Catering disasters tonight

[Captain Sensible]

I can't understand why Paul Barber hasn't sorted this mess out with catering. After all it is a lucrative 'revenue stream'. It's not rocket science. Teach your staff how to use the till properly, remember that it's fast food and also get the staff to communicate. There should be a lead staff member shouting to others how much of what item is left, to prevent some girl running around trying to find a cheeseburger for 2 mins whilst the que gets bigger. Busy times should be prepared for. Every til should be card, contactless and cash. it's never going to be perfect but surely if can get a lot better.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Going to the Amex is not just about the football. It is meeting friends and family, standing around and chatting, discussing the football and life. It is not too much to expect to be able to purchase the advertised food and drink. Were the ground in the city centre there would be no threads.

 

[Chicken Run]

If I had a couple of hours to go home first or mince around town perusing menus before making my way to the Amex then sure, I probably would. Maybe YOU'VE got time to yawn, stretch and start sauntering your way along to the Amex some time after Hollyoaks after a hard days slog in front of Jeremy Kyle and Come Dine With Me, but that's not the case for everyone.

When I can't get away from work much before before 6, I have to drive home first, dump the car off, and play sardines on a couple of trains for 45 minutes to get to the ground for around 7.30. That doesn't leave much time to rustle up a ham pasta bake at home first, or even grab a saturated slab of congealed dogburger somewhere down Queens Road. So no, its not ideal to have to throw yourself upon the mercy of the Amex for something hot to eat at 7.45 or 8.30 on a Tuesday night, but sometimes, thems the breaks. And there are plenty of fans (or idiots, as you call them) who are racing the clock on every midweek game who have a far tighter schedule than me.

I don't think its overly unreasonable for idiots, as you call them, to expect to be able to buy something at the stadium that is (a) actually in stock as advertised and (b) properly heated upon purchase. But sadly, 4 years on, its still beyond BHAFC to be relied upon to provide either of these very basic requirements to their paying public.

You call it idiotic to expect that. I'd call it customer service. But maybe I'm just old fashioned.

Well said that's pretty much me and most people I know who go.

 

[bravohotelalpha]

South west corner - no Harvey's, no cider - just guiness on draft - which tasted like flavoured water - disgusting. Paul Barber really must sort this out for the same of the fans and the club.

 

[Marty___Mcfly]

This really could be resolved with some pretty simple measures. It's clear that no one involved, who is in a position to enact any change, cares.

The things that are wrong don't change. What also hasn't changed is that most of us still join the queues in an attempt to buy something, that queue is usually long, and that something is usually out of stock or disappointing.

Many of us have fed back our concerns / experiences (i.e. tried to be constructive), and over the years things have got worse not better.

I honestly think that the only action which we could take which would have an impact and potentially lead to improvements, is to stop joining the queues and stop trying to buy food and drink.

This would have an immediate impact- queues would be smaller, and more people would get what they are queuing for as there would less people buying. Those left in the queue would be the starving and the desperate.

In the longer term, substantially reduced income might inspire the catering company, or the club, to take these issues seriously and make some changes.

If in four years a huge amount of negative feedback and complaints has made little difference and in most cases things are now worse than they were when the Amex opened, it feels like time to try something different.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

None of this demands rocket science. It's always seemed to me (and I sit in the ESL) that the staff appear to have had the barest minimum of training, are unable to accept the fact that people want to be served quickly at half time and in general terms are merely there to pick up the cash.They find it hard to smile and I always have the clear impression that they aren't enjoying things...

I run a busy pub: It isn't difficult to plan stock control based on previous sales and the size of the crowd. All kegs of beer and lager are dated and stock can and should be rotated to ensure that it is available. Until you tap a keg that date is good to hold - and they are usually three of four weeks minimum away. Two things are going wrong: no-one is estimating sales based on each dispense point and there seems to be no effort to add stock if there's a sudden rush on one product - e.g Harveys. If sales are busy on one product surely to goodness someone could spot this and rush up another keg? Secondly, I suspect that stock is kept deliberately low (the recent break probably didn't help) which, of course, minimises the money tied up in it.

