Thorpe Park in the UK provides a range of catering outlets,


including the Noodle Bar (Image courtesy Merlin Entertainments)


director. “Now we only have some in the UK – because it still remains important in this market. “We are selling escapism so one argument, from the


visitor’s point of view, could be them saying ‘You are selling me escapism, but once I’m inside it’s just like anywhere else/being at home – I am surrounded by familiar brands.’ Some people don’t want that. Alternatively, some guests are not very adventurous when it comes to food, particularly children, and are comforted by seeing brands that are familiar to them. “High Street F&B brands were introduced to the then


Tussauds sites in the mid 1990s – at a time when theme parks particularly were getting a lot of bad press re the quality and cost of food.. As we’ve got better and invested hugely in F&B we are gradually replacing these. We’ve taken out some KFCs, Café Neros and Pizza Huts for example. When we’ve been convinced we can do it better ourselves, we’ve done it ourselves – and increasingly we are creating our own F&B ‘brands’ which we are rolling out around our 78 attractions worldwide wherever we believe they are appropriate.” And what does Henderson feel are the advantages of in-


house operations? “You are in control of it compared to outsourced or


franchised units. A franchise has a responsibility to the brandmaster as well as ourselves, and so you have to be sure the brand can be flexible enough to be true to your attraction brand as well as their own. If something goes wrong it’s also often harder and slower to put right if it’s a franchised outlet. “On the upside, a franchise provides a consistency of


operation. We have ‘monster’ KFCs at Thorpe Park and Alton Towers, for example, which are run with military precision. Sometimes you don’t get that in your own sites. You also know what you are going to get with a brand. But that said the consistency of sales, profits and customer service are all getting much better, each year, at our own outlets.” But how much does the price of the end product influence the decision on whether or not to outsource F&B? Surely


Tantalising the tastebuds!


parks with their own operations have more control over price, which has to be an advantage? “In any contract we would do with a brand we’d


stipulate the pricing structure,” reveals Henderson. “We would compare local stores. They can’t ramp up the prices with us just because they have a captive market. “These things also need to fit with the respective brands.


At Thorpe Park (which is aimed more at the teen and young adults market) teens love a brand, while Alton Towers and Legoland are family parks so the guests are less interested in brands but want the escapism, so high street branded outlets are not so important. “We use a food mapping process to decide what F&B


we put where – what we have now and what we want to have. Ultimately, however, parks are a mirror of what’s on the high street in terms of the type of food which is most popular – burgers, Thai, sushi ... so you don’t want to be too far behind that.” But do park visitors not expect to see well-known F&B


brands in parks as a matter of course? “They want quality food served quickly,” notes


Henderson. “These aspects are more important. Food quality and choice, speed and service - if you can tick these boxes it’s more important than having a brand sign.” At Dreamworld and WhiteWater World on Australia’s


Gold Coast, food and beverage manager John Gaudin reveals that both venues’ F&B outlets are operated in house, while the product supply is a mixed combination of outsourced and in house. “We used to make most of our own food on site,” he


explains. “As the convenience food landscape has matured the value chain has changed significantly. In the past, full production kitchens were common and ‘home made’ was desirable over ‘bought in.’ There are now many very sophisticated companies that make contemporary food that is of superior quality and commercially viable to buy in. “Departments, divisions and outlets can operate as


silos and the customer moves through the silos as they experience all aspects of the park,” he continued. “Out


There are some spectacular settings


in which to dine at Ocean Park, Hong Kong (Image courtesy Ocean Park)


Dreamworld’s sister park WhiteWater World offers the Bite Me Café as one of its eateries (Image courtesy WhiteWater World)


Character dim sum at Hong Kong Disneyland –Toy Story Alien style! (Image courtesy Hong Kong Disneyland)


www.InterPark.co.uk 41


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