Catering for exhibition visitors - what would you expect?

[newbryford]

Please do not take my comments as what should be done - they were only meant as a personal view on the subject.

 

Your post was perfectly acceptable - it's personal views that I'm after.

My view is that catering should be there in some form. It's the various views that I'm after to try and form a general idea of what the majority would like to see (eat and drink!)

 

Cheers,

Mick

[lmsforever]

Leamington is very acceptable ,as is York last time went there my other half was with me and approved of the catering and I would think that hellped with enjoyment of show by non modeler.The big venues are places I do not purchase food ,poor quality ,high prices ,when I visitGlasgow I purchase my tea at an excellent baguette bar on the station its good value.As long I can get a decent cup of coffee when I need it thats it for me ..

[Jol Wilkinson]

The only time I will use a bar at an exhibition is if they have some decent ales available and I am not driving.

Not many venues stock real ale although a few years back Alexandra Palace used to have barrels on the bars!

 

Ian

 

Because keeping a decent cask conditioned beer (and i do not mean lager) requires a reasonable turnover to prevent excessive wastage. Hence it's unlikely you'll it at a exhibition vernue, they just don't enough sales volume.

 

I would prefer to see a good selection of well made fresh sandwiches, rolls and cakes, with decent tea and coffee. But then I don't regard lunch as the main meal of the day and aren't interested in hot meals. Often, I'll take a lunch or buy something on the way at a supermarket, rather than rely on what the show caterers may offer.

 

Jol

[Long Line]

 

Because keeping a decent cask conditioned beer (and i do not mean lager) requires a reasonable turnover to prevent excessive wastage. Hence it's unlikely you'll it at a exhibition vernue, they just don't enough sales volume.

 

I would prefer to see a good selection of well made fresh sandwiches, rolls and cakes, with decent tea and coffee. But then I don't regard lunch as the main meal of the day and aren't interested in hot meals. Often, I'll take a lunch or buy something on the way at a supermarket, rather than rely on what the show caterers may offer.

 

Jol

 

We had nine bottled 'proper' ales on at COMM-RAIL in 2011, plus around six canned and bottled lagers,ciders and cheaper beers, one quote had been that we should have named it comatose rail instead! (or perhaps that's what it secretly stands for?) We also have individual cakes, proper tea bags, decent coffee, full fat milk and fresh sandwiches. To do it right isn't rocket science or hard it just needs a realisation that its an important part of the experience and should be treated as such!-many unfortunately fail to see this!

 

Bottled decent beer is more than acceptable and often permits a greater variety than if buying less numbers of high volume barrels. It certainly works for us and putting my other hat on as a Trustee of said community centre , we have seen our fine bottled beer sales rise considerably over the past 12months.

Mark

[Jol Wilkinson]

 

We had nine bottled 'proper' ales on at COMM-RAIL in 2011, plus around six canned and bottled lagers,ciders and cheaper beers, one quote had been that we should have named it comatose rail instead! (or perhaps that's what it secretly stands for?) We also have individual cakes, proper tea bags, decent coffee, full fat milk and fresh sandwiches. To do it right isn't rocket science or hard it just needs a realisation that its an important part of the experience and should be treated as such!-many unfortunately fail to see this!

 

Bottled decent beer is more than acceptable and often permits a greater variety than if buying less numbers of high volume barrels. It certainly works for us and putting my other hat on as a Trustee of said community centre , we have seen our fine bottled beer sales rise considerably over the past 12months.

Mark

 

Mark,

 

it sounds like bottled "proper" beer is the answer. Would go well with a decent Cornish pasty or Ploughmans (as served in the George at Stamford).

 

How about a nice house wine (or two) by the glass?

 

Jol

[iL Dottore]

I'm afraid that I have never been impressed by the catering I've encountered at the various exhibitions. Someone mentioned ExpoEM at Bracknell, well I thought the physical layout was certainly good, the food decidely less so (but I am very critical about food, perhaps even more so than of my modelling....)

 

I'm in favour of decent sandwiches, but not the prepacked/ready made stuff containing industrial mystery meat/cheese stuffed in between two slices of damp polystyrene. You're paying for convenience, not quality ingredients

 

If you are self catering, I would suggest buying a load of good quality white and wholemeal rolls and settling on just two fillings - a good ham and a good cheese (possibly cheddar). Prep work (cutting the rolls to take a filling and slicing the fillings) can be done in advance and kept in the fridge until show time. Bread can be buttered just before the show starts and, depending upon how many rolls you think you'll sell, you should be done by the time the lunch area opens. With meat, cheese and bread pre-prepped, assembly (open roll, stick in slice of meat or cheese, [shredded ettuce and sliced tomato could also be done in advance and added], put on disposable plate and hand to customer) would be fast. Keep condiments (mustard, brown sauce, tomato ketchup, etc) out on a central table for people to help themselves and finish their sandwiches. I'd also have a fruitbasket selection (apples, oranges and bananas) so that people could have vitamin C as well. If cold, a big pot of homemade vegetable soup could be made in advance, reheated at the venue and served, drinks style, in cups.

