afternoon tea middle east

INTERNATIONAL TRADE JOURNALFOR THE HOTEL, RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY

D 58008

EDITION 4/2013www.food-service-europe.com

www.cafe-future.net

Special Features: Foodservice Markets Austria, France, Sweden and USA

fse04_001_Titel.indd 1fse04_001_Titel.indd 1 12.08.13 08:5212.08.13 08:52

■ ■ ■ page 46 Martin Kuczmarski, operations director at Soho House Group, explains the philosophy of the members’ club concept with outlets in major cities of Europe, North America and soon, Asia, including an innovative approach towards foodservice.

Verlagsgruppe Deutscher Fachverlag

Mainzer Landstrasse 251 | 60326 Frankfurt/Main | Germany

Phone +49.69.7595-1512 | Fax +49.69.7595-1510

[email protected]

page 22 ■ ■ ■

Where dreams come true … In our Hot Trend Section, we

visit selected, sought-after locations for wedding events

throughout Europe. It’s all about an unforgettable,

unique experience for the couple and their guests,

imbedded in a distinctive, atmospheric setting.

3FOODSERVICE EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST 4/13

page 58 ■ ■ ■

Inspiring views on table decor-ation: Meyer, a Frankfurt-based company focusing on the event

business, has developed a highly distinctive style of its own, combining flowers

and vegetables to create stunning looks.

front cover ■ ■ ■

Flower power signed by Meyer Catering, Frankfurt: breath-taking, opulent table top orchestration – variety tamed by a strictly defined colour code.

Photo: Ernst Stratmann, www.photx.de

CONTENTS

4 Editorial

6 Statistics Europe by Numbers

8 Pan-European SurveyRestaurants at Universities: Green, Healthy & Affordable (Part I)

22 Hot TrendWedding Locations: Distinctive, Atmospheric Settings for the ‘Best Day of Your Life’

Market Analyses

28 Austria Facts and Figures, Top Players, Profes-sionals’ Views on Market Characteristics

36 France Sales Ranking: Top 51 Foodservice Players 2012

40 Sweden Sales Ranking: Top 25 Fast Food Players 2012

42 USA Sales Ranking: Top 100 Foodservice Chains 2012

46 InterviewMartin Kuczmarski, Operations Director of London-based Soho House Group

Middle East Section

54 F&B in Hotels Afternoon Tea Is Flourishing: Concepts of Selected Luxury Hotels

58 Event Design Highly Creative Table Top Orchestrations by Frankfurt’s Premium Restaurant and Catering Company, Meyer

60 Take-away Three Exemplary Formulas in Profile – from Austria via Germany to the UK

62 Quickservice McDonald’s: An Analytic Glance at the World’s Biggest Foodservice Player’s Latest Global Figures

64 Quickservice Yum! Restaurants International: 2012 Sales Growth Stronger than Unit Growth in Europe

66 Travel Munich Airport: Foodservice at Germany’s Second largest Airport Banks on Local Brands

69 Contributing Authors

70 Suppliers Major Contribution to Fresher, Healthier Eating: Vitamix, a US-based Manufacturer of High-spec Blenders

72 SuppliersTop Trend Products: Suppliers Present their Latest F&B and Equipment Solutions

74 Show Dates Major International Trade Fairs and Events

fse04_003_Inhalt.indd 3fse04_003_Inhalt.indd 3 13.08.13 08:0713.08.13 08:07

Tea is deeply rooted in many Arab cul-tures with a tradition that goes back until some 1,200 years ago. It plays a key role in the Middle East for ceremonies and social gatherings when it is more than usual that guests of a household are offered tea. While in Europe only an average of about 5% of tea is consumed out of home, the Middle Eastern tea houses, shisha cafes and restaurants have a considerable share of the market. Along with the expansion of modern coffee shops, particularly visible in the countries of the GCC, tea has bene-fited as well albeit to a lower degree than the sales of its big competitor coffee. Tea is the second most popular drink after water, and the region’s tea market is flourishing. However, the increase of high quality tea products is very much driven by Western lifestyle and consumption patterns. Tak-ing afternoon tea in the fancy environ-ment of a five star hotel is a relatively young phenomenon in the Middle East that has been promoted by F&B oper-ators who need to fill the lull between

lunch and dinner. Moreover, it helps to offer a point of differentiation from a ho-tel’s key competitors.

