ESSEC International Hospitality & Food Management Forum, a day of meetings and exchanges

On April 27, ESSEC Business School organized the ESSEC International Hospitality & Food Management Forum on its campus in Cergy. The event was a day of meetings and debates organized to bring ESSEC students and business partners closer together.

More than 120 people attended the 4th edition of ESSEC International Hospitality & Food Management Forum. The day was organized around two main events. In the morning, students, partners and ESSEC alumni attended two conferences moderated by industry experts: "Excellence in Business Models" led by Professor Peter O'Connor and "Excellence Through Innovation" led by Professor Francis Declerck.

The afternoon forum was dedicated to ESSEC students and alumni who are looking for internships and jobs. Twenty-three international companies in the hotel industry and two international agribusiness companies were present to meet and discover the talent of tomorrow.

A day also dedicated to entrepreneurship

This year, special focus was given to entrepreneurs and start-ups, notably with the organization of a pitch competition between three ESSEC start-ups. A jury composed of four people selected the projects. Julien Morel and Delphine Beau of ESSEC Ventures, Claire Tagand Battard of the ESSEC Hospitality Management (IMHI) program and Jean-François Lafaye of BPIFRANCE who is also in charge of organizing the I-Lab competition of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.  Six ESSEC project candidates applied and three were selected: Monbanquet, Comme un chef and Win Wincks.  Monbanquet won the competition.

Created at the beginning of 2016 by Hugo, Mario and Maxime, at the time in their last year at ESSEC, this start-up is based on the fact that artisanal know-how is jeopardized by major chains today. On the other hand, no actor offers a quality banquet at a lower cost and many companies are disappointed by the current offer. Thanks to strong links with artisans during the development of DuBonPain, the guide to online bakeries launched in 2014, the three founders were able to design a new caterer: Monbanquet. Monbanquet delivers banquets designed by artisans selected for their expertise and creativity to companies and association at a cost of about 3 € / person.

For several years, ACCORHotels group has developed a new business development policy. The hotel group awarded the pitch competition prize for a consultancy and network with one of the representatives "new businesses - startup –innovation."  All ESSEC Ventures start-ups in connection with the theme of the day also had the opportunity to be present on the village start-ups. They were able to meet the school’s partner companies.

The hotel and food industries: a strong areas of expertise

For more than 30 years, ESSEC has been a recognized as a key institution in hospitality and food management training.  ESSEC offers two programs entirely in English, an MSc in Hospitality Management and the Major Hospitality Management of the Global MBA, as well as a French program, created in 1993, the advanced master Management International Agro-Alimentaire.  In close collaboration with its program partners and industry experts, it is important for ESSEC to provide its students with the opportunity to discover the latest trends, prospects and developments in the market.