Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival - Food and Beverage Operations - Case Study Example

FООD АND BЕVЕRАGЕ ОРЕRАTIОN By Institution: Date of submission: Instructor FООD АND BЕVЕRАGЕ ОРЕRАTIОN Food events are fairs, festivals, expositions, cultural as well as industry events that are held on either a regular basis or on a one-off basis. Events have assumed a significant role in tourism and marketing in recent years and have developed their specialist professional organizations and niche area within tourism and visitor studies. Nevertheless, because of the nature of food as a product and the daily part it plays in consumptions as well as economic systems, food events are more than just part of food retailing, marketing and promotion. Food events coincide with some contemporary agricultural systems, conservation of rural landscapes and maintenance of rural lifestyles and concerns over food quality. Food events are therefore not just about external promotion to visitors outside the host region but also have substantial internal drivers for being conducted. Food events are strongly connected to the senses of a place and community conceit in the products that they generate (Hall and Sharples, 2008). In this paper, I evaluate the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival that I attended between eleventh and twelfth of this month. For me, the chance to sample seafood was ne I could not turn down. The Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival happens to be UK’s largest collection of Seafood. I found that a food event is a charitable event that celebrates the indivisible link between the sea and the fishing communities around the sea. The 201’s event was the event’s eight annual and took place in Weymouth historic Harbour (dorsetseafood.co.uk, 2015). I also found much connection about the festival’s theme and the event that happened on that day. The event has a theme of exploring the journey the seafood we take; the food event provided me along with the other people attending the event a chance to enrich our seafood experience. Moreover, the festival imparted on me a better indulgence of the sea, the difficulties fishermen face and the issues of sustainable fishing as well as the environmental impact. I developed an interest in attending the event due to the aims of the organizers. Dorsetseafood.co.uk, 2015 and cntraveller.com, 2015 note that some of these objectives include promotion of seafood, persuade young people to eat more fish and enhancing people’s knowledge on seafood. Moreover, the organizers sought to promote the brilliance of local produce and attract students into the hospitality industry. I will begin by analyzing the servicescape of the event festival and then focus on the events cape. Many researchers in the field of the quality of a food event have limited their research to the satisfactory experiences of the visitors. The assumption is usually that if the people attending the food festival are satisfied, then they will attend the event in the next edition (Chen, Fei Lee and Lin, 2012, p.45). From the information I gathered about the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival, I can say that the event has been maintaining various aspects of quality. For example, the number of visitors attending the event this year had increased from last year, and the organizers estimate that the number will increase come 2016. Moreover, I inquired from some of the people attending the event if they had attended the previous edition of the event and most of them responded in the affirmative. Below is a picture of the event on the eleventh of July when it was starting. (Photo Credit: Traveller, 2015) Quality services occurrs when the expectations of the event match perceptions of the service experienced. Bowdin, Allen and Harris (2012, p.387) note that the service quality of an event can be affected by information sources and comfort amenities. In terms, of the information sources dedicated to the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival, I find that the festival organizers had done much to provide all the relevant information to the people that could choose to attend the event. For example, ticket information was available weeks before the event and those who wanted to attend the event could book their tickets to attend the event and avoid any last minute rush. Furthermore, information on the various types of accommodation available for those attending the event was also available through various websites. In this way, I find that in terms of service quality of the event, the organizers of the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival did well. The other aspect of service that I find interesting about the festival is the number of staffs that the event organizers had recruited. I think that the fact the event has been held for an eight consecutive year is because of the employees as well as the volunteers. The organizers note that the volunteers and the employees work together to ensure that the visitors and beyond satisfied. Baum et al. (2009, p.161) note that the service quality provide by the employees and volunteers affect the attitude of the visitors towards the event. I find that the festival achieved this since there were employees as well as volunteers at every corner of the event ready to help the visitors. The volunteers for the event come from the community that the festival is held in and their number goes up to fifty. Irvin (2015) notes that although the volunteers find it hard to work fourteen hours a day, they enjoy being involved in the event since it is held in their locality. The picture below shows some of the volunteers in the streets whose job was to ensure that the event run according to plan. It is easy for the visitors to note the volunteers since they have put on reflective jackets. (Photo Credit: Irving 2015) I will now focus on the eventscape of the food festival in terms of the organization, menu, and