LAUNCH OF THE 2021 EDITION OF THE SANDWICH & SNACK SHOW AND PARIZZA
DISCUSSION WITH:
Béatrice GRAVIER
Show Director
Sandwich & Snack Show and Parizza
YOUR SECTOR AND THE RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY HAVE BEEN SEVERELY IMPACTED SINCE 2020, WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE PERSPECTIVES FOR RECOVERY AND THE FUTURE?
The fast-food sector has obviously been hit hard, like all the catering industry, but it has been able to respond to the new needs of consumers, innovate by being agile and differentiate itself with digital strategies focused on take-away food.
Snacking will continue to evolve and take an increasingly important part in the catering landscape. The Panorama B.R.A. study shows that more than 9 out of 10 concepts opened during the crisis period are fast food concepts.
Dark kitchens (restaurant/virtual brand) are going to be an interesting solution for many restaurant owners who have suffered from the crisis, in order to reduce their fixed expenses, but also to increase their visibility and their customer catchment area.
The recovery has been very strong and even explosive for those who have taken the digital turn! The demand is there, the French are showing their desire to return to a normal life and to consume. The traditional restaurant and snacking industries should benefit from this “back to normal” movement. It is now up to restaurant professionals to renew themselves, to remain agile and on the lookout for the latest trends to keep customers interested in their establishment.
Consumers are increasingly looking for an experience, they prefer concepts, healthy food, the beautiful, the Instagrammable … which opens new opportunities for the most enterprising restaurant professionals.
WHAT WILL BE THE MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY FOLLOWING THE CRISIS?
The product is the first challenge. Consumers are becoming more and more demanding about the quality of the products they eat. Many people have cooked during the lockdowns and have thus acquired a more detailed knowledge of cooking. Consumers are better educated, they reduce waste, they change their way of eating, they look at the source and seasonality of products. Restaurateurs must take this into account and adapt by reviewing their offers.
The new regulation on packaging is another challenge for professionals. They have to review their containers in a short timeframe, and even readapt their kitchen facilities accordingly.
The challenge of digital and new distribution channels is also real. Click & collect and take-away will continue and even increase with the development of dark kitchens, drives, open kitchens and boxed meals.
Finally, competition is more aggressive with increasingly qualitative and innovative offers from supermarkets, travel retail and food service companies.
TELL US ABOUT THE SANDWICH & SNACK SHOW AND PARIZZA
Sandwich & Snack Show and Parizza are the leading events for all the players in the snacking and Italian gastronomy sector. For two days, professionals from the fast food and food to go sectors come to meet suppliers, get new ideas, attend conferences, meet industry experts and develop their professional network.
It’s also an opportunity to attend the French Pizza and Sushi Championships, prize-giving ceremonies, show cooking and to discover over 300 food and equipment innovations. Nearly 300 suppliers and 9,500 professionals are expected at the next edition from October 13 to 14, 2021.
WHAT WILL BE THE NEW FEATURES AND HIGHLIGHTS TO DISCOVER?
This 2021 edition will be particularly important for the sector, which has undergone a profound upheaval. Our exhibitors will be keen to introduce to professionals their innovations in line with new consumer expectations, in particular sustainable products, hybrid products that can satisfy little snacks, non-alcoholic beverages that are now a real business lever, but also creative and differentiating products to stand out from the competition.
In addition, the show will feature the French Pizza Championship, the French Sushi Championship, a two-day program of conferences that will address new trends in snacking as well as current topics such as digital, packaging, dark kitchen, local and organic sourcing, veggy food…
Product innovations will be presented in the Snacking d’Or area and finally, professionals will be able to attend the Snack Academy competition and BRA awards.
WHAT WILL YOUR EXHIBITIONS LOOK LIKE IN THIS PERIOD OF HEALTH CRISIS?
Our priority this year is to be able to welcome our customers, partners, service providers and teams in optimal safety conditions. We are working on the implementation of a sanitary protocol in line with government regulations to allow everyone to enjoy the show in complete serenity.
Sandwich & Snack Show and Parizza are highly anticipated leading trade shows. Our partners, experts in the sector, are working with us to deliver all the content that professionals need to revitalise their business in this period of recovery.
Key suppliers in the industry are also taking part and will be presenting their innovations and new products in food, beverages, kitchen equipment, technology, packaging and services.
The 2021 edition of Sandwich & Snack Show and Parizza will meet the expectations of professionals, as every year.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO DEVELOP THE EH! ONLINE PLATFORM?
