Outlasting a food fad

OVER the years, restaurants have come and gone. And with them, plenty of food fads came and went.

It is normal to spot long queues at new outlets while there is still a strong buzz among consumers about the new offerings before the novelty wears off.

While some eateries endure after the initial buzz dies down, others fall into a state of getting by.

And with more brands and choices coming into the market, many outlets are finding it a challenge to constantly stand out.

Utara 5 Food and Beverage Sdn Bhd (U5FB) founder Tony Lim believes that serving a staple menu can help a restaurant outlast its initial frenzy.

“If your products are too common, that means you are in a highly competitive market. But if your products are very niche, it could be risky.

“People have a general menu in their minds of food that they will eat. And if you give enough attention and commitment to a menu of staple food, it can be a very easy business to run,” he explains.

The much-loved nasi lemak, for example, is a staple in Malaysians’ diet. And Lim notes that the dish is sold within a wide price range; RM1.50 for a packet at a road-side stall or more than RM30 for a plate in a fancy restaurant.

But people will pay the price to eat it anyway, depending on the ambiance they want, because it is a staple food, he says.

In the case of Boat Noodle, Lim says its offerings are a menu of staple Thai food which are familiar to the locals.

And while the exponential growth of the food chain has slowed since the initial buzz, its familiar menu has enabled Boat Noodle to continue expanding.

There is nothing wrong with fads.

“It is what makes the people come,” he says.

But once the trend normalises, people will come back because the food is still a staple in their diets.

Nonetheless, as the Malaysian palate becomes more sophisticated, there is room for F&B operators to grow with new trends.

According to a report by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Malaysia’s food service sector was valued at just under US$10bil in 2012, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 4.6% from 2008 to 2012. The sector is expected to continue expanding at a rate of 5.3% until 2017, reaching total sales of US$12.9bil.

“Find a way to tell your story,” says Lim, “Then, it’s really up to the consumers to either see it as a fad or as a long-term place.”