Making the Case for Outsourcing Cedar Fair’s Food and Beverages

[Oldschool75]

**figured best to place here since it includes KI.

Interesting read

 

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/story/201710120034

 

 

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[BoddaH1994]

EXCELLENT opinion piece.

However, given the quality of employees across the board at this time, I find this very scary:

Cedar Fair’s outgoing CEO, Matt Ouimet,was recently quoted in an Ohio Chamber of Commerce article, saying, "Noticing that work and life skills have started to decline in the potential workforce, it has become more difficult to find and retain high-quality workers for the park."

 

 

[beastfan11]

After a handful of awful food related experiences this year, the only time I eat in the park is when there are food trucks.

I love this idea.

[King Ding Dong]

What this piece doesn't address is can CF still maintain the revenue and margins by using outside vendors.  I suspect not.  Investors are not going to be happy with say a 10% or so decline in profits.  

[CoastersRZ]

And the whole thing gets more complicated when you factor in the meal plans that Cedar Fair is selling.  How do these work, if at all, with these outside vendors.

You will likely see more options like the Coney Mall Skyline where there are ordering kiosks, which essentially eliminates the need for an employee or two.

Having handled staffing and scheduling for the Coney Island rides department for the last seven years, it seems maintaining full staffing in the shoulder seasons is more and more difficult.  Coney even implemented a bonus program to incentivize bringing in additional employees this fall.  But at Coney, we have remained short staffed.  I do not see this problem changing any time soon, either.  Especially when people can go out and start working at Target for $11 an hour (they have intentions of raising it to $15 an hour by 2020), it is hard to attract workers to a minimum wage job, that is only seasonal.

[gforce1994]

2 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

EXCELLENT opinion piece.

However, given the quality of employees across the board at this time, I find this very scary:

 

 

It’s true. People are using phones more and it’s killing social and problem solving abilities. I think outsourcing would allow industry pofessionals who do know how to do the food industry at a large level will cut down the lines that people have spent years complaining about.

[bjcolglazier]

I've never been at Kings Island when the food trucks are there---is there a 300% markup with the food trucks, or are the prices competitive to what you would actually see out on the street? I currently buy the dining plan---somewhat reluctantly---because the regular park prices for food are sickening and would otherwise ruin my day at the park.  I want the park to make their money, just wish there was a better way.

[King Ding Dong]

Outsourcing may or may not be the solution or even part of it.   However my experience with food trucks at Scouting events is they are not any faster at dealing with a large line than the typical short staffed CF food stand.  

[westcoaster]

take best practices of food at all Cedar Fair parks and keep food in house no to outsourcing

[malem]

30 minutes ago, bjcolglazier said:

I've never been at Kings Island when the food trucks are there---is there a 300% markup with the food trucks, or are the prices competitive to what you would actually see out on the street?

I haven't seen the same food trucks both inside and outside the park, but the prices at in-park food trucks seem pretty comparable to what you'd pay on the street.

While outsourcing food service entirely is very unlikely, expanded use of food trucks seems like a win for everyone. They're an easy source of revenue for the parks, and guests enjoy an expanded food selection with shorter lines. For those without dining plans or season pass discounts, they can be a much better value than park-operated locations.

By the way, I highly recommend the bourbon brownies from the Firehouse Grilling food truck, which as been at Cedar Point much of this season.

[Kenban]

It somewhat feels like fixing some of the food issues should be a series of corporate projects.  Which seeing the self order kiosks it seems like they are working on it but having used the kiosks several times I have no clue how hard they are trying.  The kiosks are a buggy mess.  Watching people try to use them seems like an exercise in futility, I have watched them just totally bug out into loops you cannot get out of, vastly try to overcharge, just stop working, etc.  When they work it's a huge help but it needs to be much more reliable.

An area I could see improvement is the lines at drink stands if they would stop using the registers to scan the cups and passes.  Have a company design a small stand with a barcode scanner and a screen.  Barcode scanner points towards the guest while the screen displays to the employee.  Guest scans their pass or cup and the screen states if it is valid or if they have to wait x minutes, last location used, time used, etc.  Only use the register to sell drinks or activate plans and the employee can have guests scan through even when another guest is buying a cup.

