Catering

[AjcW]

I am amazed that anyone eats or drinks inside the stadium, or indeed from the various stalls outside.

The food quality is appalling, the prices are way too high and the service is abysmal.

There is a food revolution quietly going on in this country - sadly it seems to be swerving football grounds.

This times many many thousands!!

 

Hopefully Liverpools example will be followed! The post above about those 9 pint poorers is good too, they have them at Cricket, not a queue in sight when I went to England New Zealand at Trent Bridge last year.

[Wymsey]

I'm normally in the Great Hall.

 

I find that there's too many staff there in all honesty.

 

Whilst most are required, some just stand there and don't do anything behind the bar - and not many in general areas cleaning up etc.

[Jimbo]

The standard of the service and how slow it is can't be ignored, it's what causes the majority of the issues.

 

If we can, stop pouring the contents of plastic bottles into plastic cups.  It's a pointless exercise.

 

Alcohol only queues, with bottle only bars.

 

Better staff training.

 

I've not bought any food in the ground for years so I don't know what the menu is like, but how simple is it?  Maybe a choice of 2/3 pies (Steak & Kidney, Chicken & Mushroom, Cheese & Potato Pastie) Burger - Plain or Cheese, Hotdog.  Ready salted crisps, Salt & Vinegar, Cheese & onion.  Twix, mars or snickers.  Coke, Diet Coke, Lemonade, Fizzy orange.  Surely anyone with functioning brain cells would be able to pick that up pretty quickly?

 

I did, however, purchase a beer from a kiosk before the Chelsea game.  I went straight to the ground from work so had no time to visit a watering hole beforehand.  It annoyed me a little that the till I was served at had no open bags of change.  So I paid with a note and waited while the young'un behind the till fumbled around, tearing open these bags (I've worked in plenty of pubs and restaurants before so I know they can be fiddly) before he could give me any change.

 

That's why staff training is key, and it would be down to the kiosk supervisor (if there is such a thing) to ensure that everyone is ready for service before it begins.  That includes the half time rush.

 

Those machines that pour 8 pints at a time are brilliant, but I can imagine don't come cheap.

 

A smile and at least a look of confidence from the staff goes a long way.

 

I, personally, don't expect too much from the standard of the food, it is what it is.  They'll always have hundreds, thousands even, of people to serve.  Food can't be cooked to order, it'll have to sit, prepared, under hot lights.  Bread will go hard, pies will go dry.

 

It just needs to be quicker and more efficient

[ramboacdc]

for the price they charge the quality is sub standard but i get that they are serving nearly 30k people a week and i aint expecting restaurant level quality. 

 

one thing i would say is if they offered something for kids that wasn't high in sugar or fat i would be grateful. My daughter is not a big meat eater but has no real "healthy" option to go for there. even the drinks offered are just fruit shoots or fizzy pop. I don't mind having limited options myself, im a grown man if i eat something i know is not the best for me i can diet/oversize but i wouldn't like my daughter to kind of link going the football to having all these foods that are bad for her and she end up getting hooked on them (like linking football to "oh i get sweets if i got there" kind of thing.) i know parental responsibility falls on me and i do ensure when i do have her she eats right and if i have her for Saturday games she has a healthier dinner but being a single parent to her and only seeing her alternative weekends it can be difficult and her mother is a swine for this kind of stuff.

 

 

basically asking for more healthier childrens options. 

[Thracian]

So we know the catering contract was dished out by mad mandy, and it is massively long term, I assume that means the buyout figure is that high even our money bags owners don't think it is worth terminating early. So i guess we are stuck with it.

 

However, this leads me to think 2 things, clearly they feel there is no real profit in the catering side of the company, I guess the previous owner thought the same else why sub contract it. 2nd why is it that football clubs are not seen as a viable option for main street business to want to set up a franchise? 

 

I know your sales period is limited, but take mcdonalds for an example, I use them as as used to work for both company and franchise, you have a relatively small set up fee to install the correct ovens, grills, fridges etc into the concourse set up as it exists now, you take 8 of the staff you are employing to work at town hall or clock tower branches, 4 tills, 4 kitchen staff, you fire out big mac meals for 2 hours before the game, you remain open during the 1st half and shut up just after half time if you wish, clean up and are back in the store in town by 6pm as the footfall increases after the game.

