Centerplate will take over the concessions program at the convention center in St. John's, Newfoundland, on June 1. (Courtesy Centerplate)
After a $54.25 million (70 million Canadian dollar) renovation and addition to its convention center completed in 2016, St. John’s Convention Centre in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador is reimagining its food and beverage program and bringing in Centerplate to run it.
The venue’s current concessionaire is Delta Hotels, a division of Westmont Hospitality Group, which has had the contract for the 15 years. Centerplate has signed on for 10 years. The financial terms of the deal, which begins June 1, have not been disclosed.
“The facility was revitalized in 2016 after we added more space, bringing us to 47,000 square feet,” said Sheena McCrate, St. John’s Sports and Entertainment CEO. “We quickly realized that running the convention center with two ballrooms and 10 meeting rooms was going to be completely different from running the original facility, which was built in 2001 with one ballroom and two meeting rooms.”
“We took a lot of the things we outsourced — like operations, cleaning, sales and conferences services management— and brought it all in-house,” McCrate said. “The only thing we are still outsourcing is F&B.”
An RFP was issued about six months ago, she said, drawing five bidders; three local outfits and two that had a regional presence.
“Centerplate stood out because it was clear that this was their area of expertise,” she said. “They are experts in the food delivery business, and it showed in their written information and in their presentation. They showed us what they’ve done in other markets and what they could do in ours.
“Another big component was that their financial model was very attractive.”
McCrate expects Centerplate to hire and source locally. “Making sure the uniqueness of St. John’s is reflected in the menu and service is high on our list,” she said. “Centerplate made it clear they had the ability to come into a market and figure what differentiates that market from anywhere else.”
Another attraction was that Centerplate is an international company and can bring in resources from other cities if St. John's has an event it needs help with, she said.
Craig Vidal, Centerplate senior operations and transitions executive, was instrumental in the bid and the transition for St. John’s. He’s based in Winnipeg and also oversees the Bell MTS Centre concession program.
“We represent convention centers across North America, and ‘boutique and unique’
venues are our specialty,” Vidal said. “We feel St. John’s is such a facility. It’s one of the prettiest areas of Canada and a destination spot. It needs a level of services that augment that, and we have knowledge and experience in running hospitality for these kinds of building.”
The new menu will be “based on our experiences across our scope of convention centers, adding in lots of local flavors, local distilleries and breweries. There’s an incredible culinary scene in the region, and we plan to tap into that and embrace it,” said Vidal.
Centerplate plans to announce a new food service general manager for the convention center soon, he said.
Big events at the St. John’s Convention Centre have included Juno Awards shows, honoring the best Canadian music, in 2002 and 2010; the Brier, the Canadian’s men’s curling championship; and the Scotties, the women’s version of the same event.
“We’re excited to be going down this road with Centerplate,” added McCrate, “We're positive we will get great service and are looking forward to the opportunity to work with them.”