Launch Test Kitchen Transforming F&B at Centers
Aramark, a leading food and beverage partner of professional sports teams and convention centers in North America, is giving guests the power to help decide what’s on its menus. Aramark’s Launch Test Kitchen is a new and exciting approach to dining at sports and entertainment venues that invites real-time feedback submissions from guests, and uses it to shape what’s offered on the menu.
Featuring a rotating menu based on trends and customer feedback, Launch Test Kitchen is a real-life “test kitchen,” where everything from the menu to the equipment and overall aesthetic can transform from event to event.
Hugh Sinnock, vice president of customer experience at the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, describes it as a “container box on wheels,” and says, “We can do Mexican, Asian, pizza, whatever. We can change the menu to match the event. It’s like having a food truck indoors.”
Outfitted with versatile state-of-the-art food preparation equipment, and digital signage and menu boards, Launch Test Kitchen’s flexibility and customization allow food and beverage concepts to be rotated throughout a sports season or for a particular period of time, very easily, as compared to an ordinary concept transition. Each location is equipped with a guest feedback component to determine which items resonate most with guests. Items with overwhelming popularity may be added to a venue’s permanent menu, while the core menu of the stand will constantly be refreshed with new ideas and items.
Currently installed in Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Las Vegas Convention Center, Launch Test Kitchen can be activated in a variety of ways, including concession stands at sports venues, pop-up, mobile restaurants at convention centers and more.
At the Las Vegas Convention Center, the concept appears as a fully functioning pop-up restaurant that can adjust its size, location and menu, based on show demands. Guests place their orders using kiosks and then watch as their food is prepared in an open kitchen. With the ability to be set up indoors or outdoors, Launch Test Kitchen-Las Vegas gives meeting planners and conference guests a one-of-a kind sit-down, or takeout, dining experience.
Aramark plans to roll out the Launch Test Kitchen brand at select locations across its sports and entertainment portfolio in the future. — CL
