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London Calling: Swiss-born tibits brings its unique vegetarian restaurant to the big smoke

Introduction

Founded in 1999 by vegetarian brothers Daniel, Christian and Reto Frei, tibits AG is a vegetarian and vegan restaurant which serves high quality, fresh and nutritious fast-food in a relaxed environment (tibits, 2017a). Guests fill their plates from the lavish buffet (dubbed the ‘food boat’) in the centre of the restaurant, weigh in at the counter, and are encouraged to share tables with others, creating a warm, communal and casual atmosphere.

The first tibits restaurant was opened in 2000 at Zurich Seefeld, with the assistance of Rolf and Marielle Hiltl (owners of Haus Hiltl in Zurich, the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world). The collaboration between the two families came about following a university business plan competition in 1998, which the Frei brothers entered with the vision of creating a young and relaxed vegetarian restaurant in which they could eat (Landlove, 2013). Rolf Hiltl recognised one of the brothers from an article commending the business plan and got in touch. With a shared philosophy and understanding, the two families formed a partnership (Landlove, 2013). As a result, there are many similarities in the dishes offered at tibits and Hiltl, particularly in regards to Hiltl’s own buffet selection.

Since 2000, tibits has expanded to include nine restaurants in Switzerland: Zurich Seefeld (2000), Winterthur (2002), Bern Bahnhof (2003), Basel (2007), Zurich Seefeld Bistro (2010), Bern Gurtengasse (2013), tibits Lucerne (2015), tibits Oerlikon (2016) and tibits St. Gallen (2017); and two restaurants in London: London Heddon Street (2008) and tibits Bankside (2017) (tibits, 2017c). The company now has between 201-500 employees (LinkedIn, 2017).

In Switzerland, 80 percent of the offerings on the buffet are vegan, and for guests who have dietary concerns, there are a range of different symbols allocated to each dish indicating the ingredients, to guide their selection. The same system has been emulated in London, with the exception that Tuesdays are entirely vegan (tibits, 2017b). The menu itself is seasonal, rotates on a regular basis and changes depending on the time of day – there is also a Sunday Brunch available in Basel, Bern Gurtengasse, Lucerne, Winterthur, Zurich Oerlikon and Zurich Seefeld Bistro. From morning until evening, there are up to 40 dishes on offer daily, which are replenished throughout the day to ensure the freshest quality (tibits, 2017a).

Pricing at tibits is based on weight per 100g and differs depending on the meal and location (London or Switzerland). In London, lunch is priced at £2.50 and dinner is £2.80, by comparison, in the Swiss restaurants, there is no price difference between lunch and dinner – everything is priced at 4.20chf to eat-in and 3.70chf to take-away. Water is free and one small bread roll is also included in the price. tibits’ pricing strategy was designed to give autonomy to guests (they can decide exactly how much and of what they wish to eat), discourage overeating and minimise waste left on plates (Landlove, 2013). This system also allows tibits to strategically replenish key dishes and minimise the overall waste of the restaurant.

Expanding to London in 2008 was a strategic decision to bring tibits’ vegetarian fast-food to a more cosmopolitan location (which is close enough geographically to ensure quality management). London appeared to be culturally similar, wealthy, open to foreign cuisine and full of busy people who would appreciate a convenient, high quality, healthy and fresh meal. However, there were several challenges which had not been entirely anticipated, including marketing and publicity in attracting the right customer and the global financial crisis.

If you would like to read the entire case study, please feel free to download it here.

Hannah Dunlop––Marketing, Design & Social Responsibility.

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