Food has been a focal point in Bangladeshi culture and plays a role in all contexts, from celebrating to commiserating. While this is common knowledge, quantitative evidence has been supplied by the digital marketing firm Webable that found that at any point in time 26% of Bangladeshis on the social media platform, Facebook, are making food and restaurants posts. This equates to around 2 million Bangladeshis actively discussing culinary delights!
It is rare to sit back and think about how and why a particular dish has found its way to the table. Thus, it is easy to forget it is a result of the preceding hundreds of years of history. Our taste for fish reflects our agrarian history and the rivers that weave their way through the nation, while Rezala and Korma symbolise the Mughals who once ruled the land.
Examine the current food choices in Dhaka and what is actually on display is the narrative of modern Bangladesh – an aspirational growing nation looking to learn about the rest of the world and to be a part of the global conversation.
The restaurant industry and the street food culture are sprawling businesses, with chefs serving all sorts of eclectic cuisines from Mexican to Turkish to Indonesian. The supply of these varieties is driven by the demand of the 30 million Bangladeshis who currently make up the middle-income bracket. It is worth noting this is a population greater than that of Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden combined!
The restaurant industry has moved at a rapid pace; only ten years ago the situation was drastically different. Bangladeshis traditionally are accustomed to eating meals at home, so to venture out to an eatery outside for a proper meal was left only for special occasions. The industry was dominated only by a few big names, but that has changed.
The shift in attitude towards restaurants runs parallel to the uptake of social media. While the increased disposable income of the middle class and the introduction of a wider variety of options meant that the tide was turning, Facebook and Instagram provided the medium for the attitudes to move with fierce velocity.
As the platforms developed, people began to fall in love with the check-in options to indicate which restaurant they had visited and the photos that could be posted showing the new exotic dishes being consumed. Eventually, the collection of data allowed Facebook to introduce business analytics and insights tools that paved the way for restaurant marketers.
The demand appears to be insatiable and has created the opportunities for entrepreneurs to seize their day. Melange was one of the first restaurants in Dhaka to take an active interest in using social media as a mass marketing tool. Nayeem Reza, partner at Melange, Wow Burger and Mirage immediately identified the opportunity for his restaurant.
He said: “In a mega city like Dhaka there is a huge shortage of things people can do for recreation. So most of the people now go out to eat at exotic restaurants for entertainment.”
He also noted that the scene is more than just food; rather it also plays a role as a social setting.
“They hangout with their friends and family over exciting flavours and talk to their loved ones over some amazing food.”
There is a need for restaurant entrepreneurs to differentiate their ventures in a marketplace that is continually looking for the next “in” item.
Nayeem focuses on food and building customer loyalty through efficiency and top-notch service. It is not uncommon to see restaurant managers or the owners themselves coming up to the customers to inquire about the food. Owners recognise the fact that all the people that they interact with are brand ambassadors. It is therefore crucial to maintain strong relationships with all, whether business partners, friends or extended family members. A little forethought of humility and politeness can go a long way in order to establish brand loyalty in this industry.
One of the best examples of the fusion between the modern restaurant industry and social media is Wow Burger. Wow Burger has been a tremendous success since it started out as a burger cart in Banani only last December. Soon, on the saddles of popular demand, it expanded throughout the city and now has extensive plans for franchises domestically and internationally in places such as Myanmar and Singapore.
The popularity of Wow Burger spread like wildfire over the social media platforms through popular Facebook groups such as Foodbank and through word of mouth marketing by college and university students. The venture consciously targeted the young middle class population of Dhaka who can easily afford the cost-effective burgers served while maintaining the basic standards of hygiene.
Hygiene remains an essential headache for Bangladeshi consumers. The subcontinent has a culture of restaurants maintaining poor standards of hygiene due to a lack of both awareness and monitoring by the authorities.
Modern restaurant owners need to be highly cautious on this issue because one customer questioning hygiene can easily drive a restaurant out of business in this age of social media. The ubiquity of social media means that like the positive reviews, the negative reviews also spread with tremendous speed.
Entrepreneurs interested in this industry must always be ready to innovate. The market contains engaged entrepreneurs such as Nayeem who have utilised their experiences of travelling across the globe. However, a dynamic consumer group, aged between 15 and 40, constantly yearn for fresh experiences. The result is that new entrants have to be bigger, bolder and tastier to satisfy customers whose palettes are continually becoming more sophisticated. It is an exciting industry and one in which great ideas can bring great rewards.
