In February, Accor and Sbe announced a plan to open more than 100 Umami Burger restaurants within Accor hotels by 2026. It’s a move that expands Accor further outside the traditional hotel sector – what the company calls augmented hospitality.
HOTELS spoke with Accor’s Philip Basha, vice president of corporate finance, and Jay Patel, chief financial officer at Sbe Lifestyle Hospitality’s Disruptive Group, about what that partnership means.
HOTELS: What’s the opportunity with Umami?
Philip Basha: Ultimately Accor has identified lifestyle and luxury lifestyle as being a major part of their growth initiative – they’ve made many acquisitions in this space, the largest of which is SBE. As part of lifestyle, it’s not only hotels, it’s food and beverage, which was a major, major driver for (Accor) in making the investment in SBE. And it’s food and beverage because Accor has a lot of hotels they feel are in need of more activation, more lifestyle emphasis. They view, like we do, food and beverage being a major part of helping make that happen. Umami is a natural, easy way for them to get immediate traction in their existing hotels and their new hotels to add that lifestyle component, because that’s what Umami is all about.
H: What is it about the Umami brand that fits with Accor?
Jay Patel: Accor effectively has over 4,500 hotels in every market all over the world, so for Umami, for instance, with our locations in Japan, we’ve seen a huge, huge increase in demand. We just opened our fourth one there. And they’re experiencing three-hour waits with people lining up outside the door every single day. So, we’re seeing especially in the Asian market there’s a huge demand, and if you look at some of Accor’s midscale hotel brands, they don’t have a standardized food and beverage offering. So, I think those are the key factors for Accor – it benefits them and it benefits Umami also.
H: What brands within Accor are being targeted?
PB: Umami, in Accor’s mind, can activate a luxury property, it can activate a midscale property. I would venture to say that on the midscale side it’s a more likely fit because of the quick-serve nature of the product, but as we’ve seen, even at high-end luxury hotels, luxury burger options have been successful.
H: Umami was a pionees of incorporating the (meat-free) Impossible Burger into its menu. Where does Accor see the future of plant-based meats heading?
JP: The model has changed the dynamic of the burger business in the U.S. since (Impossible’s) launch. But I think when you look internationally at Impossible, it has a very limited reach outside the U.S., outside small parts in Asia which were only just recently announced. I think there is a huge opportunity for the international market once (Impossible) has gone through all the exporting licensing and permitting through the different governmental agencies.
If we look at it going forward, sustainability and wellness are even more important, I would say, to the international market versus the U.S. So, there is a huge opportunity for us and Accor to leverage that in the international market.
PB: It’s really impossible these days to create any new concept or plan on growing without having a sensitivity to both wellness and sustainability. It is an inherent focus of ours and it’s a major focus of Accor’s. Umani and the Impossible Burger by definition fit into that. It just offers another opportunity to reach the customer who wants more options. So we fit in perfectly with where the market is heading right now.
H: Right now, SBE and Accor have committed to 100 Umami restaurants by 2026. What regions will be targeted and why?
PB: Logically, Accor is the most dominate player in the European market, so Europe will by definition be where the initial focus is. Given the traction that we already had in Latin America, in Asia and soon in the Middle East, you can expect those to also be targeted for growth.
H: Is there room for Accor growing Umami outside of the traditional hotel space?
PB: It’s a good question and fairly timely. What we’re looking at are broad locations where we can provide our offerings on the food and beverage side in one location, with Umami being the catalyst to that. And whether that happens in an upscale food court or as part of a servicing a residence, a high-rise, etc. … That is what we think is a big exciting future for overall food and beverage – when you have a brand as we have, it’s easier to do because you’re creating a real destination revolving around the Sbe brand. I do think there are opportunities to leverage Umami onto those types of platforms.
H: What’s the larger trend that this partnership represents?
PB: It’s about expanding outside of traditional hotels: That’s the concept of “augmented hospitality.” We have a view that if someone is trying to establish themselves and be successful in the lifestyle space, then you have to control all of the experiences in the hotel. Because it’s very difficult to be a lifestyle hotel if you’re outsourcing, for example, your food and beverage or your nightlife to another operator. It all goes beyond the idea of just putting people inside hotel beds.
JP: If you compare Accor to the other big hotel operators, they’re doing the one thing that’s really trying to differentiate themselves from your Hyatts and your Marriott/Starwood. It’s not just about giving a customer a 360 experience, it’s about also giving our developers and our hotel owners a unified management and efficient operating team. From an efficiency and profitability standpoint, it’s a much more viable option to have one operator running the whole business for you and having a business that drives traffic that’s not just about hotel guests. It’s about making it a destination.
