Case Studies
When Millions
of Dollars Are
at Stake
It takes an elite team to win big
Services Provided
HMSHost
If you’ve ever eaten at an airport, then chances are you’ve interacted with global restaurateur HMSHost. HMSHost is part of Avolta – a leading global travel experience company with approximately 1,000 locations and 5,100 outlets across 70 countries, serving 2.5 billion passengers worldwide. As an industry leader in travel dining experiences and operations, HMSHost partners with some of the most famous and beloved brands, including Starbucks, Shake Shack, Chick-fil-A, Chili’s, California Pizza Kitchen, Cigar City Brewing, Panda Express, Dunkin’, Eataly, and Tim Hortons. Staying at the top of an industry this massive means continually competing for highly coveted airport concession contracts. The competition is cutthroat, it’s certainly not for the faint of heart, and the stakes are high—one concession contract alone is worth millions! No pressure, right?
The Challenge
What’s at Stake: Multimillion-Dollar Contracts
Winning space at any airport isn’t an easy job, especially when it comes to securing premium locations within the world’s busiest terminals. Companies like HMSHost must bid on the spaces they want, providing complete documentation of the financial, legal, and operational aspects of their proposed restaurant concepts.
The projects themselves are massive propositions that can span 250–650+ pages per package, 2–50+ concepts, and 1–10 proposal packages per pursuit – all with one immovable deadline; these pursuits can take dedicated teams two months to produce. They come with rigorous requirements down to the smallest detail, and if you miss a required form, certificate, or signature? Your entire investment could go directly into the trash. Yes – all of it!
Creating these projects requires pulling together content from various HMSHost departments, ensuring that everything conforms to strict airport procurement requirements, coordinating photographers and printers, taming massive design files, tirelessly copy-editing, and above all else, creating a comprehensive vision that pulls it all together into one savvy, irresistible package. That package needs to be both a business plan and an advertising pitch; it must be as informational as it is captivating.
And if the exacting standards and demand for cutting-edge creativity weren’t enough to induce anxiety over deadlines, consider what’s at stake: multimillion-dollar contracts.
The Success
Highlights: 12+ Years | 65+ Pursuits | 38+ Airport Markets | Multimillion-Dollar Contracts
It wasn’t long before HMSHost knew they could put their trust in Diace Designs. What started with one high-stakes multi-package pursuit turned into a 12+ year creative partnership spanning 65+ airport concession pursuits across 38+ markets nationwide.
With laser precision, Diace fine-tuned every painstaking detail of 1,000s of pages, 100s of concepts, and countless moving parts, all while navigating aggressive deadlines and never missing the finish line. From 2–3 week sprints to months-long pursuits…when HMSHost calls, we know the drill.
Every project Diace has completed for HMSHost has met an aggressive deadline—with most of the projects garnering near-perfect evaluation scores—resulting in multiple multimillion-dollar concession contracts.
12+ years. 65+ pursuits. 38+ markets. 1,000s of pages. 100s of concepts. Millions of dollars at stake. Now THAT’S a creative partnership.
Client Raves
What Our Clients Say
"I truly love working with Jessica and her team at Diace Designs! We have worked hand-in-hand on multiple high-stake projects. Diace Designs team handles our projects with the utmost care and professionalism ensuring our projects are completed and out-the-door on-time. Jessica and her team are always there and ready to make my life easier and work tirelessly to make sure that a project is completed correctly. When Millions are at stake, we put our trust in Diace Designs team to get the job done. Diace's attention to detail, proactive approach, creativity, and never missing a deadline - is why we love working with them!"
Case Studies
