[Albion] West Stand Lower Catering/Ajax match

[Beach Hut]

A fantastic win and a thread moaning about catering must be Groundhog Day

 

[RandyWanger]

The ESU Library has some of the most expensive tickets, yet some of the worst catering in the stadium! Assuming the staff is universally terrible, it's been a few seasons since I've sat elsewhere.

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

The pies at Peacehaven are ten times better than Piglets (there, I’ve said it)

They come from that geezer in Baker Street, the steak and scotch bonnet are out of this world.

I think they only order about two dozen and probably only make about £1.50 on each.

 

[morematey]

The cheeseburger looked absolutely crap though.

Hard to believe but it actually tasted even worse than it looked.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Ok, cracking result football wise which is all that really matters, but what the hey was going on on the catering front in WSL. I don't expect Sodexo to reply, but the Piglets person might have some answers. Fans coming for an evening match should be able to get a meat pie or a burger. West Stand Lower had closed and brought down the shutters on one of the three food and drink outlets and blocked it off with drinks dispensers. That left two outlets open with queues to the turnstiles. I reached the front of the queue 40 minutes before kick off and they had no meat pies and no burgers. I don't eat hotdogs. So I returned at half time to try again. Queues back to the turnstiles again at just two outlets. Nothing but burgers left by the time I reached the front and I missed the beginning of the second half. First World problems I know, but that's where I live. Poor show on the catering front. Don't know if it's Piglets stock issues or Sodexo with no staff or organisation, but something was wrong. In a similar vein, I went to the Marseille match screening in the Heineken lounge which included a free pie and a pint. But the pie options were two curried chicken or the runny minced beef pie. No chicken, gammon and leek and no beef pie. Poor management by Piglets or Sodexo. Hope someone knows what's going on and replies, because tonight was just ridiculous with only two outlets and none of the best meaty food to sell.

It's not really a secret that companies across the country are facing shortages of staff. Not just entertainment / catering but transport too, all since Covid. People have figured they don't have to do minimum wage jobs that come with the guarantee that they'll be the first out if the country has to shut down again. Combine that with inflation meaning the wages are barely worth it, better to get benefits or a student loan in many cases.

This isn't another 'woke NSC" dig at the government BTW. It's a fact of life in hospitality. Very few are making a profit at the moment, most turning over just to survive and getting and retaining good staff is a massive part of the problem.

 

[Snowflake]

It's only called hommity pie at the kiosks for some reason (even if few of the servers can tell you what's in it). In the pre-match briefing emails it's called bacon and mature cheddar. What gives?

Didn’t see that. That kinda kills my complaint a bit. But hommity pie it wasn’t. Shame.

 

[Invicta]

The cheeseburger looked absolutely crap though.

Hard to believe but it actually tasted even worse than it looked.

The cheeseburgers have changed in the last month or so. Christ knows what they are made of now but they are grey and slimy.

Had one vs Athens and it was rank, same the following League game. Back to pies now.

Rather have a Goldstone burger.

 

[morematey]

The cheeseburger looked absolutely crap though.

The cheeseburgers have changed in the last month or so. Christ knows what they are made of now but they are grey and slimy.

Had one vs Athens and it was rank, same the following League game. Back to pies now.

Rather have a Goldstone burger.

Grey and slimy is a perfect description.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Got there early last night, sausage roll was fine but even at 6.15pm there weren’t many left. The cheeseburger looked absolutely crap though. A bit later, my mate couldn’t get any food at all at 7.15. The new bar/beer dispensers in WSL look fine but not sure taking out a kiosk to make room for them makes any sense at all. Kiosks were already too busy.

In previous games in the West Lower this season there have been self serve b eer dispensers, but they were situated away from the kiosks and against the back wall of the concorse.

So why were they moved last night? stock shortages? staff shortages? All very odd. It will be interesting to see if they keep the staus quo for the Fulham game on Sunday. Somehow l fancy they might.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Given the amount of people in the West Lower after a game it is odd how the catering seems so dismal there these days.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

My steak and ale pie in East Upper was excellent. I’ve developed a habit of haring out to the queueless kiosk about 10 minutes from HT, whenever there’s a break in play, and grabbing a pie and a Coke. Because I sit on the aisle, I can do this without disrupting anyone. I get back to my seat as play resumes. I furtively fish my smuggled Coke lid out of a secret inner pocket, fit to Coke and store under my seat. The pie warms my hands until HT, by which point it has cooled enough to eat alone, in comfort, while the people around me are all out, queuing disconsolately, muttering about missing the start of the second half.

