Feeding frenzy

Stadium Australia may be up and running with time to iron out the glitches, but there's no such luck for gm2000, a joint venture between Sodexho Food and Management Services and catering specialist 2000 Reasons set up to provide large-scale hospitality in marquees to elite sponsors and to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

General manager Jonathan Tyler will be unable to get on to the site until mid-July, when building preparations such as drainage and power installations will be complete. Fixtures and fit-out could take as long as two months, cutting it fine before the opening of the games on 15 September. "It will be tight, with no margin for error," says Tyler. "So everything has to be highly planned on paper well in advance."

Gm2000 is Sodexho's third joint venture in Australia. To win the contract, it was obliged to seek an outside partner because Olympic organising committee Socog had indicated that, individually, neither Sodexho nor 2000 Reasons would win the contract. 2000 Reasons is a small company run by Norma Willis of Juste Nous Catering and David Grant from David Grant Special Events. Their expertise lies in having catered at three Olympic Games: the winter games in Nagano, Japan, in 1998 and the summer games in Atlanta in 1996 and Barcelona in 1992. But this was mainly providing small dinners for the IOC, without the large-scale logistics needed for Sydney.

Enter Sodexho, with its expertise of just such large-scale logistics, and gm2000 became a winning tender. "We would never have won this on our own," concedes Sodexho chief executive officer Jonathan Knight. "We needed specialist input into creating these kinds of menus. And 2000 Reasons needed our input on how to go large."

Biggest challenge

Logistics will be the biggest challenge facing the two parties. Entertaining will take place in two marquees made up of 24 individual suites, ranging in size from 300sq m to 1,000sq m. The marquees will be separated by a road, so the two sides will have to be operated independently.

The intensity of the operation - constant feeding over a period of 17 days, with 8,000 VIP guests per day and 15,000 on ceremony days, with suites open from 8am to midnight each day - has dictated the menu format.

The menus, which focus on Australian natural produce, have been designed around a fresh-cook approach that uses supplier-prepared, added-value products combined in and served from the kitchens attached to each suite.

This should allow for minimal waste, and flexibility in delivery which, because of the need to limit traffic around the Olympic complex, can take place only between midnight and 6am. There is also provision for refrigerated storage, allowing produce to be held on-site for as long as 48 hours in the event of having to close the surrounding area for security reasons.

It is expected that guest wave cycles will last approximately three to five days, allowing menus to be repeated each new cycle. "The aim is to give the impression of variation, but in fact this allows us to rationalise the range of offers," says Tyler.

Making money over a short time-frame is one of the biggest challenges facing gm2000. All food and beverage packages will be pre-sold and confirmed months in advance, to allow products to be purchased at competitive rates. Purchasing discounts negotiated through the buying power of Sodexho can be kept by gm2000, and a 10% turnover-related rent is paid to Socog. But, because of the necessity to return a profit over a short period, prices are likely to be high. For example, a bottle of wine costing Aus$15 (£6.22), which might receive a 100% mark-up in a restaurant, could cost Aus$45 (£18.60) at gm2000.

Finding staff to service the Olympic complex has put pressure on all contractors involved in the games. In the case of gm2000, about 650 staff will be needed in the form of chefs, waiters, stewards, distribution personnel and food safety officers.

Some will come from Sodexho Alliance worldwide, via a competition to reward achievement with the prize of working at the marquee during the games. But, to find the vast majority of staff, gm2000 has joined forces with an Australian hospitality training college in Adelaide, South Australia. Students who are chosen will work during the Olympics as part of their studies, receiving a minimum of Aus$17 (£7.05) an hour, a pay award set by Socog. Gm2000's menus will be incorporated into the college's curriculum and teams of staff will be dedicated to one suite during the games to help achieve consistency of service.