Aramark goes distance for NBC workers at 2004 Olympics

Nation's Restaurant News, Sept 20, 2004 by Joanna Avgerinos

ATHENS, GREECE -- When the Olympic Games began here last month, many people breathed a sigh of relief that construction on the stadiums and event venues was completed in time. But for Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., the relief came because of its successful feeding of NBC employees who were dispersed across numerous sites while they covered the event for American viewers.

Aramark's key role in the Athens Olympics resulted from the company's joint venture with Greece's N. Daskalantonakis Group, operator of the Grecotel hotel chain, to form Aramark Dasko SA, which fed the broadcasters and athletes.

"Our greatest challenge was logistics because the sites were dispersed geographically, sometimes by 60 kilometers," said Julianne Norton, Aramark Dasko's operations director for NBC. "We had 10 sites spread out over the Attica region, some of which were 40 kilometers from the hub. Most of our challenges were based on geography and being able to get up to the sites. That's why we had to set up standalone operations; everything was prepared on-site."

Aramark, an on-site provider of food and facilities management services, brought over employees from the United States and also hired local Greeks. Aramark Dasko used a total of 175 people to feed the 1,100 NBC employees covering the games. Of the 10 sites, eight were standalone mobile kitchens that were imported from the United Kingdom.

Since 1968 Aramark has provided managed services for 12 Olympiads. Its efforts in Greece this summer were aided by the Daskalantonakis Group's operation of more than 30 urban and resort hotels.

Norton's role in overseeing NBC's food operations began last October. Initially, she spent four months in the United States, working with the TV network on service levels, menu items and projections for staffing needs In February she went to Greece to get specifics on the network's needs and to begin work from an integral perspective. In the spring she began recruiting workers.

"The areas that worked most smoothly for us and gave us the most reward would be the human-resources piece and the people piece," Norton said. "We were able to hire some really good locals The majority of our folks were Greek locals--students from culinary schools around Greece and local Greek residents. The most rewarding part of this job was recruiting and staffing and being able to get some good folks on board and, most importantly, keeping them until the end of the project."

While the management team primarily was a combination of employees from the Aramark and Dasko groups, Norton also hired some other local managers.

Like Norton, Douglas Bradley, Aramark Dasko's executive chef for NBC's foodservice, also began his planning process last October. Bradley said the main challenge in feeding the NBC crew was finding particular foods in Greece that the NBC employees would be accustomed to. Often that required using a range of world wide connections that would assist him in sourcing items into Greece.

For example, blueberry muffins and bagels are not typical breakfast items for Greeks, Bradley said. He solved that problem by procuring them from Germany.

"Ground beef patties also were a challenge, because the Greeks don't approach them the same way Americans do," Bradley noted. "They use different meats, so the flavor is not the same. We're buying our ground beef patties from France."

Bradley had similar experiences when he worked for Aramark at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and Barcelona, Spain. In Barcelona, he spent days trying to find bagels that had been boiled before being baked, the way they are prepared in the United States.

Though some items were difficult to find in Greece, the chefs did manage to take advantage of the fresh, local products.

"Greece is brimming with a bounty of fresh foods and resources, and we are lucky to have such a selection for our meals," said Aramark Dasko executive chef Mike Crane. "By using a range of high-quality local products, we are maximizing the freshness and flavor of the foods we are preparing."

In designing the menus, Bradley tried to incorporate Greek items as well as more traditional American cuisine.

In a progress report during the two-week event, he said, "As we get further into the games and people are working longer hours, we will shift the menu more toward comfort foods, the more traditional and recognizable items, like macaroni and cheese."

A percentage of the NBC workforce, however, was Greek, which brought about another set of challenges.

"I had to make sure the food I prepared from the local Greek folks' repertoire was an accurate representation, not an Americanized version," Bradley said. "For example, a significant section of the population thought it was unacceptable to have tzatziki sauce on chicken souvlaki, but [fine] on a pork one."