RIMINI, Italy – Airy, flexible, inclusive. Public venues adapt to the new-found needs of customers and to current consumption rituals in the new post-pandemic normality. Gianpietro Sacchi, architect, designer and director of courses in the Ho.Re.Ca. sector at POLI.design, traces the evolutionary course of dolce out-of-home foodservice sale points.
At Sigep – The Dolce World Expo (www.sigep.it), Italian Exhibition Group´s dolce foodservice event, to be held at Rimini Expo Centre from 12th to 16th March, the company, founded by Milan Polytechnic and specialised in post-graduate training, will sponsor the talk entitled ´Driving change: Food Safety Culture, design and new consumption rituals´, scheduled in ´Vision Plaza´ on Sunday 13th March (4.30 pm).
The event is organised by FCSI Food Consultant Society International, where Professor Sacchi is coordinator of the Technical Scientific Committee for the Italian unit.
Sigep: Design, large spaces and outdoor areas
«The social distancing imposed by the health emergency,» explains Sacchi, «has made us rediscover the need for a bit of personal space: we no longer tolerate overcrowding and this is reflected in the new customer´s need for airier venues that offer greater privacy and comfort while eating or drinking.»
So, large spaces and outdoor areas as well as venues that can remodel their spaces according to different consumption moments and the needs of their customers.
«Point of sale design must be able to combine aesthetics and functionality with an eye on new consumer needs. Great attention must be paid to intolerances, allergies and particular dietary regimes, which must be managed with clearly separate display areas and careful, transparent communication,» the POLI.design lecturer adds.
Delivery and product sales zones
Areas specifically for deliveries, take-away and displays in which a customer can buy ready-made artisan products without stopping in the store are other trends that have emerged in the last two years of living with Covid-19. «When designing a point of sale, all this must also include a way-finding plan in order to have a guided route that initially leads to satisfying the consumer´s primary needs and then to buying new products, through an offer of absolute quality, thus creating an emotional connection with customers,» says Sacchi.
Focus on Sigep 2022
Date: 12-16 March 2022; Organizer: Italian Exhibition Group SpA; edition: 43rd; frequency: annual; info: www.sigep.it.
