Catering at BDTBL - comments and suggestions invited

[Linz]

Compass have appointed a new General Manager to the SUFC contract and are inviting comments from the fans as to how the service can improve. As United take a share of all the profits, it's also within the club's best interests that as many people as possible buy from the catering outlets within the ground.

If you use the catering outlets, could you have a think about:

1) Any positives? - Quality, price, availability, service etc.

2) Any negatives? - Quality, price, availability, service etc.

3) In light of the above, why you use the outlets?

4) Any improvements on the service/product they currently offer?

5) Anything new they should think about offering?

If you don't use the outlets, could you say...

1) Why you don't use the catering facilities at the Lane?

2) What would entice you to start using them?

 

[Highbury_Blade]

Fulham FC do great hot dogs made with sausages sourced from reasonably local suppliers.

Having appetizing food would be a good start, perhaps a regularly crappy hot dog for those that want it, and a smaller, but more premium meat hot dog, for those whose tastebuds haven't been numbed by 10 pints of cheap lager.

Same with pies. I'd be willing to pay £3.50-£4 for a decent pie, not any of that pukka crap.

 

[davidpinder]

if carlsberg did hot dogs

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

The only reason people use it is for convenience, no-one (I'd guess) uses the facilities because of the quality and affordability. This isn't a criticism of United as such as just about every ground I've been to is the same.

Without wanting to go over-board, they need to improve on all fronts. Having 70/80% mark up on bottle drinks, charging £1.50-£2 for pouring hot water on a bovril cube, £2 plus for a dried out burger that was probably left over from last game etc etc. Running out of pies by 2.30, nothing ready for the half-time rush, having staff that can't work out 2 chip butties @£2.50 without looking round for the calculator.

A lot of people just accept things for what they are and a lot don't bother due to the prices etc but if we are serious about making money out of it then it has to improve drastically. I guess the club's hands will be tied to a certain extent as the catering company have their costs to recoup first.

 

[raul]

Can't you just use all the suggestions that went unacted on from one or all of the previous threads?

Not a pop at you Linz, but why will it be any different this time around?

 

[JohnDenver]

The only reason people use it is for convenience

I was thinking desperation.

But as HB says, if they did do some 'posh' stuff to cater for people who like edible food, I'd be all over it.

*burp*

 

[davidpinder]

having staff that can't work out 2 chip butties @£2.50 without looking round for the calculator.

Brilliant that brings back memories of the last 20+ years at the lane

 

[Wapping Blade]

The only reason people use it is for convenience.

Totally true and therefore the main problem IMHO in the South Stand is the queues at half time where it is the opposite of convenient as you can queue for the whole of HT and still not get served.

In an ideal world, some decent, local real ale and locally sourced food - I can dream!

 

[Highbury_Blade]

In an ideal world, some decent, local real ale and locally sourced food - I can dream!

I'd wager you stick a barrel of moonshine on the stand and it would be gone in 5 minutes as well.

 

[bricktop]

Compass are a big company who passion for retailing food and drink is solely profit driven. Hence that is why they only operate catering outlets where there is no other competition and they can employ people on crap wages, to produce shit food made from shit mass produced ingredients at sky high prices.

Sack them off, employ somebody within the club with experience of the catering trade and give them a brief to do something different, improve the food, improve the way it retails and profits, and customer satisfaction would go through the roof with the catering.

Compass operate catering outlets in football grounds, motorway service stations and operate school meals. That should tell you all you need to know.

 

[2ndtenorblade]

Would similar system to a theatre where you can pre order half time refreshments be workable?

 

[Grecian2000]

I treat the catering facilities at BDTBL as I do any other of these "hostage" situations.

If at all possible I avoid like the plague due to poor quality and high prices meaning ZERO vfm. If I am running late and need to get something then it is with great reluctance.

Reasonable quality at a reasonable price is acheivable BUT only if the company wants it to be. For now I will use the shops/outlets near the ground as they are much lighter on the pocket.