 

Yet we seem to be left with, well I have no idea where the current set up sources there food, but it is shocking, if I have to resort to it, it really is as I am running late and starving, the places outside the ground although not great must be at least 3 times better.

 

 

I know it has been noted this contract runs for a long time, but imagine if you managed to get, Mcd's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, whoever it maybe to all have kiosks inside the ground, the competition alone would drive up customer service.

 

No idea if anyone agrees, it just has to be better than what we have now.

 

 

Yuk! 

[Tommy G]

Hi Ian

 

Fillet Steak and Triple cooked Chips.

 

There won't be a bloody queue then!

 

Regards

[Langley]

Here's a radical idea.

 

Get the catering company managers to go to the ground. See what it's like and improve it. The standard is poor. Look at the queues. It's not rocket science.

[Bayfox]

Yuk! 

 

Not a fan then, I just picked some high street outlets, it could be anyone, but my point is competition within the stands would no doubt improve standards, having worked for both mcdonalds and a franchise, I know they care, clearly a hell of a lot more than whoever is meant to be in charge of this crap, they have clearly signed a very good deal to have such a long contract, must see it as very lucrative, and have now taken the money and run, let's be honest one double cheese burger now covers the minion serving it's wage for at least half an hour, so they must be making money hand over fist.

 

If the contract is that good and we can't buy it out, they why are they gonna care.

 

I picked that example as I know from working there, obviously they are audited and can be fined etc.

 

Clearly this practice is not inplace at LCFC, if it were I am sure our owners would have found a way to terminate the deal, as we can all see they caterers are not delivering.

[danny.]

I'm normally in the Great Hall.

 

I find that there's too many staff there in all honesty.

 

Whilst most are required, some just stand there and don't do anything behind the bar - and not many in general areas cleaning up etc.

 

In the Great Hall the bar is great - I have never waited more than about 30 seconds to get served, and they have a really good selection of beer - that you can have in an actual glass. The food is fine too.

 

It's night and day with the concourse which is overpriced, poor quality, food & drink, usually served by someone who is going SO slow I often think they must be taking the piss. I mean, they are SO slow it's like they are doing a 15 hour marathon shift and have to pace themselves because of exhaustion, and not needing to go really quick for just 15 minutes to get people served before it goes dead again.

[ian_marshall]

So we know the catering contract was dished out by mad mandy, and it is massively long term, I assume that means the buyout figure is that high even our money bags owners don't think it is worth terminating early. So i guess we are stuck with it.

However, this leads me to think 2 things, clearly they feel there is no real profit in the catering side of the company, I guess the previous owner thought the same else why sub contract it. 2nd why is it that football clubs are not seen as a viable option for main street business to want to set up a franchise?

I know your sales period is limited, but take mcdonalds for an example, I use them as as used to work for both company and franchise, you have a relatively small set up fee to install the correct ovens, grills, fridges etc into the concourse set up as it exists now, you take 8 of the staff you are employing to work at town hall or clock tower branches, 4 tills, 4 kitchen staff, you fire out big mac meals for 2 hours before the game, you remain open during the 1st half and shut up just after half time if you wish, clean up and are back in the store in town by 6pm as the footfall increases after the game.

Yet we seem to be left with, well I have no idea where the current set up sources there food, but it is shocking, if I have to resort to it, it really is as I am running late and starving, the places outside the ground although not great must be at least 3 times better.

I know it has been noted this contract runs for a long time, but imagine if you managed to get, Mcd's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, whoever it maybe to all have kiosks inside the ground, the competition alone would drive up customer service.

No idea if anyone agrees, it just has to be better than what we have now.

Problem is the opening hours, its just not a viable business for a chain particularly as most are franchises. Aside for a couple of hours on a Saturday and the odd mid week hours once every couple of months the rest of the time there is no trade so its just not feasible to expect a business to invest for such little return. Also factor in the summer months where there are no games and the opportunity even less attractive. Furthermore, bear in mind that most franchisees are targeted on maintaining certain revenue and volumes to retain their franchise licence, it just wouldn't work unfortunately.

[ian_marshall]

Hi Ian,

Given the feedback by the majority on here it seems that are some quite considerable issues that have failed to be addressed for some time.

Can you tell me please if the club audit the Catering company and/or do secret shopper survey's on them?

