Customer
Industry: Wholesale, tourism & hospitality
Projekt: Developing a learning centre & curriculum for culinary discovery
Company: Metro Turkey is the leading wholesaler to Turkey’s dynamic hospitality & tourism industries. Gastronometro is an adjacent culinary innovation & learning center.
Ansprechpartner:innen: Maximilian Thomae (Director Gastrometro), Betül Bildik (Sustainability Manager)
Initial Situation & Challenges
METRO Cash & Carry Turkey faced dramatic shifts in the lifeworlds of its customers, the Turkish hotel, restaurant & catering sector. In response, they decided to open a culinary center & “platform for culinary discovery” – Gastronometro – in Istanbul, a market crowded with culinary academies & cooking schools.
Solutions
- First, we diagnosed the learning needs of the organization via extensive interviews with Metro customers and employees paired with field visits. Secondly, we identified strategic focus areas and derived learning areas from it. Third, we designed employees’ & customers’ learning experiences.
- In addition to the curriculum design, we guided the organizational development of Gastronometro from its very inception, helped to develop its structure, core processes and roles. We advised on its governance and facilitated its integration into the wider Metro universe.
Success Factors
- It was key to take the perspective of Metro’s customers and their needs as the guiding organizing principle; instead of Metro’s traditional rationale as a retail & wholesale organization. And to consequently apply this principle to the curriculum design as well as to the overall organization design of Gastronometro.
- The in-depth analysis and solid design work helped to overcome scepticism and resistance within the organization.
- Hands-on support & guidance was vital for the development and acceptance (both, internally & externally) of this entirely new organization.
Outcames
- Gastronometro has developed into a highly-regarded actor within Turkey’s Horeca sector as well as within the Metro International world.
- Its team has educated thousands of Metro employees, Horeca professionals and hospitality sector educators and held countless internal & public events.
- Cooperations & partnerships with some of Europe’s top culinary & hospitality institutions are proof of Gastronometro’s commitment to quality & innovation.
About the collaboration
Betül Bildik about the collaboration:
“Working with Michael Kubiena was a really fruitful experience. He combines tons of experience and strong conceptual skills with a hands-on attitude: Exactly what we needed. Together we were able to create something entirely new & unique for the Turkish retail & hospitality industry as well as for the global Metro world, something which has become a reference point in terms of quality, innovation and customer focus. Michael not only was instrumental in designing our learning curriculum, he also successfully facilitated the development of our overall organization.