Food for thought

This complements and supports the big drive on nutrition and wellness where clients themselves are once again driving the transformation. Ivan Bonner, COO of Compass Group SA, says the face of staff restaurants, as they are now most commonly called, has changed dramatically over the last decade. The good old days of setting up “battleship” structures at a prohibitive cost to client are long gone. Price competitiveness is a given, the differentiation comes in the value adds and the ability to offer a product that the customers not only enjoy, but which also fits into the client's overall organisational feel and culture.

“Employee wellness is definitely having a strong impact on the face of staff restaurants today with a clear focus on freshly prepared healthy food options. Healthy does not mean boring sprouts and carrots, but rather a balanced approach to nutrition which allows employees to make balanced choices,” says Bonner.

Getting the balance right is all-important to drive footfall and encourage employee participation. “Flexibility and innovation is also key, in order to offer clients a tailor-made solution which best meets their customer and company needs.”

Bonner says this year, Compass Group SA embarked on an ambitious internal “Imagine” project as a direct result of this growing customer centricity and the need to offer a more focused proactive service to clients. “We found that in the food service industry generally, the structures are such that area managers who have traditionally interfaced with clients and customers were largely generalists and not specialists in any particular area. We have restructured our business completely to allow for specialist intervention at unit level. Essentially, we now have business support, human resource and food specialist partners who work with the unit catering managers and provide specialist input. “

Bonner says the key roles of food support will revolve around food quality, health and safety management, merchandising and marketing, best practice and compliance, menu development, greater customer interaction as well as sourcing and pricing, brand development and food innovations.

Human resource on the other hand will focus on learning and development, employee wellness, change and reward management, recruitment, relationship and organizational management, HR compliance and people information management.

Finally, business support will be integrally involved in commercial best practice, corporate governance, financial acumen and new business support.

With the new approach, general managers are now free to interface at a high level with our clients. “The result – more passion and enthusiasm and more added value for all parties,” says Bonner.

Bonner does concede that while it is still too early to see measurable results, he is confident the new formula will give his company and the industry generally the injection it needs to remain competitive and innovative.