1. Executive summary:
The focus of niche market has been observed in El Bulli’s practice. By its own unique operation of restaurant- quota limited customer reservations of 8000 clients per year, extraordinary gastronomy cuisines, atmosphere of quiet and clean environment, and sincere attitude of services, makes El Bulli reached to the peak of its career in 2000s. El Bulli also transformed the concept of restaurants, by bringing innovation concept in, turning kitchen and dining places into a laboratory and library; Documentation of the gastronomy food’s recipes in their self-published books, also become a valuable reference for entrepreneurs who have the mindsets of innovative restaurants set-up.
Most of the factors are appreciated from the practice of El Bulli in the perspective of human resource, product innovation and service packaging, however, the financial situations of El Bulli had been recorded a severe and gradual downturn. To investigate the factors behind, the analysis therefore will cover the issue from various perspectives to evaluate the situations of El Bulli.
2. The successful factors of El Bulli
2.1 Leadership style of Adria
The success of El Bulli is not just the diligence of incubating new cuisine concepts, but also the empowerment of the employees provided by the leaders.
One of the founder of El Bulli, Ferran Adria has its own strong ideologies and prospects in his management practices. Insisting on the creativity at the same time, he also stressed on the organizational climate. He was equipped with a determined prospect that to make El Bulli famous for its gastronomy cuisine, therefore adopting various approaches to maintain the productivity by his passions and intensive psychological empowerment to the employees, such as gathering head chefs and dining room managers as an operational team, keeping in touch by living in the same houses as to share their creative minds and mutual concepts to incubate ways that would bring innovation in the cuisine of El Bulli in the future.
Within the organization, Adria also practices utmost respect and thankfulness to the employees, all employees are treated equally disregarding to their positions or occupations, even though some of the chefs who are fresh to El Bulli, Adria didn’t blame them for questioning or any negligence of them but to thank them constantly.
In order to have better utilization of the talents of employees, both Adria and Soler didn’t undermine their potentials, El Bulli comprises with diversified sections like laboratory, libraries, dining rooms, tellers, terraces, different employees with various talents are placed in their area who is talented at, even for the dining room waiter, who is traditionally being neglected and considered as low-skill occupations, are being treated as an important role for cuisine of El Bulli by introducing the cuisine, instructing the proper way to enjoy the gastronomy cuisine and responsible for miscellaneous logistics for diners. There is no hierarchical structure that placing different tiers of employees into different levels of consideration, everyone is treated equally. Adria’s management thought is every people working in El Bulli are treated as family, and the restaurant is their second home. Even of the employees have decided to leave, Adria deliberately share the recipes, skills to them, as to thank their efforts and contributions, and hope to share the sophisticating recipes globally.
Theoretically, the practice of both leaders belongs to the transformational leadership style, which gave empowerment, motivation and influence in the workplace. Adria can inspire the confidence with clear visions to the fellows with enthusiasm. They also show stimulation and consideration that assisting the chefs and the dining room staffs about how to upgrade the levels of the gastronomy cuisine and instructing the staff to introduce the cuisine in more clear and friendly manner. Detailed training and cautious assessment of new comers are provided by them to let the team members to grow and swiftly fulfill their positions. As a result, the fast growing of El Bulli is indispensable with its leader’s influence and ideologies. And it’s not bizarre that the chefs are diligence at their works, feeling engaged in discovering new culinary skills, peace and harmony are constantly maintained in the kitchen.
2.2 Creativity of cuisines
The competition within the culinary industries is fierce, pursuit of high rankings of cuisine magazines like Michelin has long been the dreams of many restaurants owners. Figuring how to win the heart of the customers and being nominated as “best restaurants”, they need to come up with various ideas, to be innovative or creative as well. Gastronomy cuisine, an innovative cuisine preparation for altering the appearances, tastes, and even transform foods into different textures, has been invested heavily from the efforts of El Bulli. The concept of El Bulli by adopting the creative approach is to enrich the dining experience of the diners, not just simply satisfy the needs of solving immediate hungers.
