Innovation is Intentional
Innovation is no longer a luxury in an ever-evolving world where businesses face a wealth of challenges.
The sheer pace at which the world is changing means innovation has to be both conscious and consistent.
Consumers have changed and continue to do so. Their demands and need for a personalised service impacts on food service and puts pressure on businesses to innovate and respond accordingly.
With this in mind, it is often difficult to have innovation at the core of a business, especially when there is so much else which requires attention in both planning and execution. Consistent innovation takes time, resources and a lot of research but when it is not only a core focus, but a passion too, the execution is likely to be smoother and more enjoyable.
"We really do back ourselves to deliver excellence and are excited about the future and what we deliver next.”
As a serious contender in the hospitality industry, Amadeus has grown in size and respect with some impressive contract successes in recent past. Amadeus has innovation at its core, fuelled by a passion to understand the market.
Marc Frankl, the F&B Director of Amadeus, reflected “We are always looking to the future and are driven by a constant quest to find the new and create the exciting. Inspiration comes from a variety of places and we make it an intentional part of our day to look at the world of food with enquiring eyes, looking at ways to change and adapt our offering to meet the desires of our guests.”
“Our chefs sit at the heart of this quest and with seven executive chefs we ensure that innovation is at the core of what they do. Innovation is part of our monthly meeting agenda and chefs love to bring and debate new inventions or ideas which they are looking to pursue. As you can imagine this does fuel some competition between them and some lively debates, but we all have a passion for innovation and a desire to inspire.”
Finding ideas and inspiration can sometimes be a difficult and time consuming process.
Marc continued: “Our suppliers are an important part of the Amadeus family and we are constantly engaging with them on new products and ideas on how we can work together to deliver the exceptional. Our in-house insights team is also essential as they provide us with invaluable monthly insights on market trends, interesting insights and other innovation happening abroad which we can use as part of the basis for our inspiration. We also love to ‘force feed’ our board and trial products during meetings, but don’t use any steering groups as we are really confident in our research as well as the talent and passion of our teams.”
“We believe in and actively support innovating wherever we can, and are comfortable with failing quickly if we must, learning from that and moving on swiftly, empowered by the experience.”
“Sometimes innovation has to be curated and we love looking at the food world through ’other eyes’. One such way is working in partnership with EP to curate food tours and explore places, foods, ideas and knowledge which we wouldn’t usually come across at our business. Our latest innovation came from inspiration we obtained while on an EP food tour in June of this year. “
“Veganism is here to stay and we were really excited to see how we could innovate in this space and provide delicious food options at some of our venues, meeting the increasing demand for vegan options. Just a few short months after the food tour we were very proud to introduce our new Vegan Wings and Vebab – the Ultimate Vegan Doner Kebab - to our Resorts World Arena and Arena Birmingham venues, completely selling out on the first night.”
Amadeus has a passion for both great food and service ––while also believing that it is technological innovation that can help take them to the next level.
Do you they always get it right? “No, definitely not!”, said Marc.
“But we believe and actively support innovating wherever we can, and are comfortable with failing quickly if we must, learning from that and moving on swiftly, empowered by the experience.”
“The other great thing is that because we are not tied to specific suppliers and are agile in our operations, we can simply focus on giving customers what they want and how they want it. The food and the service still needs to be excellent and I am so proud of how far we have come and all we have achieved in regards to innovation. We are constantly tweaking and refining our processes to ensure that we have it spot on, before moving to the next food adventure.”
“Many in our sector talk of tight margins and increased demands, but we love the challenge and think that, with innovation at our core, we actively embrace raising the bar and are passionate about delighting our customers at every possible opportunity. We really do back ourselves to deliver excellence and are excited about the future and what we deliver next.”
