Westin and Sheraton are not brands you would associate with an identity crisis. But, until recently, each was somewhat incognito when it came to F&B.

That all changed with the rollout of branded menus at Westin and Sheraton in 2005, the subsequent addition of the nutrition-focused SuperFoods menu at Westin in 2006, and the health-focused Core Performance menu at Sheraton two years later. Each has a successful track record of raising GSI (Guest Satisfaction Index) scores in the front of the house and saving money in the back of the house, resulting in food costs that are 16 percent lower at Westin and 7 percent lower at Sheraton, as well as labor costs that are 25 percent lower at Westin and 14 percent lower at Sheraton.

Just as important as the cost savings, the menus have helped define each hotel in the eyes of the customer and have aligned Westin and Sheraton with one of Starwood’s key business strategies: marketing hotel brands to appeal to distinct guest demographics.

“In the last few years, much information was gathered about customer profiles, and that information was made available to us. So we tried to find food items to support those specific profiles,” says Michiel Bakker, senior director, F&B, North America Division, Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

The successful marketing of the menus has been an evolutionary step from what was initially a behind-the-scenes strategy to cut F&B costs and raise productivity by standardizing ingredients and dishes across each brand. Bringing guest demographics into the picture enabled the menus to “support the brand positioning,” says Bakker. “SuperFoods, for example, is within the voice of Westin and has food that supports the Westin brand positioning. The same applies to Sheraton [with Core Performance].”

VOICE OF THE MENU
To discover the “voice” of each brand and the subsequent menu items that define it, Starwood deconstructed its guest profiles to focus on the lifestyle habits of Westin and Sheraton customers. “They’re similar from an income perspective,” Bakker says. “But I think the Westin guest is a bit more focused on health and renewal and taking time to renew their own energy. The Sheraton guest is more about connecting and relationships.”

“Sheraton also is more about customization,” adds Brian Abel, who coheads Starwood’s North America Division F&B program with Bakker. “Guests can customize different parts of the menu, like the salad or the ice cream for dessert. This also ties back to Sheraton customizing each stay and being a little more casual and comfort food-focused,” he says. As a result, Sheraton’s menu includes a build-your-own-salad option called “Create Your Own Greenery” and a Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Parlor section where guests can choose from several flavors and toppings.

Within these two options, the customization aspect of Sheraton’s Core Performance menus appears. Guided by logos on the menu, guests can mix and match Core Performance items—grilled chicken or seared salmon on their salad or frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, for example.

The menu also features Core Performance entrées, such as a vegetable wrap, placed among more indulgent items including a flame-grilled burger. Even then, customers can go the Core Performance route by choosing fruit instead of French fries as a side.

“They have those options, so if the guest wants to eat something light, it’s something they can trust,” says Christoph Leu, corporate chef, North America Division, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. In keeping with the Sheraton customer profile, however, Core Performance is as much about offering additional choices to the diner as it is about highlighting healthy dishes.

“The customization theme of the Sheraton menu has less to do with Core Performance and more with the brand positioning itself,” says Julia Tolstunova, F&B specialist at Starwood’s North America Division. “Sheraton’s core values are ‘warm,’ ‘connected,’ and ‘community,’ so allowing guests to choose from various options on the menu makes them feel more at home and more welcome.”

SUPERFOODS AND SUPER SALES
Westin’s SuperFoods also guides the customer with logos on the menu, but the items are not customizable—they’re stand-alone dishes that are engineered toward renewing the guest’s energy, which is a direct reflection of the Westin customer profile. Tolstunova says Westin’s brand positioning is to “preserve wellness in travel,” and SuperFoods completely supports that. There are more than a dozen SuperFoods ingredients listed at the top of each menu and corresponding SuperFoods logos next to each dish featuring those ingredients. The customer can easily cross-reference the list at the top with their choices on the menu.

“SuperFoods is not a fad like low carb,” says Abel. “SuperFoods is more of a philosophy about how to eat better. We’ve been educating our guests, and they like that. They know that eating almonds and blueberries, for example, will make them feel a little healthier and have a bit more energy. I think that connects with them.”

Both Westin and Sheraton leave room for such perennially popular items as New York sirloin, burgers, and pizza, but showcasing healthy dishes through a branded strategy is definitely resonating with customers; two of the top three selling items at breakfast and on the all-day menus at Westin and Sheraton are from SuperFoods and Core Performance.

“In the past, the menus may have been more chef-driven and not necessarily looking at what the customer wants,” Leu explains. “Chefs love veal, venison, foie gras, and caviar, and they’ll put those items on the menu. But if we only sell one or two a week, that doesn’t make much sense.”

STANDARDIZE AND REGIONALIZE
What does make sense for Starwood, aside from building menus around guest preferences, is helping each hotel execute the menu details as effortlessly as possible, with recipe cards, photographs, and specifications for purchasing.

“We provide the menus and designs. It’s a turnkey solution for them, and it’s already in each brand’s look and feel. So all they have to do is go to our printing provider and print off the menus. It’s very easy, and they don’t have to spend any money creating the designs,” says Tolstunova.

Bakker says an additional benefit at the corporate level is “it allows us to produce an off-the-shelf solution, so when a new chef or F&B director comes in, there’s something ready to go, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel over and over again.”

There are currently 37 Westins and 30 Sheratons participating in the branded menu program in North America, and part of Starwood’s balancing act to keep costs down and standardization in check is to limit the number of regional dishes at each hotel.

Initially, Starwood didn’t allow any regionalization on the branded menus. Recently, they’ve allowed individual properties to submit localized recipes, but only if those recipes contain ingredients that can be used in another menu item. Bakker says it’s a reminder to each hotel that crossutilization of ingredients is a basic tenet of food cost control.

Authenticity is another requirement for Starwood menus. Any recipe submitted must be a true regional dish, not something like a “Cajun Caesar salad in New Orleans. There’s no such thing as a Cajun Caesar salad,” says Leu. “A po’ boy, yes, that’s indigenous to that area. In Boston, it would be clam chowder. We want to make sure our chefs do some research and stay within the roots of their area.”

MENU MANAGEMENT
Starwood revises the Westin and Sheraton menus twice a year, based on guest comments and recent dining trends. For example, on Sheraton’s current menu, there are flame-grilled beef sliders. “Four years ago, we didn’t have the sliders,” says Abel. “We just moved to smaller portions and smaller bites, and our customers like that.”

SuperFoods recently evolved beyond North America to become a global Westin breakfast initiative, with at least five SuperFoods dishes on every breakfast menu. “That’s solely driven by positive guest feedback,” Leu says.

Meeting breaks are another avenue of growth for the branded menus. SuperFoods is incorporated into Westin’s breaks, and the same with Core Performance at Sheraton, where break menus are built around the theme of customization, just like the restaurant menus.

Branching out the menus beyond restaurants is a logical progression for a company focused on marketing to specific demographics. By appealing as directly as possible to the customer’s lifestyle preferences through F&B, chances increase that Westin and Sheraton are developing guests for life.

“Besides their rooms, it’s food and beverage that customers are really touching during their stay,” Abel posits. ”Either in the restaurants, in room service, in our bars, or if they’re attending a meeting, through a meeting break. The branded menus have been a home run for us. Our profitability has improved, and that’s even more important now, in this year and this economy.”

Michael Costa is industry relations editor for HOTEL F&B. He worked for several years in the kitchen and in F&B purchasing at a large convention hotel in Chicago, as well as having attended culinary school.

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