Catering disasters tonight

Prince Monolulu · Sep 16, 2015

Generally speaking I find it a shame that amidst all of this upbeat positivity all over the club right now on and off the pitch, something apparently simple continues to be an issue.

We found shortages or products unavailable in several areas of the ground last night, but on a plus point I felt that the staff were much more clued up and keen to try and help where possible than has been the case in the past.

This, I feel, illustrates that the issues are obviously higher up with the catering firm. As others have said, it can't be that difficult.

Sea Cider · Sep 16, 2015

The North has been particularly awful during the last 2 matches. For some bizarre reason they've closed the mobile kiosk at the east end, and on Saturday there were 2 useless servers at the proper kiosk manning 5 tills. Same story yesterday, queued at the kiosk at half time for 10+ minutes, finally got to the front of the queue, asked for some food and a pint of Harveys, only to be told that they had neither: "we've got Fosters and pringles".

What a strange approach to business :facepalm:

Gwylan · Sep 16, 2015

Easy 10 said:
I just cannot believe after 4 years they STILL haven't got a decent handle on how many units of pies etc they need for each matchday. Its baffling.

I don't order food so this doesn't affect me but this is inexplicable. The club know exactly how many people are coming and surely must know that if x people are there, then they'll sell y pies and z burgers. I imagine that there are different amounts for Saturdays and mid-week games but that can be taken into account. I just can't believe the caterers can have no idea

Easy 10 · Sep 16, 2015

Bozza said:
From what I've seen, it's rarely that they've completely run out of pies at any point before the very end of a session, it's that they've run out temporarily due to the need to cook/heat etc the pies they have. I think there is a capacity issue with regards to oven space to do this, and the pies take a decent amount of time to cook (heat up?) properly prior to being available to purchase.

I can quite understand that if there is a sudden pie rush, then stuff can run out and can't be immediately replaced due to the cooking time. I don't doubt there are also cock-ups, on occasion, when planning has been poor, although you'd like to think those occasions would be few and far between now.

Why has the mini-outlet in the middle of the WSU been closed for both games this week? Surely they should be making full use of all serving capacity available...

So you're saying fundamentally its an infrastructure issue as opposed to a stock issue - the ovens are of insufficient capacity to cope with the demand. Obviously at half time in particular there's a very limited window of opportunity timewise, and that's when demand is going to be most intensive. I think we've probably all seen the ever-dwindling supply of pies in the heated cabinets as we inch our way towards the counter in the queues. If they can only heat x number of pies in time for the halftime rush then that's never, ever going to be fixed unless they install ovens with a larger capacity that can cope. Like that's ever going to happen.

Tremendous. No point complaining at all then really.

mwrpoole · Sep 16, 2015

Bozza said:
From what I've seen, it's rarely that they've completely run out of pies at any point before the very end of a session, it's that they've run out temporarily due to the need to cook/heat etc the pies they have. I think there is a capacity issue with regards to oven space to do this, and the pies take a decent amount of time to cook (heat up?) properly prior to being available to purchase.

I can quite understand that if there is a sudden pie rush, then stuff can run out and can't be immediately replaced due to the cooking time. I don't doubt there are also cock-ups, on occasion, when planning has been poor, although you'd like to think those occasions would be few and far between now.

Why has the mini-outlet in the middle of the WSU been closed for both games this week? Surely they should be making full use of all serving capacity available...

At the outlet I use in WSU at the North Stand end, a couple of the tills weren't used last night either.

We don't have another home game until 3rd October so I fully understand both pies & Harveys running out as they won't keep until then, but we have 2 rugby games at the weekend with 30,000+ expected both days. Perhaps Harveys won't be on sale for the rugby but I'm sure the pies will be. I'm going to both and the likelihood of the catering being a shambles is fairly high, which is a shame as I'm going both days with friends who could well be enticed to come back occasionally.

Another moan but perhaps not the caterers fault. Last season E-Cash/Smartcards were phased out & we were sold this great vision of 'contactless' being the way forward. Why then are most tills cash only? Using cash must be the slowest method available, plus having all that cash about must be a nightmare having to reconcile all the tills etc. Contactless is quick & easy and should be encouraged not discouraged.

