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WE LOVE FOOD

The range of dining options on offer in shopping centers is growing -

what are the reasons, and what are the current trends?

Food services are playing an increasingly significant role in shopping

centers. For many visitors it is the key factor for a pleasant shopping
experience. At ECE’s centers, too, food services have been increasing in
number and variety. ECE has planned and implemented many exciting food
concepts at its shopping centers thanks to its longstanding expertise and
extensive food service expertise. In 2017, ECE hired an internationally
renowned food service expert to head its food service activities: Jonathan
Doughty. To showcase its experience, commitment, and passion for food
service, ECE launched the “WE LOVE FOOD” campaign in 2018.

For some years the company has been significantly increasing the
percentage of food services at its centers: The turnover from F&B retailers
at ECE centers increased by 54 percent between 2010 and 2015 alone.
Since 2017, the internationally renowned and experience food service
expert has been responsible for advancing food services at ECE shopping
centers. His team develops new food halls, signs innovative food retailers
and aims to establish ECE with “WE LOVE FOOD” as an experienced
player in the food service and retail industry.

Modern and varied offers are an effective way for shopping centers to
stand out from the competition and from e-commerce. This is because
shopping is increasingly becoming a “total” experience for customers.
People want to feel good, to be able to hang out and chill over a piece of
cake or a snack, or to meet up for a coffee with friends. Thus it is that
dining options are underscoring the character of shopping centers as
market places and contributing to a movement away from a “place to shop”
toward a “place to be”.
40% choose their center based on the food and beverage options

The figures speak for themselves: Dining in shopping centers is booming -

and is both wanted and accepted by customers. Extensive surveys and
analyses carried out by ECE have shown that some 60 percent of visitors
make use of the range of dining options on offer nearly every time they go
to centers - and over 80 percent make use of them at least occasionally.
About 40 per cent even go so far as to choose their center based on the
food and beverage options available to them.

This is why ECE has in recent years installed new food courts and
restaurant areas in its centers, such as at Phoenix-Center Hamburg and
City-Point Kassel. In the planning of new centers or the numerous
modernizations of existing ones, the expansion and upgrading of the food
courts often plays a key role, for instance at Aquis Plaza in Aachen, Skyline
Plaza in Frankfurt am Main, Adigeo in Verona, Italy, or Loom in Bielefeld.
This has resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of rental space
taken up by food services outlets: In the most recently opened centers it
has amounted to around 10 percent, whereas the ECE average is about 6
percent.

Food courts are popular, fine dining is trendy

The classic food court is and will remain a well-known and popular way of
offering food and beverages in centers – with small food and beverage
outlets that tend to offer simple, fast and inexpensive food and share a
common seating area. Here, visitors appreciate variety and a wide range
(according to the ECE survey: 82 percent of all visitors), good quality (77
percent), moderate prices (70 percent) and the opportunity for everyone to
choose their favorite dish but still to be able to sit at the same table as
family members, friends or colleagues.

And yet, the variety on offer and the dining concepts in centers are
constantly evolving and becoming ever more significant: People are now
looking for a choice that extends beyond the classic food court repertoire of
pizza, fries and Oriental food. Concepts for casual or fine dining are in
demand, including table service, an upscale or especially trendy ambience
and more elaborate dishes. Also often being catered for are other trends,
such as handmade, vegetarian or vegan food.

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Thematic design concepts

At the same time, people have ever higher expectations of the atmosphere
- and of the visual and architectural context being created for the dining
options by the outlets themselves and by ECE. Modern design, pleasant
lighting concepts, comfortable seating, and high-quality materials all have
their part to play in ensuring that the atmosphere is harmonious and
enhancing the quality of the stay in the center. Food courts are often
realized in line with specific thematic concepts in order to emphasize the
character of the experience and the feel-good atmosphere. Wherever it is
possible, open-air dining is also steadily gaining in importance: With roof
terraces, outdoor seating and providers that offer food and beverages until
late in the evening, centers are opening up to the outside world and
pushing back the boundaries of classic opening hours.

A particularly spectacular example of a new, high-quality and varied array

of dining options with a special atmosphere and a great range of modern
culinary concepts is planned for the MyZeil in Frankfurt am Main: There,
ECE is realizing a food court area with an enhanced range of sensory
experiences that combines various elements and a wide selection of the
latest culinary trends and restaurant offers - with unique architecture, a laid-
back design, a contemporary urban atmosphere, and outdoor terraces that
offer spectacular views of the Frankfurt skyline. Spread over seven areas,
the “Foodtopia” will boast a very wide range: a mix of trendy international
formats and regional providers, ranging from coffee bars and smart lunch
concepts through to exclusive restaurants and cool bars - and that from
early morning till late in the evening.

“FoodSky” in Europa Passage Hamburg

Here’s another current example: The Europa Passage in the heart of

downtown Hamburg, which was modernized to the tune of some € 14
million a good ten years after it opened. The heart of this transformation
was the new “FoodSky”: On the upper level of the center, a modern food
court is being created with 15 providers of dining options and a shared
seating area with almost 400 seats, alongside five other restaurants. The
options on offer range from a little snack bar to the Michelin-starred
restaurant, the “Se7en Oceans”. Footfall at Europa Passage went up by

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more than 25% after the opening of “FoodSky”. Recently, the percentage of
food retailers at the center has increased to 20 percent.

But it’s also important to remember that dining is not a universal tool. A
classic food court or a higher-quality concept will not be suitable for every
location. The dining options on offer must reflect site, target group and
positioning. It’s easier to implement more exclusive offers or new trends in
an urban center in the heart of a metropolis than it is in a little center in an
outlying district that mainly caters for families and is the local shopping
destination for residents.

Crucial here is the right mix of retailers, which must be well-thought-out and
a perfect fit. Added to this are considerations of which concept should be
located at which point in the center, how walkways should be used or
influenced, points of attraction or chill zones created, or how the best
possible use can be made of the technical facilities. ECE has decades of
experience when it comes to locating the right concept in the right place.
Then, as far as the range of dining options goes, the sky is pretty much the
limit: Even today in the ECE centers you get everything from ice-cream
parlors and donut shops through to in-house breweries and a Michelin-
starred restaurant – and that range will only increase and become more
diverse in future.

To keep in touch with the latest news, trends, and developments in the food
services and retail industry go to:

Blog: www.welovefood.ece.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/welovefoodECE
Instagram: www.instagram.com/welovefoodatece/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WeLoveFoodAtECE//

Press contact:

ECE Projektmanagement
Lukas Nemela
Spokesman / Head of Public Relations
Tel.: +49 (0)40 / 60606 6898
E-mail: press@ece.com

www.ece.com