[Outdoor Man]

A long time ago I was in a conversation with what at the time was a former Paramount Park mid-manager (older than the typical Dippin' Dots exec but lower than a VP at the park level).  They weren't in F&B- but like most of us, had opinions.  His math was simple at best but made mention of the Festhaus kitchen area that regularly employed 10 disaffected employees doing the work of 5.  I don't remember the dollar amount- but instead of paying $10/hour for 10 people ($100/hour).  Have the same output of productivity by hiring 5, pay them $17/hour; pay the supervisor $10 more/hour, have expectations that they actually want to supervise... not make friends.   Then pocket the left over and apply to improvements.  The thought was that by hiring fewer people that may be older and care about their jobs- it would dramatically improve the guest experience.

His contention was that Paramount addressed Customer Service issues by throwing more staff at the problem.  the issue with that is that you dilute the pool... it's impossible to reach a "10" if you can only average out a bunch of 4's and 5's in your hiring.  Sweeten the pot a little, pay more, get better quality, and have expectations.  

[fryoj]

2 hours ago, King Ding Dong said:

Outsourcing may or may not be the solution or even part of it.   However my experience with food trucks at Scouting events is they are not any faster at dealing with a large line than the typical short staffed CF food stand.  

I went to a festival that had only food truck and the lines were horrible. The throughput of the trucks was the problem. A 30 minute wait was an average wait time and that was when the line was like 15-20 people deep. The problem typically is everything is made to order and they just don't have the capacity to deal with big crowds. 

[FoF96"]

If the plan is to outsource all of the food, it seems like the park is instead of trying to fix the issue, trying to get someone else to take the blame for it.  If, like they said, the potential workforce is mostly garbage (which I don’t disagree with) where do they think these outside companies will get their employees from? It seems like a way out so they can say “oh you had a bad experience with food? Unfortunately you will need to take that up with xyz corporate as we are not the owners/operators of your poor experience.” 

[goettablitz]

I think this is a fascinating idea.  The food truck festivals are always cool to see weather at KI or at some event in public.  I don't see why they could not just hire say a 3rd party to come in and run their own kitchens and food stands.  It would accomplish the same thing.  Regardless food service at KI is not the best.  Neither the friendliness of staff, the quality of the food, the time it takes to wait or the value for money spent.  I hope something is done to improve. 

There are thousands of other restaurants in the tri state that compete for the same work force to do essentially the same work yet most of them are pretty successful at the above mentioned issues.  Perhaps there is need for a systemic change at Cedar Fair / KI.  As mentioned above, a smaller number of highly motivated / better paid pool of employees maybe more successful than a large, poorly paid workforce.

There are parks out there that do execute good food and friendly service at a reasonable price such as Dollywood, Busch Gardens and Sea World.

I have always felt that a parks food can be as much as a draw as any ride or show.  When I go to Dollywood I look forward to the food, rides and shows.  It all goes hand in hand to provide a great guest experience.

[Creed Bratton]

8 hours ago, Kenban said:

It somewhat feels like fixing some of the food issues should be a series of corporate projects.  Which seeing the self order kiosks it seems like they are working on it but having used the kiosks several times I have no clue how hard they are trying.  The kiosks are a buggy mess.  Watching people try to use them seems like an exercise in futility, I have watched them just totally bug out into loops you cannot get out of, vastly try to overcharge, just stop working, etc.  When they work it's a huge help but it needs to be much more reliable.

An area I could see improvement is the lines at drink stands if they would stop using the registers to scan the cups and passes.  Have a company design a small stand with a barcode scanner and a screen.  Barcode scanner points towards the guest while the screen displays to the employee.  Guest scans their pass or cup and the screen states if it is valid or if they have to wait x minutes, last location used, time used, etc.  Only use the register to sell drinks or activate plans and the employee can have guests scan through even when another guest is buying a cup.

My issue with the Kiosks is if you have the unlimited drink plan, you still have to go to a register to get your drink. It's insane....walking into Coasters at Cedar Point, the associate standing there to help asks me to scan my pass, pick my meal and then asks if I want a drink. I then say that I have the drink plan...to which they say go to the cash register....I either have to wait in a line of cash payers for my drink, have to wait for someone to staff the register (or get their attention) while my food has already been brought to the counter for pick up. 

2 hours ago, FoF96" said:

If the plan is to outsource all of the food, it seems like the park is instead of trying to fix the issue, trying to get someone else to take the blame for it.  If, like they said, the potential workforce is mostly garbage (which I don’t disagree with) where do they think these outside companies will get their employees from? It seems like a way out so they can say “oh you had a bad experience with food? Unfortunately you will need to take that up with xyz corporate as we are not the owners/operators of your poor experience.” 

