THAILAND/INTERNATIONAL. Leading global travel retailer Lagardère Travel Retail has become the latest Platinum Partner of The Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) + Hospitality Conference & Awards taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, on 12-13 September.
The event, founded by The Moodie Davitt Report in 2011, returns in physical form this year after a four-year absence due to the pandemic.
Lagardère Travel Retail Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dag Rasmussen said: “We are delighted to be coming back to the FAB Conference to showcase our long-standing F&B expertise to new potential partners and to reconnect with existing ones.
“We, at Lagardère Travel Retail, are considering F&B as an integral part of the holistic customer journey at the airport. We started operating foodservice outlets in the 1980s and have consolidated our global operations into a dedicated business line nearly a decade ago.
“This is a high-growth segment, and the business has achieved over €1 billion in sales in 2019, representing a doubling of our turnover in just three years. To date we are operating almost 1,200 outlets in 29 countries and we are planning to exceed 2019 sales levels in 2023.
“We are proud to offer a strong and innovative portfolio of brands and concepts, combining global partner brands and internal concepts, covering the whole spectrum of food options to accommodate all customer tastes.”
Rasmussen noted that over the past year, Lagardère Travel Retail’s foodservice operations have experienced a very dynamic growth. He continued: “We have introduced two new trendy brands to the travel retail market, EL&N and Time Out Market, and have finalised two major acquisitions: HWH in the Middle East and Marché International.
“We are also very excited that the FAB Conference is taking place in Asia, a region where we see tremendous potential to further grow our F&B activities. We now have restaurant outlets in all countries where we operate in the region, and we look forward to introducing more global brands as well as bespoke concepts to offer all travellers a vast range of food options during their journeys.”
The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie said: “Lagardère Travel Retail has been a pioneer of foodie plus retail fusion in our industry, not simply in the company’s involvement in both sectors, but also in integrating them as we have seen in the exciting new ‘The Gallery In Barcelona’ fashion boutique and gourmet bar at Barcelona Airport (pictured below, see our story here).
“We are delighted and privileged to welcome the company onboard what is shaping as a truly FAB-ulous event in Bangkok.”
FAB’s remit has been extended this year to cover the wider airport hospitality services, including hotels and lounges, subjects which have duly been incorporated into both the conference programme and corresponding awards categories.
Nominations for FAB Awards and FAB Superstars are welcome up to 31 July here: https://airportfab.events/awards-2023/
As reported, an outstanding conference programme is taking shape with a stellar line-up of speakers already confirmed. The latest speaker announced is Xavier Rossinyol, who leads of the new travel experience player created by the business combination of Autogrill and Dufry as CEO.
He will share his insights on the changed travel dining and retail landscape, address the group’s Destination 2027 strategy and offer his vision for revolutionising the traveller journey. As reported, the company has also been named as a Platinum Partner of the event.
More speaker names will be announced in coming days.
Early Bird registration for FAB 2023 is available through 31 July and preferential room rates at the event venue Millennium Hilton Bangkok can be accessed via https://airportfab.events/.
For programme and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Jeannie Wong at jeannie@moodiedavittrport.com. 
Note: The Moodie Davitt Report publishes the FAB Newsletter, which features highlights of openings, events and campaigns from around the world of airport and travel dining. Please email Kristyn@MoodieDavittReport.com to subscribe.
