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Food & Beverage: The Aramark Era begins

Matt N said:
The only thing I’ve just thought about that might explain why they’ve implemented the policy was; are the food items pre-made as opposed to Aramark making them to order like I thought they did?

If Aramark don’t make things to order, maybe they’re worried about leftover “residue” from an allergen leaking into someone’s food even if they take the allergen out. Some people’s allergies are severe enough that even the slightest trace of an allergen can set them off.

I’m not saying that makes it justifiable, but it would be a plausible reason for the policy’s implementation if Aramark pre-assembles the food rather than making it to order.

Although that wouldn’t explain why they’ve only just implemented the policy… and if the food is made to order, then I go back to struggling to see the reason for this policy.
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Sorry I'm a bit behind with the discussion @Matt N. I believe this was a temporary policy for a while after a serious glutening incident in December 2023 and for most of this year it's true that no allergen-free substitutes have been offered, specifically things like gluten free buns for burgers. I believe this is because the incident involved a mixup between a supposed allergen-free alternative and the standard meal. However my last trip to RCR suggested they are at least trialling procedures to enable allergen-free substitutes to be ordered, with a rigorous process for checking and confirming that the correct order has been ordered and delivered to the customer. I was able to order a vegan burger and the standard bun was indeed able to be substituted with a gluten-free alternative.

What I don't know is whether this is yet being rolled out anywhere else at AT or any other Merlin parks, but it does suggest that Aramark are exploring solutions and not simply refusing to cater for allergy sufferers on a permanent basis.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Generalising slightly (and channeling my inner @rob666, back in t'old days...), people are fussier/preferential/particular eaters now than they were even 10 or 20 years ago. The colloquialism and attitudes of "like it or lump it" are long behind us.
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In the good old days, when people rarely seemed to have allergies apart from peanuts and penicillin, and nobody could pronounce or spell coeliac, I used to eat fast food occasionally, and it was a regular treat for the kids I cared for...so I was in a burger joint virtually every week.
Then, nurse, get the screens...
The order screens came in, and I could no longer spot an available burger on the warming shelf, select that as a meal at the counter, pay in cash, and be out of the shop in less than two minutes.
Instead, there is now always a good few minutes wait to collect your order, and after a few impatient waits...I no longer eat fast food...apart from the occasional dodgy kebab...because it is no longer fast.
I think the government nudge unit set up the order screens, to make us eat less junk.
Especially in theme parks, fast food is no longer fast...
It is also very expensive for what you actually get, and the quality of produce generally, before and after cooking, is usually of a very low quality.
Posh picnic and express parking, for the last couple of decades, at parks, whenever possible.
Far better experience overall, at half the cost.
 
Are the temporary vans by Oblivion Aramark?
Have to say, this food was reasonably good last Friday when went as opposed to burger kitchen.
Downside is not enough tables. Fine for me and the wife but when the little cretins are in toe a table is a must.
 
Jb85 said:
Are the temporary vans by Oblivion Aramark?
Have to say, this food was reasonably good last Friday when went as opposed to burger kitchen.
Downside is not enough tables. Fine for me and the wife but when the little cretins are in toe a table is a must.
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The airstream vans with Oblivion theming? Yeh they’re Aramark
 
Jb85 said:
Why can’t they produce that standard all round ? Good food that was
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It all comes down to the almighty £.

Despite their deserved reputation at the lower end of the market they are perfectly able to provide food of high quality - it's all about how much you are willing to pay and what profit margins you want which is agreed with their customer, so Merlin can't plead ignorance as they will have agreed the contract and quality levels they want.
 
Generally, it feels like anything new they’ve introduced has been pretty well received (Gloomy Wood, these units by Oblivion), but they’ve absolutely butchered all the pre-existing stuff (Burger Kitchen and the like) both in quality and price.
 
Not even being able to opt to remove cheese from a cheeseburger is pretty terrible customer service, I’m struggling to think of a fast food outlet or restaurant in the ‘real world’ that won’t allow you to do this, it shouldn’t be that hard in practise. Even McDonald’s back when they pre made everything would do you a custom burger without pickles or what ever.

I can’t imagine the burgers come pre-packaged Rustlers style, i mean surely not? They should not be charging those prices if they are. They probably have to put the cheese on when constructing the burger so what’s the issue with just not adding it on sometimes? Is it a hygiene issue? Getting staff to wash their hands before dealing with an allergen order is too much work? If that’s the case then that’s worrying. What ever the reason this move speaks volumes about the mentality of Aramark in my opinion. They don’t have confidence in their staff to do best practise when it comes to allergens but can’t be bothered to invest the time and money to train them, they also don’t care enough about the customer experience to provide options that improve the customer experience and are considered the norm practically everywhere else.

It’s not great really is it, if you want a burger and can’t have/don’t like cheese then Aramarks answer to that is ‘tough luck’. Just the kind of service you want on what is supposed to be a ‘magical’ day out.
 
Sorry if this is an odd question, but if you didn't want the cheese in a cheeseburger, would you not just order a burger?
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Sorry if this is an odd question, but if you didn't want the cheese in a cheeseburger, would you not just order a burger?
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Some venues, as in the case of Burger Kitchen, only have cheeseburgers (for beef) on their menu and not standard burgers/hamburgers.