I would still think Outsourced companies would have some sort of management there as well..but I agree...I'd be afraid of the "well __ isn't a Cedar Fair owned food stand...you'll need to contact them for complaints." 

58 minutes ago, goettablitz said:

I think this is a fascinating idea.  The food truck festivals are always cool to see weather at KI or at some event in public.  I don't see why they could not just hire say a 3rd party to come in and run their own kitchens and food stands.  It would accomplish the same thing.  Regardless food service at KI is not the best.  Neither the friendliness of staff, the quality of the food, the time it takes to wait or the value for money spent.  I hope something is done to improve. 

There are thousands of other restaurants in the tri state that compete for the same work force to do essentially the same work yet most of them are pretty successful at the above mentioned issues.  Perhaps there is need for a systemic change at Cedar Fair / KI.  As mentioned above, a smaller number of highly motivated / better paid pool of employees maybe more successful than a large, poorly paid workforce.

There are parks out there that do execute good food and friendly service at a reasonable price such as Dollywood, Busch Gardens and Sea World.

I have always felt that a parks food can be as much as a draw as any ride or show.  When I go to Dollywood I look forward to the food, rides and shows.  It all goes hand in hand to provide a great guest experience.

I like food trucks...but at the same time...I dislike that I can't use my Dining Plan at them. The only thing I dislike about the Foodtrucks in the parks is that it clogs up midways....at one point at Cedar Point, they had like 12 or so Food trucks on the main midway by Cedar Downs and the Main Arcade...literally taking 1/2 of each side of the midway...which led to congestion. 

 

I partially think the unacceptable customer service aspect with food stands could improve with better working environments....how many of the stands are mainly outside? How many of them have keep the associates behind screens? How many of the stands have minimal room for associates to move? How many of the stands are complicated when it comes to taking orders and passing out orders (I'm looking at you Chick Fil-A).  I don't know...just some things I perceive. 

 

 

[Stoan]

9 hours ago, Outdoor Man said:

A long time ago I was in a conversation with what at the time was a former Paramount Park mid-manager (older than the typical Dippin' Dots exec but lower than a VP at the park level).  They weren't in F&B- but like most of us, had opinions.  His math was simple at best but made mention of the Festhaus kitchen area that regularly employed 10 disaffected employees doing the work of 5.  I don't remember the dollar amount- but instead of paying $10/hour for 10 people ($100/hour).  Have the same output of productivity by hiring 5, pay them $17/hour; pay the supervisor $10 more/hour, have expectations that they actually want to supervise... not make friends.   Then pocket the left over and apply to improvements.  The thought was that by hiring fewer people that may be older and care about their jobs- it would dramatically improve the guest experience.

His contention was that Paramount addressed Customer Service issues by throwing more staff at the problem.  the issue with that is that you dilute the pool... it's impossible to reach a "10" if you can only average out a bunch of 4's and 5's in your hiring.  Sweeten the pot a little, pay more, get better quality, and have expectations.  

Yeah, I sort of understand (barely) from a corporate point of view why they do this crap. Really though it is perplexing to me, how hard is it to understand that if you simply hire people there are actually interested in doing a job, and pay well to do it, they will try harder not to fudge it up. If you just pick up any Tom, Dick or Sally off the road and say "hey, are you interested in doing something for a nickle more than we are legally required to pay you?" Then shove them into a kitchen, they aren't going to try hard. If they fail and get fired then they just go to employer #1238012380 who will pay them the same legally mandated minimum to do something else.

If you take half that many people, and pay them twice as much, and let them know I have people waiting in the wings for you to fail because I am paying WAY better than anyone else will pay at your age, they may not hustle, but they will at least attempt to keep up.

Case in point, if you go to Skyline in Coney Mall and just watch the workers, they are staring at the screen trying to figure out what to make. It takes them over a minute to put an already cooked hot dog, on a pre-sliced bun, cover with pre-heated chili, and set on a tray. There are only three things, THREE things you can order at that place. Cheese Coney, 3-Way, Fries. It should not be difficult. When I worked at Wendy's I had to memorize a dozen different sandwiches, and if I was on drive-thru, I needed to maintain something around 20 simple sandwiches a minute to keep up. 

Too often does the bottom line over-shadow everything. Pay people enough money to actually care about their job, train them well enough to do that job, and encourage them to do well. Half of our actual complaints about the park is the crappy, crappy, CRAPPY food service. Slow, cold, and uncaring.

