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Catering - how it should be done



Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,323
Uffern
Was going to post this in the Catering Tonight thread but thought it was so interesting, it was worthy of a thread of its own. This is an extract from Robert Scoble and Shel Israel's book The Age of Context (which BTW is well worth reading, some fascinating insights).

And apologies for the length but I think this is worth it.


"The NFL is the world’s most lucrative professional sports organization but there was a problem.

League-wide, in-stadium attendance has been shrinking by about two percentage points each year. Fans represent the most profitable segment of NFL revenues. It’s not just the steeply priced tickets; it’s also the beverages and food as well as all those caps, tee shirts and souvenir bling.

Where are the fans going? They’re not going to a competing sport, many of whom are also experiencing lost fans … their biggest competitor is also one of football’s most lucrative allies: HDTV. Broadcast, of course, pays big bucks for licensing rights, but there’s less profit in it than getting a fan to come to the stadium. The teams do not share in ad revenues on network broadcasts.

Each year, a tad more people stay home or go to local taverns to watch games on big screens. Multiple cameras and clever audio let TV viewers see the game better from their living room couch or a barstool than from the best seats in the stadium. Besides, you can get a beer and a burger faster, cheaper, and the lines to the bathrooms are a lot shorter.

Beer and soft drinks are a big deal to the NFL. They represent 70 percent of all sales during a game, and they provide a high margin of profit. So each time a fan gets a fresh cold one at the local tavern, the NFL is thrown for a slight loss at the bottom line.

It goes without saying the guys who run the NFL are a competitive bunch. And they understand that when they keep getting thrown for a loss of two percent each year, they need to change strategy.The surprise to us was to learn they see the solution in online and contextual technologies.

Starting in September 2013 season ticket holders will be able to see the game better on their tablets and iPhone inside the stadium than they will at home. And, best of all, they’ll be able to get their burgers and beers faster by far if they’re at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. The NFL has been using the Patriots as a test case for the entire League.

So why the Patriots of all teams? It turns out that in the NFL, they have been the League’s flagship for online technologies. Jonathan Kraft, president of The Kraft Group, owners of the Patriots, is also co-chairman of the League’s digital committee, where he has been entrusted to explore ways to enhance fan experience through technology.

Kraft understood both the advantages and the challenge for stadium events. “There is still nothing like the thrill of a live game,” he told us, “but we realize we had to match what people get at home and then make the in-stadium experience that much better.”

Kraft turned to Fred Kirsch, the Patriots’ vice president whose job is to use technologies to bring fans and players closer together … To meet the new goal of using online technology to enhance the in-stadium experience, Kirsch contracted Enterasys Secure Networks. The first step was to wire the entire stadium, making it so rock-solid that 70,000 fans could go online and watch the same replay or livestream simultaneously.

This was something that previously had not been done and it required an expensive and complicated double-density system. Completed in 2012, it is used on average by 12,000 fans at each home game. So far it has performed flawlessly. HD cameras were placed throughout the stadium to provide exclusive livestream footage. A single camera could follow the Patriots’ quarterback during every moment of a game if wanted.

This wasn’t about checking in on Foursquare, Vala Afshar, Enterasys CMO said “The idea was to let fans use their smart phones and tablets to experience things that were not previously possible and not possible outside of the stadium.” Gillette’s Wifi is intended to give fans a better experience than they can have at the local pub. It also was required to provide video that equaled or surpassed HDTV.

Season ticket holders, and fans in elite seats who bring mobile devices with them, are treated to six livestream views of the game plus replays. They can use the Wifi to tweet or check other games as well.

In 2013, it will take its first baby steps by allowing the “premium fans” to use their mobile devices to order drinks and food while sitting in their seats, through mobile apps that also allow them to pay by credit card.

There will be no delivery to fan seats. “Football fans are very intense. They don’t want to miss a single play and they don’t like passing hot dogs or beers to the guy sitting in the middle of the row,” Kraft told us.

So the Patriots have set up an express line. Fans get alerted when their order is ready. They zip up, grab their orders, and get back to their seats having missed as little of the game as possible.


Fans can also check the mobile app to find out where the shortest lines are to the restrooms, a concern that can become even more urgent than the need for fresh beer. The Pats are using location-based technologies so they know where you are seated in the stands, and what restroom and concession stands are nearest you.

