Qualitaly_121
FEB. MAR. 2021 IV be able to plan our future. This applies both to us and to our customers. We have done everything we could: reduced stocks, laid off employees, optimised deliveries... Now we need certainty. Innovation, social media and cohesion: the three secrets of resistance While we wait for the long-term vision that will allow the sector’s operators to start working again with serenity, we interviewed Antonio Faralla, Chief Executive Officer at Formind, a market research company that follows, among others, the eating out sector. We asked him what the best way for a foodservice operator is to deal with the current situation. Based on your research, what are the main concerns for wholesalers at the moment? We see three major concerns. The first is the income statement. The first lockdown was undoubtedly heavy, but the eating out sector was helped by good figures from 2019. The first major difficulty coincided with the losses over the Easter period, which were not fully recovered with the summer reopenings. This period was favourable for what I call “national- popular tourist destinations” where our fellow Italians flocked. For the cities of art and the typical destinations of foreign tourists, the summer was not easy either. The second wave, in the period October-January, was the last straw, because it involved the Christmas period where there is normally a large turnover. The hiccup in opening times severely penalised the circuit, just as the decision to block the ski lifts had a heavy impact on mountain resorts. The second concern is credit. Wholesalers have been faced with unpaid accounts, with difficulties in managing cash and recovering debts from their customers. The third concern is visibility: the legislature has never provided compensation for companies in the sector. The category seems to be invisible, probably because it is wrongly considered by the legislator to be unrepresentative. One of the references is the Italgrob federation, which is part of the Confindustria (Confederation of Italian Industry) system and now represents both beverage wholesalers and food and confectionery companies, but I have to say that the sector has always paid little attention to the federation aspect. If you had to use three adjectives to describe the best way for a wholesaler to deal with this situation, what would you use? The first adjective is innovation. The old market, the one that existed until last year, is no more. The one that is starting up again is completely different. The new habits acquired by consumers in recent months will remain: delivery, smartworking... The product range policies of foodservice operators will have to take account of this. They will have to create offers that meet the new needs. In addition, the sector has always been very sectoral in terms of targeting: the business model must be revised to respond to different targets, certainly Horeca, but also small retailers, for example. The second adjective is cohesion. As I said before, the category has always found it difficult to speak to institutions with a single voice. But cohesion should not only concern political relations. Operators will have to come together to face the entry of giants such as Amazon into the food sector. We expect that 40-50,000 premises in Italy will close because of the crisis. This will create a huge gap in supply that will be filled mainly by chains, which are still not very widespread in our country. In general, chain restaurants do not turn to foodservice for supplies: joining forces will be the only way to approach chains as potential suppliers. The third adjective is social. Wholesalers must learn to compete in a fully connected market. They are lagging behind their customers in this respect. What do you think are the possible paths to follow in order to better manage this critical phase? I have already mentioned them using adjectives. However, I would say that they should broaden the product portfolio and the horizon of the channel, with different products and services, to meet all needs, not only the strictly food ones. For example, they should focus on detergents and/ or service products, and also have a range suitable for local supermarkets, which have suffered less in this period. Then I think they should move more towards associations: there are already some consortia that bring together different operators. This trend must be consolidated. These groupings should not be limited to managing supplies but should also focus on training operators. This is a good time to retrain and acquire skills that are essential to be competitive today and to be a key player in the emerging market. ______________________________ BOX More digital to meet the challenges The year 2020 in the out-of-home world will also be remembered as the year of the emergence of e-commerce, delivery and take-away. Have foodservice operators been prepared to face these innovations that require a certain level of digitalisation? The answer comes from the study that GS1 Italy entrusted to TradeLab, which interviewed 66 managers from the four Horeca segments: production, distribution, commercial catering chains and collective catering. “Digitising the goods cycle,” says Paolo Cibien, foodservice engagement manager at GS1 Italy, “means keeping the physical flow of products and the information flow related to it aligned. This research has shown that in Italy the digitisation of the goods cycle in the foodservice sector is still limited, but it has brought to light the interest and attention of the players in the supply chain for the potential that the adoption of a common standard language brings with it.” Barcodes and other product identification standards are tools to support businesses. For example, systems that inform in real time about product characteristics allow faster and more accurate updating of menus published on the web and allow product images to be shared for online marketing and communication purposes. The implementation of identification tools makes it possible to make business processes efficient, to make savings in warehouse management and in updating inventories, to automate the control of goods and MAGAZINE
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