In the current context, Hospitality and Foodservice professionals express a strong need for reconnection and support. This is why we’ve launched eh! ONLINE, our new digital platform, in addition to EquipHotel. With free access for professionals, eh! ONLINE allows hotel owners, restaurateurs and hospitality specifiers to connect with their suppliers throughout the year. Each supplier benefits from a complete personalised profile (contact details, description of his company, visuals and product sheets, news) which facilitates the connection.
eh! ONLINE is also designed as a source of inspiration and a tool for dialogue, exchange of ideas and best practices between professionals. Thus, the heading eh! Daily section regularly offers free access to a series of French or English content related to Foodservice, Renovation & Design, Technology, Wellness and Franchise & Services.
Discover Sandwich & Snack Show and Parizza in one infographic!
EXPERT FOCUS
Paul FEDELE
Chef Editor
FRANCE SNACKING
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR UPCOMING TRENDS FOR THE FAST FOOD SECTOR?
While the traditional restaurant industry was out for many months, the snacking world has been able to take advantage of take-out, delivery and drive-through sales. Many food retail brands did resist well, and some did really outperform.
But whatever the case, 2020 will remain for all of them a year of trials that has shaken up business models, organizations and pushed for transformation.
Covid has accelerated the changes that were underway, particularly in digital and technology.
Omnichannel distribution has become the rule. Customers are welcomed onsite but also digitally. The food industry did it well by being agile and where clients were expecting it.
Snacking has taken advantage of the situation and continues to gain market shares because professionals understand very rapidly the new expectations of customers. When more quality, proximity or trust is requested by clients, burgers and sandwiches reinvent themselves and get premium and local products.
In addition to sushi, which remains in the top 3 of the most ordered dishes on delivery platforms, alongside burgers and pizza, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean dishes are making a noticeable breakthrough.
The craze for healthy food is still boosting the poké and salad’bar themes, while more generally with French people going green, vegetarian food is establishing itself as one of the sure values of today and tomorrow in all segments of fast food in search of alternatives to animal protein.
This does not prevent the QRS (Quick Restaurant Service) industry from surfing just as strongly on regressive products and ultra greediness because the limits of a functional and constrained catering are also the “let go” options.
Seducing communities with or without a diet, making the offer stick to current trends, playing on paradoxes, snacking, whether it is a concept or a product, remains more than ever a fertile ground for experimentation, contradictions and launches. This is evidenced by all kinds of experiments with recipes or drinks with CBD, drinks made with water or fermented milk, alternatives to meat or milk.
Julien PANET
Director of Publication – FRANCE PIZZA
President – French Pizza Association
WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR RECOVERY AND THE FUTURE, AS WELL AS THE MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR THE ITALIAN GASTRONOMY SECTOR?
Parizza, the leading trade show for Pizza and Italian gastronomy, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Covering all sectors of the Italian restaurant industry, Parizza is the event to discover product and equipment innovations that will help recover quickly.
During the Covid crisis, the industry players were very responsive and managed to innovate and adapt with takeaway sales, click and collect, delivery, digitalization…
They will surely have to rethink their cash flow management, food safety, service, identify and respond to the new expectations of customers. But customers are still there and happy to show solidarity and loyalty to trustable and quality oriented restaurant owners.
Customers are looking for an experience, they don’t want just to be fed and this is a growing trend.
In order not to compromise or disappoint, some restaurant owners preferred to remain inactive rather than offer a degraded product that does not meet their requirements.
Circumstances did not prevent new projects from hatching and meeting their public, based on trends, aiming at the ephemeral, the fashion effect for some but also on the sustainable for others.
Italian cuisine restaurants are flourishing because they are always associated with the destination Italy, accessible, flavors, evoking as much the escape, the well-being, the sun, the singing accent…
A major issue will be that of eco-responsibility, which is undermined by the profusion of containers put on the market to compensate for the impossibility of consumption on site.
Another issue concerns the delivery players, rejected by many chefs who refused to make good food to put it in a “dirty pipeline”.
Nicolas NOUCHI
Global Head of Market Research
CHD EXPERT
WHAT RECOVERY CAN THE FAST FOOD SECTOR EXPECT?
The fast-food sector has less suffered from the sanitary measures and the lockdowns. Consumers enjoy snacking and fast-food and this sector will continue to grow after the Covid crisis.
Fast food is plural, creative and limitless. It ‘s appealing for consumers of all ages, at any time, in any place. Fast food breaks boundaries and is available everywhere, in a hotel, in a bakery, in a casual or dining restaurant, in a corporate office.
Fast food is not only for taking away even if delivery saved the industry during the crisis. On-site consumption of fast food has still growth opportunities. Fast food is therefore a promising sector with challenges but with all good reasons to invest in.