From baby steps, the Pats management hopes to be jogging next year. That’s when the Gillette system starts getting deeply contextual. They are gathering data on the eating and drinking habits of participating fans. They know when a season ticket holder is attending and they know what that ticket holder’s buying habits are during a game, so they can start to predict who will be ordering what at a particular moment in every game. Perhaps they will start having fans preorder before they even get to the stadium.

All of this will help them predict inventory. They will know in advance how much of each item they are likely to sell, and when they need to be preparing or pouring. The fans are getting a frictionless order and the Pats are getting a return on their investment by reducing costs and serving their best customers faster.
"

What's interesting is that we're not talking millions of pounds here: you'd need decent wifi but the app that does this could be sold or funded by advertising and there'd be some work on the back-end but, as the article makes clear, the club would get a return on its investment within a few years. I'm surprised Barber hasn't thought about this, given his background in the US
 


BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
I am a firm believer that eventually the club will employ direct labour and do the catering in house themselves just a matter of when. Perhaps then you will see it brought in.
 


Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,323
Uffern
I am a firm believer that eventually the club will employ direct labour and do the catering in house themselves just a matter of when. Perhaps then you will see it brought in.

The authors don't say whether it's handled in-house or not but my impression is that most US sports catering is handled by outside outlets. I don't know for sure though
 


HAILSHAM SEAGULL

Well-known member
Nov 9, 2009
10,346
I am a firm believer that eventually the club will employ direct labour and do the catering in house themselves just a matter of when. Perhaps then you will see it brought in.

No chance, not for 20/30 days a year.
 


Bozza

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Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
55,575
Back in Sussex
US Sports do not have our restrictions with regard to when alcohol can be bought and where it can be consumed, so demand can be more evenly distributed over the time of the event.

It's a modern-day version of theatre-style pre-ordering of drinks for the interval.

However, I've thought about doing this before - even in an old-tech way - some way of pre-ordering a half-time pint and being given a ticket or voucher to express collect the drink from a pre-determined place that does not take any new orders. I can't believe it wouldn't work quite easily.
 






Stat Brother

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NSC Patreon
Jul 11, 2003
73,369
West west west Sussex
This works as all American sports have natural breaks to allow for the advertising.

What's killing the NFL attendance is the TV invention of RedZone.

All Sunday afternoon matches are simultaneously broadcast and the screen flicks to whichever moment is relevant.
 


Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
49,989
Goldstone
What's killing the NFL attendance is the TV invention of RedZone.

All Sunday afternoon matches are simultaneously broadcast and the screen flicks to whichever moment is relevant.
But surely the most relevant moment is the one involving your team? Save the last games of the season, where what happens elsewhere is also very important.

Not that I completely disagree, they'd be best having no live matches at the most popular time, as we do at 3pm on Saturday.
 




Bry Nylon

Test your smoke alarm
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Jul 21, 2003
19,781
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I think it would be interesting if the club took a few kiosk outlets in different areas of the ground and staffed them with slightly higher calibre people, by paying a pound or so an hour more, plus provided proper training and supervision. Then provide the workers with a bonus structure based on their kiosk's takings plus a 'loyalty' payment if they work through the season.

I am convinced that whatever metric you choose, these kiosks would perform better.
- Turnover
- Profitability
- Speed of service
- Overall customer satisafaction
- Correct supply of product requested etc
 


Bozza

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Jul 4, 2003
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But surely the most relevant moment is the one involving your team? Save the last games of the season, where what happens elsewhere is also very important.

32 teams for c320m people? I'm guessing a lot of people either don't have a team, live nowhere near their team or maybe 'their team' is a collegiate one (many of which play in front of massive crowds).
 


Bozza

You can change this
Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
55,575
Back in Sussex
I think it would be interesting if the club took a few kiosk outlets in different areas of the ground and staffed them with slightly higher calibre people, by paying a pound or so an hour more, plus provided proper training and supervision. Then provide the workers with a bonus structure based on their kiosk's takings plus a 'loyalty' payment if they work through the season.

I am convinced that whatever metric you choose, these kiosks would perform better.
- Turnover
- Profitability
- Speed of service
- Overall customer satisafaction
- Correct supply of product requested etc

I'm sure I heard that there are bonuses, prizes or similar incentives for Amex kiosk staff.
 