Maintaining the customer base

“The afternoon tea is an important source of revenue on weekends and for special events,” says Petra Zsok, Assistant Man-ager of the Tea Lounge at the Four Sea-sons Doha. She adds: “It helps us to main-tain a steady customer base as well as to introduce new guests to our Lounge.” For around ¤30 guests can experience a typi-cal English afternoon tea with a contem-porary twist. Mini sandwiches, tea pas-tries and bakery selection are presented on a three-level stand while the condi-ments set for jam and cream is served on the side. On average, 200 guests are served per day.“Food is very important,” says Zsok. “The menu is changed on a regular basis. Visu-al presentation of the afternoon tea items

FOODSERVICE EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST 4/13

It’s Tea Time!Gone are the days when afternoon tea in a lavish hotel was seen as a stiff event, catering to a predominantly female clientele in their 50s and 60s. In today’s hospitality industry the tea business is growing steadily and the tradition of taking afternoon tea has become popular among families and the younger generation as well. In the Middle East tea has a long tradition and the F&B offers from the five star hotels play an import-ant role on the local scenes. Bettina Quabius explores the afternoon tea concepts of some of the major hotel players in the region and discovers what makes the experience so special.

54

Madinat Jumeirah

St. Regis

Madinat Jumeirah, Fayrooz Lounge

Four Seasons

fse04_054_057_HighTea.indd 54fse04_054_057_HighTea.indd 54 13.08.13 12:2213.08.13 12:22

is equally important as the quality and taste of the offerings.” Typical items at the Tea Lounge are scones, crumpet, mini sandwiches, choux pastry, macaroons and Eng-lish fruit cake. For special occa-sions such as Christmas, Valen-tine’s Day or the Arabic Mother’s Day, the hotels offers theme-relat-ed afternoon tea sets and once in a while some Arabic treats are a part of the sets. However, since the lo-cal clientele – mostly Qatari ladies and expats from the UK – prefers a more Occidental style of the after-noon tea, most items are inter-national.Tea drinking habits in the region have evolved over the years with a much wider variety of teas and the discovery of the health benefits of tea, particularly Green Tea. “Most of our teas are loose leaf and are supplied by Canadian purveyor Tealeaves,” says Zsok. “Green Tea is our top seller, including Moroc-can Green Tea. Our guests’ tea choices relate to both their cultural background and personal prefer-ence. Most guests directly ask for their preferred tea, without looking at the menu.” Compared to previ-ous years, guests are more willing to try new flavours. True ‘tea lov-ers’ therefore are offered a selec-tion of organic teas and special tea

flavours and blends that can only be found within the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. www.fourseasons.com/doha

Presentation and at-mosphere

Afternoon tea at The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain Hotel & Spa is served from 4 to 6 pm in the Ritz Gourmet Lounge. It’s all about presentation and atmosphere: the authentic French interior design of the lounge is inspired by the Parisian ‘Salon de The’ and the Cesar Ritz legacy, featuring wooden panels, marble flooring, rich wooden fur-niture and classic curtains. The ‘Afternoon Tea Experience’ costs ¤30 and includes finger sandwich-es, scones, French mini gateaux and a choice of tea, alternatively the guest can choose from the à-la-carte menu. Imported leaf teas from Sri Lanka, China and South America are on offer from the tea trolley, freshly cut in front of the guest and served in silver pots. www.ritzcarlton.comAt Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, trad-itional afternoon tea at both, the Al Samar Lounge in Mina A’Salam and the Al Fayrooz Lounge in Al Qasr, is very popular among in-house-guests and local female ex-

