Elior India – Transformational Brand 2019

Category Selected as Transformational Brand: Food Services 

Selected as India’s Transformational Brand 2019, Elior India is an exemplary food services brand that is transforming the food services industry delivering exceptional, high quality and healthy food options.

Company Vision: To be the largest and most valuable Food Services Company in India.

Company Mission: To delight our customers by delivering the best experience for food at work.

Ethos of the brand: Small enough to care, big enough to make a difference.

Total Number of Employees in the Company: over 3900 employees

Countries the brand is present: 16 countries:  France, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Portugal, Saint Martin, Spain, United Kingdom, United States of America.

The unique value proposition of the product: the functional, emotional and differentiating product benefits that have contributed to providing an enduring brand experience to customers?

Elior India combines the spirit of partnership and culinary innovation with operational excellence. Our passion and dedication to bring about a customised offer to our clients are underpinned by a Chef led model with investments in resources, compliance with the highest QHSE standards coupled with ethical sourcing and use of sustainable ingredients. The brand is strengthened by being a part of the European contract catering firm, Elior Group which focuses on innovation and social responsibility as an enabler of its core business and has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2004.

What are the physical, character and personality attributes of the brand that have evoked and inspired consumers’ self-expression and personal identity?

The logo is represented by the camellia flower which evokes positive feelings of prosperity, passion and loyalty. The Elior brand stands for a vision of progress in the catering industry, being able to constantly evolve with customer expectations. Our customers are right to expect more from us, and we meet their standards with high-quality processes in place and constant innovation. We stay true to our Indian roots by adapting to local flavours and cultures, while constantly drawing inspiration from international techniques.

An insight into the brand marketing strategies that have effectively penetrated consumers’ psyche, established a meaningful relationship with the target audiences and ensured positive brand perception.

Elior is seen as a brand that shows continuous care for its clientele in every step. Our communication encourages people to make healthier choices when it comes to food. We procure the best of ingredients and provide healthy meals to make sure our customers eat right at their workplace. We also have special themed events for festive holidays such as Christmas, Diwali, etc., as well as regional food festivals celebrating the food cuisines of various states in India. In addition, we have mango themed, back to school themed, and customized themes for cake mixing events to break the monotony and deliver unique experiences.

How has the brand extended its presence to the frontiers of internet advertising and social networking?

Elior constantly engages customers on social media platforms with creative posts. Our social media content has helped us gain followers from the corporate industry, as well as enable us to establish a business to consumer connection. In addition, our social media platform is used to encourage the pester power of employees to gain headway into a new client/prospect.  Our online campaigns target food bloggers to write about the services we provide. Furthermore, our social media presence has helped us garner tie-ups with culinary and industry associations, thus enabling us to establish a strong and influential platform that connects us to our consumers directly. In addition,

Key marketing endeavors in the past decade that you feel have been landmark initiatives in reinforcing the legacy of the brands’ promise to influence consumer intent and enhanced the brands’ propensity to drive affirmative consumer action

We have received many awards and recognition from various establishments that act as a testament to our brand’s promise of maintaining customer satisfaction and delivering better meals.

Our event sponsorships include All Things Nice dinner, IFFCI dinner and much more. We have also established a strong media presence through Zee Media which has played a role in fighting food fatigue and establishing the importance of eating right at the workplace.

How has the brand derived strength from innovation as a sustainable differentiating strategy adding to long-term brand equity? Please provide a few instances of measures implemented towards this goal.

The focus on culinary innovation is to create guest environments with customised service models including pop-ups, food trucks, café bars, customised menus reflecting seasonal food preferences, and recipes catering to individual dietary and therapeutic requirements. Moreover, culinary innovation leveraging food tech as an enabler is at the heart of our innovation strategy. Our digital platform Él Chef enables our guests to find solutions to optimise time and have their lives simplified through digital solutions for pre-ordering, faster payments, food traceability, and transparency. We have also partnered with digitally enabled supply chain partners to optimise logistics, ensure traceability of raw material and track fulfilment rates through live dashboards. Our innovations in the food space in India has helped us to be recognised as ‘The Most Innovative Company’ at the Indo French Business Awards in 2018.

What is the key leadership value that drives the brand.

The leadership team at Elior comprises of individuals with varied long-term experience in the food and food-related service industries with a customer focus. Our values centre around building a strong culture with innovation at the heart of everything that we do. Strong sustainable relationships with our clients and a commitment to the wellbeing of our colleagues and service force by creating a positive and supporting work environment are the driving forces behind our growth in India. Our leaders are on a constant path of learning and development by focusing on the core values of customer focus, professionalism, innovation and responsibility as a principal commitment to supporting Elior’s growth agenda in India.

What type of employee satisfaction programs are conducted by the brand?

We believe in fostering a creative and healthy work environment for our colleagues by sharing skills, knowledge, tools, and opportunities through a culture of engagement, innovation and fun. Our employee satisfaction programs are major tools in order for us to achieve our goal to provide the best customer experience. The various programs conducted for our employees include rewards and recognition programs for all frontline employees, birthday celebrations, outings to foster team bonding and relaxation, and employee town halls to facilitate questions and discussions about updates, grievances, and other matters of concern. Our employees are also equipped with additional benefits that foster employee satisfaction. These comprise of social security benefits, a group Mediclaim Policy, provision of food and accommodation, and an automated HR process that enables the employees to manage their leaves and personal information in an effective manner.

How much does your brand emphasise on employee training & development? kindly elaborate.

We believe all successful businesses are built on strong and sustainable employee relations which can be achieved only by empowering them to deliver their best and encouraging them to build long term careers with us. At Elior India, employees undergo various behavioral and technical training throughout the year. Behavioral training includes sessions on basic etiquette, grooming, service etiquettes, prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace, work safety, work ethics, etc. Technical training is taken care of by the QHSE Lead, Food Production Lead and Service Lead. The training has sessions on hygiene at the workplace, food safety, washing and sanitizing of vegetable chopping boards, hand washing, cross-contamination, hazards and food contamination. The training is conducted by experts who handle the session at each location. Apart from this, the leadership team goes through a 360-degree feedback process and accordingly people are put on specific coaching sessions facilitated by external coaches, based on the identified development needs.

What are your brands most effective intangible motivational tools for employees?

The various programs conducted for our employees include rewards and recognition programs for all frontline employees, birthday celebrations, outings to foster team bonding and relaxation, and employee town halls to facilitate questions and discussions about updates, grievances, and other matters of concern.

Kindly elaborate on your existing & potential CSR activities.

Elior India strives to generate a positive food print through our farm to fork model that enables us to work with our suppliers, clients, customers, and employees. We sustainably source our ingredients and provide our consumers with healthy choices. Following a circular model, we minimise food wastage at every step. We strive to reach our goal of 100% reduction of food waste by 2025. We also help in promoting local jobs that help our people fulfil their potential. Overall, these practices ensure that there is a growth in performance in energy, carbon and water management, and waste reduction.

Which area of social responsibility is more significant for your brand.

The social responsibilities we strongly believe in are providing healthy choices, using sustainable ingredients, managing food wastage, and ensuring that the backend people and communities are recognized and given importance. We also have detailed programs addressing each of these commitments.