Meet the Caterers

Present from the caterers were Stephen Freeman himself, who runs the firm, and his son John who is in charge of the catering at Quins, and present at virtually every match day (despite being a Gloucester supporter!).

We met in the Debenture lounge and spent about 30 minutes in round table discussion, followed by a tour of some of the wagons. Our conversation was positive, constructive and everyone present was delighted to be involved in the sharing of information and ideas.  In particular the Freemans listened carefully to all the comments, were frank and interesting on some of the economics of catering, were receptive to all opinions, and even had a member of staff with them to take notes.

What did we learn? Let's start with some background and random facts. Our caterers are Stephen Freeman Caterers who are an experienced and established catering company covering a large number of sporting events - details of some are on their website.  They took over the catering last season, so this is their second in place.

Each match day the caterers - about 150 staff -  serve around 3000 people, with burgers, hot dogs, baguettes, sandwiches, pasties, carvery and doughnuts being the main lines (I bet I  forgot some) with the vast majority of this served in three small windows of time: 40 mins before kick off, half time, and 10-15 minutes afterwards..

Both the club and the caterers are generally pleased with the performance so far. Of course there are sometimes hitches (power failure at the Worcester game being the largest crisis this season) but the average spend at Quins is good, being at the top end for Rugby or Football matches, the hygiene, safety, quality and even VAT inspections have passed without hitch, and this season Tony has received just two letters of complaint

We talked first about the general sort of event that is Quins, and the sort of food that is appropriate. I think we all were in agreement: it needs to be fast, to be of decent and consistent quality, can be easily held in one hand, with a drink in the other. We're talking chip-shop rather than oyster bar, and we thought that - in general - the catering was pitched correctly.

Then we turned to specific topics, raised by the panel. In summary

• quality of food - especially consistency. A couple of people described some purchases that hadn't been satisfactory. What quickly emerged was the importance of complaining! Freemans operate a policy that every customer complaining is always offered either a money back, or a replacement, and the number of returns is closely monitored. Each wagon also has a supervisor and - of course - John himself is onsite. They take complaints - and all feedback seriously.
• prices and portion sizes: Many of the products - we felt - are too large and too expensive, especially for children. For a family of three kids, three enormous pork baguettes for £14 is too expensive, and they don't eat them.  The Freemans agreed and next season they are considering a 'happy meal' type offering, to be sold in the new family area behind the South Stand with - something like - small burger/hotdog, small chips, small drink at an appropriate price. This sounds good.
• choice of food - this was an interesting discussion as we went through some of the ideas of our own, and from the board. For instance did you know that the profit margin on Baked Potatoes (the most common suggestion by far) is much  greater than on burgers, and that consequently Freemans would fall over themselves to sell potatoes all day?  In fact they've offered them several times at the Stoop but they've never sold well. (Perhaps because they fail the 'eat in one hand with a drink in the other' test?) Similarly Fish and Chips was tried but turned over hardly any fish.
• we spoke about vegetarian food, and suggestions were welcomed - with Samosas being the top idea, and previously untested at the Stoop. Expect to see them - and hopefully Spring Rolls - in coming weeks
• we then talked a bit about the marketing of products. It was widely felt that perhaps people didn't know what was on offer (and it's true: many of the suggestions we have on CAW were for products that are - in fact-  already available)   The best idea we had was to produce some plans of the ground, showing where the wagons are, and what food is in each.  These could be at the entrances,  displayed on the food-wagons, right here on CAW, on the official website and perhaps even in the match-day the programme. These was welcomed as a good idea and hope we'll see them. Tony undertook to work on this. and I told the Freemans that we'd also be more than happy for them to provide news about new products etc here on CAW. The particular upside I am hoping from this idea is that it will enable new products to be tried and - hopefully - to quickly sell enough to establish themselves as permanent offerings.

Overall everyone agreed it was a positive and worthwhile meeting, and something that all agreed could be and should be a regular event - perhaps two or three times a season, and Tony undertook to take this forward. I'd like to thanks everyone involved, both Tony and Freemans - and also the punters on the panel.

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OK, one last thing I want to bring up for discussion here - If a Catering Forum is to be established, as Tony intends - how should we fans organise it?  How should views be gathered, and who should represent  the fans at the meetings?    For instance, should we elect a Come All Within Catering Committee to represent us perhaps? Or perhaps you think it's something that - say - Quinssa could take on (oohh... as Ben Elton used to say.. a bit of politics!)

In my view that's the obvious option - catering is a straightforward, and normal issue for a Supporters' Association to get involved with, and I hope that perhaps Quinssa will take a lead. Indeed, I attempted to get the Committee involved for this meeting, but they were unwilling, and told me their view: that this isn't of much interest  to their members.

Now, speaking as a Quinssa member, I don't think this is the case. I think it's an area where the organisation of Quinssa could add a lot of value - do you agree? If you are also a member of Quinssa, and have a view, why not drop an email to chairman@quinssa.org.uk to tell him.

Otherwise the Come All Within Catering Committee is on it's way...  If you have a view about that prospect then, of course, you'll know how to express it.