■ ■ ■ Food Collection ■

– Typical items included in Madi-nat Jumeirah’s Afternoon Tea –Raisin Scones – traditional scone with raisins served with strawber-ry jam, lemon curd and Devon-shire cream Plain Scones – traditional scone served with strawberry jam, lem-on curd and Devonshire cream Toasted Tea Cake – ‘freshly toast-ed’ sweet roll with currents and lemon peel with a sweet glaze English Fruit Cake – a light fruit cake filled with raisins, currants

and candied cherries and citrus peelSpiced Gingerbread Cake – a moist cake infused with cloves, cin-namon, nutmeg, ginger and vanillaBlueberry Mille Feuille – layers of crisp puff pastry sandwiched together with rich custard, fresh blueberries and topped with sweet fondant Fresh Strawberry Tart – sweet pastry filled with custard, fresh glazed strawberries and surrounded with coconutChocolate Éclair – Choux pastry filled with chocolate filling and glazed with chocolate fondant and edible gold leaf

FOODSERVICE EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST 4/13


pats alike. “It’s perfect for catching up with friends or an alternative way to host an informal meeting,” says Felix Hart-mann, Mina A’Salam F&B Manager. “And it is a dignified and elegant way to spend an afternoon. Our classical piano player creates a relaxing, refined, and calm at-mosphere for guests to feel comfortable and enjoy their afternoon tea.” Club Executive Guests can take their tea in the Club Lounge, it is complimentary as part of their room package. Prices range from ¤35 for a regular afternoon tea package to ¤50, inclusive of champagne.

Special flavours

While English Breakfast and Earl Grey are still the most popular teas at the Madinat Jumeirah venues, new varieties and healthy solutions such as Green Tea and Jasmine Tea are more and more in de-mand. Organic tea and herbal infusion with a large variety of flavours are also growing in popularity as is the semi-fer-mented Oolong Tea. Children are taken care of as well: they can order specially made tea with bubble-gum/hibiscus fla-

vour and coloured organic sugar along-side.A selection of dainty finger sandwiches, delicate cakes and scones are a must for every afternoon tea offer. “You cannot have an afternoon tea without food,” says Hartmann and continues: “It’s all part of the history, the presentation, the ritual and the whole experience. Our selection (see box on page 55) is adapted during the year, and we have themes such as Valen-tine’s, Halloween, Festive. In the coming weeks, a fully stocked trolley will be added to afternoon tea. It will include a combin-ation of miniature cupcakes in a range of classical flavours, homemade candies and chocolates all included in the after-noon tea price.”www.jumeirah.com/madinatjumeirah

Tradition with a modern twist

At the newly opened St. Regis Abu Dhabi the tradition of afternoon tea is part of the brand’s legacy dating back to the 1900s when Lady Caroline Astor would host at The St. Regis New York intimate gather-

ings of her high society friends with an in-dulgent selection of sweet and savoury treats. Her tea-serving occasions quickly took on and developed into an estab-lished ritual at St. Regis locations across the globe. In Abu Dhabi, renowned celeb-rity and Michelin-starred chef Gary Rho-des designed an afternoon tea concept that ensures the authenticity of the Eng-lish tradition. Paul Laupton, Head Chef of Rhodes 44, explains: “When guests come to the St. Regis Abu Dhabi for an after-noon tea, we want them to become im-mersed in the same seductive and sophis-ticated sensations that they could expect to find in the grand hotels of London.” Rhodes created a menu that adheres to the classics such as homemade scones with Cornish clotted cream and strawber-ry jam, Dundee cakes, crumpets and Ea-ton Mess. “Afternoon tea is more about the experience, a way in which we estab-lish a bond with our guests through the offering of a bespoke ritual,” Laupton says. “One of our integral team members is a highly experienced tea sommelier, Ting-Ya Chuang, who prepares signature infusions according to each individual

“Afternoon tea is a dignified and ele-gant way to spend an afternoon. Per-fect for catching up with friends or an alternative way to host an informal meeting.” Felix Hartmann, F&B Manager Mina A’Salam, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai

“The afternoon tea is an important source of revenue in the weekends and for special events. It helps us maintain a steady customer base as well as to in-troduce new guests to our Lounge.” Petra Zsok, Assistant Manager Tea Lounge, Four Seasons Hotel, Doha

