FOOD & BERVERAGE SERVICE OPPERATIONS PLAN

Lori Brick – Coordinator, Participant & Support Services

Outline

Section 1: Introduction and overview of food and beverage service functions

A. Purpose

B. Goals and objective

C. Overview of services and responsibilities

D. Legacy

Section 2: Schedules and timelines

A. Pre-game schedule for village venues

  1. F&B meetings
  2. F&B leaders for village venues
  3. Nutritional Development
  4. Village venue F&B Manual
  5. Village Venue Meal tickets
  1. Pre-games schedule for box lunch program
  1. Box lunch procurement schedule
  2. Box lunch program volunteer meeting and obligations
  3. Competition venue food service manual
  4. Emergency meal plan
  1. Pre-games schedule for ice, coffee, cold beverage and light refreshment support
  1. Ice
  2. Coffee
  3. Coke products
  4. Milk and Juice
  5. Light refreshments and lounge areas
  6. Order form for F&B needs
  1. Games time schedule dining halls
  1. Food service start dates
  2. Departure dates
  3. Early arrivals
  4. Hours of food service
  5. Food service end dates
  1. Games time schedule for box lunches and lounge areas
  1. Start date
  2. Number of meals
  3. Supply of F&B at each lounge
  4. End date

Section 3: Special Concerns and Considerations

  1. Dietary and cultural restrictions
  2. Ill or injured athletes

Section 4: Functional area management of staff and Volunteers

  1. Food and beverage organizational chart
  2. Food and beverage functional volunteer job descriptions
  3. Games time functional areas

Section 5: Food and beverage policies and procedures

  1. Food service policies and procedures for dining halls
  2. F&B policies and procedures for competition and non-competition venues

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE FUNCTIONS

  1. Purpose

An essential element of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games is to identify and procure sufficient quantities of food and food service related items to supply all Delegates, Participants, eligible volunteers and staff with optimal nutritional support for healthy adults competing outdoors in a cold weather climate. It is the purpose of the food and beverage (F&B) to provide a variety of meal and snacks that fill these nutritional requirements and to take into consideration any special dietary and/or cultural considerations/restrictions and also to work within budget guidelines.

The Food and Beverage Department is a very essential department and the coordinator must be on staff prior to pre-games. Coordination of food service includes determining the focus of the food service for the Games. The F&B coordinator could be instrumental in deciding on the focus of purchased food, contract services for catering and general food service supplies, coordination of in-kind donations and securing the locations for all food services. Food and Beverage should be included in the development sponsor relations, particularly with national sponsors such as Coca-Cola. Establishing the relationship early in the planning process will be beneficial to the GOP.

A Games menu plan will be developed by a team of food service professionals. The team includes people from the Food Service Community in and around the Boise area. The menu will be prepared and reviewed by this committee prior to acceptance and approval by the GOC. The meal plan was based on the caloric consumption of healthy adults competing in cold weather climates. Cost is secondary to the content of the menu. The meal plan needs to be primarily based on a standard American diet with some considerations given for cultural sensitivities. During the games the delegates will be housed in seventy separate hotels, which make providing cultural dining choices for all delegates very difficult. In addition to the planned menu for meals, nutritional snacks will be provided at the Delegation Welcome Center (DWC), athlete lounges at each completion and non-competition venues, and opening and closing ceremonies. Snacks provided may include options such as fresh fruit, granola bars, power bars, string cheese, yogurt, crackers and juice.

