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Digital menu boards help drive new Aramark Launch Test Kitchens

Aramark, the food and beverage partner of professional sports teams and convention centers in North America, is giving guests the power to help decide what's on its menus, with a little help from digital signage, at its new 'Launch Test Kitchen.'

December 14, 2015

Aramark, the food and beverage partner of professional sports teams and convention centers in North America, is giving guests the power to help decide what's on its menus, with a little help from digital signage.

Aramark launched its new "Launch Test Kitchen" to be an industry-leading, forward-thinking approach to dining at sports and entertainment venues that invites real-time feedback submissions from guests, and uses it to shape what's offered on the menu.

Featuring a rotating menu centered on food trends and customer feedback, Launch Test Kitchen is the latest development from Aramark's progressive guest experience research and culinary development: a real-life "test kitchen," where everything from the menu, to the equipment and overall aesthetic, can transform from event to event.

"Launch Test Kitchen is all about flexibility, variety and customization," said Carl Mittleman, president of Aramark's Sports and Entertainment division. "Guest feedback has always played an important role in determining our menus. With Launch Test Kitchen, we're able to quickly adapt food trends and introduce new items, or showcase local chefs, based on those trends, while making it a very interactive experience for the guest." 

Outfitted with versatile food preparation equipment and digital signage and menu boards, Launch Test Kitchen's flexibility and customization are designed to allow food and beverage concepts to be rotated throughout a sports season or for a particular period of time very easily, as compared to an ordinary concept transition. Each location is equipped with a guest feedback component to determine which items resonate most with guests. Items with overwhelming popularity can be added to a venue's permanent menu, while the core menu of the stand will constantly be refreshed with new ideas and items.

Currently installed in Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Las Vegas Convention Center, Launch Test Kitchen can be activated in a variety of ways, including concession stands at sports venues, pop-up, mobile restaurants at convention centers and more, the company said. 

Launch Test Kitchen-Cleveland offers a rotating selection of local restaurateurs and up-and-coming concepts from Cleveland's flourishing food scene, according to the announcement. At the Las Vegas Convention Center, the concept appears as a fully functioning pop-up restaurant that can adjust its size, location and menu, based on show demands. Guests place their orders using kiosks and then watch as their food is prepared in an open kitchen that allows them to see chefs in action.

Aramark said it plans to roll out the Launch Test Kitchen brand at select locations across its sports and entertainment portfolio in the future.