Battle
for outsized F&B returns, sharper operational benchmarks and defining
experiences heats up in Asia Pacific.
ASIA
PACIFIC – Hilton aims to increase its share of F&B revenue/profit in Asia
Pacific, where competition is reaching a boiling point due to factors such as a
lifestyle hotel boom and an F&B pie that isn’t necessarily bigger than
pre-pandemic days.
Hotel
operators’ sentiment veers towards F&B margins in APAC staying the same
between 2024 and 2025, a JLL survey found, with South Asia/Maldives and
Southeast Asia doing better than other sub-regions. A report in August 2024 by
HotStats concurs. Overall, F&B profit margins in Asia show “a region in
recovery,” with varying progress across different markets.
Hilton
has fresh F&B leadership in APAC. Vice President Marvin Alballi joined last
year with 25 years of experience and a book he authored, Restaurant Excellence,
in arm. A new hire, Remi van Peteghem, has just come on board as director,
F&B hotel openings, APAC. The former F&B and culinary director of
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi will report to and assist Alballi in areas
including kitchen design/layout, equipment selection, food quality, menu creation,
culinary training and F&B concepts for new hotels.

The director should conduct a P&L analysis to determine if the cost of pre-approved vendors and suppliers can be shouldered by the local market. Having such a person will help prevent costly mistakes in pre-opening construction.
René J.M. Schillings
The
new job at Hilton APAC “shows our commitment to maximize return on asset for
owners,” Alballi said. “For example, having the director ensure that kitchen
flow and kitchen equipment costs are correct from the start is a great saving
for owners.”
René
J.M. Schillings, managing director of executive search firm TOP Hoteliers in
Asia, said the role is advantageous for chains. For one, he said owners tend to
be unrealistic about wanting a concept they saw somewhere else, not
understanding the operational cost behind it, which they have to bear. “The
hotel chain has to be transparent about it,” Schillings said. “The director
should conduct a P&L analysis to determine if the cost of pre-approved
vendors and suppliers can be shouldered by the local market. Having such a
person will help prevent costly mistakes in pre-opening construction.”
‘Not
an amenity’
Alballi
is unable to share details such as F&B revenue contribution or the ROI
profile for hotel restaurants in APAC, nor his targets for improving those
metrics. Hilton, along with counterparts probably, does not publicly disclose
exact annual F&B revenue.
But
he did say F&B has a sizable amount of contribution, especially in full-service
hotels. “We’re not an amenity,” Alballi said. “Our approach is centered around
ensuring our restaurants, bars, banquets, catering and other revenue streams
deliver the best-in-class industry top-line and bottom-line numbers.”
To
be the bench-marker, he is embedding a culture whereby every restaurant manager
operates as a business owner. “They are accountable for the P&L because it’s
a business within a business,” Alballi said.
By
now the asset management mindset on F&B isn’t a novel idea, but as usual
success lies in the execution. For Alballi, it starts with intense training.
Under
him, Hilton holds about three hours of training per month for restaurant
managers, chefs, head bartenders and banqueting managers on how they can boost
revenue and profitability further, be it by increasing outlets’ online
reputation, managing costs, improving quality, or other ways. Scorecards track the progress of
each manager.

Marvin Alballi: Changing mindset through training.
“We’ve
improved our online presence on Google Reviews and TripAdvisor, and seen more
restaurants optimizing their profitability,” Alballi said. Hilton operates and
manages 1,147 bars and restaurants in APAC, excluding leases run by third-party
outlets.
Alballi
and his 15-person strong regional team also conduct regular online seminars,
attended by up to 4,000 F&B employees in APAC. The calls are recorded,
transcribed and translated into a manual for new and existing team members
across all levels.
As
well, for the first time, Hilton is hosting the world's '50 Best' chefs to create
limited time pop-up experiences and events at its APAC properties in 2025 and
2026. “It's never done in this scale before,” Alballi said. “The aim is to
align our chefs with the best in the industry, and to have our team and the
visiting chef create amazing culinary experiences for guests. There’s a lot of
learnings for our chefs from this initiative.”
The
first pop-up, held in September at Oscar's restaurant, Conrad Singapore Marina
Bay, featured Chef Reif Othman from REIF Japanese Kushiyaki, Dubai.
Hilton
also sends its chefs to sister properties where they train and exchange
culinary knowledge. In the past nine months, 34 chefs from 33 hotels in five
regions have participated in the exchange program. “It creates excitement and
engagement among our chefs, and additional revenue,” Alballi said. “If you fly
a chef from Mumbai to Tokyo, guests will enjoy authentic Indian cuisine.”
Demand
and competition
According
to Hilton APAC, for 1H25, its F&B revenue, excluding conferences and events,
saw a year-over-year increase across Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan and South
Korea. Notably, Australia and Indonesia saw double-digit growth.
Despite
challenges the industry faces, such as inflation, labor shortage and
economic/geopolitics uncertainties, there is still demand for F&B. “The key
to profit is revenue and cost, and the two controllable costs are labor and
food,” Alballi said.

If we have smaller menus and focus on dishes that sell well, that repetition creates precision and perfection. It means you’ll have less inventory and fewer products in the storage area, and a positive domino effect on food, labor and energy costs.
Marvin Alballi
He
does not believe in “cost cutting” but “cost management,” and has launched a
pilot to optimize menu and inventory size at 15 hotels, to be launched
systemwide next year.
“If
we have smaller menus and focus on dishes that sell well, that repetition
creates precision and perfection. It means you’ll have less inventory and fewer
products in the storage area, and a positive domino effect on food, labor and
energy costs,” Alballi said. “It means less waste. Training will become easier
and guest experience will become a lot better.”
Nevertheless,
Hilton faces competition from lifestyle hotels in APAC, which flaunt their
flair for creating more defining moments and experiences. According to a JLL
report, lifestyle hotels in APAC register about 30% higher F&B (including
MICE) revenue per occupied room than the broader market.
The
region has seen a quadrupling of lifestyle hotel rooms in 10 years, mostly in
upper upscale and above, with a further 34% supply growth by 2027. The top
three lifestyle hotel groups in APAC, according to the report, are Marriott,
IHG and Hyatt.
Hilton
APAC surpassed 160 luxury and lifestyle hotels in operation recently and said
this portfolio will grow by at least another 50% in the years ahead. Overall,
it has a pipeline of 953 hotels, with more than 200 hotels scheduled to open in
2026.
Alballi said Hilton
focuses on supporting all segments, not just luxury and lifestyle. “We don't
have favorite children. Besides, we also have massive growth in focused service.”