Power stations
Two different concepts united by a common theme: merchandising. For both Lucent Technologies in residential New Jersey and telecommunications company Sprint, in Middle America's Kansas City, an aggressive retail approach using bespoke merchandising is key to the success of the operation. Both are run by the USA's largest contract caterer, Aramark, and in both cases back of house space is kept to a minimum, with the majority of cooking and preparation carried out in front of the customer.
Circling the serveries
For Lucent Technologies, where there are 4,200 people on site, a radical rethink led to a new concept designed by Aramark's in-house design company, Design Solutions. "We used to have a more traditional staff-feeding operation, one which I would term scoop-and-pop, but it had been there for 40 years and was in desperate need of a face-lift," explains food service director Charles Merla. Some $14m (£8.75m) of investment by Lucent later, the result is a brand new restaurant which opened last December.
There are 11 serveries, known as stations, sited in a circle, each with a different food theme. These include simmer (soups and chilli); Asia (stir-fry and noodles); stuffed (a deli offering); sushi; home (comfort foods); and Mediterranean, where prebaked pizzas are finished off to order in wood-fired ovens. All stations are identified by icons which can be moved around to accommodate menu changes.
The order in which the customer approaches the stations is important. Desserts come first, in a bid to attract purchase at the start of the choice and not at the end, when they might be rejected. The home station, which serves traditional comfort food such as burgers, fries and meat loaf, is the furthest from the entrance - it currently commands 12% of sales. "People will always seek this out, so we can afford to site it at the back," says Merla.
In the middle of the circle the most innovative offerings are on display. These currently include high-quality Mexican food, and smoothies - bespoke blends of fresh fruit and yogurt with extra vitamins, if required.
Each station is run by two people, whose names are displayed above the counter to give an impression of accountability and accessibility to the customer. This system also leads to healthy competition between employees vying for a greater share of sales. Most employees are trained to run at least two stations, to ensure consistency of product even when the labour force might not be that consistent.
On all stations, stainless steel dominates, with the aim of giving a clean, modern feeling. Track lighting highlights food, and an example of each menu choice is displayed on large, often brightly coloured, dishes.
The new restaurant seems to have gone down well. Lunch participation has increased by 11%, with the average spend rising from $3.75 (£2.34) to $4.10 (£2.56).
To an extent, Merla has a captive audience - the difficulty of obtaining a space in the staff car park on the other side of the site, combined with there being not many other food offerings in the vicinity, helps ensure that the majority of people do not move. Even so, with kitchens on each floor and an extensive vending operation, there are temptations for staff to bring their own food and keep away from the restaurant, thus dictating a need to constantly change the offering. Merla concludes: "We've got to keep them interested."
Sprinting to the West
Three hours away by plane, and in the heartland of the USA, an area generally known for its cattle, is the headquarters of telecommunications company Sprint, which is in the process of relocating all 15,000 of its employees to an out-of-town site in a campus-style location consisting of 24 buildings.
So far, some 2,800 employees are already on site and most of the catering is up and running. As at Lucent, there are different stations in the restaurant, with the emphasis on theatre-style cooking. But this is Middle America, where meat eating is almost obligatory. Consequently, one innovation (yet to open) is a barbecue station, offering a range of meats along with five or six barbecue sauces. There are also plans for a toss-to-order salad bar with 10-12 choices of salad dressing.
Both Sprint and Lucent have a Java City, a coffee outlet from the USA's West Coast. Aramark buys the coffee and all the signage and offers different types of coffee, as well as soft drinks and snacks, high-street style, but at a lower cost. A 20oz cappuccino or latte, for example, costs $2.95 (£1.84) compared with $3.15 (£1.96) at Starbucks.
Aramark district manager Dana Shreeve, based at Sprint, concedes that the prices are high for an in-house operation but says that there has been no resistance to purchase. "As long as the quality is good, people are prepared to pay," she says.
There is a loyalty scheme attached to visits to Java City. The customer earns points based on different types of purchases, and is able to redeem these for Java City merchandise such as travel mugs, CDs and whole-bean coffee.
At Sprint, Aramark was involved from the start, with a key role in the design of the restaurants, once again through Design Solutions. The investment to fit out seven outlets - more than $20m (£12.5m) - came from the client, whereas the bill for providing the services of Design Solutions was footed by Aramark.
Sprint also operates a direct-dining programme, where the cost of food is deducted from the payroll, employees "paying" with their company ID cards. This encourages a higher spend - about $1 more than the average spend of $4.50 (£3.80) when cash is involved.
Staff feeding is subsidised now, but by 2002, when all employees are on site, the account will move to a profit-and-loss basis.
The latest innovation at Sprint is to offer "dinner to go". Flyers on the tables promote the scheme in upbeat language: "It's 5.15pm, you've had a day full of meetings and enough e-mail correspondence to fill a book. As you attempt to shift gears to your other life, you cringe at the dreaded question you're sure to hear at home: ‘What's for dinner?' Aramark has the solution! The Market Place Café will be open until 5.30pm to offer you Dining Solutions, a brand new home-meal replacement programme. Dining Solutions will feature a variety of salads, entrées, pastas, and kids' meals, all on display at the café and packaged for serving at home."
What next? Supermarkets in the car park? Don't bet against it.
