The FCSI EAME 2024 Conference featured hours of fascinating presentations, insightful debates and many lessons learned in a fun, educational and interesting couple of days.
Taking place at The Circle, a new purpose built district by Zurich Airport that encompasses offices, retail, restaurants and hotels, the Conference was focused on a broad theme of improving long-term sustainability in foodservice: from climate change to attracting young people into the sector. Approximately 200 FCSI members gathered from across the world with representatives from all three FCSI Divisions present.
The Worldwide and Regional chairs of FCSI gathered on the eve of the conference for a roundtable discussion on ‘The Future of Foodservice’. Watch out for the full report with their insights in the next edition of FCSI’s Foodservice Consultant magazine.
An interactive afternoon
The Conference theme was EARTH2024, with each letter representing an important element in sustainability: E is for economics, A for agriculture, R stands for recruitment while T is for time (or tomorrow) and H for health.
On day one, guests learnt everything about the extraordinary The Circle project, with Stefan Feldmann, Head of The Circle, talking through the entire process and the thinking behind the project. He was followed by FCSI EAME Professional member Vinoo Mehera FCSI, whose company in Switzerland promaFox took charge of gastronomy and hospitality at The Circle. Mehera was interviewed on stage by conference moderators Tina Nielsen and Michael Jones.
The morning session was broken up by group tours to visit the foodservice facilities and restaurants of The Circle.
For the afternoon’s FCSI Innovation Circle, an immersive and interactive session, all speakers joined together on stage and took turns in presenting on their theme, linked to one of the letters in EARTH. The speakers were:
E is for economics:
Markus Segmüller, director of the Segmüller Collection restaurants
A is for agriculture:
Maya Ladner, programme director MSc in preneurship for regenerative food systems, ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management
R is for recruitment:
Jon Sharp, founder of Be Remarkable Hospitality Solutions
T is for time – and tomorrow:
Valeria Walther, head of reception, Hotel Hof Weissbad
Jamie Rizzi, host, Hotel Schweizerhof Lenzerheide
H is for health:
Til Hühn, center coordinator food composition and process design, Institute for Food & Beverage Innovation, ZHAW Life Sciences and Facility Management.
In between each presentation there were questions asked and points raised for discussion, both from the audience and fellow panellists, making for a fascinating discussion blending thoughts from many different perspectives.
Watch highlights of Day One here:
https://www.linkedin.com/embed/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7252947418181242880
Understanding the next generation
The Saturday morning was dedicated to the younger demographic as the Conference welcomed to the stage keynote speaker Yaël Meier, co-founder of ZEAM and the author of the book Gen Z for Decision-Makers.
Meier delivered a fascinating insight into how potential employees from Gen Z view the world today, specifically the world of work, as she outlined what it takes to attract and retain young workers to the hospitality world.
The morning concluded with presentations from the three teams of the FCSI Student Challenge competition. The teams, joining the Conference from hotel and hospitality schools across Europe, had spent two days working on a task, set by the student competition organizers Anton Francois FCSI and Denis Daveine FCSI, to design a healthcare foodservice operation for a hospital in 2044.
The students presented their well-considered and innovative ideas for the jury to consider and the winner – Team One – was announced at the evening’s celebratory dinner.
Watch highlights of Day Two here:
https://www.linkedin.com/embed/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7253308249808994304
Networking and socializing
As with all FCSI conferences there was plenty of time set aside for networking during coffee breaks and lunchtimes, while evenings saw delegates enjoy dinner together.
The Friday evening broke new ground as organizers had decided that foodservice who spend a lot of time talking about sustainable practices should walk the walk and so dinner was at Tibits, a genuine pioneer on the vegetarian dining scene, having opened 25 years ago in 1999. Needless to say, this was a great success.
On Saturday night after the conclusion of the Conference, FCSI colleagues and friends gathered for a sumptuous meal in Sablier’s restaurant on site at The Circle, followed by an evening of music and dance.
As one conference draws to a close, it is time to start looking forward to the next one as the FCSI EAME team announced that the next Conference in 2026 will take place in Liverpool, UK.
Tina Nielsen
Pictures: Marilou Linders
