The day, session by session.

The Margin Factor: Rethinking Growth and Profitability in Today's Restaurant Landscape

The Kingdom’s restaurant industry is expanding at an unprecedented pace, but growth alone is no longer a guarantee of profitability. Rising occupancy and labour costs, food inflation, delivery platform commissions, and increasing customer acquisition costs continue to put pressure on margins, while value-conscious consumers leave limited room for pricing flexibility. Ambitious expansion plans and heightened competition are raising important questions as well, about the economics of growth. Is the industry's current growth model built to last? This panel explores the commercial and operational factors shaping restaurant profitability today. Through real-world experiences, contrasting perspectives and practical insights, the discussion will examine how leading brands are redefining profitable growth, and what sustainable expansion means in an increasingly competitive and value-driven Saudi restaurant market.

Who Defines the Perfect Plate? Balancing Innovation, Guest Expectations & Commercial Reality

Every dish tells a story—but who is writing the menu today? Is it consumer demand, market trends, brand identity, or commercial realities? As the restaurant landscape continues to evolve, brands are navigating an increasingly complex mix of shifting consumer expectations, global influences, digital culture, and commercial pressures. Which trends are worth embracing, and which are simply passing fads? How can restaurants innovate without compromising consistency, profitability, or the identity that sets them apart? This panel will examine the evolving forces shaping menu and concept development, exploring how restaurant brands evaluate opportunities, make strategic decisions, and create offerings that resonate with today's diners while remaining commercially sustainable in an increasingly competitive market.

Partner Presentation

Is Your Loyalty Program Still Leaving Money on the Table and Ready for a Future Where Guests May Have AI Agents Too?

As AI transforms the restaurant industry, loyalty is shifting from a system of points and promotions into a powerful engine for customer insight, personalised engagement, and commercial growth. Agentic AI enables brands to anticipate guest needs with unprecedented precision, but it also introduces a new frontier: a future where guests may have AI agents making decisions on their behalf. In this emerging landscape, loyalty programs must evolve to stay relevant not just to customers, but to the intelligent agents optimising for value, convenience, diet, and rewards. This shift opens the door for smarter, more contextual, and more dynamic loyalty strategies that strengthen brand connection and unlock new revenue opportunities. This panel explores how AI can elevate loyalty into a true revenue engine - one that captures value more effectively, adapts to customer‑agent behaviours, and preserves the human touch that defines hospitality. As restaurants rethink how they engage and retain guests, what does it take to build loyalty programs that thrive in an AI‑augmented future?

Supply Chain Resilience 2.0: Operating in an Uncertain World

Geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions and shifting global supply networks are redefining the way restaurant businesses source, procure and operate. As freight costs fluctuate, supplier networks become increasingly unpredictable and access to key imported ingredients grows more uncertain. In today's operating environment, supply chain resilience is no longer a back-office function. It has become a strategic business imperative. What strategies can restaurant operators implement to develop supply chains that are both efficient and sufficiently agile to endure disruptions while maintaining quality, consistency, and profitability? The discussion will explore how restaurant businesses are balancing cost efficiency with business continuity, managing uncertainty in an increasingly complex operating environment, and preparing their organisations for a future where disruption is no longer the exception but the norm, drawing on diverse perspectives and insights.

Lunch

The Relevance Race: Surviving in a Crowded F&B Landscape

Attention is easy to capture. Relevance is much harder to earn. More brands. More concepts. More competition. As the restaurant landscape becomes increasingly saturated, what will distinguish the brands that break through the noise from those that blend into it? What does it take to carve out a distinctive position when consumers have more choice than ever before? This panel examines how restaurant leaders are responding to market saturation through sharper brand positioning, concept innovation, differentiated customer experiences, and strategic decision making. Which competitive advantages will matter most as the market becomes more crowded, and how are brands creating a position that competitors cannot easily replicate?

Partner Presentation

Beyond Food & Beverage: How F&B Is Reshaping Business, Brands & Guest Experience.

Winning Spaces: What Defines the Ideal Restaurant Location?

A restaurant's location is one of its biggest investments, influencing how customers discover, experience and engage with a brand from day one. In today's restaurant environment, it is not just about securing the busiest address. As new retail and lifestyle destinations continue to emerge, the choices surrounding where to open are becoming increasingly strategic. Operators are weighing footfall against customer experience, design, visibility and accessibility to determine what truly drives commercial performance. Join our panelists as they debate how winning restaurant spaces are conceived, designed, and positioned in one of the world's most ambitious dining markets.