 

As for drinks, loose leaf tea in big industrial teapots (a new one made every 20 minutes or as needed), soft drinks and perhaps a good bottled beer (if alcohol permitted). I'd avoid coffee unless you love Nescafé islands floating in luke-warm water or unless you have access to a proper "barrista" set up. But if you absolutely have to have coffee, then US style made in big pots and left to intensify on warmers. Fresh milk (whole and low fat), of course. Easy slicing homemade cakes without a cream based filling or topping (fruit cake or similar).

 

If you decide to get a local caterer, you'll need to work out [A] how many visitors you'll be having and approximately what percentage will eat (based on previous exhibitions). Assume a high percentage will drink something and work out a budget per head. A lot will depend upon who will take on the "risk" of the venue. If you as the organiser will do so, you pay the cater £X per head and trouser any profit, if the caterer does so, they trouser any profit.

 

It's all rather complicated....

[bbishop]

I agree with Il Dottore, BUT someone in attendance MUST have the relevant food hygiene certyificate.

 

Bill

[highpeak]

I generally take my own food along on day trips unless I am sure there will be something suitable. I am a vegetarian (not vegan) and I've come to the conclusion that little thought goes into providing choices that would be acceptable to those who don't eat meat. There are plenty of things that would be equally acceptable to the general population, but by and large the choices always come down to things I don't want to eat. Airlines are especially bad in that respect and the days when you could request a vegetarian choice are long gone.

That's a general comment, not aimed at exhibitions specifically, and made from a US perspective, the UK has always seemed in general a bit more veggie-friendly. When you are making those ham and cheese sandwiches, you could always skip the ham on some of them!

[Leander]

The only time I will use a bar at an exhibition is if they have some decent ales available and I am not driving.

Not many venues stock real ale although a few years back Alexandra Palace used to have barrels on the bar

 

I operated New Hey at Halifax last year and the Leisure Centre bar in which exhibitors' meals were served had two excellently kept cask conditioned beers from local micro-breweries.

[Ian Fisher]

Liverpool MRS as I understand it have done just that, making a great tie in with the Ship and Mytre Liverpool's premier real ale CAMRA winner year on year.

 

Next show in 2012 will see all who wish and are old enough the chance to sample some good beer with some good models.

 

Ian

 

 

Bar?..." BEER FESTIVAL" ....No! Would be a great idea

 

Regards, Nige...

[David Bigcheeseplant]

Even though I like a good beer, I never have been inclined to drink at an exhibition, and tend to avoid drinking during the day anyway, as long as there is tea, coffee or soft drink that’s fine.

 

As for show grub if the venue in the middle of nowhere I do expect to be able to get something to eat in the form of a decent sandwich at least, not too bothered regarding hot food as I normally eat at night, just need something to eat at lunch to fill a gap till dinner, being a veggie then cheese is fine.

 

David

[Fenman]

I also largely agree with Il Dottore.

 

I'd emphasise the importance of keeping it simple: for me, things usually go wrong when people try to get fancy and the catering suffers from what I think of as the "one too many ingredients" problem. You know, you're reading the sandwich filling and it's butter, ham, cheese, pickle, tomato (yay!), oh, and cucumber. Can't eat cucumber (or celery, or peppers... I'm an old man...), so the whole thing crashes.

 

Or people who provide fizzy mineral water (brilliant -- much better than all those horrid sickly sweet/chemical-y fizzy drinks like Coke or what have you), but choose brands "with a dash of strawberry flavour". What? So you've got a perfectly nice cold fizzy drink, but you add chemicals to it. Weird. And it has to be cold. If you can keep Coke cold, you can keep cans of fizzy water cold.

 

Can I also make a pitch for good quality ingredients? No-one's expecting haute cuisine, but I'd rather not eat ham that tastes of plastic and water or, even more sinister, of nothing at all.

 

Then again, most exhibitions seem to have low-quality catering with an emphasis on the cheapness, so I'm not actually expecting anything. But thanks for asking -- it's always nice to be asked.

 

Paul

[Phil Parker]

I'm a big fan of home made cakes at shows but to be honest, I rarely expect to eat much other than tea and a bun. Anything better is a bonus and if I'm travelling a distance, something I'll make use of.

 

Having been on the organising team in the past, I also appreciate just what a nightmare catering is. Frequently, the venue tells you who you will be using as part of the contract. You can change venues but then have to decide what is more important, good layout space or good catering. With the number of reasonably priced halls shrinking, that's a tough call.

 

One plea though: When you go to a show, your mother isn't with you. Please pick up your rubbish and put it in the bin after eating. The club members who have to do it otherwise don't really want to collect your half-chewed sandwich or damp hankie.

 

Phil