Interview with Eric Niedermeyer
Eric, you took over the management of d&s last fall. For those who don't know you yet: Who are you actually?
Not really a new face at dine&shine. So some people might still know me (laughs). Even if it was a long time ago. Between 2014 and 2018, I worked as a senior project manager for dine&shine. Back then, I was already able to look after many of our current customers and partners. Most recently, I was responsible for the catering at the Thun Seepsielen in parallel to my normal day-to-day event work. In 2018, I moved to Marché, where I was entrusted with building up the event and catering business. That was a very exciting time, but ultimately I was drawn back to my beloved dine&shine. Especially now that I am allowed to take the business forward strategically. Away from work, I'm a real family man who enjoys spending time in nature - whether skiing in winter or at the lake in summer - with my three children. I love cooking my grandparents' simple recipes, entertaining guests and drinking a cold beer.
What are your highlights of the first few months?
Oh, there are many. Since I started in September last year, it's been one event after another. It really hasn't been boring for me and my team. After the opening of our last Secret Dinner format at the beginning of November, we went straight into Christmas business, and then in January, after a short break, we headed off to Davos with the whole team. The WEF was indeed new territory for me too, but extremely exciting and challenging. As soon as we got back, the next catering events were already waiting for us. It's really nice to see that our service is obviously still very much in demand and that many of the customers from back then still count on dine&shine today. In addition to the many exciting projects, this is one of the best highlights I could have wished for.
Where do you want to go with d&s?
I am very lucky to have taken over a functioning, high-performance company with an excellent reputation and functioning processes. This is both an honor and an obligation. Our customers and location partners know what they can expect from us. Outstanding cuisine, innovative staging and absolute customer orientation and flexibility. It goes without saying that nothing will change. On the contrary. However, we must also admit that the time since Corona and the takeover of SV Switzerland has been very intense for us internally. Our presence with our customers and location partners has suffered somewhat during this time. We will change this and show that we are back at full strength here too. A strong presence on the market is therefore the order of the day in the coming months.
In your opinion, what are the strengths of d&s?
Definitely our enormous flexibility, the drive for innovation and our basic understanding of what event catering has to achieve, because the English word "event" plays a dominant role for good reason. Event doesn't just mean event, it also means happening. This sums up the requirements and character of every event and has consequences for our service. As event caterers, we are part of these events and make a culinary contribution to them. We turn worlds of pleasure into worlds of experience. Event catering from our company is not a catering module docked onto the event - event catering a la dine&shine makes our clients' brands a multi-sensory experience. It is individual and always tailored to the wishes of our customers. It is certainly one of our strengths that we live our internal processes and our corporate culture in such a way that we can ensure this on a daily basis.
