Matchday catering upgrade

Fair enough, I don't know the complexities of these things etc.

Does feel an easier solution to the variety issue though having vendors come to us with food trucks etc. rather than getting produce from a local farm shop etc. and have our catering team prepare and sell that in the ground.

 

I think British sporting and entertainment arenas are behind the times in general with catering, and not a pop, but BFC is a bit behind the 8-ball when comparing to similar sized clubs. Catering at Bolton, Wigan and Blackburn in recent seasons has been head and shoulders above ours (yes, I get the ground infrastructure is a bit more modern).
Then we have the culture of being captive in UK venues; places like Sheffield and Manchester arenas, where you can't take your own stuff, but have to pay inflated prices for food and beverages once inside. That needs to change.
I loved the USA experience - we are light years away. They just do food / pricing / service better than we can. There is never a feeling of being overcharged or getting poor service or substandard goods. It's a culture thing.
I guess for example - and it is a guess - the catering vans parked near Ponty Road and on Grove Street pay less for a council vendors license than they would for being able to take their gear into the club / concourses? And if they did have to pay more, prices would bump. Even though footfall would probably increase.

I'd personally love to see wall to wall vendors on the concourses at Oakwell, even if they are just pop-up stalls that only last a couple of games before someone else has a go. A bit like the fantastic BoxPark venue at Croydon. Great atmosphere, great food, but only the established stalls are there for any period of time - the ones that offer good food / price / portion combo. All other stalls are open to newcomers. They simply have to compete to stand a chance.

There is MASSIVE potential at Oakwell to have a great matchday experience. Fair play to the BFCST who already contribute to the idea ......

Concourse at Orlando, 2015:





And that was only in the stadium. Complete fanzone outside, with similar stalls and music and games. Something like that could be achieved on the old school premises (I'm not sure on ownership?) without compromising parking, which is also close to supporters hearts.

 

This probably falls in the obvious category, but for me, the standard of service needs to greatly improve. It doesn't matter what beer or pies we're serving if we've got the same fundamental issue.

There's a good 20/30 catering staff in the Ponte end kiosk as an example, and probably only 5 or 6 actually serving, with 5 or 6 taking cash and then standing waiting for the other person to get the food and drink. If its not readily available behind them, they're standing and waiting for it to be poured/made. There seems to be an extra person in the production chain. Maybe make more cash registers/card machines available, so everyone can be served by one person, rather than two. It would help get the queues down no end.

I was at Bramhall lane last week, and they have one long queue, with 8/10 people serving at the end of it, and you go to whichever person is free. One person takes your order, your payment, and then gives you your goods. A 30 second transaction. As a result, the queue was constantly moving.

I'm not put off by the selection on offer at Oakwell, I'm put off by the queue times. I don't want to start queuing for a pint on 35 minutes, and then have to neck said pint to ensure I get back to my seat before I miss too much of the 2nd half.

Bottle bins either. Big coolers on wheels. Bradford did this a few years ago, and were constantly having to restock because people preferred to use these rather than queue for a pint. One person wheeling around a big cool box, and another with a card machine taking payment and serving. We'd sell twice the amount I reckon.

 

There are so may good examples of quality vendors that serve swiftly, but I think there needs to be a wider consideration and strategy for encouraging people to be around the ground whilst considering the seasonal factors at play too. Winter is going to be harder to encourage more people at and around the ground before and after kick off than a warm sunny day.

What I would suggest to those charged with considering a catering strategy is to go and visit somewhere like the BoxParks and Mercato Metropolitano at Elephant and Castle. We couldn't do anything on that sort of scale, but there are tonnes of high quality options. some delivering instant food, some delivering to order, some taking a while post order.

But it raises more questions. Are there areas close to the ground where a relatively temporary area could be created that a food area could be created? Something where more casual grazing could be encouraged, either before or after.

So many questions to consider.

 

Potters for me

 

Fair point about the ale prices, but ....
I have a friend doing 6 months in the States / Canada following his baseball team around. Most venues have a 'go-to' product that competes with other teams for price / popularity. After sampling the food, he is more than happy to pay circa $15 a pint, cos he generally only has room for the one". Is this food offering what we might call a loss leader?

He has sampled some ridiculous offerings. 2ft hotdogs with all the trimmings for $5. Same price for a 2lb burger. 12" pizzas for a dollar, all sorts of crazy stuff that entices fans to spend.

I do get where you are coming from though, and your Stateside experiences are more frequent and recent than mine.

 

no point, George seems to have abandoned us!

 

Boxpark is just a fantastic concept. Every town should have one.

 

I don't know if you've ever been to the Mercato, but I'd strongly recommend it. It's a good while since I last went. I don't know if they are still there, but there was an indian street food stall which had a variety of fillings in a naan wrap, whether chicken, lamb or paneer. And for a vegetarian (or anyone just wanting something tasty!), you've things like dosas which are delicious. Absolutely delicious and fresh, and you'd think that sort of thing could be escalated to decent volume in a good time scale.

But it's like anything. The intent has to be there. The last thing I'd want us to do is have some grand idea thats not thought through well and then delivered badly or just in a half arsed way.

 

Not tried the Mercato, but now I have to start doing the London thing again (back there tomorrow) I will try find time to sample.
My new employer is just 2 mins walk from Victoria Underground and I was quite impressed with the stalls and street vendors last week (Cardinal Place / Square?)

 

I'd love to be able to give guidance, but my awareness of whats what in London is greatly reduced because of that covid thing and personal circumstances.

You can either jump off at Elephant and Castle and just walk up, or, get to London Bridge and wander down, and depending on the day, enjoy the delights of Borough Market.

As long as it's unchanged from what, probably a year ago(?), Mercato is a bit of a rabbit warren with a mix of indoor and outdoor areas. A local brewery on site of germanic style (German Kraft Beer) does some decent stuff but it's the vast array of food thats the superstar.

It had evolved massively from when it first opened when it was literally a couple of vans and some metal ikea chairs in an area that looked like a disused series of workshops and garages (which it probably was).

Again, ages since I've been but I'd also say that Exmouth Market round clerkenwell way is worth a venture. It's long since evolved from a market I think and is just a long road of independent shops. Memory serves me that a Mikeller may have opened a micro brewery there to help try and get around brexit issues too, but you'd have to do your research.

I think the bottom line though is whatever the club do, it doesn't have to be great to be a massive improvement of what we've done historically. I'd be surprised if there weren't plenty of independents who were prepared to have a crack at something, or, at the most sensible and timid end of the spectrum, do some samples and trials with fans to shape a basic offering of 2-5 things available on matchday that are edible and worthwhile for the producers to supplement there existing core offerings that they knock out the rest of the week.

 

this is suggesting club asking BFCST direct for advice to improve?

 

Agree with a lot of what has already been posted on this thread.
I'm afraid the staffing side of it needs sorting first and foremost. The amount of staff I've seen that don't seem to know what's going on, generally look pissed off and are very slow at serving. What happened to service with a smile? Now clearly there is a lack of training but some of them just look like they don't want to be there and struggle with the basics.

What happned to that Lee fella who tried some nice ideas last season? Probably too forward thinking for BFC!!