Lebanon Issue No 1

Lebanese Food & Beverage market trends

Supply is steered by local and foreign entrepreneurs and is subject to fiercecompetition. However the market always manages to set the balance interms of chair numbers since incoming rivals replace less fortunate ones wholeave the business to keep competition even.

When screening outlets available in Lebanon, we shall not omit to includerooftop bars known as alfresco style bars. In fact outlets like Bubbles (PalmBeach), White (Al nahar building), sky bar (Biel), Le Capitole (Buddha Bar),Beiruf (Charles Helou Station), C-lounge (Bay View), Club 26 (Four Seasons),etc… are electrifying the Lebanese night scene,and despite their seasonalwork, they have been able to create a distinguished brand and have becomeextremely profitable, their GCA reaches 30$ in weekdays and 40$ in week-ends and their capacity level reaches 2,000 guests per night.

Diners, modernized Lebanese cuisine and hookah lounges come next. Dinerssuch as Roadster, Crepaway, Shtrumph, Bob’s, Nando’s and more, are suc-cessful thanks to their disciplined and standardized operational activitieswhich make all the difference. Modernized Lebanese cuisine such as Sem-som, Leila and others, have succeeded in bringing the traditional Lebanesefood to the new era of nouvelle cuisine by elaborating revolutionaries menuswith new, artistic presentations while conserving the same traditional tastewith a modernized twist to it. Hookah lounges outlets are a born-again trend,many entrepreneurs saw the opportunity, created customer awareness andmarket positioning, achieved the concept saliency and made it one of themost successful and sought-after concepts due to its lower start-up and oper-ating costs bearing in mind the relatively less expertise needed to operatesuch outlets. Concepts expected to reenter the market are theme and ethnic restaurantssuch as Le Rosé (Spanish), La Bodeguita del Medio (Cuban), Blue Elephant(Thai), India (Punjabi) among others.Kiosk trends are on the rise as well,crepes, frankfurters and simply coffee such as the Mountain Mudd.

Concepts on the decline are fast food courts and sushi.

January-June 2011

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The Lebanese food and beverage market is ex-tremely dynamic and its contribution to thecountry’s GDP is very significant. The sector’simpact does not affect solely the economicalfigures as it boosts the nation’s image as well.The success of this sector reflects the high stan-dards of the Lebanese professionalism andknow-how (supply) as well as the shimmeringand electric lifestyle of the people (demand).The health of the Lebanese food & beverage in-dustry is resulting from the continual motion ofsupply and demand; the two most importantfactors and the main driving force for any in-dustry to move forward.

Protocol Reveals

swenHospitality Management & Consultancy

Supply Demand

by Chadi Chidiac from Protocol

Demand (Customer) is the second and most important driving factor. The Lebanese market has three main categories of clients (locals, expatriates,and tourists) segmented into seven categories (dual income households,DINKS, YUPPIES, Generation X’ers, Generation Y, and Generation Z).

Under the loophole, All segments are targeted since, only a few years ago,not many restaurants and coffee-shops offered wireless connection. Howeversince the Lebanese market, a customer oriented market, detected the nicheand worked to hold the interest of three out of the seven market segments(i.e. young urban professionals, Generation Y, and Generation Z), many op-erators introduced the service.

The dual income no kids, the generation Y, and the young urban profession-als looking for prestigious venues to show their spending ability constitutethe customer base of the rooftops bars.

Local customers as well as foreigners are becoming more and more selectivedue to the brutal competition and to their international exposure, this is whyit has become a must for all investors in the food & beverage industry to beand act as professionals or seek professional assistance to secure long termviability.

Semsom Restaurant

White Lounge

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n How did you hear about Protocol?

I heard about Protocol from a business colleague who worked withProtocol and provided me with a very positive feedback about howprofessional the com-pany is. Being a wellstructured and system-atized company, wewere not facing seriousproblems but consideredconsultation a privilegeand not a must. The storybegan five years ago,they have been scoringhigh marks and we arevery satisfied from theirinput.

n What in your opinion Protocol has added to your operations?

n How do you describe the Lebanese food & beverage sector?

The Lebanese food & beverage sector is a dynamic market offeringthe highest quality of services in the area. Even though the countrycontains a vast array of food & beverage companies (catering,restaurants, hotels’ outlets, etc..), the market still unsaturated due tonumerous wedding ceremonies taking place on the high seasonstarting from the first of June till the end of August, the shoulder sea-son of skiing, Christmas and new year, as well as the frequency ofouting days which the Lebanese people enjoys leaving a space forall investors to enter the marketplace.

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Protocol Interviewed

n In your opinion what are the factors that make the difference for a winningfood & beverage organization?

Since evolving along with market trends makes all the differenceand maintains the competitive edge of any company, many first-classoperators are nowadays aware of the importance and benefits ofprofessional consultancy and outsource services that help them op-timize their operations in a highly competitive market and manage-ment is required to rethink and reinvent management styles andstrategies in order tokeep brand equity andbusiness sustainability.Customers’ tastes andpreferences shift overtime and move at afaster pace these days,this is why companieshave to keep up withmarket needs, as wellas with the newest ten-dencies and innova-tions.

Mr. Elias Roufael; a veteran in airlines catering services, managingdirector of the LBACC (Lebanese Beirut Airport Catering Company),with 15 years of management experience under his belt strongly be-lieves that planning, innovation and continual pursuit of evolution isthe essence of substantial success. Graduated with a degree inMBA from International College, he captured the opportunity to jointhe prestigious company and excelled at a steady pace in all the po-sitions he took, forging his career path all the way to the top of theprofessional ladder.

