Addressing the skills shortages and adopting new trends will ensure hospo’s survival
For the hospitality industry to thrive and survive in 2022 it will need to adopt a range of different trends, including conscious dining, gourmet takeaway and the creation of premium suburban restaurants.
It will also need to find solutions to several problems including a skills shortage crisis, reducing red tape and shoring up the produce supply chain.
The staff shortage crisis seems to be the biggest challenge.
Looking at Melbourne specifically, Commune Group creative director Simon Blacher said, “The biggest challenge Melbourne’s hospitality scene will face in the coming years is staff. As the city grows, so will the demand for venues and in turn for staff.”
Enda Cunningham who is Crown’s executive general manager of food and beverage believes greater investment in skills training and turning hospitality into a career and “not just a job” would be critical to talent acquisition in the coming years.
“We need to encourage staff to move within the Victorian industry rather than overseas for new experience, and we need to see more partnerships and collaborations between chefs, restaurants and producers, all working together to grow each other’s businesses,” Cunningham said.
Crown, VECCI and the Australian Hotels Association have begun a new free training program for 1000 Victorians that could help ease the skills shortage.
The industry has also called for less government intervention along with consistent decision-making to help with a sustainable revival.
“A loosening of red tape and the bureaucratic permit process is essential to help the industry innovate and keep growing,” Blacher said.
AHA Victorian chief Paddy O’Sullivan has called for a halt on raising taxes and charges and a two-year amnesty on fringe benefits tax.
O’Sullivan believes initiative such as these would encourage innovation in the industry.
Innovation will be a key trend to hospitality’s growth and will likely revolve around sustainability, eco-friendly venues, plant-based foods and locally sourced ingredients.
“Diners are increasingly seeking out brands and experiences that are not only good for them, but good for the world around them,” Cunningham said.
“Restaurants that cater to these attitudes and make their menus locally sourced will have an advantage.”
Local food supply is also key and would benefit producers, consumers and the broader economy.
“People are more health conscious and more environmentally conscious. I think we’ll be starting to see vegetables as mains and proteins as sides,” Blacher said.
Then there is the at-home luxury dining trend created by Shane Delia and the rise of high-end suburban restaurants,
“The repercussions can already be seen, with several prominent restaurateurs either opening or planning to open venues in their local suburbs,” Anchor Restaurant director Rosalin Virnik said.
Food + Drink Victoria chief executive Anthea Loucas Bosha believes the recovery is well and truly underway.
“(They will) continue to do what they do so well – offer diverse and exciting experiences that are about more than what’s on the plate or what’s in the glass but as a reason to come together and share something special with loved ones,” Bosha said.
Irit Jackson, 8th December 2021
