"I never thought hot dogs would be such a part of my life." Mary Ann Scott’s life as the foodservice manager at the St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis, Mo., is not unlike other outdoor and seasonal foodservice managers. Hot dogs are a staple of the tried and true concessions menu, and managers have found the basic menu still works best at their venues. While other venues constantly dabble with gourmet and upscale novelty and meal items, zoos, park districts, softball and baseball fields and outdoor special events call for lots of ice cream, hot dogs and hamburgers.
"We keep it simple, and we have to stick to basics and make sure we do them well," says Tim Savona, director of visitor services at The Columbus Zoo in Powell, Ohio.
A real profitmaker
Outdoor concessions have proven to be quite a niche market in the concession industry. As the quality and professionalism of outdoor foodservice have increased, so have the per caps. Both the St. Louis Zoo and Columbus Zoo reported outstanding food sales increases over the past few years, due in part to a customer education process. Patrons have been realizing that quality foodservice is an intricate part of the outdoor experience.
"We do a $4 million concession business for the zoo," says Scott. "Our [front-gate admission] increases every year, and we are trying to keep up with it."
Savona reports the Columbus Zoo was recently ranked in the top five of U.S. zoos for food and beverage per caps.
Along with increased food profits comes menu and venue expansion. The Columbus Zoo will unveil a 260-seat food court this summer, offering choices such as frozen yogurt, desserts and bakery items, cappuccino, pizza and submarine sandwiches. The City of Aiken’s recently completed five-field softball complex, Citizen’s Park, contains the city’s concessions headquarters. All of the city’s concession services and storage are based out of Citizen’s Park, serving activities ranging from softball tournaments and soccer games, to off-site events like horse-racing and Triple Crown road races.
According to Bill Wertz, concessions coordinator for the City of Aiken, the complex was recently rated as the best softball complex in South Carolina. With three softball world series coming in the summer of 1999, he plans to do big business.
"Our sports drinks and soft drinks are our real profitmakers and big sellers; hot dogs and hamburgers do well also," says Wertz.
Presentation and portability
With better facilities and equipment, Aiken’s concessions offerings have increased. With the opening of Citizen’s Park and its concessions facility with Plexiglas, air conditioning and a generator, chocolate and other perishables last longer. "The first couple of years without air conditioning we had to improvise and iron out the bugs, but now we can keep the products at a better temperature," says Wertz.
South Puget Sound Softball, Carl Riedel’s concessions business that contracts to Olympia, Wash.’s city and school districts, serves four facilities from mid-March to November. As with any smaller operation, budget limits new equipment acquisition, but Riedel is still able to offer such softball and football favorites as hot dogs, polish sausages, french fries, nachos and pizza. His equipment must be portable to service the softball fields in the summer and football facility in the fall, where the permanent facility allows him to retrieve product from the warehouse. Refrigeration is available at each location, so fountain drinks sell rapidly.
Amy Katz, manager of special events and concessions for Elmhurst Park District, Elmhurst, Ill., is trying a whole new spin on the portable concession stand. No longer content to sell food from tables or under temporary tents, Katz says the park district just purchased a portable gazebo, which can be used at the city’s soccer fields, baseball fields and movies and concerts in the park. The vinyl gazebo can be broken down into pieces, placed into carrying cases and transported in the park district’s truck. "We wanted to try something a little more sophisticated that looks attractive," says Katz. "We wanted to advertise ourselves better."
Zoos have the added challenge of creative presentation for not only permanent concession stands throughout the facility, but also portable carts and stands.
"The stands are themed to fit each section of the zoo," says Savona. "We try to use a lot of color with signage and then blend the stand into the building." This blending effect also applies at the St. Louis Zoo, according to Scott. "Our carts have facades that fit with the theme, like a jungle look with thatched roofs," says Scott. "We don’t want to have a retail look, and the zoo look is way cuter."
Staffing issues
As the economy booms and unemployment rates are at their lowest in years, finding help is increasingly difficult. Variety and flexibility seem to be the main attractions for foodservice workers at outdoor concession operations. At the St. Louis Zoo, Scott says she could increase sales if she had more help by staffing additional carts and stands. Instead, she focuses on the positive. "I see better service as the evolution of food service," says Scott. "We try to serve food fast, hot and with a smile."
While working at the zoo in the summer is a big draw for high school students, the time between spring break and summer is "tough to staff," she says.
Riedel at South Puget Sound Softball agrees: "It’s an industry problem—the economy is so good it’s bad. I can’t hire just anybody; I have to hire someone who’s trustworthy and it’s difficult to maintain a seasonal staff from year to year."
Linda Fiore, president of Tanque Verde Enterprises, Tucson, Az., operates a year-round outdoor swap meet, which features a full-service cafeteria and concession stands located around the grounds. Fiore says hiring and attracting foodservice workers isn’t a problem, but keeping them is. "We experience staff turnover at a high rate," says Fiore.
In Aiken, Wertz says he maintains a 12-person full-time staff, made up of adults and students, who are usually late high school or college, that rotates throughout the citywide events over their 10-month season.
Katz, on the other hand, says she has no problem finding staff, especially for the city pool in Elmhurst. "Kids like to work at the pool, and we go to the job fairs at the high schools to attract workers," says Katz. She says the concession staff is split into two groups, one staff at the pool, the other as a rotating special events staff.
Employee satisfaction rates have risen over 30 percent in the past three years at the Columbus Zoo, thanks to Savona’s creative staffing approach. By enabling workers to rotate working at the front gates, gift shops and foodservice facilities, as well as giving them the option to pick one department and become a core employee, workers are challenged and productive.
Not just counting cups
Traditional outdoor concessions inventory brings to mind counting cups and hauling around cash boxes to different locations. Even small operations seem to be taking a more sophisticated approach to inventory and cash management. At both the Columbus Zoo and St. Louis Zoo, a computerized point-of-sale system monitors sales at all the different locales throughout the park.
In St. Louis, each individual stand and cart’s sales are stored in their registers; the information is then downloaded onto a laptop computer. With no phone lines or modems available at each location in the park, the laptop acts as a roving sales and inventory information headquarters.
"We had to embrace the technology available because we can’t stay with cash boxes anymore," says Scott. "The computerized systems also alert us if the stands are in the right pathways, if we are staffing at the right times, and help us establish the right mixes."
The Columbus Zoo will be implementing a point-of-sale system for the 1999 summer season, which will help perpetuate the customer service and employee responsibility motto. "We try not to micro-manage too much, which would mean asking employees to accurately count cups after working hard all day," says Savona. By taking pressure off of the food service workers and "tracking food costs with the technology, we are treating the employees right and the guests well in turn."
Both Aiken and Elmhurst use trucks to move equipment and inventory from location to location, with storage of product at city buildings.
A gratifying job
There’s no doubt that basic food menus score big with patrons at outdoor concessions; there’s also no doubt that a career coordinating the service and sale of sno-cones in a zoo, pizza to soccer moms or popcorn during a softball series can be challenging and enjoyable.
"This job is fun; the people we deal with are appreciative of us being there and we get compliments all the time," says Riedel of South Puget Sound Softball. "It’s a very gratifying job."
Scott’s background in foodservice was always on the corporate side before coming to the St. Louis Zoo a few years ago—being at a zoo is quite a change for her. "You can’t beat wearing khakis, driving around in a golf cart and using a two-way radio at work," she laughs.