“At St. Regis, we celebrate three daily rituals: The Bloody Mary Ritual, The Tea Ritual, and The Evening Ritual. Each symbolically celebrates our unique her-itage and brings key elements from our storied past to life for our guests.” Paul Laupton, Head Chef of Rhodes 44, St. Regis, Abu Dhabi

“The subtle lounge music, the perfect ambiance add to the unique Phoenicia tea ceremony experience – indulgent and glamorous, promising to take you to another world where you soon will become a regular visitor.” Ahmad Oraibi, Cascade and Wok Wok Manager, Phoenicia Hotel, Beirut

Phoenicia Hotel The Ritz-Carlton


guest’s preference and palate.” Ting Ya-Chuang and her team are working with different suppliers all around the world instead of one single supplier: “We have scoured the world looking for the best qual-ity, premium tasting teas and have partnered with a number of high-grade, professional suppliers to en-sure that the quality of tea we pro-vide is the best it can be,” says Chuang. While Green Tea has been the leader in the tea drinking mar-ket for the past ten years, the tea sommelier has noted a growing trend towards Oolong and Pu-erh Tea thanks to an increasing under-standing of their superb health properties, benefits and their unique taste.Plans are to provide daily trad-itional tea ceremonies from around the world, which will last 10-15 minutes and take place at 4 pm during the middle of the afternoon tea serving period. In addition to the ‘Classic Afternoon Tea’ which starts at ¤30 per person, a ‘Cham-pagne Traditional Afternoon Tea’ (¤42) is served in the Crystal Lounge on the mezzanine level of the hotel. Ladies who wish to so-cialize in privacy could have ar-ranged a service in private rooms. The setting also plays an import-ant role: “In every service interac-tion we examine in detail what we communicate with the five senses, with the visual aspect being an in-tegral part of this experience,” chef Laupton points out. “In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, the tableware – such as crockery, cut-lery, glassware and napkin holders – should enhance and facilitate the experience for the guests.” www.stregisabudhabi.com

Health benefits between the meals

At the Phoenicia Hotel Beirut tea is the most popular drink in the ho-tel’s lounges. “Afternoon tea is a relaxing and social activity that is regularly enjoyed as part of the cul-ture, explains Ahmad Oraibi, Man-ager of the Casacade Lounge and the Asian restaurant Wok Wok. He adds: “The market has shifted from coffee to tea for quite a few rea-

sons, such as having less caffeine than coffee and also for its digest-ive benefit and for many other health benefits. It is becoming a habit that people try to adopt in or-der to save a few calories until it is time for dinner.”The afternoon tea menu includes finger sandwiches, delectable freshly baked scones accompanied by sweet preserves and clotted cream and beautifully made cakes. Price per serving is from ¤25 in-cluding a choice of freshly poured tea and ¤48 including a glass of Champagne. While the customers’ budgets generally are not too much of an issue in the GCC coun-tries, the regular guests at the Cas-cade Lounge expect the highest quality and at the same time abso-lute best value offerings.

Cultural preferences

The guests’ preferences vary ac-cording to their cultural back-ground. Oraibi says: “It all depends on the clientele. Our Arabic guests mostly request Black Tea while Lebanese prefer Green Tea for health benefits reasons. Herbal in-fusions are very popular among Europeans, especially the French. Our British guests like Earl Grey and Breakfast Tea.”On offer are a great variety of Black, Green, and White Tea and a selec-tion of herbal infusions from the French tea company Dammann. Both, loose leaf tea and tea bags are served, depending on the pack-age offered. “During the summer-time, we offer an especially created light menu range taking into ac-count low calorie, fat and salt con-tent combined with deliciously tempting weight watchers cock-tails,” Oraibi says. The Phoenicia team pays much attention to cre-ate the right ambiance: “We have a live pianist who has become one of the main attractions for our guests and visitors. The winning combin-ation of the luxurious surround-ings of the Cascade Lounge, the sociable atmosphere, and the ro-mantic and calming fountains with the gentle tones of the pianist cre-ate a haven of pleasure.” www.phoeniciabeirut.com ■

57FOODSERVICE EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST 4/13


afternoon tea middle east

Art & Photos