I ask as surely prior to contracting the catering supplier a tender must have been put out for the services of such a firm. I'd be interested to know what criteria was stipulated within the document (I.e. Ability to complete transactions within a designated period of time, quality of food, etc), and whether the current supplier is fulfilling all of the terms that were tendered? If not, then surely the club have the power to ask them to improve or if they refuse/fail to do so, award the contract to a different supplier.

[davieG]

Based on the feedback from Wymeswold they obviously don't  care too much about the average fan as if they can do it properly in the Great Hall it should at the least be comparable elsewhere.

[Bayfox]

Problem is the opening hours, its just not a viable business for a chain particularly as most are franchises. Aside for a couple of hours on a Saturday and the odd mid week hours once every couple of months the rest of the time there is no trade so its just not feasible to expect a business to invest for such little return. Also factor in the summer months where there are no games and the opportunity even less attractive. Furthermore, bear in mind that most franchisees are targeted on maintaining certain revenue and volumes to retain their franchise licence, it just wouldn't work unfortunately.

 

As I say i just picked it as an example, I know the potential for business is limited, but as you only have to have about £85k to franchise a full store, the set up costs, to install minimum equipment, for example, 2 toasters, 2 grills, 1 shake machine, 1 drinks machine, 2 fryers, would cost just a few thousand, in reality if you can serve people quick enough you would more than recover your start up costs with in a few weeks. I am not suggesting it is ideal, it just seems odd that it has never been tried.

 

I know when we did a promotion once on Melton Day, we served 800 chicken sandwiches in 1 hour, @ £2.50 there's 2k if you can cater for it, The cost to do it, less wages, £136, that's all it cost at the time, 17p each.

 

It certainly wouldn't be a full time chance, but like I say if your are running 2 stores in town and know 32k of your potential customers are at a sporting event, then you move a number of staff off site for a few hours.

 

As i say this is about what I know having worked for them, I would certainly be interested to know if it is something the club could look to, it could be a chinese, thai, whatever, just seems odd that we dished out such a long term contract for such a shit product.

[Wymsey]

In the Great Hall the bar is great - I have never waited more than about 30 seconds to get served, and they have a really good selection of beer - that you can have in an actual glass. The food is fine too.

 

It's night and day with the concourse which is overpriced, poor quality, food & drink, usually served by someone who is going SO slow I often think they must be taking the piss. I mean, they are SO slow it's like they are doing a 15 hour marathon shift and have to pace themselves because of exhaustion, and not needing to go really quick for just 15 minutes to get people served before it goes dead again.

That's true, though I thought many times the Singha beer tasted too watery and the cobs had too much salt-taste in it - though I might be moaning a little.

 

I've noticed that tables don't get thoroughly cleaned, and what you put on the table can stick a bit to it.  

[BoyJones]

I think that whilst we have to accept the fact that the prices will remain high and quality/choice reasonably low, the thing that has stopped me using the food bars over the last few years is the seemingly complete lack of urgency shown by the serving staff, when queues start forming.

They are slow getting the drinks out and slow with the money side. I realise with the money they are getting paid, basic minimum, you are not going to get Einstein's, but surely a bit of gumption / pride in the job should be a given. The recruitment / training process seems poor to me.

[Wymsey]

Based on the feedback from Wymeswold they obviously don't  care too much about the average fan as if they can do it properly in the Great Hall it should at the least be comparable elsewhere.

 

I'm expressing some negativity about the Great Hall standards, as I presume it's the 'highest quality' you can get around the ground - given the rather high cost of a matchday ticket in the West Stand compared to other areas.

 

The whole catering system needs a complete overhaul, along with the LCFC shop processes.

 

I'm stopping right here, don't want to clog the thread.

[oohaahmustafa]

Beer only queues, might give me time to have two smokes in the toilets.  

[SystonFox]

Beer only queues, might give me time to have two smokes in the toilets.

A couple of sniffs too

The food in the ground is way over priced and way below standard.... Why are people still purchasing?

#againstmodernfootball?

#againstmoderndayconcoursefoodvendors I say

[nlukka]

Not directly related to the catering itself but the £5 minimum spend to use contactless payment card is annoying - especially when you're just buying for one person. Given how long the queues are, and the ease of contactless payment versus cash handling, it seems like an easy one to fix. 

[danny.]

That's true, though I thought many times the Singha beer tasted too watery and the cobs had too much salt-taste in it - though I might be moaning a little.

