Competition among hotels has always been strong, and hoteliers are always looking to up their game to offer something that can help a potential guest choose their property.
National foodservice franchise chain The Melting Pot is now offering hoteliers a chance to bring its fondue experience to guests and locals.
The Melting Pot has launched a program to bring its fondue-centered brand to hotels.
“Our pattern for growth success is to target hoteliers who are interested in having spaces that they have available in their hotels to convert,” said Collin Benyo, franchise growth strategist, The Melting Pot.
For the uninitiated, fondue—which dates back hundreds of years and originated in Switzerland—started as a dish of cheese melted with wine, then eaten with bread dipped in it. These days, fondue has come to mean food that is dipped into a communal pot of liquid—be it cheese, broth or even chocolate—kept hot in a fondue pot.
The idea to launch the growth model specifically for hotels came after the company had a great experience at its restaurant in King of Prussia, PA, which shares a parking lot with a Hyatt House property.
“It’s an incredibly symbiotic relationship where both parties help each other out,” he said. “Essentially, you had a hotel that didn’t have a massive restaurant, and you had guests who were wondering where to eat. Next door, you have, quite frankly, the top fondue restaurant in the world.”
He continued, “We saw that relationship and how the hotel was suggesting The Melting Pot [to its guests]and the restaurant was suggesting [the hotel]if they needed a place to go. It became a formula that we want to experience and see if we can grow to make it better. We feel having a world-renowned franchise like The Melting Pot in a hotel is a draw to that property. It helps them as much as we help ourselves.”
Benyo said The Melting Pot’s service method makes it an ideal choice for a hotel versus a more traditional restaurant. All of the cooking is done by the guests on flattops built into the tables. “Our experience is done tableside,” he said. “We can convert any space. It may not even be a kitchen space at that point. If we have an empty area, [our concept]can easily be injected into that space because of the simplicity we do culinary-wise.”
With no cooking done in the kitchen, the restaurants don’t need exhaust hoods, fryers, ovens or flat tops. “We are a prep-station kitchen,” said Benyo. “So, that allows us to execute easily yet, at the same time, give an experience to people who are looking to celebrate.”
With its “simplistic approach to culinary”—with prep work like the portioning of proteins and vegetables—the staff that is required does not need to be highly trained.
That style of cooking saves on a lot of costs—both in startup and ongoing operations. “When you look at major restaurants that are in the sales categories we are, and you look at the costs of what those buildings are, a lot of times you see these massive numbers, and it can be a little daunting,” he said. “But when you look at The Melting Pot and what our true build-out is to what our sales numbers are, we’re doing things that no one else can do.”
The franchise growth strategist said that the company is targeting hotel owners—even if they have no previous restaurant experience—because “they are already great businesspeople. We don’t need tons of restaurant experience because of how simple fondue is. What we look for when we talk to candidates for franchises is: Who are they? What is their drive? Do they understand what our vision is and what we are trying to achieve?”
What The Melting Pot is trying to achieve, according to Benyo, is that it is more than just providing a great meal, but providing an experience—something that hoteliers are used to doing. “We find people who are motivated by that, more than just an investment opportunity,” he said. “Those are the people we want to find.”
With the concept providing an “experience,” he believes the restaurant will also be an attraction for locals and build recognition for the hotel. “If you have the ability to make that relationship and bring people’s attention to the hotel, you become a part of the community as opposed to just another hotel on the strip,” he said.