Herr Tubthumper · Sep 16, 2015

Gwylan said:
I don't order food so this doesn't affect me but this is inexplicable. The club know exactly how many people are coming and surely must know that if x people are there, then they'll sell y pies and z burgers. I imagine that there are different amounts for Saturdays and mid-week games but that can be taken into account. I just can't believe the caterers can have no idea

They have 4 years worth of data now. They should know how much of each product is needed for x number of fans.

Return of the Rev · Sep 16, 2015

Herr Tubthumper said:
They have 4 years worth of data now. They should know how much of each product is needed for x number of fans.

With the crowd figures always different to the actual attendance they might get a bit confused :moo:

Return of the Rev · Sep 16, 2015

Easy 10 said:
So you're saying fundamentally its an infrastructure issue as opposed to a stock issue - the ovens are of insufficient capacity to cope with the demand. Obviously at half time in particular there's a very limited window of opportunity timewise, and that's when demand is going to be most intensive. I think we've probably all seen the ever-dwindling supply of pies in the heated cabinets as we inch our way towards the counter in the queues. If they can only heat x number of pies in time for the halftime rush then that's never, ever going to be fixed unless they install ovens with a larger capacity that can cope. Like that's ever going to happen.

Tremendous. No point complaining at all then really.

Smaller pies? :blush:

Guinness Boy · Sep 16, 2015

mwrpoole said:
At the outlet I use in WSU at the North Stand end, a couple of the tills weren't used last night either.

We don't have another home game until 3rd October so I fully understand both pies & Harveys running out as they won't keep until then, but we have 2 rugby games at the weekend with 30,000+ expected both days. Perhaps Harveys won't be on sale for the rugby but I'm sure the pies will be. I'm going to both and the likelihood of the catering being a shambles is fairly high, which is a shame as I'm going both days with friends who could well be enticed to come back occasionally.

Another moan but perhaps not the caterers fault. Last season E-Cash/Smartcards were phased out & we were sold this great vision of 'contactless' being the way forward. Why then are most tills cash only? Using cash must be the slowest method available, plus having all that cash about must be a nightmare having to reconcile all the tills etc. Contactless is quick & easy and should be encouraged not discouraged.

Contactless is faster than cash but cash is faster than pin number. Contactless has an upper limit per transaction (I think mine is £15) that is not enough for four of you in a round or two with children where everyone's getting food and the adults are getting beer or coffee.

All the bars at Edgabaston on Test Match days in the Hollies stand where beer is a way of life from 10.30 to 5 p.m. are cash only and there is a cash point next to them. They pre-pour, limit people to four pints per customer due to ECB rules and have one server to one till. The queue moves incredibly quickly and you don't wait more than three or four minutes at lunch or tea.

DarrenFreemansPerm · Sep 16, 2015

Machiavelli said:
So they are -- better view of the game up there though.

Pretty sure the North Stand had the best view of the Stephens goal

Munkfish · Sep 16, 2015

Guinness Boy said:
Contactless is faster than cash but cash is faster than pin number. Contactless has an upper limit per transaction (I think mine is £15) that is not enough for four of you in a round or two with children where everyone's getting food and the adults are getting beer or coffee.

All the bars at Edgabaston on Test Match days in the Hollies stand where beer is a way of life from 10.30 to 5 p.m. are cash only and there is a cash point next to them. They pre-pour, limit people to four pints per customer due to ECB rules and have one server to one till. The queue moves incredibly quickly and you don't wait more than three or four minutes at lunch or tea.

Contactless is £30 I doubt there are too many transactions over that amount. If every till accepted cash and Card there wouldnt be a problem. People with cash still queue in the card queues and get served where as if you have card in a cash queue its tough shit.

The speed of the whole transaction depends on the server, there are a few who can manage to take an order of more than one item at a time and will wizz through. Where as too many will get one pie one drink one burger one tea. Love logic and the ability to serve a whole order goes out the window.

For me the only way to speed things up would be to have a server and a runner for each till. Obviously cost for staff would sore so not going to happen.

Tom Hark Preston Park · Sep 16, 2015

Surely the club could engage some Subject Matter Experts to come up with a ten point plan to ensure that just about everybody in WSU who wants to buy a pie and a pint can do so. Seems to me that for a stand that holds, what, 12000 people, only a smallish minority are able to actually get to a position in the queue that allows them to spend their money. The loss of potential revenue must be appalling. Maybe an in-depth study of how clubs with comparable large stands cope with demand would be beneficial to all concerned. It's hardly rocket science.

