the future.
But you also have places like Noma in Copenhagen, who were already doing it 10, 15 years ago.
So it is playing a role, even in fine dining, which is quite interesting.
Would you become vegan?
No.
No.
And for no other reason, it's- What's wrong with vegans?
No offense.
I really respect the choices, but personally, I don't think that's a path I can ever go down to.
However, I do have to admit, I have had some of the plant-based food in Dubai.
I remember going in and having a burger, and I think even KFC has a plant-based menu back home, I don't really think it's over here, but I think they have developed, or they did try.
So the fact that even fast food joints are approaching it.
You've got the Impossible Burger, which is everywhere, which is basically a burger made up of completely sort of soya bean, you know?
And people love it, by the way.
Yeah, I had myself, I went for lunch to one of these cafes in City Walk, and I actually had a plant-based burger because the friend I went with was vegetarian, and we weren't that hungry.
So we said, OK, we're just going to split it.
How was it?
It was amazing.
I do have to admit that it was.
It was.
And I was so confused at that time because I didn't know how to explain it to her saying, you might be having meat, but you're not having meat.
And I think it's exciting to see what's ahead, but there's so much that I think I won't be able to give up to become a vegan.
No, no, I understand.
I mean, just recently, I went to Tressen Studio.
And they were doing this beautiful dish.
But it was predominantly, they said it was a noodle dish.
But the noodles were mushrooms, again.
And if you didn't, if you closed your eyes and you tasted the dish, you would never even know that these mushrooms were noodles or noodles or mushrooms.
So it was just very interesting.
It's such a good time to be in this industry, because there's so much that you can experiment with and that you can truly enjoy being a chef, especially with food.
So that does seem quite exciting over the years.
I just wanna touch on one thing very quickly.
You said robotics and AI.
One thing is for sure, no matter how advanced we get, I don't think robotics or AI could ever replace humans completely.
You always would need the human touch.
But do you think there might be a certain fear about adopting these technologies within the FNB industry?
I wouldn't say that there's a fear.
I think we will be smart enough to use this to our advantage.
And I think that there's, again, a lot of opportunities coming up, even when it comes to menu creation to a certain point, even to menu recommendation.
Of course, the practice, again, the human is really required, but overall, I do feel that it's more for the positive rather than the negative.
Yeah, no, I agree, but I think, to play devil's advocate, I believe that there's probably some level of fear because people don't necessarily are aware or they necessarily do not want to embrace it.
But I completely agree at the same time that you cannot take away from the human factor of things.
It's really important, you know?
Doesn't matter whether it's a pizza or doesn't matter if it's a fine dining meal or whatever, you can never replicate the heart and soul the human touch on certain dishes at all or any dish to be honest I'd like to be proven wrong the taste I mean you can't really yeah exactly put an AI behind a taste right I think it's something you might be able to you know the structure or the product or the selection but unite the final touch still has to be human for sure and also from it from a customer perspective I don't I mean person I'm talking personally I wouldn't want a robot to be cooking my food you You know what I mean?
I think it would just be weird.
I mean, I'm totally wrong.
Because I know that you can go to certain places and you have a vending machine that cooks pizza and they do all sorts of things.
But personally, I don't know how I'd feel about it.
Yeah.
So how do you think these emerging trends with businesses, how are businesses actually preparing themselves to stay ahead in this landscape?
Yeah, I think we are constantly looking at innovation and trying pilot projects to really see what is the response, because at the end of the day, we don't have the answer.
But I think we need to be on top of the game, and especially in the NEMA hospitality group, we really aim to make sure that we are on top of what's happening new in the market, and we try it out.
AI is launched, the AI consciousness, it's ongoing, so I think we are really on track, and sustainability definitely is one of the key elements and fundamentals we constantly drive, so every opportunity that comes our way, we'll definitely grab it.
Yeah, and I think, again, 50% of businesses are really pushing forward and looking ahead to trends, and I think 50% of businesses are not.
But with an F&B, I think we're moving in the right track.
There needs to be more education, again.
That's really key, and that needs to not just come from us as leaders, it also needs to come from the colleges.
These are the people who are, you know, they're the future of tomorrow.
So if colleges are not teaching these things, then there's something wrong, I feel.
But yes, we are pushing forward, we are looking ahead at all times, but the education piece must start even from schools and up.
Great.
Well, being mindful of time, I must have to admit that our wonderful discussion has come to an end.
But before we leave, would you like to leave the audience with some thought-provoking statements or anything you would like to leave them with?
I think be honest to yourself.
Don't try to fake yourself when it comes to dining.
Really look at good produce, good product, understand where the product comes from.
I think that's really a key element.
And, you know, yeah, just look out for yourself.
For me, don't become a vegan.
No, sorry.
With you on it.
No, no.
No, sorry.
So I think for me overall is embrace opportunities at all time and be open-minded.
And really for me, as always, the key thing is whatever you do with food, it's always a memory and it should be really happy.
So yeah, embrace change.
Well, that's all from James Naif Pacheco and Alex Moser.
Thank you so much for joining us and hope you enjoyed the podcast.
Thank you.
Have a good day.
Thanks a lot.
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