Bánh mì

In Brussels, we had gotten in touch with the owners of the Vietnamese concept Bánh mì. Because this concept’s locations are in office districts, they’re open between noon and 3 p.m. for lunch. But what if you could run such an efficient, high-turnover concept from morning until night? And just as we were pondering this, Avolta asked if we had an idea for a concept to fill a space at Schiphol Plaza for a period of six months. The perfect place to answer this question. And, on top of that, a great, innovative F&B concept to test at an airport.

We ran this pilot under our own management, in close collaboration with the franchise owners of Bánh mì and staffing agency AFS Schiphol. Bánh mì Brussels contributed ideas regarding the layout, functionality, and processes, and assisted with staff training and the launch. Together with the amazing crew at AFS Schiphol – a top-notch partner in this project – we managed the entire operation. We received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback during the pilot, from both travelers and Schiphol employees. A fantastic joint achievement!

A new and valuable addition to airport F&B

The pilot yielded many valuable lessons. Among other things, it showed that a Vietnamese concept is a new and welcome addition at Schiphol airport. Moreover, operationally, it’s an incredibly efficient fresh food concept – a freshly made sandwich in 30 seconds is perfect for an airport. The test that we did with ordering kiosks instead of ordering at the counter also proved to be very successful, both in terms of wait times and labor costs. Belgium is now also considering this ordering system.

It is not typical for Next Level Concepts to operate a concept under its own management after realization of the concept and training of staff. This was a great challenge for us as well – one that not only strengthened our relationship with our long-standing client, Avolta, but also one that allowed us to experience firsthand what matters in the day-to-day operations of a hospitality concept. We’ll carry these lessons forward to our future clients.