Aramark, the 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 new Launch Test Kitchen is an industry-leading, forward-thinking 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 centered on food trends and customer feedback, Launch Test Kitchen is the latest innovation resulting from Aramark’s progressive guest experience research and culinary development. A real-life “test kitchen,” where everything from the menu to the equipment and overall aesthetic, can transform from event to event.
“Launch Test Kitchen is all about flexibility, variety, and customization,” says Carl Mittleman, president of Aramark’s sports and entertainment division. “Guest feedback has always played an important role in determining our menus. With Launch Test Kitchen, we’re able to quickly adapt food trends and introduce new items, or showcase local chefs, based on those trends, while making it a very interactive experience for the guest.”
Outfitted with versatile state-of-the-art food preparation equipment and digital signage and menuboards, 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.
Launch Test Kitchen-Cleveland offers a rotating selection of local restaurateurs and up-and-coming concepts from Cleveland’s flourishing food scene. The stand opened at the start of the 2015–16 season, with a menu from acclaimed Cleveland chef and owner of TownHall and Lago, Fabio Salerno. Beginning December 11, existing Aramark chef partner and executive chef/owner of Hodge’s, Chris Hodgson, will be featured at the stand.
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 that allows them to see chefs in action. 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.
