10
Academic Venues
Smart
spending
A matter of taste
Neil Oates, executive head chef at Conference Aston,
on the evolution of conference food
s a venue that
caters for more
than 50,000
people every year,
creating enticing dishes for our
diners is high up on the menu at
Conference Aston.
Mass-produced food simply
does not cut the mustard. Long
gone are the days of just filling
people up and sending them on
their way; our guests want - and
deserve - attractive meal plans
that are nutritious, healthy and
vibrant.
We challenge the perception of
conference food by delivering a
restaurant experience for every
diner, serving fresh, high-quality
food in fun and imaginative ways
- from DIY dessert stands to
build-your-own salad carts.
Delegates are in and out of
seminars and meetings all day
long. They need food that fuels
their minds and tops up their
energy levels, so that they return
to their conference feeling
refreshed and satisfied.
Take our mini protein pots at
lunchtime, for example. We
prepare small dishes - including
chicken caesar salad, tuna
nicoise and prawn cocktail - to
give diners a tasty protein boost
that fills them up without leaving
them feeling sluggish.
At Conference Aston we cater
for visitors from all over the
world, so we’re often asked to
produce bespoke meals for our
clients using unusual, and
sometimes exotic ingredients.
Themed food is also growing in
popularity and we have a lot of
fun developing menus that tie in
with our clients’ events.
Another key trend in recent
years is the surge in
vegetarianism and veganism
which has seen us introduce
more greens, grains, pulses and
seeds into our menus for
everyone to enjoy - not just
non-meat eaters - and we are
passionate about using whole
products from root to stem, to
limit food wastage.
Conference food is evolving
and it’s an exciting time to be a
part of that. We’re no longer only
feeding delegates’ minds, we’re
feeding their stomachs too.
www.conference-news.co.uk
By Steve Crawford,
conference centre director,
Leicester Conferences
Investment is high on our
agenda and as a multi
award-winning venue we
regularly invest in many areas of
the business. Catering has to
be near the top, a bad speaker
may well be forgotten but if we
get the lunch offering wrong boy
do we know about it.
Keeping our offering fresh,
innovative, exciting and enticing
is always our goal and we invest
in areas of catering and service.
Our people are a main focus
of investment, ensuring they are
well trained, developed and
have the confidence not only to
feel empowered to make
decisions but to truly be at ease
in their roles allowing their
personalities to shine through.
Not to forget our building, with
over £50k spent in 2017 on
facilities and a further £225k
planned for 2018/19 we are
committed to ensuring we are
top of our game for conference
and accommodation facilities.
These include new AV
equipment, innovative design
concepts, new lighting, furniture
and decoration, and we’re only
five years old! We believe that a
venue has to reach out to each
guest, offer them an experience
to remember, and with a 56%
repeat customer base keeping
investment is key.