Food markets: "A very real potential in Belgium"

IN THE PRESS - Moustique magazine took a look at the opening of Ratz in Ixelles, the latest in a line of food hall concepts, with contributions from Gondola Foodservice.

© RATZ

The latest addition to Belgium's food hall scene has stirred up a buzz online, as recently noted by Moustique magazine, in response to the "theatrical" presentation of Ratz. Owner Thierry Goor defends this design as "a movie set." Building on this premise, the satirical weekly analyzed this "food market" model and its five-year future. For this analysis, Amaury Marescaux, CEO of Gondola Foodservice, shared his observations:

• "Belgium is only at the beginning, but with very real potential. Ratz, like Wolf and Fox in Brussels, invites you to discover a place, to explore it beyond just the restaurant."

• “Faced with stable food spending, consumers are making more trade-offs. They are going to traditional restaurants less often because the bill is too high, but they are willing to pay more for a premium coffee. It’s about offering a culinary, emotional, and social experience, which is what consumers are looking for today.”

• "We aim for complete customer satisfaction in one place to enhance the experience, and therefore the prices."

• "Consumers want a place that caters to a whole group, with their tastes and dietary needs, because the customer base is becoming increasingly polarized."

• "Financially, it remains difficult for establishments to survive outside of Brussels because they also need sufficient visitor traffic, if only to cover their fixed costs."

• "This concept cannot be everywhere, because it will never be viable. And you have to be able to excel in order to successfully counterbalance its drawbacks: the shared table, the noisy space, staggered service, etc."