Strategy, from someone who's done the job.
I'm Steven Deman. Thirty years in foodservice and retail.
Fourteen years at Autogrill (now Avolta), where I was part of the team that brought Starbucks to Belgium in 2008 and opened the country's first KFC. Then COO at EXKi through Covid and everything that came after.
Not on slides. On the ground.
Two kinds of calls.
Most of what I do falls into one of two conversations. Different starting points, same underlying question: where is value being lost, and what should we actually do about it.
When something stopped clicking.
The concept worked for years on gut feel, but growth has stalled. Or the numbers stopped making sense. Or you just need someone from outside to tell you what you're not seeing.
I come in, look at everything — product, pricing, customer flow, KPIs, processes, the lot — and we work out together what to keep, what to fix, what to drop.
Before the money goes in.
Is this concept really scalable? Do the unit economics still hold at 50 stores? At 100? What does a credible 5-year plan look like once the numbers meet operational reality?
That's the kind of due diligence a spreadsheet alone won't give you.
A focused start. Then we see where it goes.
Most projects start with a two- to three-week deep dive. No 80-page report at the end. Just a clear read on what's working, what isn't, and what to do next.
From there, the work typically continues in one of three ways:
I started JeanBon out of a passion for entrepreneurship and the food sector, but without any concrete hospitality experience (apart from a few student jobs).
After 7 years of developing the concept based on gut feeling and common sense, I needed an external perspective from a professional: what is the further potential of the concept? Are the KPIs right? What are the strengths and weaknesses? What are the possible paths for further development?
After Steven's initial analysis, I decided to work with him on a weekly basis.
We first fully analyzed the current JeanBon concept in a structured and step-by-step way: what do we keep, what do we want to improve, what do we stop, what are we missing? This ranged from our product offer, menu structure, pricing, customer flow, look & feel to our interaction with customers. We worked together to further develop, improve and define each of these elements.
Afterwards, Steven helped me map out all our existing processes: which process is taught when and at what level in our team? What is missing? In short, we structured all our existing processes and developed and documented some missing essential processes.
Thanks to Steven's step-by-step approach and strong operational and marketing skills, we now know exactly where we want to go with JeanBon in the coming years.
More than ever, we now have all the tools in our hands for the JeanBon team to bring that journey to a successful conclusion.
Cases.
Due diligence for a Belgian investment fund.
A Belgian fund was looking at a stake in a foodservice and retail chain and asked me to figure out whether the concept could actually scale.
I went through the unit economics, mapped how the format would have to evolve to stay profitable at higher volumes, and built a 5-year development plan with the financials underneath it.
Concept reset and rebrand for Colmar & Crocodile Restaurants.
Colmar (Belgium) and Crocodile (France) came to me with numbers heading the wrong way. We started with a concept scan — where was the format losing ground, what was slipping on customer perception, what needed to change.
From there I stayed on as interim, leading the rebrand and rolling it out across the network, the concept update, the CRM overhaul, and marketing succession planning.
Other recent clients include JeanBon, UNDO — Carbon Neutral Mobile, Les Petits Riens, Java Coffee, Kharis Capital and Areas.
Thirty years in. Always close to the customer.
I spent fourteen years at Autogrill (now Avolta), in different roles — including Europe Marketing Director, and finally COO Belgium. During that time I was part of the team that brought Starbucks to Belgium — first store at Brussels Airport in 2008 — and the first Burger King to France. I also opened the first KFC in Belgium.
From 2020 to 2023 I was COO at EXKi. All restaurants across Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Spain. Owned and franchised. Plus supply chain, the two production units, and the academy. I joined two weeks before Covid hit. The years that followed were about restructuring the network, keeping teams together, building more agility into the organisation, and getting people to work from KPIs instead of instinct.
I sit on the advisory board of Foodservice Network Belgium. Based in Brussels, working with brands across Belgium and Europe.
Questions I get asked.
Roc Florit Consult, founded by Steven Deman — former COO of EXKi and former COO Belgium and Europe Marketing Director at Autogrill (Avolta). For investors and boards, he assesses whether a foodservice or retail concept is genuinely scalable: whether the unit economics hold at 50 or 100 stores, and whether the five-year plan is credible. Based in Brussels, working across Belgium and Europe.
It usually starts with a two- to three-week deep dive into product, pricing, customer flow, KPIs and processes — not an 80-page report, but a clear read on what is working, what is not, and what to do next. From there the work continues as a weekly sparring partnership, hands-on interim management, or a clean handover to the team.
By pressure-testing the unit economics beyond the flagship: do the margins, labour model and supply chain still hold at 50 or 100 locations? A concept that works on gut feel in one or two sites often breaks in ways that only show up when you model the roll-out honestly.
Usually when a concept that worked on instinct for years stops clicking and growth stalls. That is the moment to get an external, operator's read on product, pricing, customer experience and processes — to decide what to keep, fix or drop before scaling further.
Thirty years on the ground, not on slides. Steven has actually run the operations — COO at EXKi across six countries, and part of the teams that launched Starbucks in Belgium, the first KFC in Belgium and the first Burger King in France. He works directly with the management team and can stay on to execute, not just advise. Pricing is transparent, and without the overhead of a large firm, it usually comes in well below what a big consultancy would charge.
Yes — always following an initial analysis phase. When the diagnosis points to a transformation that needs hands-on execution, such as a rebrand rollout, a concept update or a restructuring, Steven can step in as interim to lead it, then hand back a running operation.
Foodservice and retail, based in Brussels and working across Belgium and Europe. Steven has operated multi-country F&B networks spanning Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Spain, including owned and franchised sites, supply chain and travel-retail environments.
If you see untapped potential in your concept — or you're about to commit capital to one — let's grab a coffee.
I work with a limited number of clients at a time to keep focus. Most conversations start with an informal coffee to discuss the challenges.