 

I've noticed that tables don't get thoroughly cleaned, and what you put on the table can stick a bit to it.  

 

Well yea, I mean it's all relative, when I say a good selection it's not exactly Taps but they do a few beers on tap that you'd expect at a regular pub/bar - the Guiness is fine there. For a football stadium it's good though, certainly a million miles from the crap in the concourses.

 

Probably a bit hard to keep the tables as it's manic when busy.

[Bob666]

"Beer only" queues will help those not queuing for a beer & having to currently wait 10 mins for catering staff to slowly pour/collect 8 pints (I like a beer myself!)

 

Pies that don't remain so hot you can't eat them for 15 mins without burning your mouth

 

Hot dogs with rolls that are reasonably fresh & don't appear to be stale

 

Burgers that aren't described as "industrial waste" by my son 

 

Better process/more space to enable folks to 1) have milk sachets to pour into tea/coffee (there was no milk at 2.15AM near SK1/SK2 stand @ Bournemouth match - which then involves fight through crowd to next batch of milk near SK3); 2) room to actually pour in the milk & replace lid - would be easier if this could be done at the kiosk (as in the past) + avoids the staff only half placing the lid on the cup & risk of spillage before getting to the milk - I appreciate not biggest issue in the world & it would be easier drinking beer but not always practical with kids/driving!

 

Non fizzy soft drinks eg Oasis for fussy kids

 

Some vending machines would allow greater choice of snacks/soft drinks

 

I don't even bother now with half time refreshments as it means having to leave your seat at least 5 mins before half time whistle to guarantee that 1) you might get served before second half begins 2) there is still some food left.  In 2014/15 season, there would never be any hot dogs left by HT.  I'm not sure if caterer is losing out on any HT revenues because of this issue as the queues still seem long?

[Larry_LCFC]

I generally just think the prices are disgraceful for the low quality shite that is served up inside. Stopping you taking stuff in now, but exploiting you inside.

[Jay]

Let's be honest the catering at the ground is absolutely appalling, don't they charge 2.50 for a pack of haribo that are 79p in asda? 3.50 for a cheese and onion pasty that are about £1 in greggs.

The food is massively overpriced and of poor quality, you always expect to play a little more but the food and drinks are marked up by about 150-200% from what you can buy anywhere else.

[CheshireFox]

learn from Man City's fanzone, ok its still expensive but the food is 100 times better. if we had something like that for before kickoff there would be less queues in the concourse anyway. mind you that depends on outside space so is hopefully a thing for the near future.

as mentioned by others the staff need training properly, unless there is such a huge turnover of staff I dont believe that they can still be as bad as they are this far into the season but nothing changes.

get 1 person to take money at the till and have 1-2 others getting the stuff ordered, instead of 1 useless person fumbling about with the till, then wandering off to look for your pie, bringing that back, then wandering off again to get your beer. its not difficult to realise there are much more efficient ways of serving even if you cant expect to have top quality staff for the wage paid. its how to get the best out of what you've got with the staff i think and this may have to be processes.

bottle bars; as said above, if the bottles are plastic why cant we just have the beer in the bottle??

drinks only queues/whole kiosks.

reduce the choices down but increase the quality? if you only had 4 choices of nicer items, they would move quicker, and you wouldnt have the issue of dry bread and rock hard pies.

 

like said before by others, managers/supervisors need to take more note.

 

on the whole though the company providing the catering is completely shocking, i actually cant believe that as a club with such ambitions we are content to keep this contract in place for another 7 years!

[VLC86]

Hi Ian,

Thought I would provide a list of the issues I have encountered at the kiosk.

1) wrong food given, when this was addressed the person in question had no idea what to do when simply throwing the steak and kidney pie away and swapping for a chicken Balti. I am still receiving counceling for this violation of my human rights.

2) Man city when we were meant to have free beer, unbelievably I encountered the same charming lady. She laughed at me and to quote ' so they are giving them away outside and you are inside but can't go outside so you have missed out'. Would have been great if she again used her initiative and got us a beer token and we weren't the only ones.

I wish the kiosk staff were much more like the lovely gentleman when I went to Scunthorpe to celebrate the league 1 title, he kindly disappeared for 10 minutes leaving me to baby sit 4 pints and burgers never to return, such a gent!