  1. Goals and Objectives
  1. Goals
  1. To provide optimal nutritional support to the participants, volunteers, and staff of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Idaho.
  • The menus are developed to provide nutritional support and need to be well within the guidelines of healthy meals for an active adult in a cold weather climate.
  1. To develop a menu that is representative of the American dining experience and offers a variety of foods that will appeal to a large number of participants while making allowances for dietary and cultural considerations and restrictions.
  2. To leave a legacy of nutritional standards for healthy adults competing outdoors in a cold weather climate that can be utilized by future Special Olympics World Winter Games.
  • It is an ongoing challenge to provide nutritional standards for these athletes. There are varying levels of completion, athletic caloric consumption and nutritional needs. The GOC recommends the Special Olympic coaches take an active role in monitoring the nutrition of the athletes and that delegates be encouraged to share more information regarding indigenous food requirements during the planning process.
  1. To ensure that the dining experience of all participants is a positive and memorable component of their overall 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games experience.
  1. Objectives
  1. To work with Food Service Representatives to devise an appealing breakfast, lunch and dinner menu that is uniform at all dining halls and hotels.
  • Food and Beverage could offer more ethnic meals choices in a setting where there is buffet style dining. The 2009 GOC will operate 5 dining halls, 7 athlete lounges and have sixty plus hotels providing breakfasts to delegates. The goal is to provide consistent meals at each eating facility.
  1. To create a Box Lunch Program that will cater to the nutritional needs of participants at their competition venues and non-competition venues.
  • Box lunches are aimed to include a sandwich, chips, desert, fruit, and drink. Lunches will be served in a timely manner and will be adequate in caloric content and nutritional value. The 2009 GOC will work to develop a formula for the meal types.
  1. To procure and supply water, beverages and ice in order to address hydration needs of participants at hotels, competition and non-competition venues.
  • Coca-Cola will donate products to the Games including Sprite, Coke, Diet Coke, Dasani water and juice.
  1. To supply all lounge areas with beverages, light refreshments and sponsor products as mandated by that functional area lounge.
  • The focus on Athlete Lounges should be placed on nutritional choices. The 2009 GOC will be able to obtain juice products for Coca-Cola which is considered to be more appropriate than sodas. The Athlete Lounge area should plan for a rush at lunch hours and should plan for adequate volunteer support to assist with traffic flow and meal distribution. Family Lounge/Guest Lounge areas need to be included in the overall plan for refreshments and beverages. All lounge areas are a prime location for sponsor support, however, it is recommended that lounge service remain consistent in order to maintain attendance evenly throughout the venues. Volunteer lounges will be stocked continuously and staffed at all time as that area is an area where meals and snacks are distributed from venue opening to closing. All lounge areas should be stocked with reading material, comfortable seating and should be planned conveniently near wash stations and restrooms. Guests and Family areas should plan for guest books. There should be consistent presentation of products and decorating in each of the lounge areas, consistent presentation brings the Games together visually.
  1. Develop a Food and Beverage volunteer program that provides a meaningful and positive experience for the Food and Beverage department volunteers.
  • It is recommended that the title of the food service volunteers be changed in order to assist with the recruitment of volunteers. In the past it has been shown that volunteers are hesitant to sign-up for F&B because they think they are required to prepare and serve food.
  • Language volunteers should also be placed in dining halls and athlete lounges as translations may be needed.
  1. Overview of Services and Responsibilities
  1. The F&B Department will provide food and beverage support to Athletes, coaches, officials and qualified volunteers. All food service provided to athletes will be reviewed by a team of nutritionists and will meet guidelines specified by the same team. Guidelines will be based on the nutritional needs of healthy adults competing in outdoor activities in a winter climate. Nutritional support provided will include breakfast, lunch, and dinner and will also include healthy snacks available between meals.
  • Food and Beverage will provide Athletes and Officials with breakfasts at their hotels. Attention needs to be given to the arrival time and the departure time of athletes and officials as the meal counts will be affected by that number. The 2009 GOC will monitor the meals counts to maximize savings by adjusting the counts for the arrivals and departures.
  • Food and Beverage will provide athletes and officials with a box lunch at competition venues.
  • Food and beverage will supply a hot meal at each of the dining halls each day in addition to the box lunches.
  1. If an Athlete, official, or coach is not competing/participating at his/her competition venue, box lunch service will be available to them at an auxiliary dining hall.
  • An Auxiliary Dining Hall needs to be established to support lunch service for Athletes not competing. Coaches are asked to provide the numbers of athletes requesting lunches for the following day by 6 in the evening prior. It is recommended that the procedure for this service is included in the coaches manual, HOD manual, verbally discussed in the first coaches meeting and discussed again in the Advance Delegation week.
  • Dinner will be provided for Athletes, coaches and officials at their dining hall.
  • A late dinner service should be considered in case games run late. A possibility for a late dinner can include a box lunch.
  1. Volunteers working at least 6 hours will be provided a meal.
  • The 2009 GOC will need to capture the shift information for the volunteers more than 60 days out from the Games. Having number of eligible volunteers is imperative to working with the food service vendors to secure the best pricing on food.
  • Budget for feeding the volunteers is to be determined as to if the money is coming out of F&B or Volunteer Services.
  1. The Food and Beverage Department will also be responsible for supplying light refreshments and beverages to all other lounge areas.
  • The 2009 GOC will organize the lounge areas so that F&B has the responsibility of staffing the lounges, ordering the product for the lounges and set-up and clean-up of lounges. The F&B department will work with logistics to supply the lounges based on daily ordering of the lounge staff. The system is very simple, it is planned to organize product distribution to lounges and to prevent over-supply or short supply of product in lounges.
  • The F&B department will provide nutritional and beverage support for Athletes, coaches and volunteers during opening and closing ceremonies. Consideration should be given to the amount of time between Athlete dining and the end of the ceremonies. If dining takes place early Opening and Closing nights, nutritional support needs to be provided.
  • During opening and closing ceremonies bottles of water will be placed under each chair of the athletes.
  1. Legacy
  1. It is the goal of the Food and beverage department to leave a legacy providing outstanding nutritional support to the participants of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
  2. Nutritional Guidelines are very difficult to establish without continued support and guidance from experts in the field. This type of support will continue to raise the benchmark forms essential component of Special Olympics Competitions.

