Uncovering Operator Needs in Food Warming Utensils: USA Industry Insights

Client

A global producer of chafing fuel

Service

Qualitative Research – Focus Groups

Sector

Hospitality & Food Service

Coverage

United States

In the dynamic and competitive hospitality industry, a leading global producer of chafing fuel partnered with us to better understand the unmet and under-met needs of operators. The qualitative research in the food service sector was designed to reveal how decision makers approach trade-offs between safety, sustainability, price, and quality, while also gauging their awareness of innovation opportunities in food warming solutions. By focusing on real experiences and challenges faced by operators, the study aimed to generate market insights for food service operators that would directly inform the client’s product strategy and innovation roadmap.

The Challenge

Hospitality and restaurant operators face an ongoing challenge in balancing cost and quality in hospitality while ensuring that operator perceptions of product safety and sustainability trends in restaurant supplies are not compromised. For the client, the key difficulty lay in decoding the thought processes behind these operator decisions, particularly in an environment where new hospitality product innovations are continually emerging. Understanding the relationship between price and perceived quality, as well as identifying gaps in innovation, became critical for the client to sharpen its brand positioning in the hospitality industry and strengthen its role as a market leader.

What We Did

To address these questions, we conducted a series of focus group research for hospitality brands using Forsta and InterVu platforms. A total of forty-nine operators were recruited, comprising twenty-eight from hospitality groups and twenty-one from independent restaurants. After pre-screening and scheduling, forty-seven of these respondents participated across seven carefully designed group discussions. Each 60-minute session provided an opportunity to probe deeply into restaurant operator purchasing behavior, attitudes toward safety and sustainability, and pricing insights on perceptions of quality. To add contextual depth, participants were also asked to share photos of their current food warming products, enriching the discussion with visual evidence of existing practices.

The Impact of the Research

The study generated hospitality research findings into how operators make decisions in the food warming space. It highlighted how customer attitudes toward quality are closely tied to pricing, how sustainability studies and safety perceptions weigh into decision-making, and where innovation gaps currently exist. These qualitative insights provided the client with a sharper understanding of operator needs, offering clear direction for refining product offerings, strengthening value proposition optimization, and pursuing hospitality innovation opportunities. By translating authentic customer feedback driven product strategy into actionable initiatives, the client is now better positioned to achieve hospitality market leadership strategies and support food service growth.

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