Restaurateur
Saveliy Libkin

Within last six months I have given endless quantity of comment s and interviews about trends in «our» restaurant business… After my next trip to the restaurant capital of the world my opinion about Ukrainian restaurant the present and the future didn’t changed but it allowed me to have doubts again in the efficiency of some of my own prejudices.

So:

In the sphere of gastronomic fast food. The average check in the restaurant Napket which is 20-25 pounds doesn’t determine the level of gastronomic features but it already exceeded much the price 8-10 pounds for Fish and chips in rather normal atmosphere. The frankfurters can be served with rather refined sauces, for example with mustard horseradish sauce or with truffle cheese Gruyère. But the location of the same Napket at the most expensive quarters of the megalopolis clears up somehow the price not only by the quality of muffins and cut-glass chandeliers.

Compact restaurants of a small size with 9-12 tables are in fashion. The huge restaurants quit the stage. Meanwhile the restaurants in the hotels which have very considerable dining areas aspire to be or to become fashion and even popular.

The focus is on the «purity» of the products which are delivered to the kitchens of London restaurants – their origin, observance of the production rules, and factor of seasonal prevalence. They attach value to the usage of products from «own producers», that, as you understand, must guarantee their not spoilt freshness. It is clear that nothing is grown in London, but they indicted in the menu the name of the nearest to the city farm where from a lamb or for example a parsnip was delivered.

A democratic, first of all from the standpoint of prices, restaurants are valued highly… Thereby the so called bistro for everyday eating — restaurants with comfort atmosphere and full-fledged and sometimes even de luxe menu – have got rather great spreading. Their comparative democratism is provided on account of that the courses are cooked not from the most expensive products there but meanwhile the very gastronomic direction and production methods don’t suffer at all and stay on the proper high level. The so called «secret restaurants» which appeared recently can be rated as democratic ones also. As a rule these restaurants are opened by the young chefs who want to try their business skill on the guests- volunteers.

Merchandising

It is interesting  people can be tought to do it or something?

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If to consider the word combination «target group» from the viewpoint of purchasing  capacity, then I can tell the following story. Recently I saw such a picture at «Dаcha»: at the first table sat twine producer from Moldova and the owner of big retail company with the girls of age up to 23 years, at the second table sat the owner of small pharmacy with his family. At the third table sat a company of advertising agency staff at one more table the owner of pharmaceutical company who sometimes orders the food to his own plane, at other tables sat more some people with creative enough professions. At the same time there was a birthday party of a child form doctor’s family and a small banquet of the resident of Kiev who has mentioned the position of her husband working at the executive personnel when  she made the order…

A few tables were occupied by the tourists with indefinite professions and by girls with impressive appearance and attractive age. The restaurant was busy and average yearly income  of some guests looked like the budget of the city, and the income of another guests hasn’t exceeded $ 800 per month. If to take into account the fact that minimum 5 girls surely don’t have job in principle and more a few guests of male sex were too young for considerable salaries then it is impossible to say who visit Dacha from the viewpoint of purchasing  capacity in principle. On the other hand the purchasing  capacity never determine who and how much spend except who and how much earn.

So my fellows from 7 km regularly have a meal at Uzbek cuisine at the cost 50-60 UAH and they never visit «Dаcha» and try to bring their vodka to «Cоmpot»,and at that they have 30 containers and they are owners of a few shops in the city. One more imposing friend occupies himself with «envelops» but he eats only local sushi and sometimes drink beer at the beach cheep bars.

The choice is determined not only by the quantity of money and not always.

It is interesting for me to know your opinions about what determines the choice?

I have written about positioning earlier… And in general I have written a lot about marketing and at once have argued with myself and with one of the graduating student of the local university. Now you can lear a marketing in our city, but after this kind of education you should do the resuscitation of brains within two years… But the subject is so capacious: Volume and composition of brandbook. Maybe someone have seen an interesting and capacious examples of brandbook from the restaurant business? Will you share your expirience? Please send me a private message in Live Journal.



The first and the most unpromising version is marketing agency or any outside consultants. They will conduct a research and on its basis they will write tens of pages from which it will be clear that there are no these words in Russian language and they will have to specify what did they mean. Then they will look at you rather condescendingly and arrogantly, like, how could you still do not know what is “motto” and other words that can’t be translated into Russian. At best you will know that the positioning of your restaurant is very bad :)  and you should do something….And this is separate and veeery another money.

The second version and the most popular is do not be bother with the word positioning… I mean do not think about what the guests think about your business. They eat here sometimes, pay average money and this is enough. If they stopped to pay then we must to make renovations or to rebuke the director.

There is a version of dynamic work with this positioning…

But this is also rather troublesome and requires some efforts.  And also if the gusts do not match the target groupА  then do not care about this positioning and you get a displeased guests. And who is interested in the displeased guests? And the most interesting things begins here.

If the displeased guests are present then it’s time to ask them: how may I serve you?

And you will here the banal answer: we want sushi, more discounts; we want fast service and many other things. If they want then the alternative is always present. To do what they want and to get in the result 150 positions in the menu and more 50 positions in the different types of insert cards with offers. Here you will have to forget about the differentiation because things like this can be found everywhere. Or not to do what they want and to follow the image and differences and in this way to protect the target group from another guests.

But they also bring money… So we have some duality. Or the decent restaurant with clear depicted target group and expressive positioning (and a little less money) or a little more for some period but the target group is diluted together with spreading of all the rest.

There is one more version — do not think about it and to build your business according to the second principle or to the first one… but this is too sad.

Now let’s talk about intuitive version. If the restaurant has its guests and they like their staying in the restaurant, then it is not difficult to find out what exactly they like and how they call that thing for themselves. Actually this is the intuitive way. But it is important do not loose your way and to track clear every step, so that to intensify and do not spread the image. The only one danger is to find yourself under the vision of the hired marketing specialist or brand manager who began to act without examining the essence and as a rule he acts intuitively also…  And this is gross error because the intuitions are not summed up and do not coincide in this case. And the plain saying yes to the head does not allow to make strong decisions.

One more version* is to aim at the growing of brand manager inside the company, who is able to give a birth to the brand and to develop it. But here we have the following problem: dependence of the brand’s life from the personality of the brand manager. And because this brand manager is hired employee, in the case of his leaving the total change of concept takes place and not just change but its spreading. Very often brand manager is the only one bearer of its ideas and in the case of his leaving the opportunities for further development of the brand are lost.

* Opinion of the employee of the Resta Company