According to Sean Holmes, marketing director at PRIMI, over and above the rising food inflation rate and other challenges the South African restaurant industry faces relates to rationalising the rapid increase in operational costs. Line items such as wages and utilities are putting significant pressure on the bottom line. Businesses are forced to think out of the box in order to become more efficient operationally and at the same time drive sales.

Holmes says, “Consumers nowadays want to interact and engage in real time, and the gaming platform enables us to facilitate this interaction in-store at table level. Not only can we interact this way via the consumer’s mobile device in a fun way, but we can also reward the consumer in real time. This will be in the way of a voucher or coupon, which in turn will be received by the customer whilst at the table, enabling it to be redeemed instantly.”

Over and above this innovation, PRIMI also recently underwent a massive revitalising exercise, including a name and logo change, the introduction of a new menu, and more. These changes also include a new state-of-the-art pizza oven imported from Italy that combines traditional wood-fired baking with gas-burner technology. With the redesign of the restaurant, each store also creates its own visual identity, including graffiti art, which embraces its local context and the personality of the restaurateur. 

Holmes adds, “As with the life cycle of all brands, innovation and creative thinking is key in order to shift the curve and maintain relevance in an ever-evolving consumer driven market. Technology has enabled and expedited the implementation of global trends across multiple markets and regions, creating a far more competitive landscape. Brands are now not only compared amongst their local counterparts but also on a global scale. Given the seamless flow of information available, there really is no excuse not to keep abreast with international trends.”

PRIMI will continue to evolve its menu offering, maintain the traditional craft of artisan food, push boundaries on service delivery, and enhance the restaurants’ physical space by drawing inspiration from global trends, states Holmes.

Holmes says, “At PRIMI, we believe the future is tradition and as such we call upon recipes dating back over two hundred years. Great effort is being made to source pure ingredients, without any artificial additives.”

For more information, visit www.primi-world.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.