PANSTADIA NEWS & EVENTS
Sports Retail and Food Strategy
“Who ate all the couscous?” is a chant that should no longer be monitored. Is it delivering to its agreed criteria? This is not just a
required at stadia and entertainment venues in 2010. As the food revenue issue but from a customer’s point of view it is all about
offering in these facilities is initially architecturally driven, then lease quality and value. Don’t be afraid to mystery shop your food offers.
driven, to achieve an improved food offering a food plan must be The question is how often should the food plan be reviewed? An
created from the outset; or at least early enough to influence the annual check is a good idea; not only as an internal review, but a
architecture of the venue. The plan also needs to extend beyond food market review also. Check what is happening in the market as a whole
and include all other appropriate retail. and ask are our offers still relevant and what innovations should we
To originate a plan, venue managers and operators must start by be considering.
answering the following: ‘What is the venue use for?’ (i.e. is it sport- The food plan cannot be considered in isolation from the retail plan. If
specific or multi-use); ‘Who is the audience/s?’; and ‘How will the we parallel stadiums with shopping centres and airports, the food and
venue be used?’ retail mix and placement is carefully integrated to increase dwell time
The vast majority of venue operators recognise the financial benefits and increase spend. The same criteria apply to retail as to food,
of food and retail, and also the associated amenity benefits, but rarely however there are some factors that need consideration that are
execute the food plan well; this is because they are not retailers or utterly unique to stadia. Premier league football stores can process up
caterers. Contract catering in the work place has improved to 6,000 replica shirt sales in the 90 minutes before a match. Each shirt
dramatically in the last few years. Now it is the turn for international is selected, printed and paid for — 18,000 processes in an hour and a
sports venues to literally ‘up’ their food and retail game. half. This informs the architecture of the store, its position at the
venue and its non matchday use and appearance.CADA Design Group works hard with its food brand clients to deliver
on speed of service; with handheld food and product consistency for Nike have tried to extend product ranges in their stadia stores
market environments that have ‘peaky’ footfall. Many of these brands however the reality is that non-food retail is largely souvenirs, replica
are working exceptionally well (often under license), in venues such as products and memorabilia. This is partly due to the mindset of the
ExCel and The O2 Arena in London, UK. customer. Apart from amenity retail this is unlikely to change unless
the stadium is part of a larger leisure of mixed use development. If itThere should be no impediment to a suite of complimentary branded
is, it obviously fundamentally alters the food and retail plan. Theoffers being brought together in sports venues. To develop the detail
concept of pop ups for food has been mentioned, but it is worthbehind a sports food plan, a usage pattern is key. Crowd dynamics is
considering for retail. There is a current retailer appetite for low costalso a well developed tool, which can aid food placement and indeed
short term retail concepts. Could Top Shop and New Look bemeasure the effect that it has on crowd flow. One of the dilemmas for
persuaded to do a pop up for the aforementioned Beyoncé gig?food placement is that locations for peak use may not be the
Probably, if the deal is right.appropriate locations during ‘normal’ venue conditions. This is an
issue for consideration in the early planning stages. CADA’s earliest involvement in the stadia business was in the eighties
with the Superstadia consortium — a team set up in the wake of theIn the last few years huge leaps have been made in micro catering.
various disasters earlier in the decade to create the all-seater stadia weCADA Design Group’s work with Pret A Manger, Square Pie, and Bagel
take for granted today. Even then in the eighties we were advocatingFactory for example, has created catering footprints as small as 10sqm
crowd management through amenity planning — a topic that is still ascapable of delivering huge amounts of food very quickly. The good
pertinent today. If the food plan is developed early enough in thenews is that they are portable and relatively low cost. This means that
process it can have a beneficial contributing effect on crowd dynamics.the food plan can be scalable and avoid the stadium appearing ‘half
The food plan needs to be thought about as a three dimensionalshut’ during non-peak periods.
entity. It is scalable, flexible, always current, continually monitored,
Audience characteristics need to be considered too. The food demands delivering quality and value (and not just for the corporate
for a Beyoncé concert will be different to those for a Lakers game. hospitality). Such a food plan can then be articulated through a design
Rather than pushing a generic food offer onto the audience, consider process complimentary to the hard architecture with sufficient
product pull. Ask what do they want? Then give it to them. This can elasticity to take whatever future trends throw at it.
be done in a variety of ways through guest brands, sponsored special In 2008 Delaware North received an award for innovation and
appearances, or most simply working with the food team to tailor the excellence in their food offer at the Emirates Stadium. This should be
menu frameworks accordingly. Why does this rarely happen? Two the norm not an exception. There are a myriad of awards for
reasons: too much effort; and the fear of one-off costs. The truth is by excellence in food in all sectors yet it appears to be a token gesture in
responding to market pull, more food will be sold to more people. the stadia business. A pathfinder approach is required. From
Product and price hierarchy is the next topic. The easy win is to sell a Singapore to Brazil, 21st century stadia are being constructed. Do they
restricted, easy to prepare, high margin menu at the same price across have fully integrated food and retail plans?
the whole stadium. Economies of scale and simplicity make this Let’s hope that we can sit and watch the action without the
approach attractive. However, look to street food and particularly Portuguese or Chinese equivalent of “who ate all the pies” ringing in
Asian street food to see how much variety can be created from a few our ears!
simple ingredients. This leads on to food trends. What are people
eating and how much are they paying for it? This flexibility in
planning price and product will reap dividends. CADA Design Group is an international brand and retail design
Price hierarchy and margin contribution are a hot topic. If food deals consultancy, specialising in British design excellence with an international
are straight forward fixed price leases there are no incentives on outlook. The London-based studios provide strategic consulting, fresh
either side to drive trade. Nor are there incentives to pursue high thinking and creative design expertise to a national and international
margin products such as juices and smoothies. portfolio of clients including Nike, Harrods, Dean & Deluca, Delhi Airport,
Many brands have well articulated event solutions (pop ups is the new Cardiff Airport, Galeries Lafayette, Harvey Nichols and INTERSPORT.
vernacular) — certain champagne houses come to mind. Their CADA Design Group has over 60 years experience between the team and
presence is a win-win all round; customer benefit, brand profile and clients in 28 countries.
revenue. But these spaces need consideration in the food plan. They
need to be interruptive but not obstructive. For further information please contact Gavin Gooddy via email at:
A well considered and well executed food plan needs to be constantly gavin.gooddy@cada.co.uk or Tel: +44 (0)20 7234 9700.
WINTER 2009/10 P ANS TADIA 192
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