A Concept Restaurant

Business Design | Strategy | Experience Design | Service Design | March 2015| Team of 6 (multidisciplinary backgrounds)
 Project developed as a participatory entry for the competition Hosthinking 2015 - A design award

Background

Host Thinking 2015 an international contest sponsored by Politecnico di Milano and aimed at the ideation of new solutions
for the Ho.Re.Ca (Hotel, Restaurant, Catering) and Retail sector, that imply a more direct involvement of customers within the food and retail experience. The project is to be presented in Expo Milano in October 2015.

Scope of the project

This was a really good opportunity for us to come up with the design concept should propose a business concept/a service that involves a fresh experience and increased consumer involvement, as well as new ways of using, based on the evolution of consumption trends and presenting a complete and futuristic scenario in terms of services, products, graphics, spaces, fittings etc.

Understanding context, trends, people

Before initiating the project work , we did a few rounds of initial brainstorming as apart of research plan. Then we planned our research mainly in 2 parts in order to get insightful findings. 

• Research on present and future macro trends about food and retail industry (Social, technological, economical, experiential, Cultural, etc. )
• Deep diving in current scenarios, on field observations and interviews

As a part of on field research, we carried out direct observations of relevant venues in Milan and other cities. While doing all this we kept a few points in mind such as elements like place layout, customers' interactions, touch-points and degree of involvement and so on.

Insights

While we went through a few rounds of analysis and synthesis of findings from research; came across a few interesting insights which led us to further directions.

The Concept : Farmer's Picnic

Mixing love for food and nature with an increased awareness and involvement of consumers in what is served up on their dishes. This is “The farmer’s picnic”, a concept restaurant where farming marries the urban groove, allowing clients to directly participate to the production of vital ingredients for the courses on their menu.

Selected Location : Milan, Italy

A relevant interest for gardening, agricultural and farming has been spreading in most metropolitan areas in developed countries. The purpose of this concept is double:

• To cater for the needs and desires of these attentive eaters
• To rise awareness of the importance of quality ingredients among urban citizens.

Defining target customers

Our target market is comprised of different segments:

• Families : living in urban spaces with less or scarce possibility to move to the countryside.
• Groups: schools-social organizations-corporate groups -tourists
• Others : Individuals, Professionals

The mission statement of business
'We want customers to enjoy a picnic in urban spots, through an engaging experience that allows them to
“first-hand pick and choose” their favorite ingredients.'

Layout and space planning

Detailing the concept

As further steps we developed the whole system map and the complete service blueprint. The detailing of Front-end and back-end processes and different touch points with the types of scenarios and interactions were taken under consideration.

Developing the business plan

Building the brand
while going further in building the business plan of our concept restaurant, we understand that many factors influence the strength of a particular products/ services/ systems. We developed the brand map by applying Keller's brand equity model to it.
The concept behind using the brand equity model is simple: in order to build a strong brand, the shape and structure should be such; how customers think and feel about product/ service. Building the right type of experiences around the brand, so that customers have specific, positive thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions, and perceptions about it.

Breaking down 'value Propositions'
About in-depth understanding of value propositions for different target customer segments. It is an easy-to-understand reason why a customer should purchase and experience a product/service system of our concept business. We have tried to describe value proposition that explains how a the service caters the identified needs, communicates the specifics of its added benefit, and states the reason why it's better than similar products/ services on the market.

Developing the business Model :
Mapping all important elements related to the business concept

Icons of :"vegetables" by Dominique Vicent, "relaxation" by Edward Boatman, "vegetable garden" by Nastja Vivod, "Hand Print" by Rauan all from thenounproject.com

Along with above elements, the business plan was developed with operations details, human resource management, pricing mechanisms and financial foretasting and so on. Here is the link: The business plan document