Photo: Denis Poroy / Getty Images
The supply of food in Major League Baseball (MLB) stadiums has become a challenge for the three large companies that are in charge of supply food throughout the season.
The parks of this sport first faced the closures due to the covid pandemic-19, however, even with the openings, the problems became evident for the supplying companies.
Two of the three largest, Delaware North and Aramark, shared their strategy to maintain supply and avoid price escalation caused by supply chain problems and the highest inflation in recent times 40 years.
The challenge for the providers is not minor. According to figures from the MLB itself, the stadiums receive between 10,02 a 50,000 viewers during a season of 80 games or six months duration.
The companies sought a balance between:
– Satisfy the demand for food in MLB stadiums
– Avoid a price escalation for fans
– Generate earnings
Delaware North and Aramark explained that to maintain prices and generate profits opted for a predictive strategy, according to a report by USA Today.
“Nothing is cheap anymore . Look at gasoline. But what we want to do is once (fans) are there, they have something to enjoy, so they don’t spend a ton of money,” said Kevin Miller, vice president of food and beverage for Delaware North.
The pace that inflation has marked since the fall of last year put suppliers on alert of food from the MLB stadiums.
In September 2021, Delaware North identified the 19 basic items on their menu to deliver hot dogs and fries to MLB stadiums and sought to secure supply contractswith various suppliers.
“We developed a secondary and tertiary supplier. We had options to move to another product based on the contracts that the Purchasing department developed for us. We have been able to mitigate many problems”, Miller added.
In the case of Aramark, the strategy was similar to serve the nine baseball parks with whom you have contracts.
The prediction of purchases, based on the problems that experiences the supply chain and the diversification of suppliers, allowed the company to guarantee food supply and mitigate costs.
“We use detailed forecasts . We have ongoing and ongoing communications with providers, use backup providers from our extensive network, and make sure we that our operators are flexible and have planned menu options”, explained the company in a statement addressed to USA Today.
The challenges for companies they increase as the stadiums are recovering their fans, despite problems such as the bad weather that persists in regions of the United States.
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