With close to 20,000 food venues in operation across Dubai, competition in the F&B industry has never been higher as operators scramble to distinguish themselves and attract more customers.
F&B operators each have their unique perspective on what leads to a profitable restaurant but to Hassan Ballout, co-founder and CEO of Limestone Lab, it’s all about the food and experience.
“The secret to success in F&B: is food, food, food. Everyone tells you its location but I believe that your F&B offering is what distinguishes you. If you have good food, everything else is secondary,” said Ballout giving bustling “hidden gem” restaurants in otherwise quite locations as an example.
“However if you have good food and you capitalise on a really good location and a cool experience, you can export that brand to the world and that is when it becomes scalable,” he added.
This is what Ballout and his partner, Hani Doueik, tried to apply with their pilot Social Distrikt, a food and bar hall they recently launched in The Pointe, Palm Jumeirah. The hall encompasses 10 F&B brands and includes a podcast recording corner, a records shop and listening section, a fashion retailer, a concept store and a meet-up area.
“We believe that the future of hospitality is experiential. In a market like Dubai you are always in a rush to reinvent yourself and you need to keep track of everything; it is not a quick win. A great location is not a guarantee of success because if the next day someone opens a better quality concept next door, they will take your customers,” said Ballout.
“But it’s nice in a way because it really pushes the boundaries, and pushes you to give a different type of experience for your consumers,” he added.
The business of food halls
With food halls re-emerging as popular destinations, fuelled by entrepreneurs perceiving them as low-risk entry paths to the industry, Ballout said he believes Dubai will follow New York’s suite in being a “food hall capital,” explaining the economic value of such a business model.
“We are creating a solution for the three key stakeholders in our ecosystem, meaning the landlord, operator and brand owners under our roof. When I approach the landlord with a portfolio of 10 food brands in one go, epso-facto his asset value increases and his neighbouring lease increases. So I am giving an add-on to the landlord and proposing a real estate solution,” said Ballout.
“Our vision is to create multiple Social Distrikts across the region. Since elements such as our back of house operation and marketing is unified, all a brand has to do is come, plug in and cook. We are therefore giving it the opportunity to expand to different markets at minimum cost,” he continued.
“The consumer is at the core of what we are trying to give them access to different experiences and food brands,” added Ballout.
Unlike other food halls, Social Distrikt allows customers to pay one bill even when they order from multiple outlets. Cloud kitchen unicorn start-up Kitopi operates Social Distrikt’s kitchens and Ballout said they “have a collaborative approach to brand selection,” meaning to the food outlets operating in the hall.
Operational for only a few months, Social Distrikt is in conversation to expand to Romania and Saudi Arabia with multiple outlets planned across the UAE as well. “It seems this kind of format is really trendy,” said Ballout.
Limestone Lab will also be launching Peaches and Cream, a beach cocktail lounge this year.
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