Several sessions at the Pub Leaders Summit, brought to you by McCAIN and Australian Hotelier, will focus on changes in consumer behaviour and spend, giving publicans plenty of insight on what’s happening in venues across the country.
The Pub Leaders Summit conference will kick off with a keynote from Craig Woolford, on ‘The Outlook for Consumer Spending and the Pub Market’. The keynote is brought to the Summit by platinum partner Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.
Woolford is a Senior Consumer and Discretionary Analyst at MST Marquee, prior to which he was the Head of Research for Citi Australia/NZ. He led a team of more than 40 staff responsible for analysing stocks, interest rates and the economy. Woolford was also the lead Consumer Analyst at Citi, leading the team that ranked top three with clients in both Retail and Food & Beverages. At MST Marquee, he works with companies across the entire value chain that helps give clients an independent and honest assessment of the industry’s outlook.
In his keynote, Woolford will talk through the factors that will impact consumer spending over the year ahead and cut through the noise around the outlook for topical economic issues such as interest rates and taxes. He will also provide a perspective about the issues impacting pub revenue and profitability.
“I’ll step through insights on how successful companies are responding to the challenges in order to grow profitability,” stated Woolford.
Focused on F&B
Not only will the keynote look at changing behaviours and the factors driving them, but other sessions throughout the day will delve into the topic, with venue operators discussing their insights, and how their business strategies have changed this year.
In the panel on ‘Shifting Beverage Consumption’, changing drink preferences will be the main topic of conversation. Luke Redington, group beverage manager at Momento Hospitality, is ready to talk about the group’s experience and how its venues are adapting to changing behaviours.
“As operators, we are always aiming to be aware and hopefully ahead of the guests beverage consumption through ever-changing occasions and the impact these occasions have on the categories of product we are selling,” states Redington.
“Targeting the growing occasions has been a real focus for Momento. This allows us to have the right products and promotions available at the right times while we are simultaneously maintaining our revenue management outcomes.”
Jimmy Curran, Group FOH Manager for Kickon Group, says being ahead of changing consumption patterns is something he thinks about quite a bit.
“We’ve seen some great innovation over the last 5-10 years in things like cocktails, cocktails on tap, craft beer, spirits, non-alc spirits and wine, and there are more accessible but quality products that are in the market, especially since covid and it’s fantastic.
“Our customers are now more educated than ever on these products and we continue to innovate, but what’s next? What is on the horizon that we can get excited about?”
Changing consumption trends in food will be another big topic of conversation. Eleanor Knight, Head of Growth Innovation ANZ at McCain Foods, will present specifically on these evolving consumer expectations, and the opportunities around food outside of peak meal times.
Alex Derrick, founder and director of The Rose and Crown in Southbank, Brisbane will discuss with the panel how the pub has had to change up its menu, particularly to off-set a decrease in spending power. This includes adding more entry-level lunch times dishes at a $20 price point, as well as increasing the cooking of the pubs snacks, which have seen a big increase in orders.
“It’s a real balancing act though; we certainly still get a lot of customers who seem immune from any restraints or who are out to celebrate an occasion so you want to have great premium options for them. We tend to skew our weekend menu and specials towards higher value dishes like a prime steak to share as a result, but it requires a lot of planning with a small menu.”
An array of insights on changing consumer behaviours – as well as many other topics affecting pub operations – will be discussed at the Pub Leaders Summit on Tuesday 10 September. With less than a fortnight until the event, grab your tickets now.