FINLAND/INTERNATIONAL. A powerful programme of expert speakers and diverse topics has been revealed for the seventh Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference, to be held in Helsinki from 20-21 June.
FAB is organised by The Moodie Davitt Report (with sister title The Foodie Report) and will be hosted this year by Finavia Corporation, operator of Helsinki Vantaa Airport.
FAB, the only industry event dedicated solely to the airport F&B sector, attracts senior representatives from the world’s leading airports, food & beverage concessionaires and brands.
Autogrill and its food & beverage divisions HMSHost and HMSHost International, OTG and SSP have pledged their support as Platinum Partners for this year’s event. Areas and Lagardère Travel Retail are Silver Partners, and Mango Tree, Travel Food Services and TRG Concessions supporting sponsors. Copper Dog whisky will once again sponsor the innovative #Airofthedog Great Airport Cocktail Award at the annual FAB Awards.
Conference topics will range from best practice in airport food & beverage to digital developments and data; plus insights from the world of F&B design. Case studies and interactive sessions will highlight a range of innovative concepts and chef-led dining experiences.
FAB 2018 will begin with an Opening Lunch on 20 June (preceded by an airport tour), followed by a half-day plenary session and the Opening Cocktail. Day Two will feature a full-day conference, culminating in the Gala Dinner and FAB Awards on 21 June.
Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference 2018 Preliminary Programme
Day 1 Wednesday June 20
08.30 Helsinki Airport Tour
Finavia
1230 Lunch
1400 Welcome and introduction
Martin Moodie, Chairman, The Moodie Davitt Report
1415 Host airport’s welcome
Joni Sundelin, Senior Vice President, Airport Director, Helsinki Airport
1430 Why Innovation + Imagination = Incremental Revenues
Elena Stenholm, Vice President Commercial Services, Finavia
Walter Seib, CEO, HMSHost International
Eugene Barry, Executive Vice President Commercial, Dubai Airports
1530 Digitalisation and humanisation in travel dining
Xavier Rossinyol, CEO, Gategroup
1600 Coffee Break
1630 Transforming consumer perception
Glyn Williams, General Manager Retail, Sydney Airport
1705 Tomorrow’s airport for today’s passenger – reinventing the airport dining experience
Rick Blatstein, CEO, OTG
1740 Day 1 concludes
19.00 Welcome Evening & Opening Cocktail
Day 2 Thursday June 21
08.00 Registration & refreshments
08.45 Welcome
Martin Moodie, Chairman, The Moodie Davitt Report
08.50 An audience with…
Speaker to be named soon.
9.20 PANEL: Tech, Trends & Tastes – Analysing the evolving airport F&B landscape
Sarah Naqvi, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, HMSHost North America
Patrick DellaValle, CEO, Airport Sherpa
George Martin Moore, Vice President – Non Aeronautical Revenues Bahrain Airport Company*
To be joined for Q&A session by:
Steve Johnson, President & CEO, HMSHost North America
10.20 Driving a data revolution
Craig Mackie, General Manager, Moodie Insights
10.50 Coffee Break
11.15 CASE STUDIES: Thinking out of the box in airport dining
Heidi Köpple, Head Commercial Centers, Zurich Airport
Talha Al Hashimi, Chief Executive Officer, HWH Hospitality Investments
Deema Anani, Commercial Director, Amman Queen Alia International Airport (Jordan)
12.15 FAB COOKS! The Chef’s Table
Renowned Finnish chefs Marko Palovaara (Bistro O Mat, Kirkkonummi) and Mika Roito (Ravinteli Bertha, Tampere) join SSP CEO Nordics and Spain, Group Director Strategic Client Partnerships Nick Inkster for a live cooking demonstration and interactive discussion on culinary trends.
13.15 Lunch
14.30 New dynamics in airport F&B
Steve Collis, Joint Managing Director, JHP
Mark Bergsrud, CEO, GRAB
Mélanie Guilldou, Executive Vice President Food Services, Lagardere Travel Retail
1530 Coffee Break
1600 Future positive? Where is airport dining headed?
Nick Inkster, CEO Western Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Nordics, SSP
Angela Heuer, Director of Business Development for Airports, Westfield
Zenola Campbell, Vice President Concessions, Dallas Fort Worth Airport
David King, Convenor of Judges, FAB
17.00 Conference ends
19.00 Pre-Gala Dinner cocktails
20.00 Gala Dinner & Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Awards 2018
*to be confirmed
2018 Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Awards
A Gala Dinner on 21 June will see the annual FAB Awards recognise and reward best practice in airport (and railway station) food & beverage.
The event will be held at the Clarion Hotel in Helsinki. Click here for hotel and conference registration.
NOTE: The Moodie Davitt Report also publishes The Foodie Report, the world’s only media focused on airport (and other travel-related) food & beverage. The Foodie Report e-Newsletter is published every two weeks and The Foodie Report e-Zine every month.
Please send all news of food & beverage outlet openings, together with images, menus, video etc to Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com to ensure unrivalled global exposure.