Catering firms orient toward boutique menu
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Özgül Öztürk - Referans
OluÅŸturulma Tarihi: Nisan 20, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Faced with a 40 percent contraction due to the global crisis, Turkey’s catering industry is creating different methods to survive. Some catering companies implement special menus prepared according to the demands of their clients, while others try to overcome the crisis by adopting the clustering model, joining forces in production
Turkey’s catering industry, which is estimated to have reached an annual market volume of $6.5 billion, including the informal economy, is developing various solutions in order to survive the global crisis.
Within the industry, which has contracted 40 percent due to the crisis, companies that have little capital but operate with long-term payment schedules are facing closure. However, the ones that create customer-oriented solutions are targeting further growth despite adverse conditions. Clustering and boutique menus have shown to be among the popular models of the industry recently.Â
Clustering is a means to fight the crisis for Hüseyin Bozdağ, general coordinator of Yemek Istanbul, an Istanbul-based catering firm. He returned to the industry with the Yemek Istanbul brand after selling his firm Emin Catering to German catering giant Klüh Service Management in 2007. Through efforts of focusing on innovation amid the crisis, the firm has managed to grow 400 percent, he said.
Bringing food to clients creates a 25 percent cost for the firm, BozdaÄŸ said. "We have gotten rid off particularly energy-related meal forwarding [costs]. And we are implementing the clustering model. We have signed deals with new customers on the Anatolian side [of Istanbul] and Thrace."
Clustering in catering
By making a deal with a kitchen that offers Yemek Istanbul standards on the Anatolian side, the firm can provide meals for the firms there, he said. "This way, we have removed the idle capacity of the kitchen there and we have grown. Moreover, our clients have reached the standards they desire. We have 16 ’field kitchens’ for the clustering model."
BozdaÄŸ also unveiled a plan to establish a Web-based consulting firm to determine the standards in catering close to the end of the year.
Sardunya, which is among the largest firms in Turkish catering, is also one of those that have succeeded in managing the crisis. All firms should adopt various implementations to gain customers, said Sedat Zincirkıran, chairman of Sardunya Group.
Noting that Sardunya creates special menus and price options for customers, whom it deems as solution partners, Zincirkıran said, "This way, let alone contraction, we have grown by 25 percent compared to last year. We provide meals for 150,000 people a day."
Meanwhile, Ayso, based in Istanbul’s Silivri, has centralized its operations to reduce costs, while speeding up its work for the retail industry, said Dilek Demiral, the firm’s managing director.
"We are aware that contraction would not be a solution to the crisis. We took measures following the economic crisis in 2001. For instance, besides firms, we started to offer services to universities and the firms that operate on a ticket basis. This way, we have increased our cash sales. We have undergone the crisis with just a 4 percent contraction. We provide meals for 50,000 people a day."
The crisis has narrowed catering by 40 percent, said Necat Aydın, the chairman of the Federation of the Associations of the Food Industrialists, or YESİDEF. In the industry, the rate of the firms that face problems in financing and close down for not being able to obtain loans has reached 25 percent, he said.
Rather than closures, it is the dismissal problem that has reduced significantly the rate of the meals provided for the firms, Aydın said. "Formerly, we used to sell meals for 10,000 people a day; however, the figure has dropped to 6,500 now. Our basic problem is the removal of shifts and overtime work. This situation has caused a deterioration in the number of meals sold despite the absence of a dramatic decline in the number of the firms provided with services."
Aydın noted that the firms in distress might survive if they joined their factories. "In my opinion, 10 catering firms may unite forces by joining factories. Otherwise, they will be subject to bankruptcy."
"Previously, I created partnerships twice, but it did not work. I have a warm prospect toward partnerships also in the upcoming period."
Within the industry, which has contracted 40 percent due to the crisis, companies that have little capital but operate with long-term payment schedules are facing closure. However, the ones that create customer-oriented solutions are targeting further growth despite adverse conditions. Clustering and boutique menus have shown to be among the popular models of the industry recently.Â
Clustering is a means to fight the crisis for Hüseyin Bozdağ, general coordinator of Yemek Istanbul, an Istanbul-based catering firm. He returned to the industry with the Yemek Istanbul brand after selling his firm Emin Catering to German catering giant Klüh Service Management in 2007. Through efforts of focusing on innovation amid the crisis, the firm has managed to grow 400 percent, he said.
Bringing food to clients creates a 25 percent cost for the firm, BozdaÄŸ said. "We have gotten rid off particularly energy-related meal forwarding [costs]. And we are implementing the clustering model. We have signed deals with new customers on the Anatolian side [of Istanbul] and Thrace."
Clustering in catering
By making a deal with a kitchen that offers Yemek Istanbul standards on the Anatolian side, the firm can provide meals for the firms there, he said. "This way, we have removed the idle capacity of the kitchen there and we have grown. Moreover, our clients have reached the standards they desire. We have 16 ’field kitchens’ for the clustering model."
BozdaÄŸ also unveiled a plan to establish a Web-based consulting firm to determine the standards in catering close to the end of the year.
Sardunya, which is among the largest firms in Turkish catering, is also one of those that have succeeded in managing the crisis. All firms should adopt various implementations to gain customers, said Sedat Zincirkıran, chairman of Sardunya Group.
Noting that Sardunya creates special menus and price options for customers, whom it deems as solution partners, Zincirkıran said, "This way, let alone contraction, we have grown by 25 percent compared to last year. We provide meals for 150,000 people a day."
Meanwhile, Ayso, based in Istanbul’s Silivri, has centralized its operations to reduce costs, while speeding up its work for the retail industry, said Dilek Demiral, the firm’s managing director.
"We are aware that contraction would not be a solution to the crisis. We took measures following the economic crisis in 2001. For instance, besides firms, we started to offer services to universities and the firms that operate on a ticket basis. This way, we have increased our cash sales. We have undergone the crisis with just a 4 percent contraction. We provide meals for 50,000 people a day."
The crisis has narrowed catering by 40 percent, said Necat Aydın, the chairman of the Federation of the Associations of the Food Industrialists, or YESİDEF. In the industry, the rate of the firms that face problems in financing and close down for not being able to obtain loans has reached 25 percent, he said.
Rather than closures, it is the dismissal problem that has reduced significantly the rate of the meals provided for the firms, Aydın said. "Formerly, we used to sell meals for 10,000 people a day; however, the figure has dropped to 6,500 now. Our basic problem is the removal of shifts and overtime work. This situation has caused a deterioration in the number of meals sold despite the absence of a dramatic decline in the number of the firms provided with services."
Aydın noted that the firms in distress might survive if they joined their factories. "In my opinion, 10 catering firms may unite forces by joining factories. Otherwise, they will be subject to bankruptcy."
"Previously, I created partnerships twice, but it did not work. I have a warm prospect toward partnerships also in the upcoming period."