Shopping centres across Europe and the Middle East need to do more to close the gap between the aspirational shopping experience and current food and beverage offers, reports property advisor, CBRE. In its recent Food and Beverage report, 67 percent of visitors to shopping centres had something to eat in the last 12 months, but only 7 percent rated their last F&B visit as excellent.
The report highlights the requirement for better food and beverage quality. 45 percent want to see more healthy or organic food, with 43 percent looking for innovative offerings. Across the 22 markets across EMEA, there is a desire and willingness for new independent and pop-up/new concept restaurants (34 percent) and coffee shops (33 percent).
Andrew Phipps, Head of Retail Research and Consulting, CBRE EMEA, commented: “Customers are becoming more discerning and are raising the bar in terms of expectations. They are becoming more engaged by quality and their expectations in terms of a well-rounded shopping centre ‘experience’ is getting higher and higher. Customers are looking for the full retail experience where luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton sit comfortably alongside Gordon Ramsey. Currently there is a lack of parity and the growth of aspirational retail is not translating into the food and beverage offer in shopping centres.”
The desire from consumers for newness and excitement has promoted some landlords to embrace the opportunity to try different concepts.
Peter Gold, Head of EMEA Cross Border Retail, CBRE said: “The concept of a food court has developed. The ‘new’ food court has to be supported by the provision of small ‘collections’ of operators in dedicated spaces around the centre or in having operators dotted between relevant retail brands. Retail brands are no longer hesitant as they once may have been about having a food operator next door. They see the benefit in someone perhaps taking time over an espresso to think over a purchase decision.”
Michail Rogozhin, Managing Director of Retail Department, СBRE in Russia, said: “While Russian consumers save on cafes and restaurants because of the crisis, shopping centers with F&B operators will have higher traffic and be more attractive for customers. Thirty percent of Russians visit shopping centers only in order to eat on food-courts or in cafes and restaurants. So it’s not surprising, almost 15 new international F&B chains entered the Russian market that during last two years, and existing market leaders are continuing active expansions.”
