How to pick the Best F&B consultant for your Business
How to pick the Best F&B consultant for your Business
This is the third instalment of a three-part series designed to help you understand if you need an F&B (Food & Beverage) consultant, what that consultant can do for you, and how to choose the right consultant for your business.
You've decided to bring in an expert. Smart move. But now comes the hard part - choosing the right one.
A quick Google search throws up dozens of options. All of them sound great on paper: seasoned, connected, well-reviewed. So how do you separate the pitch-perfect from the pitch-only?
All these organisations and individuals have good industry experience and have worked with clients before. But do they have the creativity, problem-solving skills, systems & agility to deliver real impact?
Choosing an F&B consultant isn't just about hiring help. It's about choosing the team that will help turn your dream into a profitable, well-run, long-lasting business.
How do you differentiate between them?
This article will delve into 5 factors to consider when choosing an F&B consultant, to ensure that you place your trust, money, time, dreams and project in the right hands.
Scope over Speciality: There are plenty of consultants who focus on just one part of the puzzle - chefs who consult on food, branding experts, designers, or operations managers. But here's the kicker: the best consultants think holistically. They bring strategy, creativity, and execution under one roof - connecting the dots from brand story to plate presentation to team SOPs.
So, when you are choosing an F&B consultant, you would be surprised with the amount of value you can uncover if you choose one who has a track record of delivering a broad scope of work.
Think Different, Win Big: You wouldn't trust a chef who's never cooked. So why trust a consultant who's never run a successful restaurant? The best consultants have not only created winning systems for others, but they also prove their method work through their own successful brands. They are doctors who would take their own medicine. By also wearing the hat of an F&B business owner, they are closely and uniquely aware of the problems you will have to deal with as you progress through your F&B journey.
Do they run their own ventures?
Would I want my business to perform like theirs?
Ask yourself:
Breadth of Expertise: Whether it be restaurants, Hotels or QSRs, each format across different locations requires a different approach to success. The best F&B consultants have worked extensively across various formats and treat every project, including yours, differently according to your city, your format, your cuisines, your target audience and F&B trends.
Top-tier consultants understand that geography, audience, and format matter. They have experience across formats (QSRs, fine dine, cloud kitchens) and regions, which allows them to tailor your business plan with precision - not a template.
Robust Team: Many, if not most consultants bring a huge wealth of experience to the table which can help you solve business challenges. The best consultants have robust teams - strategists, chefs, designers, analysts - working behind the scenes to give your project the attention it deserves. You're not just hiring a person. You're hiring a unit.
The best consulting organisations are equipped with the team, manpower and resources to do justice to your needs.
Ask about team size and your direct points of contact
- Ensure there's dedicated bandwidth for your project
Before signing on:
Infrastructure you can plug into: Need a space for trials? Access to a recipe lab? A test kitchen? What about a conference room? Preparations for your project often require infrastructure that you may not immediately have access to. Consultants have the network required to plug these gaps as and when they come up.
The best consultants possess dedicated infrastructure to fulfil your needs in a timely and convenient manner. When you are choosing a consultant, enquire about any infrastructure they possess that could help you in your F&B journey.
Conclusion
When you find the right consultant, you're not just buying their time - you're buying years of experience, systems, creativity, and execution that's been refined, tested, and proven to work.
With the right partner, you gain expertise, strategy, and execution all in one.
Want to see what the right partner can do for you?
Check out our services, our awesome list of clients or get in touch - we'd love to help build something unforgettable with you.
