Wednesdayite Catering Survey 2011
Last Updated on Sunday, 27 November 2011 14:09
FAN SURVEYFollowing requests from Wednesdayite members - and also some spirited discussion on popular fans' forum Owlstalk, we engaged with the club with the intention of discussing the matchday catering situation at Hillsborough - in particular the matchday kiosks in all three home stands. The club was happy to facilitate discussing the views of fans with their catering partners, and having spoken to representatives of both, we decided the best plan was to survey the fans to gauge their views. And now, the results are in!
Nearly six hundred Owls fans responded to our survey - so clearly this is a subject that arouses passions amongst Wednesdayites! You can read the full detail of the survey below, but here are the key points from the great response from fans:
- The percentage of respondants who use the matchday kiosks regularly has fallen from 87.7% last season to 53.5% this season, with over 80% saying that they use the kiosks less this campaign than last
- 70.7% of respondants feel that the matchday kiosks have got worse this season compared to 2.2% who feel that they have got better
- 91.6% felt that the price of products from the kiosks is either 'poor' or 'terrible', against only 1.4% who felt that the price was 'excellent' or 'good'
- 50.4% felt that the quality of products is either 'poor' or 'terrible', with 11.3% describing quality as 'good' or 'excellent', and 38.3% describing quality as 'average'.
- Beres' Pork Shop, fish'n'chips and the fast food vans around the ground were all used by over 40% of respondants, with over 30% bringing food from home.
- Nearly 50 times as many responses said that the value for money of alcohol inside the ground was 'poor' or 'terrible' than those who rated it 'good' or 'excellent' - 663 vs 14.
On the reasons for fans using the kiosks less, here were some of the common and most interesting responses:
- "Little or no vegetarian food"
- "Because I can buy a proper, freshly brewed cup of tea outside the ground for 60p"
- "Total lack of real ale"
- "My beer at the Scunthorpe game was poored from a can terribly, so the head was bigger than the beer. Worst beer I have had for over 10 years"
- "Poor quality staff that have no sense of basic mathematics"
- "Glad we kept the pork sandwiches"
- "Plastic wrapped pasties as opposed to a locally sourced Beres? Beres wins everytime"
And for general comments, these were some notable responses:
- "Why don't they pour, say 10 pints of bitter/lager at each kiosk just before half time? It would dramatically reduce waiting times - or better still - do like they do at some theaters and have it where you can order your drinks prior to the game starting - that way the drinks can be poured in advance so queuing time is massively reduced. I've been frustrated at missing the start of the second half due to gulping down my drink - and even then it wasn't fast enough."
- "The quality of food this season is extremely poor, to the point that i would question whether teh food that is being served is actually edible. i purchased a pie at the last home game which was not edible, even the bar staff were horrified, but had no clue what to do so i left it on the counter. i dont mind paying the price but i refuse to eat what is presently on offer."
- "If you look at nothing else take a look at Yankee stadium or Tropicana field in Tampa and then look at how close we can get, it might be a little more on price but the product looks after that (excluding beer)."
- "If as I suspect the results of the survey are negative then please do not use the excuse that prices/range/VFM are typical of other teams/sporting locations etc. I don't care about anywhere else."
- "Though it might be costly would it be possible to arm the catering staff with a proper till with a barcode scanner to quickly scan the price. the amount and change in quick succession. To have just a calculator to calculate prices is more time consuming and very unprofessional, the speed and quality at Ewood Park Blackburn was brilliantly done and put ours to shame. Plus the Bere's Pork Sandwiches were brilliant, I would use the catering service every game if they sold them in the ground again!"
- "With sensible pricing and better customer service there is a captive audience willing to spend. The perception is that the club aren't providing a service to its loyal fans, they are taking advantage of them. Can I suggest opening the bar & kiosk for an hour after the game for people to chat over the game and watch the results come in on the concourse? - adds to the community / club spirit."
- "Young staff could use some better customer service training, they don't know how to talk to customers sometimes."
- "I'm sure you will have seen similar comments both in this survey and on Owlstalk, but the service in the North Stand kiosks is shocking. It not unusual for three members of staff to be involved in getting a pie - one takes order, one gets pie and third takes money. If you order two or more items there has to be a calculator involved, and even then with three people and a calculator involved the total or amount of change calculated is invariably wrong. MacDonalds have tills with items on buttons for a reason. Give someone a till with a button that says PIE on it and you'll get shorter queues because service will be quicker and more accurate, less mistakes, etc."
- "I was always taught to concentrate on the positives, but there are hardly any with the current operation. I am sorry to say that: - 1. The prices are now far to high (you expect to pay a 'premium,' but the prices are beyond a joke); 2. The staff cannot perform simple arithmetic, often needing a calculator for £2 + £2! 3. Supplies are often not adequately stocked for bigger attendances Please just get back to basics, get the staff to try smiling and alos, would it be wiser to ask for a total order instead of fetching a pie, then saying 'anything else' and having to return for a sausage roll (time and motion). We're All Wednesday, Aren't We?!"
