Foodservice-market analyst Horizons has highlighted exciting new opportunities for the sector such as street-food concepts, tea bars and British-themed restaurants, Brazilian rotisseries and shopping malls as showcases for emerging brands.
Launching its latest Ones to Watch survey, Horizons director of services Peter Backman used Westfield Stratford City as an example. He said: “There is a lot of competition amongst food outlets in malls, but securing sites within them is becoming vital for many quick-service operators. The fact Westfield has long opening hours, over 300 retail outlets as well as onsite entertainment in the form of a bowling alley, casino and 14 screen cinema, ensures a high footfall of hungry consumers, especially families and teenagers.”
The mall has more than 70 foodservice outlets in seven designated areas and food is a vital part of the offer. It is the UK’s third largest mall and features at least 15 emerging brands, which are showing rapid growth in the UK.
Foodservice areas in malls vary not only in location - including both indoor and outdoor opportunities - but in type. They typically include food courts, kiosk-style dining outlets, food markets as well as fast-casual dining and bar concepts aimed at the evening trade.
Backman said: “Malls are becoming a microcosm of the high street, with all the big names represented as well as smaller, emerging chains. They are also unforgiving - if a unit doesn’t work within a mall, then it is unlikely to work on the high street, so operators find out quickly whether their concept has staying power. Knowing the demographics of each shopping centre enables mall operators, and outlet owners, to take a far more sophisticated approach in targeting their audience with the right offer.”
The Horizons survey, which is released biannually, puts Byron, the gourmet burger brand, as the fastest growing concept of the past six months. It has expanded by 217 per cent between 2009 and 2012, going from just six outlets in 2009 to 19 in 2012.
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