Kudos, part of the Crown Group, has been awarded a five year contract to provide catering and hospitality at the Harrogate International Centre (HIC) encompassing the eight halls covering 18,500 square meters of exhibition space and the conference centre which accommodates 2,000 guests.
Kudos initially won the contract in 1999 and subsequently retained the position as on-site preferred caterer for 13 years. The formal tender, managed by HIC Yorkshire, invited caterers to propose a range of ideas to manage the delivery of food and beverages to the hundreds of thousands of visitors that attend the venue each year.
Kudos created concepts that were supported by research and demonstrated the key trends which included: proud to be British; markets and street food; spending austerity; localism; seasonality; health and nutrition; connectivity; and digitalisation.
New brand, new product ranges, new investment
A new brand was proposed, which would support three distinct concepts of food stores, coffee kiosks and cafes. New product ranges using six regional suppliers, four of which are within one mile of the venue were also proposed. Kudos also created a unique product key for all food labelling to assist the diverse international audience that attends the venue.
The proposal will involve Kudos making a substantial investment in the refurbishment of key areas, including the building of a supermarket style food store between Halls B and C, along with a Cafe in the lobby area of Hall H. The investment will also extend to several mobile coffee kiosks and Piaggio Apes, which can be set-up within any area of the eight halls of the HIC.