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New Report Takes a Deep Dive into the State of Food Halls in 2023

Published by Garrick H. Brown of Brown Consulting, with writing and editing contributions from Ryan Berlinksy and Stefanie Ariganello of Cushman & Wakefield’s Colicchio Consulting team, the new report, The State of Food Halls 2023, examines the exceptional growth rate of this hospitality category – 55% since 2019 – and examines why it is on the rise.

GoTab is all in on the food hall category, with one-of-a-kind features that were uniquely developed for the unique challenges of owners/operators, landlords and their licensees. Our tech is featured prominently, with quotes from GoTab’s CEO, Tim McLaughlin. More importantly, the report provides deep analysis of the trends driving food hall uptake, as well as the key elements of those food halls that are finding success.

It shares the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities of these concepts. It covers emerging operational models that their research indicates are ideal for these projects. Finally, it explores the consumer tastes and needs that first propelled food halls into mainstream popularity and what to expect as the emerging, Gen-Z demographic increasingly becomes the most dominant consumer class. 

With breweries and restaurants continuing to face labor challenges, food halls are able to keep costs down, increase revenue, and provide a new “third place”; i.e., cultural/ social hub for consumers seeking places where they can renew social connections.

Food halls enjoy a lower failure rate than standalone restaurants with advantages including:

  • Reduced labor costs – food halls, by design, can be operated with minimal staff
  • Reduced waste – with condensed menu offerings and more carefully curated food types and ingredients 
  • Geographic optimization – leverage the opportunities to revamp established formats and locations to provide broad appeal
  • Third spaces – respond to demographic shifts and desires to reconnect in more dynamic social settings post-pandemic

Finally, the report shares a deep dive into the six critical principles behind food hall success, including:

  • Location selection
  • Operational performance
  • Design strategy
  • Programming/ space activation
  • Technology
  • Vendor/Licensee Curation

The State of Food Halls in 2023 report is available for download today.

Interested in learning more about GoTab's Food Hall POSRequest a demo today

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Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.

The Situation

Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.

The Solution

Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience

Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.

“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.

The Benefits

Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.

Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.

Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

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