Tim Collett, Managing Director of Specialized Events.
For this exclusive interview, Tim Collett, Managing Director of Specialized Events, the organizer of Foodservice Australia, expressed his enthusiasm for the first-time collaboration with Retail World.
Foodservice Australia, which started as a hospitality event, has drawn increasing interest from convenience stores and supermarkets in recent years.
"Not only can we help them with food-to-go options, but many exhibitors also offer retail packaging," Collett told Retail World. "I encourage all grocers to come along and discover a whole new world of ideas."
How has the current climate changed and how has the food service sector been defined?
Foodservice has just had one of the most challenging years you can imagine. Lockdowns literally closed dining rooms across the country. Commercial catering in schools, universities, airlines, cruise lines and resorts has stopped. The central business districts remain calm as people continue to work from home. In the meantime, grocery retailing was picking up, and outlets that could focus on take-away were actually doing quite well.
What we are now seeing in the food service sector is a more pragmatic look at the food sales business. Prices are rising, technology is reducing labor, menus are tightening, table bookings are making deposits, and set menus are more common. In the meantime, take-away and take-home are still popular, and we're seeing the quick service restaurants and delivery services are spending a ton of advertising dollars.
Read the interview with Foodservice Australia in the May issue of Retail World magazine.
