Amidst a volatile economic landscape marked by significant job losses in the hospitality sector, the alignment between spirits brands and on-premise venues has never been more critical. In this episode, we join Brown-Forman Advocacy Director Nidal Ramini to unpack the “Hospitality Algorithm,” a strategic framework that helps suppliers and entrepreneurs understand the operational mindset of successful bars.
We explore how Ramini evolves Danny Meyer’s “Enlightened Hospitality” into a roadmap for business resilience, demonstrating why “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. We also discuss key entrepreneurial lessons, from distinguishing between passion and vision to prioritizing community investment, and analyze why treating awards as a result rather than an objective is the key to sustainable brand growth.
Featured Guests:
Nidal Ramini, Advocacy Director – EAA Division, Brown Forman
Mentioned in this episode:
Watch on YouTube:
The Hospitality Algorithm: A Playbook for On-Premise Success
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Podcast Transcript
Nidal Ramini – Advocacy Director, Brown-Forman
Emmett Strack (00:03.950)
Before I introduce myself a little bit and tell you who I am, I just want to give you a stat, actually. So I read this yesterday on the plane over. In fact, I read it twice. I read it in two different publications talking about different things. And it’s a bit of a downer, sorry, but I’ll make it nice at the end.
Emmett Strack (00:28.640)
So since January the 1st, this is in the UK, since January the 1st, 86,000 hospitality jobs have been lost this year in 10 months. So I think there are going to be 15,000 people at this show over the next couple of days. So take five of these, or five and a half of these, everybody who comes into this five and a half times, and fire everyone, right? That’s basically what we’re looking at.
But as I said, we’re starting on a little bit of a downer, but that’s why this whole piece about the Entree Playbook is just so important. Because it is such a thriving place for building and seeding and growing brands. Brands are built from the bottom up, right Chris? So working in this industry and this part of the industry is just incredibly powerful for us.
And again, just a huge thank you to everybody who came out today to listen to us.
So as Andrea said, my name is Nadal. I’m based in the UK, based in London. I lead the advocacy work for Brown Foreman. But what I’m talking about today is our playbook, right? What is the Entree Playbook? And part of it is what we call the hospitality algorithm.
And an algorithm is basically the set of rules that you follow to achieve success. And I thought that was kind of cool. I quite like that title. But the other title, the little piece underneath it, is talking about why culture beats lists for business sense. And you’ll see why I talk about that in a sec.
Emmett Strack (02:26.414)
When you think about yourself and your role, I’m talking more towards people behind the bar, but let’s throw it out there to everybody because I know that some people who are involved in brands also used to work behind bars. So whether you’re a bartender or an F&B manager or a brand director or a bar owner, how do you measure how successful you are?
In the bars, how do we measure how successful you are?
Now, unfortunately, this is what we do. The awards and accolades that you win, right? Best this, best that, greatest this. That’s the first thing that we look at, right? Ourselves and the industry as a whole. We then talk about how famous are we, right? Who’s going to pay us the most to go and do this? Where are we going to go and do this? Where are we going to do that? And the last one is this.
How successful are we? How do we measure our success?
And listen, I get it, right? Right now, I mean, this couldn’t have worked even better. There are a lot of people who are not at this show, who are normally at this show, because they’re traveling to Hong Kong for the World’s 50 Best Bars. And just so you know, I congratulate every single one of those people that’s going there. What they’ve achieved is absolutely amazing.
But when we’re thinking about driving success, and we’re talking about the algorithm, about a new set of rules to be followed to achieve success, we have to look at some different inputs.
Emmett Strack (04:31.860)
Has anyone here heard the phrase, culture eats strategy for breakfast? Come on, of course you have. Yeah, exactly. Don’t be shy. Amongst friends, okay?
So culture eats strategy for breakfast. It was coined by a guy called Peter Drucker. And basically what he is saying is that the culture that you build, i.e., the way that teams of people work together, how they deal with stress together, how they deal in critical situations, how they handle pressure, how they look after themselves, and in our space, how they look after their guests, is much more influential to the success of your business than any strategy that you may have.
And what your focus should not be, it should not be four words. It should not be get on the list, right? That’s what it should not be
Because focusing on culture should really be the focus. It should be the number one focus of your business. Whether you’re, as I said, a bartender, a bar manager, or a bar owner, we’ve all played a role in this. And what your focus should not be, it should not be four words. It should not be get on the list, right? That’s what it should not be.
Emmett Strack (06:05.200)
So the first thing I saw was I looked at this guy on the screen. It’s a guy called Danny Meyer. If you don’t know who Danny Meyer is, you’ll be aware of his work. From everything from Eleven
Madison Park to Shake Shack Burgers, he basically redefined dining culture in the US and in New York specifically.
I came across a piece, an essay he wrote, called Enlightened Hospitality. And he basically said there are these five tenets. If you want to be successful in the space of hospitality, there are essentially five tenets that you need to look at.
The first one is you focus on the team first. Number two, hospitality over service. The third one is about following your passion. The fourth one is about giving back to your community. And the fifth one is very much around being a mentor.
Emmett Strack (09:44.814)
So what we’ve done is looked at taking some of the tenets from Danny Meyer and then just tweaking them ever so slightly.
The first one, team first, becomes culture is the most important part of it. The second becomes connections over service. The third is to follow your vision. The fourth one is about investing locally. And finally, it’s about being a mentor.
Emmett Strack (11:58.000)
When we look at the hospitality algorithm and how we achieve success, consistency and growth is what we’re talking about. It’s about pushing boundaries, it’s about innovating, it’s about learning from others and inspiring from others, and all the while giving the best guest experience that you possibly can. Because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.
But also do it time after time after time, not just when the judges walk in to assess your venue.
Emmett Strack (13:18.400)
So in our world, when we’re looking at projects and we’re kicking off certain pieces of work, we talk about something called a PO3.
So your purpose, what’s the overall vision? That’s the P. Objective, what do you need to accomplish? The output, what do we do differently? And then the outcome, what will be the result?
Emmett Strack (14:36.174)
You can achieve these great things, awards, accolades, industry fame, get on that list. You absolutely can.
But the final line for this part of the presentation before I hand it over to Nicholas is this: this is all the result of your work. It should not be the goal.
Thank you.