There comes to the most appreciating practices of El Bulli, setting up the laboratories of investigating the recipes of tailoring the cuisine, each cuisine is not identical for days and sessions, there are numerous combinations and features of new gastronomy foods in each day’s menu. Each innovative dish is incubated by a group of professionals going through a thorough research and continuous testing in the laboratory, after the creation, the dishes are being documented and photographed, processed into the library sections for future references. The meticulous dish innovation, according the synthesis of El Bulli is to create a whole journey of the taste and sight, and physical experience, reflections from the customers are utmost important, empowering the motive of El Bulli to improve its intensity of cuisine experience, like how to elevate the textures of the food and what kind of creative products they can invent as to leave deep impressions on the food and service in the future.
The recipe of success also lies on the consistent experimenting and the encouragement of creativity within the restaurants, even though the recipes may not be fully adopted in the subsequent periods of time, the works are seriously considered and recorded into the catalogue. Just like IKEA, El Bulli use the similar tactics to gain influence on the culinary industries by introducing the basic frameworks of gastronomy cuisines.
The innovation of food falls on the concept of new product development and innovation, which the constant prototyping of new creations of food enable for further improvements by adding more values either aesthetical or flavor, El Bulli also did a great example by challenging competitors by playing a different game. While other restaurants are trying to source top ingredients of poultry or vegetables around the world and how to cook them well, El Bulli put itself into the different fields by experimenting how to create the texture, appearances of cuisine that maybe even feel bizarre and weird. This make the innovations of El Bulli to be more strategical, El Bulli identifies the market gaps in the traditional culinary industry and filling in it by developing by inventing new gastronomy cuisines, which helps to establish a new mass market by new cuisine mode from a narrow cliché market.
2.3 Innovations of service packaging
El Bulli also strived their excellence of developing a package of service, the products of fresh and gourmet cuisines the restaurant offered is just the minor issue, but the soft and implicit service, like psychological comfort and experiencing is the main matters that a restaurant provides.
Haidilao adopts tactics of “providing extreme personal cares” and diversified entertainment and free snacks to the customers, while El Bulli strategically organize the dining experience into different levels and acts according to the flavors; cocktails and snacks are served prior to the acts. There are also some trained dining room staffs offering instructions for enjoying the cuisines properly. Diners are able enjoy a tranquil dining place that the employees in El Bulli are restrained from making noises or yelling, even with the shoe pedaling sound. Chaotic situations are impossible to be observed in El Bulli.
Apart from enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, the visual experience of the customers should also be appreciated. The layout of El Bulli is like a fusion of culinary college, kitchens, and exhibitions with avant-garde and modern designs that are included in the restaurant, customers can also view the process of inventions of chef by utilizing materials that are used in pharmaceutical field in forming new gastronomy food through the glass of the dining room which is visible to the kitchen. Diners can even explore to the library sections for discovering more about gastronomy cuisines.
The options of El Bulli’s cuisine also designated by the chefs by sophistically designed for different purposes and themes for different days, revealing the goal of El Bulli is to unleash the sixth sense experiencing in the designed cuisine enjoyment to the maximum.
El Bulli did a good reference of the transforming concepts of service, rather than merely satisfying common and explicit needs of customers. The psychological comfort and fulfillment is the main concern that to add values on the implicit service, of investigating how to create a journey-like dining experience to them. El Bulli successfully transforming itself into a diversified enjoyment of each customer’s senses. Visually, it allows them to see the creation of food invention, modern layouts and designs, as well as the terrace with spectacular views; Sensationally, El Bulli is in the suburban area which is not so accessible to tourists, but it offers a distinctive place for them to largely emotionally submerged into the atmosphere of dining. Psychologically, retentions of customers are greatly enhanced by detailed explanation of methods of enjoying gastronomy cuisines, feeling that they are emphasized and attached importantly during dining. Intellectually, the recipe and publications published and displayed in the libraries allow the knowledge of diners to be broadened by this innovative dining concepts and undergo intellectual inspirations in this extraordinary dining experience.
3. The worries and recommendations of El Bulli
Since the El Bulli has recorded an unprecedented success that has been selected as the most top “3-stars” restaurant ranking and being the #1 of the best restaurants in the world, the financial is not optimistic, as the earnings before tax, net income and cash flows are declining gradually.