Stat Brother

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Jul 11, 2003
73,369
West west west Sussex
But surely the most relevant moment is the one involving your team? Save the last games of the season, where what happens elsewhere is also very important.

Not that I completely disagree, they'd be best having no live matches at the most popular time, as we do at 3pm on Saturday.

I don't think the NFL is viewed like that, in America.

College football attracts the tribalism we associate with proper football, whereas the NFL is just a separate massive entity that engulfs anything in it's path.
They are jealous of the global brand that is The Premier League but even that is small change against the behemoth of the NFL.

Which is why RedZone has become so much more than just a TV gimmick.


Obviously this is just my impression from over here, if an Americanist wants to shoot me down I'm happily be wrong, and go to the naughty step.
 


Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,323
Uffern
US Sports do not have our restrictions with regard to when alcohol can be bought and where it can be consumed, so demand can be more evenly distributed over the time of the event.

That's true, although I do wonder how long that alcohol ban will stay in place - that's a throwback from the 80s, standing spectators and routine levels of violence. There are more middle-aged, middle-class supporters now ... and more women.

As someone says on another thread, it's absurd that someone can sit in a seat in the Amex watching rugby, drinking a pint, and, theoretically, could be sitting in the same seat a few days later, surrounded by the same people and not be able to drink.

And I agree that there should be some sort of way to pre-order drinks but I'm not sure how you'd stop people drinking them
 


Triggaaar

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Oct 24, 2005
49,989
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32 teams for c320m people? I'm guessing a lot of people either don't have a team, live nowhere near their team or maybe 'their team' is a collegiate one (many of which play in front of massive crowds).
Most Americans live in big US cities, I imagine most live close enough to a team. Regardless, the fact is that less fans are going to games than went before, and that's not because they used to live close to the teams but don't now.
 




Bozza

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Jul 4, 2003
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Most Americans live in big US cities, I imagine most live close enough to a team. Regardless, the fact is that less fans are going to games than went before, and that's not because they used to live close to the teams but don't now.

Is that a fact though?

Screen Shot 2015-08-10 at 18.52.32.png
Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/193420/regular-season-attendance-in-the-nfl-since-2006/

Regardless, we're going off-topic a bit here. The discussion should be focused around more imaginative ways to deal with the issues of stadium catering (and that doesn't include that video of 8 pints being filled simultaneously from the bottom).
 




Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,323
Uffern
Regardless, we're going off-topic a bit here. The discussion should be focused around more imaginative ways to deal with the issues of stadium catering

While I can see that we need more investment for the stuff described in that article, I am totally bemused how stock control is so badly handled.

Roughly speaking, the same people with the same tastes are going to the stands every match - how do they manage to contrive such shortages? The catering managers should know exactly how many items/pints are served per kiosk each match - they should be able to predict to within a few percent what the demand should be. And yet we hear stories regularly of there being no beer or pies - that doesn't need wifi or mobile apps. How do they get that so wrong?
 


Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
49,989
Goldstone
Is that a fact though?
I don't know, first I heard of reduced attendances was in the OP.
Regardless, we're going off-topic a bit here. The discussion should be focused around more imaginative ways to deal with the issues of stadium catering
I already thumbed you on that subject.
 




Stat Brother

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Jul 11, 2003
73,369
West west west Sussex
While I can see that we need more investment for the stuff described in that article, I am totally bemused how stock control is so badly handled.

Roughly speaking, the same people with the same tastes are going to the stands every match - how do they manage to contrive such shortages? The catering managers should know exactly how many items/pints are served per kiosk each match - they should be able to predict to within a few percent what the demand should be. And yet we hear stories regularly of there being no beer or pies - that doesn't need wifi or mobile apps. How do they get that so wrong?
It would seem the managers know exactly how many items they sell.
But have no idea how many they could sell if they did their job properly.
 


Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,323
Uffern
It would seem the managers know exactly how many items they sell.

But they don't. If they knew that a certain stand would sell roughly 200 pints of Fosters prior to kick-off and about 150 pies, then they'd ensure there was enough Fosters for 220 pints and about 160 pies - but, as people have pointed out, they don't
 



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