Direct Energy Centre, Toronto
Ovations Food Services has been selected to provide catering and concessions for Exhibition Place and Direct Energy Centre, Toronto, in an 11-year deal. Ovations will pay Exhibition Place an undisclosed percentage of sales and will invest more than $1 million in equipment and improvements.
Arlene Campbell, general manager of Exhibition Place, said catering for the three exhibition halls involved annually generates more than $3 million. That does not include sales during the biggest annual events on the 192-acre campus, the Canadian National Exhibition and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Ovations will contract separately with those clients.
Kraig Pomrenke, director of business development for Ovations Food Services, said Ovations will definitely introduce its new Kitchen Experience, winner of Venues Today’s inaugural Silver Spoon Award for Best New Concept, and its Bar Experience, to attendees at Exhibition Place. Both concepts bring chefs to the public to demonstrate cooking and take direct orders. Pomrenke said both can also be set up as breakout sessions during shows.
The firm will handle concessions and catering for about 100 events doing 250 event days at the 160,000-sq.-ft. Direct Energy Centre, the 60,000-sq.-ft. Queen Elizabeth Building and the 100,000-sq.-ft. Better Living Center. Exhibition Place operates at 55 percent occupancy, Campbell said. It is owned by the city of Toronto.
Exhibition Place is a 192-acre campus drawing 5.3 million visitors a year. Campbell said HKH Hotels of New York is building a 400-room boutique hotel across the street from Direct Energy Centre which is scheduled for completion in time for the July 2015 Pan Am Games which will be held in Toronto.
Ricoh Coliseum, which is managed by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and has in-house concessions, and Allstream Centre, where concessions are handled by Centerplate, which used to also have the three buildings Ovations contracted, are also on campus. Centerplate provided catering for Direct Energy Centre since it opened in 1987, Campbell said. They were finalists with Ovations for the new contract and remain at the conference center, so Campbell has “the best of both worlds.”
“We’re excited about Ovations, their fresh concepts and energetic team,” Campbell said. The firm was judged on “financial returns, marketing and their product offerings,” Campbell said. She also expects Ovations to bring in new bookings through its North American marketing arm.
The contract term is through November 2024 because that is when Allstream Centre also comes up for renewal, Pomrenke explained.
Direct Energy Centre has seven permanent concessions stands and plenty of opportunity for portables. “We believe it has been underperforming,” Pomrenke said. “We saw it as an opportunity to grow the space and events there." Ovations has already met with show organizers who use the venues to understand their needs and desires. “They liked our ‘everything fresh’ culture,” he said.
Bradley Fletcher has been brought on as general manager for Ovations at Exhibition Place. He began his new job July 11.
Interviewed for this story: Arlene Campbell, (416) 263-3000; Kraig Pomrenke, (813) 909-2178, X102