FAB 2024
SSP America CEO Michael Svagdis on the driving factors behind culinary excellence
An insightful keynote interview between SSP America CEO Michael Svagdis and The Moodie Davitt Report Founder and Chairman Martin Moodie was an early highlight of day one at FAB+ 2024. Svagdis offered some candid insights into his approach as a CEO and the challenges faced by his company, which operates more than 300 F&B brands across an airport estate of more than 400 restaurants.
Discussing the characteristics of the North America food & beverage market, Svagdis noted a heavy accent on serving domestic travellers, with 79% of US travellers and 61% of Canadian passengers flying between their respective country’s states (rather than overseas).
Although that predominance of domestic travellers might suggest a homogeneity in cuisine and service in airport F&B, Svagdis noted the opposite is the case.
“We have a heavy accent on serving domestic North American travellers, for whom speed of service is a very important aspect. That’s something we have to focus on. But North America, like Europe, has a very diverse population, different nationalities and immigrants from all over the world.
“I’ve been fortunate to travel all over the USA and lived in nine different states and I’ve found that barbecue is different in North Carolina to Texas, smoked meats preferences in Canada are very different from those on the US East Coast or in the middle of the country.
“Different seafood experiences are expected in Boston and San Francisco, and even a gumbo or a pizza in Chicago is different to New York tastes. So that creates a really difficult job to deliver our culinary experience. It’s very challenging [to meet the needs of all these different F&B tastes] but rewarding at the same time.”
Giving insights on staffing challenges, Svagdis revealed the difficulty of “finding great people” has significantly eased in recent years, with staff turnover rates plummeting in the last three years as COVID concerns eased. “There was a lot of government relief during COVID, putting money into our staff’s pockets, but we lost team members to [companies such as] Amazon, UPS and Fedex, which benefitted from a boom in the shipping market. That has contributed to a major rise in wages [in the airport F&B industry].”
Michael Svagdis (left) joined Martin Moodie for a fascinating conversation that covered opportunities, challenges and trends within the airport food & beverage sector
On a more positive note, Svagdis shared his pride in the impact of SSP America’s talent management programmes in recent years. “Succession planning has been super important. One of the things I am most proud of is that 45% of all our new management positions last year were filled internally.”
Svagdis also acknowledged increased competition from the rising airport lounges segment and the direct competition it brings to SSP restaurants. “These lounges are coming on really strong and their offers are fantastic; I visit them as often as I can [to monitor what they are doing]. They have great chef-driven menus and great bars.
“But we are now seeing a bit of overdevelopment [of F&B in airports]; you combine that with the growth of lounges and it is easy to see us end in a spot where it’s difficult to get the return on capital.”
Quality of food was a recurring theme during the interview, with Svagdis emphasising the importance of flexible, standardised kitchen equipment and the lead role executive chefs should play in decision-making and leadership at the company.
“Our regional team structure is very important,” he said. “We have eight regional vice presidents right now which cover seven to eight airports. They have a team that includes a regional chef, a people leader, a regional controller, an inventory control manager; they all live within their markets.
“They are in the business all the time making sure we meet our culinary standards and drive the standards of our local brands. That’s critical – they have the business living in their pockets. We’re really passionate about that.”
He added: “Back-of-house systems are really important. We have a great tool for inventory control and a recipe database. When chefs join us they often have recipes in their heads, but it is important to get them written down, as we drive culinary standards across the business.
“Those chefs have an important role in our executive team. They have to be involved in procurement decisions and discussions on quality of food, staffing and so on.”
Michael Svagdis: "Great food does not have to be complicated. Better to make 20 things amazingly than 40 things OK."
Svagdis, who revealed he writes birthday cards to each SSP employee every year, has one-to-ones with new starters before they commence duties. “I do an orientation to all new employees that start with the company. The first person they see is me for an hour. I talk about the organisation and what we are trying to do.
“It’s about leadership versus management. Who do you want to work for, a leader who motivates you, explains why certain things are important and gives you direction or management that just controls you? That’s an important mindset because getting your employees engaged is critical.”
He also spends one week a month visiting SSP airport operations, always unannounced, so he can check standards are being maintained and evolving. “I sample the food, I’m in the kitchen, I’m in the coolers and I am saying ‘Hi’ to all the team members.”
Svagdis expressed his admiration for celebrity chefs Marco Pierre White and the late Anthony Bourdain, and their influence on him.
“We have to focus on great-quality food as fast as we can get it out, that’s the nature of the airport F&B environment. They say great food does not have to be complicated.
“Keep it simple, right? Don’t go over the top with multiple ingredients. It’s those four or five key ingredients, how they work together, that creates great food. Better to make 20 things amazingly than 40 things OK.”
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