“Consistency is critical,” says Commune Group Managing Director Robert Gringlas. “And consistency, in many ways, can link to value.” It’s this mindset that has allowed Commune Group to successfully thrive in Melbourne’s ever evolving and endlessly competitive hospitality scene since a group of mates founded the company over a decade ago.
Over the years, the group’s vision of casual dining has changed — the result of an evolving market, the business growing up, how trends have shifted, and how much people are willing to spend, according to Gringlas. For Commune Group, investing in staff has been a main focus. Funding training has allowed the group to execute high quality service with consistency — and drive consequent value for customers. “We made sure that a casual dining setting still comes with a really good guest experience. In the last few years as things got tougher, instead of pulling away from that, we have really focused on it. We’ve seen some restaurants cut back on staffing, training, and marketing, whereas we’ve gone the other way and invested into that space,” says Gringlas. “The standard across our group today versus 10 years ago is completely different.”
Finding talented staff is a critical problem across the industry. Tip Top Foodservice Bakery Innovation Manager Darren O’Brien says the ongoing labour shortage is the biggest challenge he’s noticed across the board in casual dining. “It’s not just about finding staff, but finding skilled staff. Operators are having to rely more heavily on less experienced team members, which means they need menu solutions that can be executed consistently without requiring extensive culinary training,” says O’Brien. To bring their staff up to speed, Commune Group spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on staff training, onboarding, and a detailed secret shopper program, with reviewers visiting 10 to 12 times a week across the group’s venues.
Commune Group has a very rigorous sequence of service that waitstaff must hit. “But the most valuable part of it is a connection at the table. It can be hard to achieve in a very busy restaurant, which most of our restaurants are,” says Gringlas.
They also have a significant focus on wine: “To be a waiter in our restaurant you need to pass a wine test that allows you to comfortably talk about wines at the table. We always say, if you don’t have a good product knowledge level, you’ll never feel comfortable at the table. And to create that connection at the table, staff can’t be worried that the customer will ask a question they can’t answer.”
Ironically, says Gringlas, as the group heightens its training standards, it has become easier to attract better staff. “A lot of our staff are telling their friends to come and work for us, which is the ultimate compliment.”
O’Brien points out that staffing isn’t the only pressure point the casual dining world is facing. “Operators are caught between rising ingredient and labour costs, and customers who are increasingly price-sensitive due to economic pressures. They can’t just keep raising menu prices, so they’re looking for ways to deliver quality and value while keeping costs under control,” he says.
As rent costs, wages, and the price of goods continue to rise, Gringlas says it’s inevitable to pass some costs on to the consumer. But for Commune Group, it’s about ensuring the experience is worth the money that customers pay. “When you come into our restaurants, we continue focussing on making sure that you come back and get a good guest experience, rather than it necessarily being really cheap.”
At the group’s grill-driven Vietnamese restaurant Firebird, snacks, sides, and small plates range from $6.50 for an oyster to $28 for grilled squid with green nuoc mam, daikon, and hot mint, while mains range from $25 for char siu pork fried rice with tomato, garlic shoot, and crispy basil, to $65 for the fire roasted duck with orange, “excellent sauce”, and burnt ginger relish.
At Japanese restaurant Tokyo Tina, snacks, sides and small plates range from $7.50 for salted cucumber with wakame and yuzukosho, to $27 for salmon tartare with cucumber, yuzu, and sesame crackers. Mains sit between $28 and $48. Set menus across the group sit between $55 and $88pp.
O’Brien says the key to keeping meals affordable without compromising on quality is to work smarter, not harder. “Focus on menu items that can be assembled quickly with minimal skill requirements but still deliver on taste and presentation. Think about products that come to you partially prepared — you’re not cutting corners on quality, you’re just being strategic about where you invest your time and labour.”
The bakery innovation manager notes that bakery products are a good example. “A great burger built on a premium bun, or a Vietnamese style roll filled with pulled meats, can deliver an exceptional eating experience while being simple to execute. “We’re seeing operators achieve 34 per cent growth in premium burger bun sales because customers recognise the quality, but the assembly process remains straightforward.”
He also notes that it’s important not to underestimate the power of versatile ingredients. “Our garlic bread, for instance, is now appearing in regular cafes and pub dining as a starter or side — it’s a simple addition that adds value and helps boost average spend without complicating operations.”
An appreciate for versatility is a sentiment Australian Pork Head of Communications Lylle Blackstock also shares. By adopting a nose to tail approach with meat, it allows chefs to both maximise their creativity, and their margins. Simultaneously, choosing affordable proteins can assist with keeping menu prices down.
Using a specific meat in a variety of ways across a single menu allows for this margin maximisation. “Venues are really embracing bacon, ham, and charcuterie cuts that are using Australian produce, whether they’re doing it in-house themselves or using really great suppliers out there like LP’s Quality Meats,” says Blackstock. “What’s exciting about seeing LP’s or other brands or even in-house chefs create small goods is that it’s heroing the versatility of pork. That nose to tail usage of the animal, also from a sustainability perspective, is great.”
It’s this versatility that has seen pork’s prominence on Australian menus skyrocket in recent years. It now sits on seven out of ten menus in casual dining restaurants, and eight out of ten in the top end of town. According to Blackstock, the protein is a safe business choice. “Restaurateurs and business owners wouldn’t be putting pork on menu if they weren’t assured that the consumer would order it,” says Blackstock.
Over the past few years, it’s been inevitable that that Commune Group has had to raise its prices to adjust to rising costs and significant staff training. But to stop costs spinning out for the consumer, they’ve taken some creative measures. Some of the dishes on their menus now are recreations of previous menu items. “Being creative has allowed us to stay relatively reasonably priced and hit margins,” says Gringlas. “It’s really difficult for us to continue reinventing the menu and coming up with new, affordable dishes.”
At New Quarter, for example, curries didn’t used to be on the menu, but Commune Group realised they were the style of dishes that people loved. “One thing that we’ve always done is we’ve tried to create a product that really is in line with what our guests are looking for but is also on brand. We try to put on dishes that are not fads, they’re not things that are hot one minute and then not the next. Then really we hope that these dishes last the test of time.”
As O’Brien notes, another major challenge for operators is meeting the evolving expectations of diners. “The Australian consumer palate has become much more sophisticated — people want new experiences and flavours, but they also want consistency and speed of service. Casual dining operators need to balance innovation with operational efficiency, which isn’t easy when you’re already dealing with staffing and cost pressures.”
Gringlas says competition in Melbourne has become increasingly tough over the last decade, concurrently causing customer expectations to heighten. “So we’re constantly looking at ways to set ourselves apart. Where we’ve seen success is coming up with dishes that people love, and wines and cocktails that people want to see on the menus.”
“But where we’ve really seen a big gap in the market is service, and we have really doubled down on that. If you don’t get your service and the whole guest experience right, you’ll fall short.”
Photographs provided by Commune Group.
This article was original published in the September / October edition of Hospitality magazine. Explore the magazine or subscribe here.
