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Food & Beverage: The Aramark Era begins
- Thread starter AT86
- Start date
siralgenon
TS Member
Does anyone know where is best to complain about this year's food offerings because on a serious note it really isn't good enough. I'm not normally one to complain and just shrug things off but when you can't really find anything edible in a "resort" then there's something going seriously wrong.
There’s certainly been a lot of comedy moments in this topic, and stuff that’s really made me laugh. But then you get to the posts about the prison food, and perhaps because the rest of the topic has been quite light hearted, the seriousness of it hits home.
I understand that these are criminals (aside from anyone who’s been wrongly convicted), and some of them may have committed heinous crimes. America is known for its harsh criminal justice system, from the death penalty to the number of people in each cell. However, it has to be said, that America also has very high crime rates. There isn’t any evidence to suggest that America’s harsh prisons lead to any greater deterrent, or lower re-offending rates.
To be making money out of food that looks like that, is in my opinion very poor. I’m glad that other people have criticised it. I’m hardly a communist, but there has to be a limit to how low you’re willing to stoop to make money. No decent business would be making money out of something like that, and any decent organisation would have concerns about partnering with a business like that.
From a moral point of view, there’s clearly a big difference between sticking Fanta vinyls around Oblivion’s drop, and making money off serving such low quality food to people who have no choice in the matter. There can be a lot of Merlin bashing, but this isn’t simply comparing them to Disney, this is asking what kind of business partners with a company like Aramark.
I understand that these are criminals (aside from anyone who’s been wrongly convicted), and some of them may have committed heinous crimes. America is known for its harsh criminal justice system, from the death penalty to the number of people in each cell. However, it has to be said, that America also has very high crime rates. There isn’t any evidence to suggest that America’s harsh prisons lead to any greater deterrent, or lower re-offending rates.
To be making money out of food that looks like that, is in my opinion very poor. I’m glad that other people have criticised it. I’m hardly a communist, but there has to be a limit to how low you’re willing to stoop to make money. No decent business would be making money out of something like that, and any decent organisation would have concerns about partnering with a business like that.
From a moral point of view, there’s clearly a big difference between sticking Fanta vinyls around Oblivion’s drop, and making money off serving such low quality food to people who have no choice in the matter. There can be a lot of Merlin bashing, but this isn’t simply comparing them to Disney, this is asking what kind of business partners with a company like Aramark.
Benzin
TS Member
That's capitalism.
People want more profit year on year. No matter what that means to the business quality on the customer side.
We're just money making machines to many.
Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
Feels like there's a bit of selective outrage here. Merlin, Disney, Six Flags & Universal have all partnered with governments and regimes who have done demonstrably awful things in order to get agreements to (co) build parks in various countries.
... and we're concerned that the company who is doing the F&B at Alton is providing slop to serial killers in Alabama ? Please.
... and we're concerned that the company who is doing the F&B at Alton is providing slop to serial killers in Alabama ? Please.
AT86
TS Member
[email protected]
You will of course most likely just get a copy and paste reply about how they strive to offer a fantastical food service, but it will get popped onto a spreadsheet somewhere tallying the number of complaints about F&B if nothing else.
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Benzin
TS Member
They're all awful. But given the current living situation and prices going up with quality going way down through the use of an external company is shocking.
Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
If it's as bad as is made out in this thread, volume, revenue and profit will diminish over time and things will change - if those things coupled with customer satisfaction are in the gutter, it's in no one's interest to keep the status quo.
I've had two Aramark meals (to my knowledge), both were fine and didn't feel excessively priced.
When you say they weren't expensive, it might be helpful if you could clarify whether these were in a theme park or a prison?
A friend of mine attended a conference at Towers a couple of weeks ago. They all drove off-site to dine elsewhere for Dinner. The price of the food was not an issue as none of them were paying. They had done their homework in advance and realised that Aramark would fail to deliver.
Just for balance, a friend of mine (who had never been to Alton Towers before) also went to a conference and said the food at RCR was great.
I was almost disappointed to tell you the truth, was expecting a tale of how crap it was...
BigShadowtinytree
TS Member
Must depend on who’s in charge of the microwave in the kitchen.
Asked for feedback on my recent visit to Alton Towers. Made a point of highlighting how awful the food and food selection was.
Also, heading home on bus on the last leg of my journey home from London, someone slating Aramark who have just taken over the food offerings at their army camp. Apparently its pretty awful.
Will anything be done to improve? I hope so but don’t have much faith.
I avoided Thorpe Parks Aramark offering on Sunday and even though a burger and chips which no one ordered was dumped on our table, nobody felt they wanted to brave eating it.
Also, heading home on bus on the last leg of my journey home from London, someone slating Aramark who have just taken over the food offerings at their army camp. Apparently its pretty awful.
Will anything be done to improve? I hope so but don’t have much faith.
I avoided Thorpe Parks Aramark offering on Sunday and even though a burger and chips which no one ordered was dumped on our table, nobody felt they wanted to brave eating it.
AT86
TS Member
On balance it seems Merlin are making more positive long term decisions for their parks at the expense of short term profits than they have for 10 years.
However food and beverage seems to be the glaring exception to this.