FOCUS ON JLV Pendolino to Pardubice Roger Williams gets a taste of some local dishes during a ride on the Czech Republic’s international railway
f you’re considering travelling to the Czech Republic from neighbouring or nearby countries, why not check out the international railway services that are now available – and in particular those which include the high standards of service being delivered by rail catering company, JLV.
I
“Giving customers the confidence that the food will be of a high quality will really encourage them to dine onboard”
On a recent trip to the beautiful city of Prague, I took the opportunity to travel on a Pendolino down to Pardubice returning on one of the more traditional trains. It was a real voyage of discovery with a mix of bistro restaurants and modern café bars serving a range of excellent regional and international menus and cuisines.
It is always such a delight to be able to sit in an onboard restaurant watching the world pass by whilst dining on local dishes freshly prepared on the train, but JLV has gone a step further by offering dishes recommended by famous Czech chefs. They even have large pictures of the chefs on the sides of the trains advertising the dishes!
This is a bold thing for the railway company to do as it gives customers the confidence that the food will be of a high quality and really encourages them to dine onboard. As far as I know, this is the first railway to do this and JLV is really leading the way in this respect. Other initiatives from the café bar include serving draught beer, great bean-to-cup coffee and ice cream! Both café bars I saw were customer friendly with open views of the chef
JLV uses innovative advertising to promote celebrity chef endorsement 90
www.onboardhospitality.com
JLV
A rail and station catering company based in Czech Republic providing both domestic traffic and international cross border services. Part of the International Rail Catering Group) they are well respected within their industry and operate a range of restaurants and cafes.
and clearly geared to entice the customer to buy food as well as a drink.
However, JLV’s secret weapon is not obvious to the customer, - it is that all its onboard catering services are individually franchised to the staff. The operations are generically branded, with the same uniforms, menus and pricing, but the staff are employed by the ‘train manager’ who is also responsible for sales and delivery of specific customer service standards.
JLV’s immensely experienced gm, Bohumir Barta, said: “We carefully monitor the performance of all our crews with the best ones being rewarded with responsibility for our premium services. Our customer satisfaction is high and new product
development is carried out directly with the customers on-board. We have special tasting evenings on busy trains which are very popular. That way we know for sure that the feedback is genuine and worthwhile” This last point seems to be an excellent way to make sure you really do get the right feedback on what the customer wants – worth thinking about for your onboard operation?
Roger Williams is business development director of Rail Gourmet and the current president of the International Rail Catering Group (IRCG), the global trade association for rail caterers.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124