The Global Restaurant Investment Forum 2017 Partners with AccorHotels in Dubai

AccorHotels to promote new restaurant concepts and commitment to F&B excellence at the fourth edition of GRIF, being held from 10-12 April at Fairmont The Palm, Dubai

The Global Restaurant Investment Forum 2017 (GRIF), an annual networking and intelligence event for the international restaurant and hospitality community powered by Michelin, has partnered with AccorHotels for its fourth edition.

GRIF, which will be held from 10-12 April 2017 at Fairmont The Palm in Dubai, will provide a macroeconomic overview of the F&B industry and tackle issues such as concept development, finance and lending, investment feasibility, scaling up for sustainable growth, creating a food culture and catering to the digitally-focused customer.

The event brings together more than 300 industry professionals for interactive culinary tours, vibrant networking receptions, a franchise master class and a stimulating conference programme that gets to core of investing in the restaurant and food service industry.

Jennifer Pettinger-Haines, Managing Director, Middle East, Bench Events, organiser of GRIF, said: “GRIF facilitates investment decision-making within the restaurant space and showcases the hottest concepts from around the globe. When selecting our partners, we are committed to supporting companies looking to make a real impact in the industry. AccorHotels is making bold steps to revolutionise its F&B and we are excited to witness the unveiling of new concepts from the hotelier at GRIF.”

Dedicated to sharing best practice and innovative insights, the impressive line-up of speakers for the 2017 edition of GRIF includes Amir Nahai, CEO Food & Beverage, AccorHotels, who will be interviewed live on stage about the international hotelier’s F&B strategy on 11 April.

Speaking ahead of the event, Nahai said: “Rethinking and redefining our Food and Beverage offer is a critical element of AccorHotels’ transformation and we are committed to demonstrating that hotels can be market-leaders in the restaurant business. With close to 8000 restaurants around the world, our goal is to position our F&B offer as a truly differentiating factor for our guests, our partners and our employees.

“Our focus is on ensuring food and beverage is more localised and less commoditised,” continued Nahai. “It is about creating concepts tailored to each marketplace in which we operate and developing home-grown F&B. The question we ask ourselves about every concept is, ‘does it matter to our guests?’”

The topic of restaurant conceptualisation will be an important one at GRIF 2017, where panel sessions include: What’s Hot in the Restaurant World; Creating a Food Culture; Demystifying Restaurant Development; Hotel F&B; Smart Design; and The Blueprint to Developing a Successful Concept.

Nahai added: “Our merger with FRHI Hotels & Resorts has certainly accelerated our focus on F&B and provided additional know-how, talent and systems in this specialism. It’s therefore very exciting to host GRIF at Fairmont the Palm, a hotel for which we are currently creating a very exciting new restaurant, bar and beach club concept.”

He concluded: “GRIF is one of the leading international restaurant investment conferences in the region and at AccorHotels, we are committed to furthering the development of the industry globally to meet the needs of today’s diner.”

In addition to the high-level agenda, GRIF 2017 will present the second edition of the Global Restaurant Awards, which give recognition to the businesses behind the world’s leading restaurants and brands.

To find out more, visit www.restaurant-invest.com and www.global-restaurant-awards.com

About the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF)

Launched in 2014, GRIF is an annual event for the restaurant and hospitality community. It is a forum that brings together industry leaders and professionals from the hospitality industry, F&B brands, investors, hoteliers, owners, lenders, franchisors, franchisees, suppliers and other key industry professionals from across the Middle East region. GRIF’s features include conferences, roundtable and panel discussions, culinary receptions and other knowledge-sharing platforms together with several senior-level networking opportunities spread over three days. The event is geared towards helping attendees gain valuable insights from industry leaders, build contacts, share best practices with the industry and gain confidence in the market. GRIF 2017 is powered by Michelin and sponsors include: AccorHotels and Fairmont The Palm as Host Sponsor; Dentons, Hodema Consulting Services, Lavazza, and Puccini Group as Gold Sponsors; Sealed Air; Soho Hospitality, XN Protel as Silver Sponsors and D.Ream as Culinary Tour Sponsor.

About Bench Events

Global event organiser Bench Events has a long track record of delivering multiple premium hotel investment conferences and forums across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Market leading annual conferences include the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) in Dubai, now in its 13th year, the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) the new Asia Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (AHTIC), The Summit in London and the Latin American Hotel & Tourism Investment Conferences (SAHIC).

Bench Events’ extensive portfolio also includes the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) in Dubai and AviaDev, designed to promote the future air connectivity in Africa.

Bench Events’ mission is enabling prosperity by facilitating growth, networking, and thought leadership in the hospitality industry worldwide.