No entertainment is complete without food and beverage. Families visit various places not just for shopping and having fun but also for enjoying quality food and an exceptional service. F&B has therefore become a very important and integral part of hospitality and leisure. A concept called ‘destination dining’ has changed the way modern restaurants and other types of eateries operate nowadays. They are founded not just for offering healthful food options to consumers but also an ambiance that speaks of luxury, comfort, and pure indulgence. And this is what fit out companies in UAE need to understand.

If an interior contractor has prior experience in the F&B industry, it really gives them an edge. Why? They are well aware of the expectations of the consumers. What people actually look for and what they want when they enter a restaurant. A successful project for a contractor means more similar projects to come their way in the future. So, there is a need to understand each and every client with focus on their services and objectives.

A look at the preferred cuisines in the UAE as reported by the KPMG Food & Beverage Report 2016 tells us that Indian food takes the lead when it comes to consumers in the UAE closely followed by Italian, Lebanese and Chinese cuisines. A totally new or foreign cuisine is not something everybody enjoys; while at the same time many people are eager to look at other dining locations and restaurants. According to the same report, the parameters people use to judge a restaurant include;

• Quality of food
• Cuisine
• Variety in the menu
• Value for money
• Location of the restaurant
• Travel time
• Adequate parking area
• Good service

Out of these parameters, food quality, taste and cuisine are amongst the top most. Now these are some points that fit out contractors Dubai need to consider when executing F&B jobs. F&B businesses in the UAE understand the importance of social media now to get competitive advantage by looking at the current trends and what customers actually want. Online ratings and reviews play a major role in making people want to try a new restaurant. Moreover, when a friend or relative recommends a place, they are more likely to pay it a visit than looking at any other  marketing material. People also use their smartphones nowadays to look for a new restaurant and locate a place they wish to pay a visit to. A restaurant or food delivery service is not an ordinary business any longer. It needs to cater to consumers’ expectations when it comes to fine dining, leisure eating, grab a meal on-the- go, and destination dining. When executing F&B jobs, you need to keep in mind that you’re not doing an ordinary fit-out project. It is something that needs extra attention and a focused study of the niche in which a particular F&B business operates. If interior fit out companies in Dubai start hiring personnel with adequate experience in the F&B sector, it can really give their services a boost.