“Protocol’s strength lies in its highly dedicated and professional team, and most importantly their incli-

nation to always reach a win-win situation with their clients as well as working on a customer-oriented

basis with our customers”.

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CCABL eht fo reganaM lareneG

Protocol’s strength lies in its highly dedicated and professional teamarmed with wide experiencecurve, outstanding education andknow how allowing smooth andtrouble-free activities that saved uslot of headaches and most importantly their inclination to always reach a win-win situationwith their clients as well as working on a customer-oriented basiswith our customers.

“The story began five yearsago, they have been scoringhigh marks and we are verysatisfied from their input”

”many first-class operators are nowa-days aware of the importance and ben-efits of professional consultancy andoutsource services that help them opti-

mize their operations”all users expect you to live up to your promise and provide the bestquality - price ratio. Bottom line, value is a universal need and it’sany operator’s key of success.

n How do you perceive your relationship with the end user?

As we cater for the international market, we come across a wide arrayof preferences and values that vary from one country to another.Our job is to satisfy allneeds and tastes withoutcompromising our corpo-rate values. No matterhow tastes differ,

Gedco Center . 3rd Floor .Hayek Roundabout . Sin El-Fil . Telefax 961 1 510016/7P.O.Box 55-358 Beirut . Lebanon . Email protocol@protocollb.comWebsite www.protocollb.com

Protocol Hospitality Management & consultancy

LBACC (Lebanese Beirut Airport Catering Company) is an international airlines catering company, which was founded in 1969 bythe legendary industry guru Mr. Albert Abela, caters to almost 90% of the operating airlines at the RHIA (Rafic Harriri InternationalAirport), to name a few (MEA, Air France, Emirates Airlines, Lufthansa, Alitalia, Gulf Air, and more). With a production capacityreaching 10,000 meals per day, the 24/7 operating company is mainly owned by MEA (Middle East Airlines) and employs around420 employees on regular seasons and hires an extra 75 seasonal employee during high seasons.

Photographies by Emile Ghazali

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Protocol is conducting an operational audit for an Italian restaurantin Beirut in order to provide a complete assessment as well as adetailed, steps by step program to be undertaken in order to reor-ganize the restaurant’s operational activities. Protocol is also re-viewing all financial figures to appraise departmentalperformances and efficiency levels of all areas in order to formu-late the best strategy for maximum optimization.

Operational Audit & Strategy formulation of an Italian restaurant

Beirut, Lebanon

Protocol is elaborating a new concept for a sea shorerestaurant on the coast of Freetown, Sierra Leone.Protocol achieved the restaurant business plan with acomplete market review as well as the full financialprojection of the project. Protocol also will formulatethe project’s master plan and execute all construction,decoration and furnishing phases.

Protocol is conducting a feasibility study as well as abusiness plan for a Resto-pub concept in Jounieh - oldsouks. Protocol will also provide its partner (client) witha complete exterior/interior perspectives as well as op-erational recommendations and manuals. Protocol willalso help in recruitment and training activities for theworking team on both operational and managerial lev-els. The marketing plan and the promotional strategyis what protocol is working on as well in order toachieve the best market penetration.

Market study & Business planning for a Resto-pub

Jounieh, Lebanon

Concept development for a Lebanese restaurantt

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Development & Operation of a high-end university

food & beverage canteen

Byblos, Lebanon

Protocol has been assigned to plan and operate the food and beveragecanteen for a high-end university. Protocol was assigned to design andachieve the interior plan of the canteen as well as conduct a complete menubuilding and engineering, set all operational strategies for the delivery andtake away services as well as for the dine-in activities in addition to thescreening, selection and recruitment of all managers and staff in order tostart operations.

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Protocol Executed

Source: Protocol

Source: Protocol

Source: Protocol

Source: Protocol

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Protocol’s rewards night

It’s been a tradition for Protocol to recognize its team effortsby celebrating the awards night where the best performers ofthe company are compensated during a very special evening.The exceptional yearly dinner gathering the company’s share-holders, managers and employees enforces a family spirit inwhich Protocol strongly believes. The winners are selected ac-cording to the company’s department-specific standard ap-praisal system on a monthly and yearly basis in which all thepeople involved have the same opportunity to shine and thrive.Protocol’s shareholders insist on internal marketing strategiesand staff empowerment activities supported by incentive plansto boost job satisfaction and staff loyalty, moreover they missno chance to profit from such opportunities to stress on the or-ganization’s core principles and values, ethics and vision aswell as enlightening presence with the company’s future proj-ects and challenges as a way to increase professional ambi-tion, morale and excitement.

Training Course on Menu Engineering Approach

On the 7th and 8th of February 2011, Protocol will be holding a training courseon menu engineering and profitability index approach.

The course is an extremely valuable toolkit and a must for any restaurant owner,operator or manager wishing to improve his operational qualities and mana-gerial style and techniques. The course is conducted by professional instructors,in details and step by step on how to build, analyze and manage the menu inorder to optimize financial results. The training will be based on case studies aswell as on brainstorming debates. At the end of the course, every participantwill be handed a course booklet and a computer application.

Contact Protocol for more info about upcoming professional training programsand seminars.

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Protocol Announced

For more information about our services, projects and programs

Please visit our web-site www.protoollb.com

& Consultancy

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