Creativity and innovation: The case of haute cuisine

This study focuses on creativity and innovation in the gastronomy sector, where both concepts have become increasingly relevant determinants of success, business performance and longer-term survival. Specifically, it investigates the key factors that effectively stimulate the actions and behaviours leading to a continuous flow of novel and useful ideas that can be turned into innovations. To achieve this, an inductive methodology was used, based on the study of a single but significant case, using the semi-structured in-depth interview. The results show that new ideas are mainly generated directly by the chef; hence individual features play a leading role, together with endless experimentation. They furthermore underline that the innovation process is mainly influenced by a trial-and-error approach, which is possible only if the chef has a genuine entrepreneurial spirit. These results hold several relevant theoretical and practical implications.