As to the complaints about quality, flat beer etc, I suspect that no-one bothers to actually clean the beer lines from the kegs to the dispense points each week. Any decent pub (mine included) does this on a weekly basis and if that line isn't going to be used for a while it's usually left filled with fresh cold water until required. Beer line cleaning really does improve taste and quality...

Yep, interesting to hear it from someone who does it for a living. I think the biggest challenge anyone would have is finding that volume of workers who are capable of working just 1-2 days a week (or less) and trained to a high enough level to a) give a shit and b) understand the difference between Fosters and Strongbow.

But that said, with good management, you could have a bunch of 10 year olds there. It doesn't seem difficult to me to ask these questions.

- How big is the crowd today?
- How many of each product did we sell last time there were that many people here?
- Did we run out?
- How many pints should we pre-pour to meet these demands as quickly as possible?

If Sodexo had gone to the David Burke school of statistical analysis, we'd know how much every single counter was turning over and the correlation between profit and the colour of the server's pants. It just seems like every week there's new people in charge who are still finding out how to best go about things.

 

[Return of the Rev]

So you're one of the arsewipes that holds up the queue for the rest of us!

Not really on the few times i attend now i don't bother with the catering side,whats the point of having something else to moan about.

 

[Baldseagull]

I was informed there were no special pies this evening, not that they had run out.

I was also told that they sell less pies at midweek games, which I find hard to believe as it's when I buy more. I guess someone does the stats, though.

My steak pie and pint of Harvey's was top notch. I did buy them pre 7pm, though. Also ESL, which seems to get less negative comments than most areas anyway.

They always sell less pies at midweek games, because they stock less, but then run out every time.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I can't understand why Paul Barber hasn't sorted this mess out with catering. After all it is a lucrative 'revenue stream'. It's not rocket science. Teach your staff how to use the till properly, remember that it's fast food and also get the staff to communicate. There should be a lead staff member shouting to others how much of what item is left, to prevent some girl running around trying to find a cheeseburger for 2 mins whilst the que gets bigger. Busy times should be prepared for. Every til should be card, contactless and cash. it's never going to be perfect but surely if can get a lot better.

Out of interest what is the range of products on the concourses these days? I heard they were trying some 'street food' nonsense..whatever this is. Maybe also trim the food and drink range down to something more manageable?

I will say again how totally baffled I am that after 4 years the club still have not worked this out. Barber must have industry contacts he can ring and ask how they do it?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Yep, interesting to hear it from someone who does it for a living. I think the biggest challenge anyone would have is finding that volume of workers who are capable of working just 1-2 days a week (or less) and trained to a high enough level to a) give a shit and b) understand the difference between Fosters and Strongbow.

But that said, with good management, you could have a bunch of 10 year olds there. It doesn't seem difficult to me to ask these questions.

- How big is the crowd today?
- How many of each product did we sell last time there were that many people here?
- Did we run out?
- How many pints should we pre-pour to meet these demands as quickly as possible?

If Sodexo had gone to the David Burke school of statistical analysis, we'd know how much every single counter was turning over and the correlation between profit and the colour of the server's pants. It just seems like every week there's new people in charge who are still finding out how to best go about things.

Hmmmm. Have the club missed a trick here? Should he have been given a sideways move into catering as opposed to the chop?

 

[Return of the Rev]

Recall the salty popcorn and apples offering at Denmark v England 1979 not going down well but the England fans response was a little more direct.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Basically Sodexo simply don't care. It's hard to blame the staff if they are not given adequate training. Whilst the hours are short I do not see why they cannot look to recruiting a team from the Universities for the whole season, providing much needed beer money for students who can can some cash at reasonably sociable hours not far from campus.

