Emma Banks – Hilton| Buffet hype & the importance of F&B in sustainability

SMACK Hospitality

Vice President, F&B Strategy & Development Europe, Middle East, and Africa @Hilton

This episode will leave you hungry for more! 😋

Emma Banks Vice President, F&B Strategy & Development Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Hilton joined us for an episode of SMACK at the recent Future Hospitality Summit in Abu Dhabi hosted by the Bench to tell us her story. Fritz and Emma discussed the gourmet plate of all hospitality topics: F&D. Wait, F&D?! Yes, Food & Drinks as Emma rightfully calls it. Let’s be honest: has anyone ever used the word “beverage” in a normal context?

Emma and Fritz talked about the most important meal of the day, breakfast and its impact on customer satisfaction. Emma’s love and hate relationship for buffets, and how to generate an ethical and fiscal win for hotel owners and customers by reducing food waste with the help of AI. 🗑 She explained that food waste makes up an incredible one-third of global carbon emissions – and we couldn’t agree more with her and her team that The future of hospitality is sustainability, not only in terms of food waste and plastic reduction, but also in terms of sourcing locally and responsibly.

Her love for #hospitality clearly showed as she talked about her own career path, including what went wrong with the original plan of becoming a criminal pathologist, and the possibilities that the industry offers for those in love with F&D. As Emma said: If you want a career full of color, hospitality is for you! 🫵 😁

Enjoy the show!