SECTION 2: SCHEDULES AND TIMELINES

  1. Pre-Games Schedule for Village Venues
  1. Food and Beverage Department meetings with food service facility representatives
  1. Monthly meetings will be held every month with the Food and Beverage Department and representatives from each of the dining hall facilities where athletes will be dining.
  2. Meetings between the F&B department and the dining hall representatives will increase to two per month during the months of December and January.
  3. Food and Beverage meetings will address traffic flow within the dining halls, volunteer roles and staffing, menu development, and hours of dining hall operations.
  4. Facility representatives will be invited and encouraged to attend all full venue team meetings.
  1. Volunteer Food and Beverage Leaders for Village Venues
  1. Volunteer F&B Coordinator will be assigned to their Village Venue by 1 October 2008.
  • Leader positions need to be filled at least 5 months out from the games. The leaders are key to the training of volunteers and they can assist with recruitment and help establish their own teams.
  1. Food and Beverage Leaders will be invited to and encouraged to attend all Food and Beverage Department meetings with facility representatives and also venue team meetings.
  • All leaders need to understand the time commitment and the level of support that they will be asked to provide to the GOC.
  1. An operational manual outlining all Village Venue Food and Beverage operations and protocols will be available to volunteer F&B Supervisors by 1 November 2008.
  • It is recommended that focus is placed on the recruitment of Leader as they should be included in the planning process and in creating the training material.
  1. Nutritional Development
  1. The Food and Beverage department will liaison with a team of nutritionists to define the nutritional needs of healthy adults competing in outdoor activities in a winter climate. This will be accomplished by 1 September 2008.
  2. The menu should be sent out early to all delegations and coaches should be encouraged to take a more active role in the management of the athlete nutrition during the Games.
  • It is recommended that menus be posted in the dining halls in the five major languages so that coaches and Athletes are able to see the written explanation of food items.
  • Dining halls noted the exceptions and prepared alternate meals for any athlete with special dietary needs.
  1. The F&B Director should consider the nutritional needs of staff and SOI prior to the games. Staff working long hours leading up to the games and during the games will be provided food.
  2. The Food and Beverage department will present this information to the menu development committee on the September 2008 Food and Beverage meeting.
  3. A menu will be developed be a team of food professionals and will be completed by 1 October 2008.
  • Menu development is crucial to getting the food ordered.
  1. Village Venue Food and Beverage Manual
  1. The food and beverage department will develop a manual outlining policies and procedures for all Dining Halls. The manual will also address snack service within the various lounge areas.
  2. The Food and Beverage manual will be finished by 15 September 2008. Changes and amendments might be made to accommodate logistics and the re-order/re-supply of venues.

B. Pre-Games Schedule for Box Lunch Program

1. Box lunch procurement schedule

  1. A letter stating pre-qualification requirements will be sent to vendors who have expressed interest in providing catering services for the Box Lunch Program. The pre-qualification letter will require the following:

That all Box Lunch meals be prepared at one location.

That the vendor is Hazard Analysis and Critical
Control Point System (HACCP) certified.

That the vendor has previous experience and references verifying the ability to produce 6000+ meals per day over a continuous two-week period.

The ability to develop a comprehensive labeling and tracking system.

The pre-qualification letter will be mailed to interested vendors by 1 September 2008. Recommendation is to announce a pre-bid conference in the local newspaper to capture attention of all interested parties.

  1. Replies as to the vendor’s ability to meet the specifications outlined in the pre-qualification letter will be accepted and references given verified between 15 August and 1 September 2008
  2. The Request for Proposal (RFP) will be mailed to qualified vendors on 5 October 2008.
  3. Vendors will be asked to reply to the RFP no later than 20 September 2008.
  4. The Box Lunch Program Contract will be awarded on 1 October 2008.
  5. The Box Lunch RFP will also include a provision for the catering of light refreshments in Guest/Family Lounge areas.
  • 2009 GOC solicited the professional help of qualified industry professionals to assist with the preparation of the RFP for box lunches and lounge service. Their in-put and information was considered extremely helpful.l

2. Box Lunch Program Volunteer meetings and Obligations

A. The Box Lunch Program Coordinator will be recruited by 15 August 2008.

  • Box lunch coordinator needs to be on board through the RFP process to gain necessary understanding of the program and establish relationship with the successful bidder for the program
  1. Box Lunch Program Leaders will be designated by 15 August 2008
  • It is recommended that all functional area coordinators meet with VOL to establish which positions are the most vital to the success of each of the programs and that recruiting be focused on filling the key positions.
  1. Box Lunch Program meetings will be held once a month, starting September 2008.
  2. The Box Lunch Program Coordinator and the Box Lunch Program Leaders will be invited to and strongly encouraged to attend all quarterly Full Games Management Team meetings.
  • The 2009 GOC F&B committee was responsible for all village venue dining halls (where athletes will eat dinner) and the athlete lounge areas of each competition venue (where athletes will eat lunch). Each lounge needs a coordinator. F&B coordinators at the sport venues were in fact the Box Lunch Coordinators.
  • F&B is a key element of any Games and should receive high level of focus on recruitment and placement of volunteers.
  1. The Box Lunch Coordinator, Food & Beverage Coordinator and the Box Lunch Program Leaders will tour all sport and non-sport venues where lounges will be located on or before 1 November 2008
  • Recommendation would be to have the volunteers in this area tour their facilities as soon as possible in order to begin relationships with facility representatives.

F. The Food & Beverage Department will develop a form to be used by the HODs which will specify the number of Athletes and Coaches needing meals at the Dining Halls. All Auxiliary Dining orders will be left at Delegation Services areas for processing.