You are the founder of CHR-HA, could you briefly talk to us about your company, its history, its expertise as well as the key figures of your activity?
I created CHR-HA in May 2006 with the support of a central referral for medical and social institutions AMI2. At the time, all medico-social actors pooled their purchases from power plants. The idea was to offer the same type of service and benefits for independent hotels and restaurants.
After 12 years of existence, CHR-HA is pooling purchases for more than 1,600 establishments (hotels/restaurants, campsites, caterers…) throughout France and negotiating for more than 30 million euros of purchases.
We negotiate prices with a hundred suppliers recognized in the trade. This ranges from food, with suppliers such as Transgourmet, Pomona, France Fresh, Promocash…, to non-food like Chomette, Denantes, Aficom, Channel Plus, Manusec, Hedis…, through services with reference providers like Apave, Schindler, Desautel, Khalyge….
In fact, CHR-HA negotiates everything that a hotel or restaurant can buy.
The strength of CHR-HA is to be totally independent. Its activity is very focused on serving its members with a team of consultants specializing in the business who accompany, advise and provide real added value.
Membership in CHR-HA costs nothing if members agree to work with at least two referenced suppliers, otherwise it costs € 250 per year.
The final objective of our service is to provide establishments with price stability and allow them to benefit from optimized pricing conditions that they could have by being franchised from a hotel or restaurant chain.
Who are your clients?
Our members are hotels of all categories, restaurants of any style, campsites, hotel residences or independent caterers in metropolitan areas as well as in regions all over France. We also offer a specific activity for groups wishing to outsource their purchases. In this context, we make available to the four groups with whom we are working at this time buyers who will negotiate for them, with a commitment of volume of purchases.
These two activities thus make it possible to develop the volume of purchases that CHR-HA negotiates for the whole of its community.
You are directly linked to the hotel and catering industry. Hospitality is shaken up by the development of Airbnb and the Catering industry is changing in the face of new expectations and the consumption patterns of customers, new challenges have arisen in the face of the global digitalization of the world of catering… What is your view regarding these developments? And what are the consequences of these great revolutions on your fields of activity?
Indeed, the world is moving and society is evolving at a high speed, but not only in the hotel and restaurant industry. Globalization is increasing and competition is becoming harsh with the arrival of new players. The best posture to adopt in my opinion is to take this into account and to adapt.
If you take the example of taxis, Uber revolutionized the business by putting service and price at the heart of the matter. As a result, taxis today have adapted and are looking to improve their services.
The same is true for the hotel and catering industry with Airbnb and the home catering offer that is expanding. We must make customers want to come to a hotel and restaurant by exercising jobs skilfully, by being as professional as possible, ensuring the well-being of customers through service, comfort, and proposed experiences. And we intervene in this virtuous chain by helping all the establishments to propose quality products, varied, in conformity with the requirements of the ERP. This fundamental movement ultimately encourages everyone to focus on the DNA of their profession, to re-examine their vocation and put it back at the heart of service.
Regarding digitalization, it is essential but is very expensive. An establishment alone cannot look for new customers without it being digitally. The establishment must call on Booking or Lafourchette for example. If all these channels are not mastered as part of a marketing strategy, it will have a significant impact on corporate results.
Now it’s up to hoteliers and restaurateurs to find ways to capture this clientele directly in order to build loyalty. This includes improving their services. In such a context, the CHR-HA business allows hotels and restaurants to improve their margins that they can lose without this digitalization and to keep their purchases in check while optimizing them.
Every week you count new members. Do you constantly innovate in new services such as the Member Service or the Audit Service? Can you detail the coordination of your added value?
Yes, a dozen establishments join CHR-HA every week.
A few years ago, only one person could manage a central referral.
Today, our business is evolving, like all trades. A field presence and a relationship with our suppliers are essential, which is why CHR-HA is now composed of a dozen people.
All new CHR-HA members are visited by a consultant. Our Audit Department studies its purchases in depth and conducts a comparative price study. Subsequently, our members service and the consultant maintain the relationship and accompany the adherent throughout their membership in their purchases and their relationship with our suppliers. It is therefore an added value over the duration we bring, which is destined to strengthen and which is at the heart of our strategy.
Can you explain what your signature of partnership with GNI Synhorcat entails (National Union of Hoteliers, Restaurateurs, Cafetiers, and Independent Caterers)?
The GNI Synhorcat brings together more than 26,000 independent establishments throughout the country. All are potentially eligible to become CHR-HA members. Our values are the same and focus on the defence and support of independent CHR institutions.
This partnership was born more than a year ago after a meeting. We are discussing together to strengthen our synergies and links.
What is your development strategy for the coming years in France and Europe?
Two potential axes for the development of CHR-HA:
- 1. External growth. There are many actors in France. Local or national, each with its own specificity. The more members we have, the more purchases we will have and the better the negotiated pricing conditions.
- 2. Internationally: some markets are mature, others are to be conquered.
Our development will be based on the opportunities that will arise and that we have already identified. We are attentive to this.
CHR-HA
215 avenue Charles de Gaulle
69160 Tassin la Demi-Lune
Tel: 04 28 38 25 30 – Fax: 04 78 34 61 10
Email: info@chr-ha.com
www.chr-ha.com
