SMG’s dedicated food division, Savor, has its roots in serving management client’s needs, most specifically when San Francisco city officials asked SMG to take over food and beverage at Moscone Center, which they managed, in 1983. Because SMG was partly owned at the time by the Pritzgers of Hyatt Hotels, it seemed only logical they could provide hotel/restaurant-quality food service at the sprawling convention center.
Keenly aware the goal was to showcase the destination, San Francisco, SMG established a brand that emphasized local talent and local tastes. That same mantra drives Savor, the official food division of SMG, today.
Shaun Beard, SMG SVP, who joined the company in 2009, loves transitioning venues to Savor food service. He loves being the “little guy” who can make it happen locally and isn’t encumbered by massive systems and processes.
What began with meeting the client’s need in 1983, was followed 10 years later by a similar scenario at the Long Beach (Calif.) Convention & Entertainment Center and Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, Beard said. “It was the same situation. They had an incumbent, national provider, but wanted to do something different,” Beard said.
‘That’s our business model — we’re the locally focused food and beverage provider,” Beard said.
SMG’s commitment to food service didn’t go beyond meeting clients’ needs, however, until CEO Wes Westley came on board and saw the opportunity, and until Aramark and Hyatt sold the company to American Capital in 2007. SMG did not bid against Aramark, a major international concessionaire, for non-SMG accounts prior to the sale, of course.
The name Savor has its genesis at the Savannah (Ga.) Convention Center, where SMG took over management in 2000 and food service was part of the deal. “We had a good culinary team there; they thought a great name other than SMG Food Service, would be Savor. It became, Savor…Savannah,” Beard said.
When the company changed ownership in 2007, it had about 60 food service accounts, all tied to management deals. Westley saw the potential and created a food service division, which officially came out as Savor, “because we can always represent where we are — Savor Providence, Savor San Francisco,” Beard said. It was a name they had trademarked in 2000.
Savor has taken on 54 new food accounts since then, the vast majority independent of management deals, Beard said. In 2007, 100 percent of SMG’s food contracts were tied to management deals. Ten years later, that’s down to 70-72 percent.
Savor had a major growth spurt in securing the food service contract at McCormick Place, Chicago, a bid separate from management, which SMG also won, Beard recalled.
In 2011, Savor won food service at the new Frost Science Museum and Aquarium in Miami, which opened this year, the firm’s first museum.
Like its management arm, food service has also grown by acquisition. In 2014, SMG purchased Premier Foods, which had food service at the Del Mar (Calif.) Fairgrounds and University of California San Diego’s Faculty Club, “two great iconic pieces of business,” Beard said. They’ve since rebranded West Coast accounts with the Premier moniker.
That same year, SMG purchased CGC Catering in Manchester, England, acquiring that firm’s racetrack business and establishing its food service in Europe.
“Both those brands brought value in the region they are in,” Beard said. When SMG added Bristol (U.K.) Arena management, it also won food through CGC. In Europe, it is all combined services, Beard added.
The Alamodome, San Antonio, long held by one of the big concessionaires, was another landmark win for Savor. “We had a great local food plan and a great local restaurant partner in our bid, which is what the city wanted, in preparation for the 2018 Final Four,” Beard said.
And they have made inroads in the university food service category, adding the University of Nebraska, Omaha’s brand new arena, and winning Baylor University’s new McLane Stadium, Waco, Texas.
It all dates back to the original philosophy established in 1983 — solving a need for the client by bringing localized, hotel/restaurant quality culinary services to the live event business.
“All I’ve done is taken that story and let more people know about it,” Beard said. People want to know where the food came from, who’s the person cooking it, are you using local purveyors — full transparency, he said. “Our clients ask us to do this. It’s a solution-minded focus. Wes saw it,” Beard said.
Savor is also quick and nimble, Beard said. “We’re not stuck with antiquated systems. We’re not burdened with an infrastructure that’s been there for 10-20 years. It’s all been brand new. We’re an efficient, customer-focused organization that can literally turn on a dime.”
Take procurement, for example, Beard said. Major concessions companies are some of the best, most sophisticated purchasers out there. “The difference with me is I go into San Antonio and say, ‘who is producing the best in this region and how can I bring it into this venue?’” Beard said. The same is true of the equipment he buys.
“At Alamodome, 100 percent of our equipment purchases were from local groups,” Beard said. “Every city is looking for something different. If it’s just dollars, that’s not my business. I provide a local experience.”
The biggest event, Savor has catered to date was when Microsoft Corp. merged five national groups into one meeting at McCormick Place in 2015. Savor served 24,000 people breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for a week. They turned part of an exhibit hall into temporary kitchen to supplement permanent facilities. Over 100 managers from around the country helped support the event.
Beard is bullish on the future for Savor. He is data driven, preaching all the time that “you have to have the math before you do the magic.” But that said, the bottom line is the customer experience. He imagines the next big innovation in food service will be a quantum leap in service times.
“A lot of folks are experimenting with it now. The technology is there but social acceptance will come with the next generation, who will talk into their phones and expect the food to come. Today’s customer sees part of their experience as getting up and cruising the concourse and chatting with buddies. That’s a good experience too. But for the next generation, it will be what I need now, when and how I want it.”
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LOCAL FLAVOR AND FLAIR DRIVES SAVOR
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