If you want to have just a beef burger at Burger Kitchen you're out of luck. Double Cheeseburger or Bacon Double Cheeseburger are your beef options.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Some venues, as in the case of Burger Kitchen, only have cheeseburgers (for beef) on their menu and not standard burgers/hamburgers.

If you want to have just a beef burger at Burger Kitchen you're out of luck. Double Cheeseburger or Bacon Double Cheeseburger are your beef options.
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Ok that's bad 😂

I never eat there anyway, total non starter for anyone with allergy requirements!
 
It’s probably they are worried about possible law suits - let’s be totally honest here, you are paying people peanuts to work in a high pressure fast food outlet. I doubt they can guarantee an item is 100% free of allergens in these environments. I believe not even McDonalds currently make this promise about their food.

The hotels and RCR are totally different however. These have proper kitchens with (apparently) chefs to make the food. I don’t see any reason why a hotel restaurant couldn’t make a meal to suit an allergy. Food establishments have come a long way recently in being supportive of those with an allergen.

My guess is also that food provided by Aramark is pre cooked and pre packaged. It just needs sticking in a microwave for 30 seconds and there we go, burger and chips!
 
GaryH said:
My guess is also that food provided by Aramark is pre cooked and pre packaged. It just needs sticking in a microwave for 30 seconds and there we go, burger and chips!
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The food isn't pre-cooked, or pre-packaged in the way you're describing. It's prepared and cooked on site, as I explained in an earlier post. They're following an older fast food delivery method, you batch cook your menu items and keep them in hold hold for the maximum amount of allowed time, or until they sell. An item gets sold, you cook another. You don't cook to order. This is the standard way in which most fast food restaurants used to operate, until the mass adoption of touch screen order points allowed for a kitchen reconfiguration and a "cook to order" model switch.

You can tell that cook/made to order isn't in operation in the quick service Aramark sites, because the wrapped food (in this instance burgers) comes with an allergen label required by "Natasha's Law". Food which is made to order doesn't require this label.

Aramark haven't provided the dedicated appropriate tools and work environments for safely and competently catering for allergens on their sites. That's the problem here.
GaryH said:
I don’t see any reason why a hotel restaurant couldn’t make a meal to suit an allergy. Food establishments have come a long way recently in being supportive of those with an allergen.
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The hotel restaurants are outsourced to Aramark. Staff in the restaurant have to serve/cook a pre-set menu designed, signed off and stipulated by Aramark.T he individual chefs and managers within the restaurant do not have the authority, or power, to go off the script which has been given to them.

If Aramark Head Office says that they can only serve cheeseburgers on the menu, and that guests aren't allowed to make alterations, that's it. The staff can't do anything about it, if they did it's a dismissal offence. If a staff member decided to make an alteration, at the request of a guest and against the policy of Aramark, and the guest experienced an allergen episode, Aramark would not have that staff member's back. Such a scenario would leave the staff member personally liable for any incident.

There's possibly an insurance issue here too. Whomever is providing the public liability cover for Aramark, may only be doing so under the provision that allergens aren't catered for by menu alterations (and substitutions), but by clearly separate and identified menu items only.
 
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You may be correct - but I would be surprised if *all* the food is cooked from scratch on site. The speed at which food comes out of the kitchen in Secret Garden restaurant for example, would suggest either they have a nuclear powered cooking system or it’s just a reheat job?
 
GaryH said:
You may be correct - but I would be surprised if *all* the food is cooked from scratch on site. The speed at which food comes out of the kitchen in Secret Garden restaurant for example, would suggest either they have a nuclear powered cooking system or it’s just a reheat job?
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Ah, my friend, clearly you've yet to encounter a Merrychef device! They're around 80% faster than conventional home cooking methods. You can cook a 16" pizza in 90 seconds.

Most of the menu for the Secret Garden isn't difficult to throw together quickly. What isn't deep fried is going into either a Merrychef or a Rational Cook Centre. You can get a cover out pretty quickly with enough staff.

Edit: Here's a video, enjoy the rabbit hole!

From: https://youtu.be/3Uba7Ep6eEI?si=oWGyi-W-1QotGMPC
 
Had the most delicious meal out today - everything from menu choice, menu presentation, food presentation and taste were faultless, reasonably priced, so can you imagine my shock when I looked at the receipt and saw at the bottom ‘provided by Aramark’. You wouldn’t believe it was the same company that serves up the slops at AT.

They’re clearly capable, and are under performing at Alton Towers for one reason or another - either Towers managed to agree a **** contract with them that gives Aramark far too much freedom to deliver poor service at premium prices, or they’re doing exactly what Towers wanted them to do… Either way it needs review.
 
Mick said:
They’re clearly capable, and are under performing at Alton Towers for one reason or another - either Towers managed to agree a **** contract with them that gives Aramark far too much freedom to deliver poor service at premium prices, or they’re doing exactly what Towers wanted them to do… Either way it needs review.
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I am curious, the recent food appears to be good (the new places) I wonder if they have new contracts just for those (if the previous contract covered the restaurants in the park, and named them it may require new contracts) and if so if these contracts are worded to give better quality.

I am also curious how the contracts work, I have heard a few things from towers is just renting the space and has little control to towers is do much more to do with the restaurants.
 
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