Model the economics honestly
Cover, spend per head, labor, waste, and throughput at the times that actually matter. Most F&B problems are visible in the peak hour.
09Pillar: Experiences
Food and beverage commercial strategy
Food and beverage is where hospitality economics are won or lost. We work on the commercial model, not the menu.
Who this is for
- Restaurant and food hall operators
- Venue and stadium F&B leadership
- Hotel and resort F&B directors
- Operators pursuing venue or destination partnerships
The business problem
Food and beverage carries a disproportionate share of hospitality's cost and complexity, and is frequently managed as a service rather than a business. The result is a P&L nobody quite controls.
For operators pursuing venue partnerships, the difficulty is different again. The concept may be excellent and entirely unsuited to the labor model, throughput, and procurement reality of an arena.
When clients call us
- F&B margin is falling and the cause is not clear
- A venue is renegotiating or tendering its F&B agreements
- A restaurant group wants to move into venues, stadiums, or resorts
- A concept works in one site and fails in the next
- The F&B offer does not match the property's positioning or price point
What we do
Match the concept to the operating reality
What a venue can execute at volume, with the labor available, through the procurement route it has.
Structure the venue relationship
Concession, lease, management agreement, or partnership. The structure decides who carries which risk.
Build the commercial case for the buyer
Venues do not buy concepts. They buy revenue, guest scores, and a partner who will not embarrass them.
What you get
Deliverables may include
- F&B commercial and P&L assessment
- Concept and format economics
- Venue partnership strategy and target list
- Agreement structures and commercial terms
- Procurement and supply review
- Operating model and labor plan
Outcomes clients are after
- An F&B business that is managed as a business
- Concepts matched to sites that can execute them
- Venue agreements with the risk in the right place
- A credible route into venue and destination partnerships
Example projects
Representative example, illustrative only
An F&B operator pursuing venue partnerships
- Situation
- A restaurant group wants to move into stadium, arena, or resort food and beverage, where the economics, the labor model, and the buyer are all different.
- What we do
- Translate the concept into a venue commercial model. Identify which venues want what this operator has, and prepare the group for how those deals are actually structured.
- Outcome
- A pipeline of realistic venue conversations, and a commercial model that survives contact with a procurement team.
A hospitality group entering a new market
- Situation
- An operator with a strong regional business wants to move into a market where it has no relationships, no supply, and no clear read on demand.
- What we do
- Assess the market honestly, including the case for not entering. Identify the partners, sites, and operating model that would make entry work, and the conditions under which it would not.
- Outcome
- A decision made with the downside understood, and a route in that does not depend on optimism.
How the engagement works
Work in this area usually runs as one of the following. We tell you which fits before you commit to anything.
A standing relationship with a defined scope. We stay close enough to the business to be useful quickly, and far enough outside it to say what an employee cannot. Most retainers settle into a monthly rhythm of working sessions, review of live decisions, and access between them.
- Board and owner decisions
- Growth planning
- Sounding board for the CEO
We take the seat. Commercial, partnership, or venue leadership held by an experienced operator for an agreed number of days each month, with real accountability for the outcome. The role is scoped to end, and we build the internal capability to replace it.
- Between permanent hires
- Function too small for a full-time exec
- Capability you intend to build
Scoped, priced, and delivered against a date. A market entry assessment, a partnership strategy, a guest experience review, a commercial plan for a venue. You get the work, the reasoning behind it, and a practical recommendation you can act on.
- A decision to be made
- A plan the board must approve
- Work with a deadline
We have sat on both sides of the table. On the issuing side we help define what you are actually buying and how to evaluate it. On the responding side we shape the strategy, the story, and the submission. Either way the work runs to the submission date.
- Venue management RFPs
- Destination and event bids
- Operator selection
Senior leadership on site while you run a search, complete a transaction, or stabilize an operation. We hold the role, keep the organization moving, and hand over cleanly with the knowledge transferred.
- Leadership transition
- Operational stabilization
- Post-transaction integration
Let's talk
Ready to discuss an F&B commercial review?
Tell us where you are. We will tell you honestly whether and how we can help, and what a sensible first step looks like.