The importance of hospitality to Scottish communities and the country’s social health – and the role played by excellent customer service – was one of the themes covered at this year’s Edinburgh Bar Show.
The annual event, hosted across four days in various venues across Edinburgh, featured a range of daily seminars followed by bar takeovers in the evenings.
Kicking off the event Kaitlin Wilkes of the Ada Coleman Project – an organisation dedicated to championing women and non-binary people in the bar industry – said bars and bartenders have a crucial role to play in preserving the national culture.
“It is not just about making drinks; it is about what happens because of them,” she said. “Every great story, every moment of honesty, laughter, connection, has probably happened across the table.
“Think about it: coffee, cocktails, food, wine. It’s how we find each other as humans. And what that means is that what we do matters. If we lose hospitality we lose culture.
“Bartenders are the caretakers of that; They’re the ones who set the tone. They create the atmosphere, and they make people feel seen and connected.”
But in order to flourish teams have to be engaged with their customers as well as their drinks.
Wilkes stressed the importance of being able to connect with customers, including taking steps to ensure bar staff are well informed on current events.
“We have to understand that, currently in the world, we have to really be aware of what’s happening outside and when we do that it helps you understand the room in front of you. Understanding the local news, perhaps the international news, is going to shape how people walk through your door.
“And that awareness will build empathy. And when you know the outside world you kind of know how people are going to walk into your bar. Being informed gives you something real to talk about or navigate the conversation to something else.
“And it means that you can be a great bartender, because it isn’t just about making a drink. It’s about really connecting with someone in front of you. And that starts with knowing what’s going on outside the four walls of your bar.”
Quoting a study from Marriott International, Wilkes said that hospitality teams that come to work prepared, engaged and in sync with each other are not just happier, they are also considerably more profitable than less engaged teams.
On the drinks side a seminar hosted by Jono Mayes and Suzie Aitken of Campari stressed the importance of serving consistently high quality cocktails.
They said that younger consumers – those in the 18 to 34 age group – are more open-minded when it comes to drinks, often trying new serves each time they are out, but they also expect the drink to live up to their expectations.
“When we look at younger demographics – that 18 to 34 – 55% of them have already made their decision before they’ve walked through the door,” said Aitken.
“That is why your Instagrams, your websites, having menus online, is key to bringing people through the door. Because when you’re spending £12, £13, £14 on a cocktail, if you’ve got limited disposable income, you kind of want to know you’re going to enjoy it before you get there.
“We need to make sure that quality is matching expectation all the time.”
