14.4 Food and Beverage Providing food and beverage service to competitors, companions, spectators, officials, volunteers, staff, and VIPs for 14 days at 60-plus venues was a significant undertaking. Some venues were well equipped for food service, others were very limited or had no capacity at all. The LGO agreed to use existing concession/catering services in venues that had them, and provided food and beverage vouchers to participants. Dominion Sport Service came in as a sponsor and an official supplier of catering services. They identified meal requirements and finalized menus and costs in both catered and non-catered venues. They incorporated sponsored products into the overall catering program. They designed and managed the distribution plan (staff, vehicles, warehouse packing and sorting, refrigeration and storage). Volunteer snacks and food for competitors at road events were pre-packaged. As part of their outfit, volunteers were given a World Masters Games water bottle. Bulk water was provided and volunteers could simply refill their water bottles. The Games saved the expense and effort of providing and distributing individual bottled water.
VOLUNTEER FOOD PLAN The Volunteer Food and Beverage Plan was designed to ensure that volunteers were well looked after during the Games.
There were a number of factors that created challenges for this event not typical at most others: • • • •
5500 volunteers spread out in 120 locations no refrigeration available, therefore daily supply was necessary potential sponsorship conflicts with supply of water and beverages costs
The WMG negotiated with the accommodation sites for the best rate for these meals. The unit also identified and located concessions in locations where there were enough competitors and public to support a commercial operation. Food served: • 4,000 post-event catering packs supplied to the eight road races, cycling events and open water swim. • 35,000 pre-packaged snacks were manufactured and distributed to volunteers. • 12,000 lunch boxes were provided at non-catered venues. • 2,000 dinners were supplied where the bun or sandwich was replaced by something more substantial like a noodle cup or pizza. • 11,000 meals were supplied by venues with a caterer or concession. Menu and prices were negotiated with these venues prior to the Games to give volunteers variety, by providing for menu board items within the volunteer budget. Most venues saw this as opportunity/guaranteed business and looked after the volunteers very well.
Edmonton 2005 World Masters Games — Final Report
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