- "As far as possible products should be locally sourced. Suppliers should be asked to discount for the advertising provided. Tha way their name would go hand in hand with the quality provided."
- "We desperately need at least one kiosk open during the second half and after the match for refreshments (Kop) This would reduce your wastage by a significant volume, no need to reduce prices just open up 1 kiosk so fans can buy refreshments whilst in the ground. The sales window is small enough already, makes no sense at all to me why all kiosks are closed in the 2nd half and after the match when you could be selling products to fans as we leave the ground. Why can't we the fans buy food and drink for the full 90 minutes ? and on our way out of the ground ? It is an outrageously silly business model that currently exists. If I closed my shop every day (Half way through our trading hours I would soon go bust ! ) Well thats what our catering facilities are doing every home match!"
Following our making the survey results and comments available to the club and its catering partners, Wednesdayite Directors subsequently met with senior representatives from Lindleys and SWFC's Commercial supremo Andy Daykin. Following what was a good-natured and productive meeting, we received the following response from Lindleys:
We are keen to understand genuine fan complaints and we will obviously act where we can to rectify problems.
I must point out, however, that the results of your survey are not borne out in the sales figures we have recorded to date. Sales have continuously increased this season and all products have increased in volume; chocolate bars being the only exception.
During the session a number of issues were raised and I would personally like to address them:
1) Slow service: We will endeavour to speed up customer service by using the tills to make calculations and not calculators. Additionally, all kiosk employees will undergo a training session to brush up on customer service skills, including a refresher maths course.
2) Price increase of duo chocolate bars to £1.20: I have raised this issue and it will be addressed in our next annual tariff review meeting.
3) Beres Pies: The issue has been raised that this season’s pies are “not as good as last years”. The sales figures contradict this view and we have received no sustained complaints on the issue. Our new higher-quality pies, made from bespoke recipes, have been well received at other football stadiums and the new pie is 240g whereas last year’s was only 198g. I will arrange a blind tasting of the pies with a fan’s forum to gauge reactions.
4) Cost: The model I have demonstrated shows that Hillsborough sits in the middle tier of Lindley’s pricing strategy and that a high portion of profits is returned to the club. Purchasing a meal deal reduces the overall cost by 60p.
5) The possibility of Pot Noodles will be investigated once we have looked at previous sales trends.
Further to the above, we have striven to be more proactive – we have increased our food offering, offered more meal deals and have actively promoted the stadium. The previous management at SWFC were operating at a loss through a low pricing strategy.
Additionally, we are investigating the ways in which to develop the facilities behind the Kop to cope with demand. Aside from the kop development we have already kept a food kiosk open after half time on three stands; this will be monitored over the next few games. The beer units were opened at full time; again the progress of this strategy will be monitored.
The club also responded as follows:
During the meeting, Nigel Short pointed out two inadequacies which he believed could be addressed by the Club. Firstly, he pointed out that the barrier queuing system at the catering area mid-way up the Kop was being incorrectly used and secondly that the egress area from the toilets in the same area are being manned by stewards to ensure they turned in a correct direction to join the queue for catering hatches, when a simple barrier system would do the job at considerably less expense” These two matters will be taken up with Stadium Manager, John Rutherford.
Whilst we thank both Lindleys and the club for giving this important matter the attention that it deserves, welcome the actions that have been put in place to address concerns and believe that this process has been extremely valuable - not least in opening a channel of dialogue between the customer and the supplier that previously was not present - there is clearly a gap between the perception of many fans and the data that Lindleys have pointed to that shows that unit sales and sales value has increased this season compared to last.
Wednesdayite would urge fans to continue to provide their opinions and suggestions on this topic to the club (or to us - we will pass on all correspondance!) - and if you feel that the club and its catering suppliers are not meeting your needs, you of course have the right to vote with your wallet.
For more of the comments (over 300!) and the full breakdown of the results of the survey, please click here.
I suggest that Lindleys listen to the comments of fans. The standard of food is poor, staff abysmal (especially maths ability) and variety small.
Chips and a burger from tha vans outside the ground are far superior to what is provided inside the ground.
As the comment above says we are not interested in how we compare to other grounds but only in Hillsborough. Lindleys would do well to listen.
The response by the caterers "our stats do not support the perception of the supporters" seems totally inadequate. For example, supporters may buy the food and drink because they are hungry or thirsty and not because they support the theory that volumes indicate quality and VFM. It would seem appropriate that almost 600 fans (90+% of those who bothered to take the poll) have said they are not happy with the quality and prices. The caterers are hiding behind their figures and dismissing the fans polling results. If the caterers are really interested in its customers they would listen to them and take some action to satisfy them. I did not take the poll but having experienced the catering shortfalls for myself I totally agree with the findings of the poll. I have been in hospitality before and after the appointment of the present caterers and found the standard and quality to be vastly inferior to before the new appointment.
My message to the club and its caterers is: Ignore them at your peril.
