Gordon Halladay, kiosk manager at Hibernian Football Club’s Easter Road stadium, oversees the fourteen kiosks that serve over 20,000 hungry fans on matchdays. “We offer an eclectic mix of food here,“ says Gordon. “The traditional pies and Bovril, of course, but also hotdogs, fish and chips and artisan doughnuts to name but a few. As well as this we also have to provide for different dietary requirements. Obviously, Natasha’s Law requires us to produce allergen free food, and we’re also seeing growing numbers of people looking for meat- or gluten-free alternatives, so we have to be able to meet a wide range of needs.“ This has led to Hello Hungry Hibees meat free kiosk.
Previously run by outside companies, the stadium kiosks were brought in-house ahead of the 2021/22 season. For them to meet the demands of match days, Gordon had each kiosk installed with an iCombi Pro cooking system from RATIONAL.
Meeting the pre-match and half time rush means you need to be able to produce and serve a lot of food in a very short space of time. Modern cooking systems, like those from RATIONAL, can make it easier to meet the challenges.
For any catering operation the real mark of success is whether customers like the food. “Providing the best for our supporters is the priority,“ says Gordon. “Even without changing the recipes, the food we produce with the iCombi Pro is much fresher and more consistent, and we’ve seen that reflected in the feedback we’re getting. It’s made a huge difference!“