Good plan! I won't tell PB about the bottle top, l promise.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

The cheeseburgers have changed in the last month or so. Christ knows what they are made of now but they are grey and slimy.

Had one vs Athens and it was rank, same the following League game. Back to pies now.

Rather have a Goldstone burger.

The plain burger is tolerable, the cheeseburger is frankly disgusting (don’t know if it’s the cheese or the sauce or the combo) shite house

 

[A mex eyecan]

We asked one of the guys serving at the temporary beer stand why the main servers was closed. He said it’s being changed to an Amazon stand. He didn’t have a clue how that would be working though.

Seems a bit strange, although to be fair I’ve ordered goods on Amazon that have been delivered quicker than you can get a pint at The Amex.

 

[maltaseagull]

I happened upon someone very high up in Sodexo the other week. They said it was simply staffing issues. They employ 500 staff for a match day of which only 400 will turn up. I'm sure I'm not the only employer who understands that.
But to run out of pies when the staff are there is another issue. Should never happen.

Surely if they know 100 will not turn up, it´s not rocket science to employ 600?

 

[Weststander]

WSL 30 mins before KO there was no hot food left, cleared by locusts. Didn’t affect us, but the Dad in front of us broke the news to his nipper . Dad was okay though, he bought a few tiny bottles of ‘wine’.

 

[jimhigham]

Be glad you got anything at all.

The vegi options have been diabolical for the last season with how few there is.

You're lucky to get a vegi option at all in the West Upper after 15 minutes before the game.

I couldn’t even find out. Waited in line for 15 minutes and gave up 10 minutes before kick off because I do really like to see the thing I’ve paid to watch.

Frustrating. I’m left hungry and the club’s missing out on cash I was ready to spend.

And WHY is it bloody impossible to get a programme now? At least on Europa nights.

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

I need it out there, to get it off my chest.
Sausage rolls are the food of the devil (regardless of who makes them)

 

[studio150]

Ok, cracking result football wise which is all that really matters, but what the hey was going on on the catering front in WSL. I don't expect Sodexo to reply, but the Piglets person might have some answers. Fans coming for an evening match should be able to get a meat pie or a burger. West Stand Lower had closed and brought down the shutters on one of the three food and drink outlets and blocked it off with drinks dispensers. That left two outlets open with queues to the turnstiles. I reached the front of the queue 40 minutes before kick off and they had no meat pies and no burgers. I don't eat hotdogs. So I returned at half time to try again. Queues back to the turnstiles again at just two outlets. Nothing but burgers left by the time I reached the front and I missed the beginning of the second half. First World problems I know, but that's where I live. Poor show on the catering front. Don't know if it's Piglets stock issues or Sodexo with no staff or organisation, but something was wrong. In a similar vein, I went to the Marseille match screening in the Heineken lounge which included a free pie and a pint. But the pie options were two curried chicken or the runny minced beef pie. No chicken, gammon and leek and no beef pie. Poor management by Piglets or Sodexo. Hope someone knows what's going on and replies, because tonight was just ridiculous with only two outlets and none of the best meaty food to sell.

I was surprised to see this, as it's the kiosk I go to, as its in the middle of the stand and more people seem to go to the ones at end end as they enter WSL.
Then wandered off to one of the other kiosks to join a long queue by 7ish standards. Many in the queue were just buying beers which they could have got at the pop up bar.

On the evening I just assumed this was something to appease the UEFA sponsors, and would not be present for the Fulham game.

But reading this thread seems it may be something more permanent.

Maybe the club's thinking is that if they are investing in the outside fan zone, they can reduce the number of outlets inside the ground, and utilise them for something else.

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

WSL 30 mins before KO there was no hot food left, cleared by locusts. Didn’t affect us, but the Dad in front of us broke the news to his nipper . Dad was okay though, he bought a few tiny bottles of ‘wine’.

Well if he’s only little it’ll be enough to distract his hunger

 

[schmunk]

We asked one of the guys serving at the temporary beer stand why the main servers was closed. He said it’s being changed to an Amazon stand. He didn’t have a clue how that would be working though.

Seems a bit strange, although to be fair I’ve ordered goods on Amazon that have been delivered quicker than you can get a pint at The Amex.

Maybe it's this, already in trial at several stadia in the US...?

Amazon One palm payment technology is coming to all 500+ Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S.

As adoption of Amazon One continues to increase among third-party retailers and their customers, Amazon doubles down on palm recognition across its network of Whole Foods Market stores.

www.aboutamazon.com