Analysis of Michelin-starred restaurants and their geographical concentration: the case of Catalonia

Abstract

One of the most important sectors for developed economies is the restaurant industry. It is a sector closely linked to tourism, which under the umbrella of the hospitality industry employs millions of people around the world and in countries such as the United States and Spain represents more than 4% of their gross domestic product (GDP). The importance of this industry has attracted the interest of the academy and several studies have been published on restaurants, their practices and their success and failure factors. Among the main sectors of the restaurant industry, the gastronomic or haute cuisine sector stands out as one of the most successful. In fact, fine dining restaurants have become a tool for promoting territories and attracting culinary tourists. In addition, these restaurants play a key role as pioneers in innovation and benchmarks for the rest of the sector. The diversity of classifications, awards and quality standards on gastronomy that have recently appeared are evidence of the success of this sector. One of the most outstanding classifications in haute cuisine is provided by the Michelin Guide. Its star system is considered synonymous of gastronomic quality and is accepted worldwide by critics and consumers. In fact, despite the differences with other management system standards, such as ISO 9001 or ISO 22000, the Michelin star system is considered an accepted standard for the gastronomy sector and confirms that companies, also in this sector, prefer sectoral standards as they better fit their operations and allow them to achieve a competitive advantage, compared to more generic standards. In this context, Catalonia has stood out in recent years as the region with the highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain and one of the most recognized in the world. Important chefs such as Ferran Adrià, the Roca brothers or Carme Ruscalleda, among others, have placed Catalan cuisine on the world map and have contributed to spreading Catalan culture around the world. The excellence of Catalan cuisine and, consequently, the concentration of haute cuisine restaurants in Catalonia is the result of many factors, including their innovation and creativy, the products and the territory, as well as the interest of society in gastronomy and the proximity to France. However, other factors related to chefs may also have played an important role in explaining the concentration of gastronomic restaurants in the territory. Therefore, this thesis aims to contribute to the research gap through the analysis of two additional factors, their education and training and the relationship among them. Regarding the education and training, some authors have highlighted the importance of experience in the restaurant business as well as experience in gastronomy for success in this sector. Other studies have analysed education and job-related learning and have determined that their combination is a major intangible asset in the restaurant industry. Thus, one of the objectives of this thesis is to analyse the education and training received by haute cuisine chefs in Catalonia and to determine if there is a common pattern of training. On the other hand, some authors have stated that some of the most important sources of innovation in these establishments are the restaurant staff and cooperation with other chefs. Exiting theoretical innovation process models show that creativity does not occur in isolation and networks and social systems are necessary for the transfer of knowledge and information between individuals. Thus, another factor to be taken into account to explain the high concentration of gastronomic restaurants is the interaction of their chefs. Therefore, this work also analyses what elements of the relationships favor the generation and exchange of ideas and what effect they have on the achievement of success in this sector. Thus, the contributions of this thesis are the following. Firstly, it contributes to the literature through an analysis of four (management system) standards in the gastronomic sector. Taking as a reference one of them, the Michelin star system, this thesis also contributes to research in the gastronomic sector by being one of the first studies to qualitatively analyse practically the entire population of Michelin-starred restaurants in a territory. Based on the literature on restaurants, this thesis identifies two factors that have an impact on the high concentration of haute cuisine restaurants in a given territory. More specifically, this research demonstrates that there is a common training pattern for chefs and their relationships can foster knowledge sharing and achieve success in this sector. Finally, this thesis aims to fill the gap in the literature on haute cuisine while providing practical implications for the restaurant industry and governments.