The NEC Group’s award winning caterer Amadeus and its live events venue the LG Arena have teamed up with Old El Paso to launch the first Arena retail units in the UK. Two Old El Paso catering outlets have opened in Forum Live at the LG Arena: one sells nachos and the other fajitas.
Amadeus is always looking for innovative new ways to improve the customer experience and now boasts a Mexican food offering in partnership with Old El Paso at the LG Arena. Amadeus uses its in-house marketing insight team to monitor food and beverage trends, and adapts its offering based on industry developments, consumer behaviour and demand.
Reflecting street food trends
Street food in the UK has seen significant growth in recent years and Amadeus’ Forum Live catering area at the LG Arena reflects this with the Old El Paso units complementing the existing offering perfectly. Customers are no longer satisfied by burgers, hotdogs and chips; they still want fast food but expect a far greater variety of world cuisines to choose from.
Seeking to double the size
One Old El Paso till at the LG Arena took £2,500 in the first two hours at Ant & Dec’s Takeaway on Tour. At Horse of the Year Show the Nachos unit sold over 1,000 portions over five days. Such is the success since the launch that Amadeus would like to double the size of both units at the LG Arena.
The deal was brokered by the NEC Group’s sponsorship agency Eight Feet Tall and includes a mobile unit for the Group’s National Indoor Arena, which will be launched as the Barclaycard Arena in December following a £26M redevelopment. The partnership will establish Old El Paso as a key brand across the Group’s visitor destinations.
Kevin Watson, Managing Director for Amadeus says: “Amadeus is committed to offering a range of high quality catering options for visitors at all of its ‘meet’ and ‘visit’ venues. Amadeus has already seen the popularity of street food concepts at the LG Arena and is pleased to have partnered with Old El Paso to open the country’s first Arena retail outlet.”
Amadeus
Amadeus is the NEC Group’s retail, conference & banqueting, and hospitality caterer. Amadeus has more than 38 years’ experience catering for the NEC Group’s 3.5 million visitors, at more than 750 events a year, across its world class venues (the NEC, ICC, LG Arena and NIA). With more than 600 staff, including 75 chefs, the Amadeus team has clocked up over 640 awards for quality and innovation.
In addition to its home venues, Amadeus currently operates at over 15 major ‘meet’ and ‘visit’ external events and venues, including The Scottish Open, Tatton Park, Cadbury World, Dudley Zoo, Stoneleigh Abbey, Stratford Riverside, Library of Birmingham and Camden Council. Amadeus utilises its Oak Kitchen restaurant brand and new MADE café concept in many of the venues, and also manages more than 60 outlets for retail partners JD Wetherspoons, Starbucks, Subway, Pasty Presto, Jimmy Spices and DP Coffee.