 

[Zlatan]

It would be nice if you could buy a bottled drink and actually keep the lid. Although it's not just United that take them off you.

That's the reason I stoped buying them anyway.

 

[Darren]

Compass are a big company who passion for retailing food and drink is solely profit driven. Hence that is why they only operate catering outlets where there is no other competition and they can employ people on crap wages, to produce shit food made from shit mass produced ingredients at sky high prices.

Sack them off, employ somebody within the club with experience of the catering trade and give them a brief to do something different, improve the food, improve the way it retails and profits, and customer satisfaction would go through the roof with the catering.

Compass operate catering outlets in football grounds, motorway service stations and operate school meals. That should tell you all you need to know.

I love the coporate bollockspeak on their web page. They don't just provide food you know, they "operate in key market sectors providing the widest portfolio of foodservice solutions in the world".

http://www.compass-group.co.uk/

Whoever thought of up the idea of making companies that provide basic services sound like they are saving the world by using twenty words when one will do, should be taken out and shot.

 

[Highbury_Blade]

Compass are a big company who passion for retailing food and drink is solely profit driven. Hence that is why they only operate catering outlets where there is no other competition and they can employ people on crap wages, to produce shit food made from shit mass produced ingredients at sky high prices.

Sack them off, employ somebody within the club with experience of the catering trade and give them a brief to do something different, improve the food, improve the way it retails and profits, and customer satisfaction would go through the roof with the catering.

Compass operate catering outlets in football grounds, motorway service stations and operate school meals. That should tell you all you need to know.

Compass do a variety of different grades of service. To say they can only produce shit food is well wide of the mark. If we get shit food, it's probably because we've never asked for anything different, or that we(ie; the club) are happy with the service we are receiving.

They sold off their motorway business years ago.

 

[bricktop]

Grecs, or anyone else for that matter.

Would you be a lot happier to spend £3 on a pie, that has been made earlier on that day, or the day before by a local supplier and been kept fresh in the interim and comes to warm, fresh and still tasty, or £2 on a Peter's Pie that has been made months before, spent all its lifetime deep frozen in a plastic wrapper and has been defrost and been cooked in a blast furnace, and comes to you dry, tasteless and hardly edible.

Would you rather pay £3 for a plastic bottle full of cheap mass produced bitter, or £3.50 for a pint of Pale Rider?

To be me it is no co-incidence that lower down the leagues you go, you find more and more clubs that keep the catering in house, source from local producers and serve up better quality and better value.

In response to Compass, and the club in general. I don't think the Compass Group are really bothered about quality, all their interest consists of is increasing the number of units sold.

Over the years i've been to many different football grounds, cricket matches, speedway matches, rugby games, concerts, and all sorts of different stuff, and the catering at Bramall Lane has been at the very bottom of that pile, and even more so over the last couple of years. It's not a case of what Compass can do, but what the club can do, and that is sack compass group off, and bring it in house, employ one man to take control of it all with the brief of improving the fare and just watch the profits and customer satisfaction soar.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Would similar system to a theatre where you can pre order half time refreshments be workable?

Don't start me on 'pre-order'

By 'convenience' I meant being there when there's no other options. Of course the inevitable queueing anytime after 2 o'clock makes it anything but.

For a quick trip down memory lane, how about the '£8 pie and a pint deal' at Wembley !

 

[Highbury_Blade]

I'd agree Brownie, and i'd much rather the food at the lane is locally sourced. But the fact is, we're in a contract with compass, which has presumably got a high break cost.

I would have thought that 'Sacking them off' isn't currently an option.

 

[Darren]

Isn't the problem that, historically, football fans will eat any old rubbish, hence a complete lack of incentive for Compass or whoever to improve quality.

What I have never understood is why supporters pay over the odds for food and drink inside the ground when there is no problem buying stuff from shops outside and bringing it in.

 

[Bert]

Unconnected Fact:

Bert was driving behind a van the other day, the van belonged to a company who cleaned sewers and inspected them with CCTV etc.

