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ARRA FORUMCHALLENGING THE F&B CONCESSIONS STATUS QUO
Tuesday, September 13, 2022 (A collaboration between The Moodie Davitt Report and ARRA) Dawn Hunter, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Bill Wyatt, Salt Lake City International Airport Nick Crews, Crews Hospitality Pat Murray, SSP America What a conversation! Dermot Davitt and Andy Weddig co-hosted four of our industry’s most brilliant minds for a special session during The Moodie Davitt Report’s 2022 Food and Beverage Conference and Awards. And our guests did not disappoint! Our wide-ranging, profound conversation about the depths of the pandemic, the current recovery, and a vision of the future “new normal” lays out a road map for the evolution of the airport-concessionaire business framework. Motivating this conversation are many changes in the aviation industry – and the broader economy – that followed the pandemic and continue in the recovery. Many of these changes are likely permanent. Higher wages are not rolling back. Lower inflation does not mean lower costs. The changes frame the overriding challenge – perhaps crisis – the concessions industry faces: the ability to make money in a new economic environment. In other words, how does our industry continue to provide food, beverages, goods, and services to the traveling public, yet earn sufficient profits to attract capital? The solutions to this question define our new normal. What Dawn, Bill, Nick, and Pat said during our panel merits reflection and action. We did not find all the solutions, but new ideas for progressing to a sustainable future for all participants in this industry emerged – new ideas to refresh an industry that is so vital to achieving a memorable passenger travel experience. |
