What we learnt from organising Dakar's first Restaurant Week
Adapting a popular concept to the local restaurant industry in Dakar turned out to be a success.
Restaurant weeks have become a popular trend in major cities of the world like New York, Paris and London. It is a week during which fine dining restaurants offer a pre-fixed menu at lower prices to attract new customers. This year, Senegal's capital Dakar joined the ranks of these cities to offer Dakar Restaurant Week, which took place at the beginning of February. The event was successful and taught co-founders Diarra Bousso and Shruti Dhanda valuable lessons. They share their journey of adapting the restaurant week concept to the developing Senegalese economy. How it all started
It all started when we wanted to treat ourselves to a fancy meal and we were shocked at some of the prices on the menu. We were eating in a fine dining restaurant in Dakar so, of course, it would be pricey, but the meal was more expensive than many equivalent restaurants in the US or Europe.
This sparked our curiosity to learn more about the industry. Senegal, like many other African countries has no database of information or bureau of statistics on the restaurant industry. We had to do all the groundwork by visiting restaurants, developing our own data tracking system, interviewing restaurant managers, and, in some circumstances, learning through inference.
It was no easy task, but we realised it was important to understand the market before we tried to change it. We wanted to be able to give people the experience of going out and enjoying different types of cuisine the way we had experienced it in the western world. If Restaurant Week was effective at bringing in new customers and offering affordable prices in these bustling cities, why couldn’t we localise these techniques and apply it to Dakar? Thus making eating out more popular and perhaps more affordable.
Market research is difficult but important
Most restaurants in Senegal are owned by the Lebanese community. A lot of their ingredients are imported from abroad, hence the high prices. However, we started to notice that a lot of restaurants also had quite a few dishes incorporating local ingredients and delicacies. For example, one fine dining restaurant offered fresh wood-fired oven pizza at exactly the same price as a fast food restaurant down the street.
We were also surprised that some of the biggest customers at the restaurants were not foreigners, who we expected to have higher disposable income, but wealthy Senegalese.
We realised there was huge information asymmetry in the market and fine dining restaurants could attract many more customers during their low periods through a Restaurant Week promotion. This endeavour would target the growing Senegalese middle class that now has the disposable income to eat out but not necessarily the information or the inclination to experiment.
We also felt there was huge potential since a growing middle class and wealth in an economy often means there is an opportunity to change behavioural patterns and trends. The middle class in Senegal typically only went out to eat on special occasions, such as someone’s birthday or an anniversary. Perhaps, Restaurant Week could help them realise that this was an experience they could enjoy on a more frequent basis and shift their behaviour to become repeat customers.
Client development and interaction
Armed with our knowledge on the market and ideas on how to improve it, we started meeting restaurant owners as our potential clients by cold calling or visiting the restaurant. Our business model required restaurants to pay a nominal fee to participate – the collective fee would then fund the budget for our marketing campaign.
It was quite nerve wracking since we had no office, army of employees, or even a business card to offer, but our ideas were powerful and left an impression on all the owners we presented to. We reached out to eight restaurant owners, and were able to get six onboard as clients. However, maintaining and pleasing them as clients was also very tricky as they were typically competitors, and our initiative required them to cooperate.
We developed a set of guidelines that helped us manage our clients but also made sure we catered to their preferences. Even though all our clients were restaurant owners, they had differences like location, cuisine, style, price points, etc. We had to understand where those differences mattered the most and address their individual needs within a group setting. We realised face time with each of these restaurant owners was just as important as the work we were doing behind the scenes. Business in Senegal was conducted and cultivated through relationships so it was equally important for us to spend time with our clients and be present outside of our working hours.
Strong international partnerships
We were also able to get the support and sponsorship of major international companies such as Turkish Airlines and Hellofood. We realised international companies are very interested in the African market but they are also very selective about what they want to be associated with.
Our event was unique and would offer them a direct platform to the growing middle class. We had creative ideas like a launch party, social media campaign, backstage TV coverage and prizes for participants that helped make our event more dynamic and interactive. We gave our sponsors a lot of opportunities to not only be visible but also be involved with their target market. Leveraging these strengths made us an appealing partner.
Big vs. small marketing tactics
In our marketing campaign we had a massive PR launch event, billboards, TV, print, social media, etc. Each of these mediums had various pros and cons. The billboards gave us credibility with our clients, partners and even with our target market. However, they were not such an effective medium to distribute information since they are static and typically only seen by car owners.
Social media, on the other hand, though less respected by our clients and partners, was a very effective way to distribute information quickly and to the masses. Our Facebook page grew to over 2,500 likes in only two months. People were interacting, participating and sharing mostly from their mobiles. Pictures of food were very popular but even more popular was seeing pictures of their friends at our events. Tagging people helped drive and expand our campaign online and was a very powerful tool. Ultimately, social media was the major driving force behind our campaign.
Overall, Restaurant Week was a great initiative and learning experience for both of us. We received a lot of positive feedback from our surveys. Our restaurant owners who had typically reserved 20 slots for Restaurant Week participants had sold out reservations every day and had to expand the allocation. For many of the participants, it was the first time frequenting most of these restaurants and they planned to return.
It was extremely rewarding for us to be able to share the joys of eating a delicious meal with a beautiful ambience at an accessible price to a much larger audience. Restaurant Week is now intended to be an annual event for the food-loving Dakar community. We hope similar initiatives can also spread across other developing economies in Africa.
Diarra Bousso is an international luxury fashion designer based in Dakar and an ambassador for youth entrepreneurship. Shruti Dhanda started her career doing advertising for Apple in Los Angeles and later moved to Dakar to do a research stint with an NGO. She is now living and working in Asia.