Cinemas are no longer places where people would only watch films but also where consuming a full-fledged meal is becoming an intrinsic part of the audience’s experience. With constant innovations, re-engineering of menu selection, and a strong intent to serve and delight, multiplexes have been taking the food story to newer heights. Here are some of the food trends at multiplex in the year 2023.
- Popcorn remains the king
Popcorn has and will always stay the most ordered food item at multiplexes, but we saw an innovation here too. Patrons can now avail popcorns in a variety of flavors like habanero tabasco, cheesy gunpowder, Tandoori and Tiramisu.
2. Feel at home
Taking consumer’s comfort into consideration, multiplexes have introduced traditional home meal options like Pulao, Biryani, Dal Makhani, the much-loved servings of Rajma-rice & Chana-rice.
3. Immunity boosters
Health comes first and sticking to that fact multiplexes have added immunity boosters to its food menu across cinemas in India, including turmeric latte, healthy soups, and herbal teas. Furthermore, multiplexes are also selling specially curated vegan and plant-based food options for the people choosing healthy meals.
4. Food at your fingertips
Consumers no longer have to queue for snacks as multiplexes now have innovated their lobbies and auditoriums. One will see touch-screen kiosks across the multiplex where guests could place their orders without the hassle of lines, and have the food delivered to their seats. Additionally, multiplexes have also come up with in-house app that can be used to order and get your meal delivered to your seat as per convience.
5. Topicalization of food
Topicalization of food to match and complement with the theme of the ongoing film is another interesting way of making F&B appealing to the movie goers. Example. INOX curated a special ‘Pav Bhaji’ menu during the release of Dhrishyam 2. In addition, multiplexes are also introducing festival / occasion led menus to attract consumers.
6. Online Food Ordering
Post pandemic, most of the companies are still working from home or on a Hybrid model. A lot of office goers, travellers, shoppers, professionals working from home order food through online aggregators such as Swiggy and Zomato from their favourite restaurants. Multiplexes have adopted a similar approach of listing themselves on these online food ordering apps.
Multiplexes are going above and beyond to make sure patrons feel welcomed and food has been a major focus. As per INOX, food needs to stand out to bring audiences into the theatre and in-cinema dining is a serious business as their overall F&B contributes around 27-28% of the total revenue. Over the years, INOX has evolved from a ‘multiplex chain’ to a ‘multiplex & F&B chain’. INOX even allows its non-movie-watching guests to walk in at any of its cinemas and enjoy a meal in the lively lobby spaces. Besides making its food available on online food ordering platforms – Swiggy and Zomato, the brand has also become the only multiplex company to be listed on table reservation platform – Eazydiner.
