Top Themes of Fine Food Australia 2024

Oct 28, 2024

What an achievement! September 2024 saw Fine Food Australia’s celebration of 40 delicious years as Australia’s premier B2B foodservice and hospitality expo - and this year’s offering was nothing short of exceptional. With such a buzz of excitement in the lead up to our iconic four-day event, industry professionals came together to share their passion for food and hospitality, revelling in everything it has to offer.

Our unique event showcased hundreds of innovative brands, offering vibrant displays of culture, flavour, colour and storytelling – it was inspiring. If only we could ‘bottle up’ the unique atmosphere that intoxicated exhibitors and visitors alike, we’d be drinking it up all year! 

With so much enthusiasm and activity, we could barely keep up with all the discussions taking place across the week. However, there were some key themes making a big impact on this year’s crowd. Here are some of the most talked about topics: 

Sustainability: Cooking with Conscience 

The visible passion on the topic of ‘sustainability’, amongst foodservice business owners and suppliers alike, was a powerful reminder of the industry’s ongoing evolution towards a growing environmental consciousness.  

Food waste solutions were high on the agenda, with industry professionals offering insights into their own personal approaches for cutting down on food waste. There was talk of inventive ways to make the most of raw ingredients, while wasting as little as possible via strategies like monitoring portion sizes and removing unpopular dishes from menus.  

Talk around plant-based cuisine had more of a presence than ever before. Conversations around menu creations to rival meat-based options, showed us just how far we’ve come in attitudes towards plant-based diets. As an approach for sustainability, the plant-based food scene is one to watch, and it’s hard not to feel excited about what new ideas will be discovered in this space over the coming year. 

Transparency: What’s your Story? 

Consumer expectations are evolving, and success for businesses in the food and hospitality industry now hinges on ‘transparency’. In a nutshell, it’s about building trust, and showing consumers that a brand has a genuine desire to know about where its produce comes from: how it is manufactured, transported and retailed. 

Customers are fed up with false marketing techniques, where brands aim to ‘greenwash’ products in the hope of convincing consumers to buy into a brand that doesn’t live up to its tantalising marketing.   

Across Fine Food Australia, business owners were being persuaded to speak up and ask the awkward questions. To hold suppliers accountable to what they are selling and to be unafraid to check that they genuinely understand and care about the origins of their produce.  

Business owners trying to develop their brand were offered insightful advice on how to build an authentic presence within the industry. They were encouraged to tell the true backstory behind their brand (even if that felt vulnerable), showing a desire to connect with their customers, who in turn would feel more connected to the brand and the real people who created it.

AI: The Smart Future of Food Service 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the food and hospitality industry, and it’s showing no sign of slowing down. Across this year’s Fine Food Australia, AI conversations were tapping into almost every part of the landscape, with visitors and exhibitors taking a keen interest in what is already happening in this new space. 

On the various stages and chatrooms around the expo, marketing professionals were sharing their tips on getting the best out of AI content generators to create polished and tailored branded content, without the need for much expertise. There was also talk about AI tracking tools, able to monitor everything from financial transactions to seasonal food trends and customer sentiment to enhance the consumer experience. 

AI has got its flaws though, and much debate was had in the realm of how AI may damage the hospitality industry moving forward. Concerns over privacy and false marketing, as well as what AI means for the future of certain jobs, made for interesting debates across the four days of the expo. 

The true possibilities of AI are still in the making, and it’s difficult to foresee the full extent of how it will impact the business world in years to come. One thing we do know is that AI isn’t going away, so the message is to ‘keep up with the change and give it a go…even if you have to break a few eggs in the process’.

Community: A Shared Kitchen of Collaboration  

Community and hospitality are deeply intwined. When a vibrant community is spoilt by a generous choice of exciting venues, a unique recipe is created: local cafes, restaurants, hotels and retailers can flourish, a community of residents is nurtured, and meanwhile (if good business values are upheld) local suppliers from farmers to manufacturers can grow their businesses as well. When communities work together, everyone can feast upon the triumph. 

At Fine Food Australia 2024 many attendees were using the event as an opportunity to learn from those who’ve been on the journey for several years. Making connections with competitors is a useful way to feel part of a community. But don’t try to beat them, join them! Yes, you’re competing for community attention, but there shouldn’t be just one winner.  

Building close relationships with other business owners can be just what keeps you going in the crucial early stages of starting a business. Sharing strategies, offering advice or simply being that priceless sounding board to bounce new ideas off. There are so many resources out there to help you get connected, from social media support groups to apps like Crunch, offering an inspiring and collaborative space for foodservice professionals to learn from each other and grow.  

In hospitality, connections are everything. But like all genuine relationships, they need to develop organically to have any long-term substance. Hang in there, if you put quality ingredients into the mix, people will want a taste – and they’ll keep coming back!  

Education: Serving Up the Right Knowledge 

The majority of restauranteurs, café owners and retailers begin their journey with a passion for a concept, and it’s likely they didn’t get into it for the ‘business’ angle.  The grind of running a business very often comes as something of a shock reality. Getting a new venture off the ground, and harder still, continuing to make it grow, is incredibly challenging, especially if you have no formal experience behind you. 

At this year’s Fine Food Australia, subject matter experts offered up a wealth of experience, telling personal stories about how they worked through difficulties and survived to tell the tale. There were talks on strategy, with step-by-step tutorials on how to create a rock-solid business plan, getting funding for your business, taking on bookkeeping efficiently and even time management tips to avoid overwhelm and burn out. 

Over the years, our unique expo has proved itself to be instrumental in providing valuable learning opportunities for business owners. The sharing of a rich tapestry of knowledge is what makes Fine Food Australia so special.  

Nothing beats face-to-face interaction: making real connections, passing on nuggets of wisdom and offering a helping hand to those who need it. For 40 years, our expo has been the ‘sweet spot’ in the industry calendar, bringing us all together – a perfected blend of ingredients that will continue to nourish this incredible community for a long time to come.  

 

Article written by Annabel Ross

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