Anyways, rant over. But why would an outsourcing of food fix this problem? Because those people care about their business. They know they make more money if they try harder.

[King Ding Dong]

The fact that the kiosks can't handle a dinning plan and a drink plan in the same transaction is incredible.  I mean glaringly "I can't make this crap up" stupid.  

Obviously I don't have any official data but I suspect a if passholder ($100+) is willing to fork over the $100+ for a dinning plan they are almost certainly going to spend $30 for a drink plan as well.  Most people get a drink with food.   

[IndyGuy4KI]

10 hours ago, malem said:

I haven't seen the same food trucks both inside and outside the park, but the prices at in-park food trucks seem pretty comparable to what you'd pay on the street.

While outsourcing food service entirely is very unlikely, expanded use of food trucks seems like a win for everyone. They're an easy source of revenue for the parks, and guests enjoy an expanded food selection with shorter lines. For those without dining plans or season pass discounts, they can be a much better value than park-operated locations.

By the way, I highly recommend the bourbon brownies from the Firehouse Grilling food truck, which as been at Cedar Point much of this season.

I also enjoy my dining plan more for like you said, the in park places have shorter lines as well.

I do not want to see food and beverage outsourced. Because then you have vendors who have no personal interest in Kings Island. I could see very inconstant food handling and service. It is no longer KI's direct reputation on the line. I trust KI 100% for keeping me safe on their rides, I also want to trust KI's food service, not an outside vendor the same.

[BeeastFarmer]

2 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I also enjoy my dining plan more for like you said, the in park places have shorter lines as well.

I do not want to see food and beverage outsourced. Because then you have vendors who have no personal interest in Kings Island. I could see very inconstant food handling and service. It is no longer KI's direct reputation on the line. I trust KI 100% for keeping me safe on their rides, I also want to trust KI's food service, not an outside vendor the same.

However, Kings Island's reputation has taken a beating for food service for years.  We saw some positive changes this year, but this is typically something that the general public and enthusiasts agree on--food service is terrible at most times.  If done correctly, a corporate specialist like Aramark or Sodexo could take over the operations but the public would never know because it would appear to be the same food service as always--hopefully better speed of service.   But I would wonder if an outside vendor would have the same issue attracting talent.  But they seem to do well in schools, universities, hospitals and prisons.

[Creed Bratton]

I'd say absolutely not to Aramark and Sodexo.....they do well in those places...but because those really are the only choices.....I've worked for Sodexo and have had the quality of both....not great....not worth the $ spent on it.

[BeeastFarmer]

Aramark has recently taken over UK's campus food operations.  The contract was negotiated well.  They have added more facilities and opened national outlets like Steak N Shake.  They had to commit to buying xxx amount of "local" food per year, which they got raked over the coals about:  They considered Coca-Cola products "local food" because there is a bottling plant in Lexington.  That got fixed.  I've never eaten on the campus side because Morrison's runs the hospital side.  During the week, the food is great.  But weekends (when I work), selection is limited and staffing is terrible.  (Sound familiar?  LOL)  At both campus and hospital, there is no indication that food is outsourced.  Employees have university badges, but are paid and get benefits from the vendor.  They pay rent on the space, build new ones, sell the food and all the university does is collect the top 20%.

 

I'd be ok with a reputable vendor who specializes in food service.  But I think it would still be difficult to staff.

[King Ding Dong]

Not always but frequently food trucks are a family business and often immigrants where cultural norms are different and child labor laws are often skirted.  Operating out and about it is difficult for the the controlling agencies to enforce those laws.   Semi-permanent status in an operation like a CF park would invite increased scrutiny.  The last thing CF needs is headlines that is outsourcing its food services and promoting child labor.  

[Oldschool75]

I think what most are overlooking is being able to hire quality people. A lot of kids nowadays don’t want to work. And when they do, they don’t want to drive very far for a job. Another issue I think is the seasonal employee issue. I think CF needs to look into how Dollywood runs things since they will be open longer. This will bring in an older work force that will want to work there since it would be a full time position. Right now if you work the regular season you cannot work Haunt and Winterfest. With short staffing issues already, this will pose a problem having a supply of workers to cover all year. I feel CF needs to hire full timers and work at consolidating operations in areas like food with kiosks. This I believe may bring a better employee attitude for their job which should equal better performance and customer service.


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