Papa Lazarou · Sep 16, 2015

Goldstone1976 said:
You are, of course, quite right. Any one of those things happening in a food-based establishment charging £14 for a burger and chips would have me apoplectic. I'm much more accepting in the Albion's case because I have an emotional attachment to the place and it's not a purely commercial transaction. I understand that, in some small way, if I contribute over the odds for food, it somehow adds just a tiny bit to the quality of the team; and that's a trade off I'm prepared to make. But there are limits - for me, congealed, cold lamb fat (for example) and limp, cold chips are the other side of acceptable.

What worries me is what percentage of the current 1901 membership are emotionally invested in the club as you are?

Surely they will be unlikely to renew if they consistently receive a below par service and poor value for money.

The 1901 renewal timebomb is ticking.

Gazwag · Sep 16, 2015

Easy 10 said:
Foodwise it always seems to be pies that run out first. Are they simply cutting the margins too fine in the numbers they order ? .

Seems to me piglets cant cope with the quantity anymore now they have expanded to other clubs/ventures and we are suffering with poor products. Clearly they could only supply enough sausage rolls for a Saturday game and cannot prepare enough for a Saturday/Tuesday combination. There is also far less selection now as we always had four choices of pie in the past (Steak/Chicken/Vegy/Guest) not we are stuck with two.

Steve in Japan · Sep 16, 2015

WSU last night. Joined a queue for the central outlet at start of HT. It didn't move for a good 7-8 minutes because some bloke at the front is buying for himself, his family and 7 or 8 mates - most of whom ambled up at various points during the order and decided what they wanted. Don't know how you stop that but its bloody annoying when the clock is ticking. Last time I was at Twickenham I think there was a cap on how many drinks each person could order - altho I was pissed so could be my memory plays tricks.

jmsc · Sep 16, 2015

WSU 7.20 last night.

Q. Cheese & Onion pasty please?
A. We don't have any!

Q. Do you have anything else vegetarian?
A. We have cheese burgers!

REALLY?

Easy 10 · Sep 16, 2015

jmsc said:
WSU 7.20 last night.

Q. Cheese & Onion pasty please?
A. We don't have any!

Q. Do you have anything else vegetarian?
A. We have cheese burgers!

REALLY?

SURELY its simple enough.
You buy a cheeseburger, you remove the burger, you have a cheese bap. Sorted.

pwlr1966 · Sep 16, 2015

Gazwag said:
Seems to me piglets cant cope with the quantity anymore now they have expanded to other clubs/ventures and we are suffering with poor products. Clearly they could only supply enough sausage rolls for a Saturday game and cannot prepare enough for a Saturday/Tuesday combination. There is also far less selection now as we always had four choices of pie in the past (Steak/Chicken/Vegy/Guest) not we are stuck with two.

I missed the start of the second half because I was complaining to the catering manager about the poor service last night. He told me he looks at the figures of previous night games to 'guess' the catering requirements. He was more interested in the amount of food wastage he would have to deal with rather than meeting customer needs. He also stated he did not order more Harvey's as if they did not sell it that night it would go to waste. He came across to me as a complete b3LL end. Why not provide more and if any left at the end sell it off at a reduced rate? :tosser:

Bozza · Sep 16, 2015

jmsc said:
WSU 7.20 last night.

Q. Cheese & Onion pasty please?
A. We don't have any!

Q. Do you have anything else vegetarian?
A. We have cheese burgers!

REALLY?

To be fair and as a veggie myself, I wouldn't expect to have more than one thing available to me. It's how it is almost every ground I have visited. The problem comes when that one thing may not be available. If you travel to the Amex and intend to have the pie/pasty as your dinner, of sorts, you are stuck if they don't have it. It's that unreliability that means people will get something before they come to the ground and avoid the gamble at the concourse outlets.

Amexian · Sep 16, 2015

I too am a WSU victim. The overall standard of catering is a badly managed shambles. At the Forest game I asked what the guest pie was and was informed it was a sausage roll!
This is a 21st century stadium with 20th century catering services. The season ticket isn't cheap and personally I expect a much bigger bang for my buck. I'm fed up with:
Catering staff supplied by the lowest bidder who have patently never faced a customer before
Having 12 available service points 10 of which are cash only
Running out of beer before half time
Running out of pies before half time
Being at the mercy of someone who hasn't grasped the basics of simple stock management

Can someone give a name and email address of someone at the club who can address their catering issues please?

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