Food and beverage
Sorry to rehash but couldn't find the discussion on this. Having the FGR match tomorrow night reminded me of the last round v Northampton. Gave my lad some money for half time chocolate bars. Long queue so left lad there and went to the loo. On the way back past the counter I noted that they had just sold the last bars of chocolate. Is the club that skint that it couldn't afford to stock up on a very simple profit line? Midweek game during the school holidays, warm summer night will obviously attract a family audience so surely it was a "clear and obvious " thing to do. If the club really is that skint I will happily loan/purchase the chocolate bars and they can pay me back interest free when they've sold them. Can't be more than a couple of hundred pounds surely, unless of course I'm wildly off the mark?
Comments
Often run out of crisps at bar too/don't sell them at the ale bar. Maybe the club is concerned about the fans' waistlines.
Its a no school night, its a cheap game to go to, the club should be stocking up the chips fryer and getting ready to sell unhealthy snacks to all the young'uns.
I now take a flask to home games as I am sick and tired of the long ques in the Woodlands. I was at the Northampton game earlier what a joke that was queuing for a cup of coffee. Come on Wycombe wakey wakey.
Planning on staying clear of F&B at the ground tomorrow as it was a nightmare for the Northampton game. Massive queues and very little available. All topped off with a dubious level of customer service. Shame really.
All this is really sad for what should be an out and out winner from/for the club. I will follow up my letter to the club tomorrow and hope for a response. COYB!!!!
I did raise this here long before the Northampton match but the reaction by the chosen few was to personally have a go at me for daring to point out an obvious problem with the day to day operations of our club, I have shied away from raising it again despite absolutely zero change for the better this season.
It is not because the club can’t afford the stock.the club doesn’t have a food and beverage manager or anyone with any competency or experience overseeing kiosk and stadium operations at any level close to league 1 let alone league 2. We did advertise for one 2 years ago so we saw a need obviously.
In that other topic thread issues were going to be raised at the fans council to Mike Davies. How did that go? We’re tye complaints raised?There is a repetitive nature to these issues and complaints, and a repetitive outcome when continually raised - no change.
@marlowchair if you lie about people’s reactions to you on here (no one disagreed with you that the food and beverage options could be improved) why should they believe any of the rest of the stuff that you come out with?
@marlowchair, you are right, this is repetitive, it shouldn't be and nor should anyone have a go at you for raising problems which should not still be happening.
I missed the last Fans Council meeting but points like these have been raised and discussed before, and Michael has vowed to sort them out. In fact he said email him there and then on matchday if you have a problem and he will do his best to come over and address it immediately. If valid points are raised with him and still not sorted out then we need an explanation.
I can't go to the next meeting either but concerns can be emailed directly to the very approachable Council Chairman Tony Sutton ([email protected] - his address is freely available on the official site), and I would also copy in Michael ([email protected]). Both Tony and Michael are very keen to get feedback on these matters. One thing to note is that the club's food hygiene rating has gone up from 2 to 3 (Generally Satisfactory) following an inspection on 5 May.
Michael vowed to sort them out at a fan council meeting mid last season.
There's just a couple Chris. Don't let the truth get in your way.
"
I don't understand your question Peter.
Why is Marlow making stuff up to create disharmony?
No idea.
Quote ? ? ( -1 )
Another thread containing bitter guesswork @marlowchair .
Could you please either put up or shut up. "
@marlowchair I am sure that in real life you are a perfectly sound individual and you are undoubtedly in a position where you have observed close-up issues with the management of the club that you have concerns with.
I have no connection with the club and I have no wish to appear as an apologist for the board/members (and have a certain liking for the amateurish approach, for example ticketing policy for big games, that they do seem to show on occasions although I fully appreciate this can be detrimental to the financial and image of the club at times).
At a personal level however I found/find the tone of your posts on here difficult to warm to. This I think, certainly to me, got in the way of a lot of the points you appeared to be making and to an outsider it was (and to a certain degree still is) difficult to get the balance between what is a reasonable comment and what is just a whinge on the part of someone who feels aggrieved about something.
As an example (and apologies this is from memory), I think you were making the point that the poor quality/service of the food and drink was costing us thousands of pounds. But (I think) you presented this as a fact rather than as a possibility, and a few, myself included probably, took issue with this as it is unproven, whilst at the same time agreeing that the quality and service was (and still is) somewhat lacking (apart from the beer).
