This first part of 2022 was marked by the development strategy of luxury brands to grow their business around new F&B offers.

Luxury brands are developing a Food & Beverage offering that allows their customers to enjoy a new brand experience. Whether pop-up or permanent, these food and beverage outlets are becoming increasingly popular. Dior led the way when it opened a restaurant, Monsieur Dior, and a Dior pastry shop-café in its historic headquarters on Avenue Montaigne, both of which are run by the famous French chef Jean Imbert.

This was not the first foray into the sector by the House of Dior. It had already created six Dior restaurants and cafés over the years, with a summer terrace in Saint-Tropez and Dior cafés in Tokyo, Seoul and Miami.

Other companies are following suit. This summer was marked by the opening of the Louis Vuitton restaurant in Saint Tropez. For the occasion, the House partnered with young chef Mory Sacko, a former Top Chef contestant and owner of the Michelin-starred Mosuke restaurant in Paris. This new hotspot is located in the legendary White 1921 hotel, which is managed by LVMH Hotel Management, on the Place des Lices, just a few metres from the town’s Louis Vuitton boutique.

Gucci, Chanel, Fendi, Bulgari... all want to open their own restaurant or café. These openings are an opportunity to consolidate the brand with new sources of revenue and to build customer loyalty by encouraging them to consume more, as these establishments are often located near or even inside flagship stores.

All these new concepts reflect a strong trend: luxury is becoming an F&B player. The F&B&E experience is now everywhere and is being installed in places where there is an influx of people, such as destinations, in order to attract more and more consumers and to deploy experiential spaces. The codes of luxury are becoming more relaxed, and this greater accessibility attracts a wider clientele base... Luxury brands have understood that their customers are passionate about the art of living, and that they should be accompanied all the way through their brand experience.

The major luxury brands are vying creatively with each other to seduce their customers with a "storytelling" that combines tradition and modernity, art and soul, fashion and savoir-faire. The F&B&E offer occupies a central place in this attraction strategy, the objective being to provide experiences rather than to sell products, to arouse emotions, to create bonds of belonging, to bring customers closer to the brand and to unite them. It is a perfect example of the hybridisation phenomenon.

It is likely that the end of the year will be marked by the forthcoming opening of F&B venues by luxury houses.