They proudly proclaimed that they were "Number 1 In The Number 2 Business"

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Isn't the problem that, historically, football fans will eat any old rubbish, hence a complete lack of incentive for Compass or whoever to improve quality.

What I have never understood is why supporters pay over the odds for food and drink inside the ground when there is no problem buying stuff from shops outside and bringing it in.

You sound like my missus, 'why are you going out to watch the footy when we've got sky' !

 

[Bert]

Would similar system to a theatre where you can pre order half time refreshments be workable?

Why can't people just "order" them?

Bert went into a coffee place last week and asked for a coffee, when the girl replied "Regular?"
Bert responded, "No, just the one" The girl was bemused.

 

[Tidzablade]

Locally sourced food and drink would be a dream compared to the mass produced plastic packaged stuff we get now. I would be more than happy to pay £3.50 - £4 for a good pint of real ale. Maybe the club could allow one of the current food service areas to run a real ale bar on a trial concession, I'm sure the results would be interesting!

 

[TheSwollengland]

Have staff who can take an order once and not a drink at a time ,have some beers pre pulled just before half time ,say that just need top up ,reduce prices to pub price ,have all staff serving rather than half stood around with there fingers up their pipes ,all now too late as there will be no quew to speak of for a while

 

[Darren]

You sound like my missus, 'why are you going out to watch the footy when we've got sky' !

Are you telling me that buying crap overpriced food is somehow part of the whole match day experience????

 

[bricktop]

Isn't the problem that, historically, football fans will eat any old rubbish, hence a complete lack of incentive for Compass or whoever to improve quality.

What I have never understood is why supporters pay over the odds for food and drink inside the ground when there is no problem buying stuff from shops outside and bringing it in.

To be honest there is plenty who buy stuff from outside the ground, if i'm hungry i'll either grab something before i go in, or get something after the match, and the only money that goes from my pocket over the counter of the refreshment kiosks at the Lane is my money for a half time beer.

Although getting rid of Compass group is easier said than done, it would improve things no end if the club employed someone to oversee the catering and drive up the quality and the revenues will increase with it. Over the last 25 years as a ground Bramall Lane has improved immensely but the catering has got worse by the same degree

 

[Robbie]

Would similar system to a theatre where you can pre order half time refreshments be workable?

The last time I went to the theatre, you pre-bought them and they left them on the side for people to collect with each relevant receipt underneath so you knew which was yours.... clearly that would be unworkable.

But pre-ordering drinks for half time I think is definitely workable. Having a seperate kiosk with all the pre-ordered ones, a decent number of staff and they just have the drinks available to go.
It's not like they have a big selection, so lines of drinks can easily be picked up and you know any waste (from people who haven't picked them up) have already been accounted for and is not actually waste in profit.

Alternatively, the old beer bottle sellers we used to get would be good to have back too. But actually ones that can speak English.

The food won't be improving down at the Lane, we accept that, no matter what complaints are made - as long as people keep buying, it will be the same standard.

As has been touched on, people buy from there because of convenience. I buy a pint at half time because it is the only place we can go.
Sort out the waiting times and the profits will increase.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Are you telling me that buying crap overpriced food is somehow part of the whole match day experience????

For a lot of people, yes.

You'd think there wouldn't be that many people desperate for an over-priced warm pint at half time but look at the queues and the amount that get sold. Speaking from experience (and this isn't limited to just football), you can pack all the butties you like for the journey to the game but as soon as you get in the ground, what do the kids want ?

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

I'm with Darren on this. It's always been crap quality and always been overpriced. The last few years have seen the quality go South and the price North, but people still buy it. Never understood why.

For me to even start buying the price would need to seriously drop and the quality improve at the same time. Having said that, BDTBL is no different to other grounds for the expensive crap on offer.

 

[FleaPitBlade]

So, Linz, you can tell Mr Compass that the official S24SU consensus is:

The queues are too long.
The prices are too high.
The food it shit.
The service is shit.
and the beer is shit.

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