The Trinity Forum – The airport experience
Reinventing the airport experience
A day two session on reimagining the airport experience featured Travel Food Services Executive Director Varun Kapur and Nestlé International Travel Retail (NITR) Global Head of Category Development Nicola Wells, with moderation by Pragma Consulting CEO Alex Avery.
The panel discussed how travel retail stakeholders can reinvigorate the airport experience to better meet evolving consumer behaviours and expectations.
Nicola Wells (left): Food as a vital basket driver; (centre) Varun Kapur highlighted the hospitality opportunity in India today; right, moderator Alex Avery
“What can we do within the framework that exists?” asked Wells as she explored NITR’s ‘Antidote to Apathy’ approach in food & confectionery, as the company doubles down on its goal to make food the number one most purchased category in travel retail.
“Food is the biggest driver across category spend and can help us during these challenging times. Food can be an ambassador for sense of place, it can be used to surprise and delight, it can also blend and blur what was once one-dimensional.”
Kapur highlighted how concept and convenience are driving TFS’s F&B and lounge strategy. He said: “While we’re introducing several global F&B concepts to India for the first time, there’s plenty of excitement around curated concepts.”
Kapur highlighted several case studies including Samba Square in Goa, South Indian food concept idli.com and Bombay Brasserie. “Our ATV growth is +20% driven by premiumisation and concepts such as these,” he noted.
“In our top six airports over the last 12 months, the top performing brands have been TFS-curated brands. This shows how curating, innovating and customising F&B are creating real value in these key markets.”
In addition to curated concepts, TFS is also bringing convenience and efficiency to travellers with a diverse menu of meals, beverages and quick-service options with delivery straight to the gate within 15 minutes.
He also highlighted the six principles of TFS’s lounge strategy: sense of place, culinary discovery, immersive experience, innovation, wellness and positive impact.
“Lounges are something we are really passionate about as a business opportunity,” Kapur added. “Araya is our lounge brand and really showcases how we do lounges differently at TFS. Every airport should have its own sense of place and not a cookie-cutter lounge concept.”
The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 341 | 4 December 2024
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (MA Travel Retail). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com