I’d like to give some background information that is relevant to concessions discussion. I am in no way advocating for anything, just thought it would be good for more people to know.

1) When the RFP was put out for concessions, there were only 2 bids for the contract - Aramark and Levy. That’s it - the department had to pick from one or the other as no other bids were submitted.

2) The contract is for 10 years, as will likely be the next one. LSU requires a huge capital expenditure on the part of the concessions vendor, and no one will invest in the upfront costs if the contract is shorter.

3) LSU, specifically the Athletic Department, is paid a percentage of the gross receipts, and that percentage goes up with higher volume.

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Posted by Gravitiger

Member since Jun 2011

10486 posts

Posted on 5/4/21 at 9:17 pm to SpencerRob

quote:
When the RFP was put out for concessions, there were only 2 bids for the contract - Aramark and Levy. That’s it - the department had to pick from one or the other as no other bids were submitted.

Those are basically the only two large-scale vendors in the country. Virtually every school that doesn't do it in-house uses one or the other. They also run campus dining at many universities, which is much more valuable than athletics concessions. Do you know if Aramark has that contract at LSU?

quote:
The contract is for 10 years, as will likely be the next one. LSU requires a huge capital expenditure on the part of the concessions vendor, and no one will invest in the upfront costs if the contract is shorter.

See above. That's why Levy and Aramark bought up all their competitors.

quote:
LSU, specifically the Athletic Department, is paid a percentage of the gross receipts, and that percentage goes up with higher volume.

As is virtually every school who deals with these vendors (meaning virtually every school). Volume of what? Total sales? Specific sports? Specific high-margin items?

None of that explains why our concessions quality and service suck compared to most schools who use Aramark and Levy. What it boils down to is the quality of local workers they have access to and are willing to pay for. Ohio State uses Aramark, probably has the same deal LSU does, and it's at 10× better concessions experience.

This post was edited on 5/4/21 at 9:26 pm

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Posted by LSUFanHouston

NOLA

Member since Jul 2009

37246 posts

Posted on 5/5/21 at 7:13 am to SpencerRob

quote:
1) When the RFP was put out for concessions, there were only 2 bids for the contract - Aramark and Levy. That’s it - the department had to pick from one or the other as no other bids were submitted.

I wonder why Centerplate didn't submit a bid. I've worked with them before, locally, and I find them superior to Aramark. However, the game day experience is very dependent on the game-day part time workers... who, as others have said, we don't have a good market of in this area.

quote:
3) LSU, specifically the Athletic Department, is paid a percentage of the gross receipts, and that percentage goes up with higher volume.

Don't they also get a large minimum payment?

The cold cheese and the out of items is 100 percent because of the employees. There is no reason for that. They are just lazy. That's the labor pool.

As far as types of food, I would imagine very few local places would want to work with a large, controlling company like Aramark. If you want more local food vendors involved, LSU would have to bring it in-house. Or, use a vendor like Sodexo, who seems more flexible than Aramark.

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