Catering in 2022

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CATERING & HOSPITALITY

Catering sector planning on ‘doing more with less’ as it heads into 2022

by Herpreet Kaur Grewal

Industries such as hospitality and catering have particularly suffered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, a trends analysis from food consulting firm Coverpoint showed the food services industry in France, Germany and the UK had lost £69 billion in revenues over 2020.

Just as matters might have been getting back on track, data from jobs search engine Adzuna showed that job adverts in the hospitality and catering sector fell by 25 per cent the week after the Omicron variant was identified in the UK, and many companies and consumers cancelled Christmas events, marking another blow for the industry. The number of job adverts over time is an indicator of the demand for labour.

“Omicron has slammed the brakes on early for hospitality,” said Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna.

One of the initiatives launched to help employees in the sector was the Foodservice Circle – a platform offering support to those affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic. More than 20 companies and individuals from the food service sector joined forces to launch the project, which provided “a one-stop shop for all former team members, offering free training, counsel, advice and job opportunities”.

Wendy Bartlett, founder of Bartlett Mitchell and co-founder of the Foodservice Circle, said there was even more need for such an initiative. “As we move into 2022, the FSC will continue to maintain that role, as well as become a vehicle to promote the contract catering sector to the wider world.”

Chris Stern, a consultant in the sector and managing director of the Stern Consultancy, thinks that in terms of staff, the industry is at a similar place as it heads into 2022. He said: “It remains a bit of a nightmare but people are coping. Everyone is kind of holding their breath to see

what happens in the new year, especially as staff taken on for the Christmas rush are released. Salaries are increasing fast, especially at the top end, though some people are being unrealistic.” Stern added that “despite all the drama and pain around the pandemic, we seem to have returned to the key trends we were seeing before”.

Stern names these as sustainability, social enterprise collaboration, more local and seasonal sourcing, introducing street food into the workplace alongside a focus on the recognition of allergens and dining preferences and wellness of consumers. “Wellness remains an important driver and ensuring people have the option to eat healthily is massive in all sectors. The days of factory workers wanting stodge are over, though the choice still needs to be there.”

Chris Ince, chef director at caterer Atalian Servest, agrees. “Health and wellbeing are the primary areas of focus for 2022. The pandemic has impacted health in a multitude of ways. Obesity levels among primary school children, in particular, have significantly increased from the 2019-20 to 2020-21 school year. Twenty-eight per cent of children in reception are now overweight.”

Ince said this did not only affect the education sector. “In all sectors there is a need for healthy, nutrient-dense food with fresh ingredients with salt, sugar and fat intakes reduced. In response to this, we will be relaunching our health and wellbeing brand, Goodness.” Ince added that “the rise in plant-based alternatives cannot be underestimated” and his company is “committing to providing 50 per cent plantbased dishes across all sectors”.

Ian Thomas, CEO of Bartlett Mitchell (BM), does not think that 2022 will see pre-

The pandemic has impacted health in a multitude of ways. Obesity levels among primary school children, in particular, have significantly increased

pandemic levels of footfall in workplaces before the second quarter of the year.

“We are experiencing and expect to see further increased focus on catering and hospitality within corporate offices,” he said. A major trend the sector expects to dominate the next 12 months is companies trying to “entice their employees back to the workplace wherever and however possible”.

Working from home is not an easy option for catering/hospitality for obvious reasons, but Thomas also thinks “teams collaborate better when together, so moves are being made to create spaces, situations and opportunities to bring teams into the workplace as often as possible”.

Thomas said that the move isn’t “purely from a productivity perspective but also a major consideration as far as the wellbeing and team’s mental health”.

He added: “We are seeing more requests for experiential events where teams come together to cook, bake, eat. Socialising and connecting is very high on the business agenda and we expect this to continue throughout the next year.” Technology take-up

In terms of “newer and very much pandemic-related” trends, Stern believes that there is more use of technology both back and front of house. The workplace is also seeing more cashless transactions (disappearance of cash) and the return of subsidised food offers in the short term.

Tech take-up is “really motoring”, said Stern, despite the UK catering market’s reputation for slowness in this area. He added: “It will be interesting to see if caterers truly grasp the nettle and get people to use all of the features that are available”. He said caterers “are great at telling us they have the technology but not always so good at actually rolling it out” and “there’s still a disconnect between head office initiatives and actually making it happen”.

Thomas agrees with Stern about technology take-up. He said “the pace at which the uptake of technology has accelerated has been fantastic” and is confident that “this is something we expect to continue moving into 2022”.

“As a business, we now see tech solutions as standard, with our Pearpay app playing a significant part in over 60 per cent of all transactions,” Thomas said. The multifaceted Pearpay app enables teams to pre-pay, pre-order, click and collect, go cashless, self-serve and hospitality.

Thomas added: “It has changed the way we all work… The app also means we can run certain services 24 hours without the need for extensive labour costs.”

Labour shortages

The labour issue is something the company expects to continue into the new year.

“The industry is averaging 10/12 per cent staff vacancies, we are lucky to have retained so many great BM family members that our vacancy levels are lower than most caterers, however, we are trying to be more creative around our recruitment strategies, including how we can engage more young people through apprenticeships,” he added.

Ince thinks the labour shortage “will continue to present challenges, but this should not affect the food service offering to clients”. He thinks concept development for 2022 “needs to be engineered with the current labour shortages in mind”.

He said:“Preparation and serving times can be reduced if labour is restricted by reducing the number of components in a dish. Sites with fewer staff can pick and choose between these less labour-intensive menus whilst still serving innovative, delicious, and nutritious meals. It’s time for chefs to get even more creative.”

With a higher number of people working from home now, “pressured financial viability and labour shortages, self-serve solutions will become more popular for 2022,” said Ince.

He added: “Many people are still nervous about face-to-face contact with the pandemic still taking a grip on our daily lives. Virtual transactions will become more popular with mobile app scan and pay, mini-mart and vending suite options, for example. Although there will be a move away from more traditional counter solutions, restaurants will still provide a much-loved social meeting place. Maximising doing more with less is the general theme for the catering and hospitality sector for the year ahead.”