At $30 for a gallon of coffee, it's a pricey convention

By Jane M. Von Bergen

May 31, 2000

WASHINGTON (UPS) -- No wonder it will cost $25 for a dozen "Philly-style soft pretzels" at the First Union Center during the Republican National Convention.

Also on the menu? Thirty dollars for a gallon of coffee - that's $1.87 an eight-ounce cup. Or $25 for a fruit basket with a dozen pieces of fruit, just a little more than $2 a banana.

"And my people go through bananas," complained one out-of-town newspaper staffer in charge of arranging food for several dozen reporters covering the convention.

Pricey organic bananas at Fresh Fields, 20th and Callowhill Streets, go for 99 cents a pound, with five or six to a pound, and street vendors charge up to 50 cents for a "Philly-style soft pretzel," although a large, loopy one sells for $3 at Veterans Stadium.

Chris Hardwick, the spokesman for Aramark, said the company's prices were not unusual for events such as a convention. "We are providing a competitive price structure that's within hospitality-industry and local-market standards," he said.

"There are unique and significant costs associated with this type of event, including transportation, additional labor and employee training costs, the construction of portable kitchens, and other costs related to operating in a temporary work environment."

During the convention, tens of thousands of people will be eating at least some meals at the First Union Center.

Those just stopping by snack stands before the evening sessions will pay the same as Flyers and Sixers fans normally do. And that's not cheap, either: $2 for a cup of coffee, $2.25 for a pretzel, and $5 for a beer.

Others, though, will have catered parties in the building's luxury suites, clubs and restaurants. Many news organizations will need catering to feed the thousands of journalists and technicians they are sending.

With 24 hours' notice, Aramark's convention catering service will drop off a $165 "Snacks and Junk" package of 12 Tastykakes, 12 soft pretzels, 1 bag of Oreos, 1 bag of chocolate chip cookies, 6 Hershey's chocolate bars, 6 bags of peanut M&M's, and a bag of potato chips.

The package, minus the pretzels, would cost $47.33 at a local supermarket.

For a more substantial meal, $249 buys a "Philly Market" package, including a two-foot-long Italian hoagie, a quart each of pasta and potato salads, 12 soft pretzels, 12 Tastykakes, condiments, and plates.

In the name of bipartisan feeding, Aramark is also handling the Democratic convention in Los Angeles.

And it's so L.A.

Lunch starts with strawberry-peach soup garnished with caramelized walnuts, ends with a Kahlua-drizzled apricot crisp, and includes duck-breast salad on greens, for $35.

Penne pasta with goat cheese and roasted, farm-raised venison with honey and red-wine figs come with a $48-per-person dinner package for 100.

Philadelphia's 100-person dinner package, for $30 a person, includes Aramark's "Society Hill Feast." On the menu: a buffet of chicken marsala, roasted potatoes, chilled poached salmon with dill sauce, filet tips with wild mushrooms, vegetable lasagna, Caesar salad, and cannoli.

Why can't organizations hire their own caterers at the First Union Center?

"It just isn't practical to call Domino's and tell them to deliver eight pizzas," said Mike Miller, executive director of media operations for the GOP convention staff and a veteran of 10 conventions. "You'd never get the food."

Miller said that, for security reasons, all deliveries to the First Union Center would be made in the middle of the night, when fewer people were in the building and security guards would have more time to thoroughly inspect the trucks.

Food brought at night has to be kept cold or warm, or be reheated, and that is most easily done by one large caterer, Miller said.

One disappointed caterer, Pam Packard, had nearly landed an $8,000-to-$10,000 gig feeding one news organization when she found out that the decision to use Aramark would lock out smaller catering businesses, such as her Manayunk firm, Food for Thought Catering.

"This is a KO punch," Packard said.

Is $25 for a dozen pretzels the kind of price that will "love you back" to Philadelphia?

Fred Shabel, who is chairman of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., which coined the "loves you back" slogan, said Aramark's prices were competitive with those for arena food everywhere. He is also vice chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, the Comcast Corp. company that owns the First Union Center and the First Union Spectrum.

A. Bruce Crawley, chairman of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that conventioneers were used to paying those kind of prices and that they budget accordingly.

"These aren't prices you would want to pay retail walking down the street," he said. "It's probably . . . [like] prices you would pay in hotels, or in other similar hospitality-related environments."

Besides, he said, Aramark should make a profit. The chance for local businesses to make money was an important reason for Philadelphia to seek a convention.

With headquarters in Philadelphia, Aramark, the world's third-largest food-service company, with $7 billion in annual revenues, has a long track record of catering big events.

Aramark, which already is the First Union's exclusive caterer, has food-preparation facilities on the property, and it will add kitchen trailers and freezer space in the parking lot.

Aramark will also feed GOP conventioneers at the Spectrum and the Convention Center, which were set aside for use during the convention.

Aramark is a contributor to Philadelphia 2000, the nonprofit, nonpartisan local host committee raising money to fund the convention.

Hardwick declined to say how much Aramark would contribute to the convention and whether it would be in cash or in donated services.

Comcast-Spectacor will get a bite of all food sold during the convention, just as it does for the food Aramark sells at any arena event, Peter Luukko, president of Comcast-Spectacor, said.

Comcast Corp.'s president, Brian L. Roberts, is a cochairman of Philadelphia 2000.

Aramark landed the job of serving 21,000 athletes, media members, staff and officials at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney this summer. Earlier this month, Aramark trotted out its troops to serve 153,000 at the Kentucky Derby in Louisville.

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