Apologies if its just me who struggles with the language and tone of your posts, but I do find them frustrating to read (and I know people in glass houses...., etc) and as a result anything relevant and important you may have to say gets lost in a quagmire of apparent bitterness (as I see it).
Sorry, this rant is actually meant constructively, but it would be nice (for me at least) if you lightened up a little, directed your points a little more clearly and lowered your hackles a little.
I believe the acronym is POTD @bookertease.
That's not an acronym
I am first to say I don't always get the point across the right away bookertease and appreciate your post and pointing it out. Fair point.
Never change Eric!
603 days ago (thanks twitter), Andrew Howard himself replied to a tweet of mine to say they were going to get the matchday catering sorted.
I now get my lunch at Oxford services as they have food and drink in stock and now rarely bother with a HT drink. While this won’t add up to £500k a year, I doubt I’m the only one and the mark up on hot drinks alone must be massive.
25 minute wait for grub in the Beechdean at H/T - kids after snickers and such like were disappointed as there were no bars of any description in sight. 3 people working in there looked like they’d shared a few sniffs of UHU - very sluggish. If they’d have pre poured a few more nuclear cups of tea/coffee things might have been a bit swifter - having said that it was nice to finish it off during the penalty shoot out.
Beechdean pre-match (around 7.15). No hot dogs (same as for Cobblers), no pies, only burgers (had one, OK, but very dry). So not a lot of choice - and usual slow service.
Pathetic effort in the Valley End tonight food wise. No pies AT ALL, no chocolate and unbelievable no TEA. This was at 7.20. What food there was served up by poor kids on minimum wage. Their excuse was there was a sudden rush of tickets sales that’s why there was no stock there. Does the club have a food and beverages manager...if so he or she should get a grip of this or leave. How much money must the club have lost tonight. NON LEAGUE catering.
It doesnt need a full time manager to nip down to Makro and buy a few boxes of Dairy Milk and some crisps. Also could easily have a secondary outlet selling quick to deal with items such as the above and bottles of drink. Or vending machines....petrol stations make fortunes from Costa machines.
It's not only costing revenue directly, it's also affecting the match day experience for many, especially those of us who travel.
@MBS That's an insult to many non-league clubs! I've had some pretty good food at a number of non-league clubs and I've always been able to get cups of tea there, unlike in the terrace yesterday. I've long accepted that the food and drink service at Adams Park is not good, but not having any cups of tea available is really poor.
It is easy to criticise from afar but surely hot water and tea bags cannot be beyond us!
As discussed with you last night, the solution may lie with "outsourcing" the F&B and charging a set fee for supplying the venue and clientele, if we don't have the resources or will?
I doubt it, Non-League catering is miles better. Often homemade pies or ones from a local butcher rather than shite out of the frozen cabinet at Booker. And better priced too
@EwanHoosaami I'm with you on this one.
I would assume that there are a number of catering operations in existence who make money during the summer by running mobile or pop-up food and drink outlets at festivals, fêtes, carnivals, etc. but find it rather more difficult to find opportunties to trade during autumn, winter and spring. They may be interested in paying a fee for the opportunity to serve a captive clientele at Adams Park, which could be a win-win for both the football club and fans.
just a quick google, It could be a good option.
Brentford http://www.leafcatering.com/about-us.html
Chelsea https://www.compasseventjobs.com/venue-directory/254949/chelsea-fc/
Coventry https://www.thecaterer.com/articles/530538/delaware-north-wins-20-year-deal-with-coventrys-ricoh-arena
Huddersfield https://www.thecaterer.com/articles/510044/kudos-scores-6m-john-smiths-stadium-catering-deal.
Most of the outsourcing I’ve seen in business is utter garbage. Take the hospitals and Sodexo catering - you wouldn’t let your dog eat some of that muck. Why would a football franchise be any better?
@kiscokid I agree that some outsourced catering is not good and must admit that the inclusion of Coventry in @Will_i_ams list did make me have second thoughts about my earlier post. My recollection is that the offering at Coventry is both nothing special and exorbitantly expensive.
I was thinking more along the lines of smaller, independent operators, possibly taking one or two of the kiosks each. The away end kiosk would be a less lucrative proposition for some matches, but fees could be set accordingly.
I recall occasions in the past when extra catering outlets have been situated in the car park and open for business before and after the match. I don't recall these being accessible during the match or at half-time. Given that there is now a precedent for opening the big gates to let people go for a smoke or visit the bars at half-time, it would seem similarly also to be possible to allow people access to additional catering options in the car park at half-time or even while the match is in progress.