Questions are raised that even though El Bulli has such good reputations of innovative food ideas and gorgeous service package are provided, why there are such dangers emerged in El Bulli, which eventually lead to temporary closing of El Bulli in 2010? Regarding to this issue, what can be recommended to bail it out of the dilemma?
3.1 The nature of gastronomy foods and its investment
Restaurants specialize in making gastronomy cuisine is largely different with the ordinary cuisine practices. The latter one relies on sourcing, and the culinary skills requirement of chefs specializing on how to make the cuisine to taste better. However, the specialization of gastronomy cuisine means large amount of resources and experiments are needed. Training and times of training of chefs about tailoring gastronomy cuisine is also needed extensively.
At the same time, to the specialization, Adria eventually close the lunch sessions and only open for dinner sessions where acts of culinary are performed. All cuisines belong to gastronomy cuisine except for allergies and vegetarian, which will be served with alternative menu, resulting heavy reliance of gastronomy cuisine and weak bargaining power of material purchasing.
This will result in the rapid rise of material cost, like procurement of machinery and even gases, they are considered as the additional investment of El Bulli, and the costs will eventually drive up rapidly. Since El Bulli only specialize on the gastronomy cuisines, El Bulli was lacking diversified cuisine offering, that the alternative channel of financial funding is just selling books and recipes. The continuance of funding in a cuisine that requires great investment will minimize if El Bulli has no attempt to diversify its cuisine offers, like vegetarian, lunch sessions or kids menu.
3.2 Setbacks of new concept and intimidation problems
Gastronomy cuisine requires chemistry reaction and presented in different states and appearances, the complex culinary modes may consider as bizarre and weird to the traditionalists, that gastronomy cuisines specialize extensively on its visual and taste experience. Pursuit of fullness is not the main target, and its price positioned on high level increase reluctance of customers to try, thus will not be quickly accepted globally. This new- to -the -world concept will take time to gain popularity as a result.
It is problematic that lack of protection of recipe will occur in the leadership of Adria, the generous sharing of recipe to the labors and even to the leavers as to pursuit of happy sharing of gastronomy recipe, which the origin is good. However, it is a danger while competitors may imitate with conspiracy, copying techniques and infringe the recipes of it, leading to the erosion the uniqueness and core competencies of El Bulli.
Given that the barrier to enter the market and the sharing recipe, it will be major challenges for El Bulli to maintain its position and competitiveness.
3.3 The narrow customer segments and its price- performance ratio
The cliché strategies referring to serve a limited scope of customer segment, in El Bulli, its target is the top prestigious and premier customers whom purchasing power is extremely high, nobleman or wealthy customers are their targets. The price of El Bulli is also extremely expensive, everyone is charged with 185 euros, equals to almost 1800 HKD for dinners per person. The exorbitant high price and limited customer scope limit the flexibility of funding.
The cuisine offering is also monotonous, even though there is high variation of dishes offered, the type of dishes still confines in the categories of gastronomy cuisine, no other types of dishes, for example like seafood and fusion cuisines are offered in their menu. The location of El Bulli is very inaccessible from Barcelona where customers and tourists can only drive with vehicle as to get there.
Concerns started to appear considering about the demographic and macroeconomic problems of Spain. In 2006, the economy of Spain is badly hit that trade deficits unemployment rate rises rapidly. Disposable income and purchasing power declines at the same time, the segments of prestigious customers segment therefore shrinks and poses difficulty of funding. Additionally, the policies of El Bulli only limited to 800 orders to make reservations, this cannot capture the opportunities of increasing net incomes by serving customers that exceeds 800 probably in the economics prosperous seasons.
It is recommended to extend its customer segments, probably to the younger generations or provides the dishes with the hybrid of gastronomy and cuisines with Spanish or even European culinary, or open limited branch in some places that will be more accessible to the Barcelona. Seasonal offering is also suggested in some festivals occasions. It is believed that the diversifies channel of El Bulli besides from recipe selling, should be extended to different customer segments, and new cuisine styles besides gastronomy, this will lead to re-positioning the El Bulli and relieve its heavy financial burdens in the future.