We are just another cog in their corporate wheel, if the rumour mill is to be believed Sodexo were not happy with having to persist with Harveys and Piglets and cannot wait to get in their own cheaper stock to be sold at an even bigger margin. However as we saw after giving Azure the boot the catering grass is rarely greener on the other side when large scale industry catering companies are involved. I can only see it improving with either an in-house team, or a smaller scale company with a greater customer service ethos.

That we still retain a genuine real ale and a guest, the catering offer at the Amex is still far superior to that offered elsewhere in the Championship, but the service levels have certainly decreased, and I hold Sodexo responsible for that, it is their job to deliver.

I'm not going to jump and down about catering at the Amex, I'll just spend less and take my money elsewhere.

 

[Gwylan]

I don't know if it's been made clear before but where does the catering money go? Do we pay Sodexo a management fee and all the profit go to the club? Or do Sodexo pay to be sole caterer and keep the money themselves? If it's the former, then it's really surprising that Barber hasn't stepped in. If it's the latter, then I don't understand why Sodexo are so lax about profit-making. It's baffling that no-one seems to want to fix it

 

[Machiavelli]

Out of interest what is the range of products on the concourses these days? I heard they were trying some 'street food' nonsense..whatever this is. Maybe also trim the food and drink range down to something more manageable?

I will say again how totally baffled I am that after 4 years the club still have not worked this out. Barber must have industry contacts he can ring and ask how they do it?

The range of products is very small. There are four pies. Which is why I was a little surprised to be knocked back on the first two I asked for the other night. Twice. They have Harveys, sometimes a guest beer, two lagers, a cider (and I'm not sure about this, a Guinness). There was no bitter in the north stand after the game.

 

[Return of the Rev]

i don't know if it's been made clear before but where does the catering money go? Do we pay sodexo a management fee and all the profit go to the club? Or do sodexo pay to be sole caterer and keep the money themselves? If it's the former, then it's really surprising that barber hasn't stepped in. If it's the latter, then i don't understand why sodexo are so lax about profit-making. It's baffling that no-one seems to want to fix it

percentage of sales,pretty much naff all hence the club can't be bothered!

 

[Gazwag]

And still idiots continue to moan,its not rocket science,eat before you get to the ground ffs

Now why hadn't I thought of that, must speak to Doc Brown to get me one of those special edition De Loren's then I might get that important 15-20 minutes extra time to do this before an evening game

 

[rauper]

A few mildly irate people in the Bupa lounge (yes, yes, I know) at half-time on Saturday and Tuesday, unable to get a beer at halftime before the 2nd half kicked off. I don't think anyone would mind a beer that had been sitting there for up to 5 mins if they pre-poured a hundred pints at each bar just before half-time... it's quite predictable that everyone will want a beer at half-time - take our money!! I'm not a bar managing expert but you could - for example - have two people pouring pints non-stop whilst two others take the orders/money as well. And maybe sell the pies at a separate counter as fetching them adds a minute or two to the purchasing process (per order). In the 5th year this stuff should be a slick operation by now really...

 

[Easy 10]

And maybe sell the pies at a separate counter as fetching them adds a minute or two to the purchasing process (per order). In the 5th year this stuff should be a slick operation by now really...

So if you fancy a pie AND a pint, you have to queue twice ? That'd go down a storm...

 

[rauper]

Well it already goes down pretty badly with the people behind the person buying both at the moment...

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I don't know if it's been made clear before but where does the catering money go? Do we pay Sodexo a management fee and all the profit go to the club? Or do Sodexo pay to be sole caterer and keep the money themselves? If it's the former, then it's really surprising that Barber hasn't stepped in. If it's the latter, then I don't understand why Sodexo are so lax about profit-making. It's baffling that no-one seems to want to fix it

Neither ( or both ).

Sodexo pay a fee to the club. Sodexo keep 100% of the profits up to a certain point, and then the club gets a cut of profit over this amount.

I think. Or has it changed ? We've had so many different caterers that it is hard to keep track.

Sodexo are the worst of the lot though.