programme and terms of entertainment among other aspects of the event. A festival usually between two to five days; moreover, festivals and in particular food festivals are prime tourist attractions. They appeal to tourist agencies as well as tour operators alike (Stanley and Stanley, 2015, p.122).The case was no different at the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival. People from all walks of life and countries attended the event with an aim of sampling what U.K had to offer in terms of seafood. In real estate, it is often said that location is everything. The same applies to events because the site of an event can make or break an event. It is always significant the effort to take the time to find what would be just right for an event and do everything to make the event flawless (Allen, 2009, p.86). I believe that in terms of location, the food festival is located in a place that is accessible to anyone that would love to attend. Moreover, transport to and from the venue of the event is convenient, and people do not have hassles trying to secure transportation. Furthermore, I find that the name of the event also matches its location that for me is a plus for the event organizers. The event is known as a seafood festival, and it is located on the shores of a sea. Seafood that is prepared for the event is collected directly from the sea, and the visitors also get a chance to make a catch. When hosting an outdoor event, it is important to consider the time or season when the event is held. The event organizers of such an event should ensure that they do not host the event in the middle of a rainy season or the number of people attending the event will go down (Shone and Parry, 2004). The food festival I attended is planned in such a way that the weather during the event will be sunny. During the food festival, there were no signs of any rain that could have disrupted the event. Below are two pictures from the event that can be used to explain the weather during the event. Providing a safe and secure environment for an event is a priority of stakeholders at an event. Risks that are associated with food festival along other special events include the terrorism, hooliganism, crowd disorder, assault vandalism, and theft. Nevertheless, terrorism has been cited as one of the most common risks associated with the security of events. When it comes to security at events, the emphasis is often placed on terrorism, crowd management issues as well as natural disasters (Human Kinetics, n.d.). Terrorists often target festival because of a large number of people attending the event. McCloud, (2010, p.79) notes that the security of a festival event affects every other aspect of operations. While at the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival for two days, I noted that security was among one of the things that the organizers had put into consideration. There were no security incidents during the event which made the festival even greater. Food festivals often exploit the communicative capacity of food. Eating food that symbolizes identity is and accessible and usually appealing way to learn about culture, traditions of others. The underscore of food festivals is the notable food presented in various ways. Food festivals often involve food- centric competitions such as recipe, cooking and tossing contests (Allen and Albala, 2007, p.179). The seafood that was available at the festival can be seen below from a sample of the menu provided. From this year’s menu, the cheapest meal available from the festival is £6. For a successful event like the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival, there is a need for sponsors who will not only help in the promotion of the event but also in financing of the event. For a sponsorship to work effectively, the event organizers need to know their target audience. This allows the event planners to target sponsors that will not only interested in the event but also cater for the visitors. Sponsorship is a common and widespread opportunity to help fund and event. Moreover, it is a great way to create a relationship with the sponsors (Carter, 2013; Kilkenny, 2011). The sponsors for the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival range from stage sponsors to media sponsors. The stage sponsors include AGA, RANGEmaster, and Cookery Theatre while the travel sponsors for the event are South West Trains. The category sponsors for the event include COMAX, Fishbox, Dream Cottages and Broil King, and the media sponsors include Resort Marketing, Dorset and Wessex FM. Other sponsors for the event include Piddle, Jurassic Skyline, and Finn Square Weymouth. The sponsors work in a collaborative manner to ensure that the event is a success (Dorsetseafood.co.uk, 2015). When it comes to food events, the variety of chefs that event organizers include and invite to the event play a significant role in the success of the event. At times, people just attend food festivals to sample the variety of cuisines prepared by the different chefs at the event. Moreover, food festival organizers try to invite celebrity chefs to boost the number of people attending the event. For the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival, there were over ten chefs and each tried to showcase their cooking style when it comes to seafood (Dorsetseafood.co.uk, 2015). Visitors to the event had the chance to sample different seafood meals prepared by the chefs and give their feedback once they were done. A majority of the chefs note that their aim for attending the event is not to make money but rather interact with the public and get their thoughts on what they thought about their food. The chefs had their own stalls with ample space to work from and serve their visitors. At this point, it is of merit to to note that the event did not only have seafood but also wine for the visitors to sample. To conclude, the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival has been among the highlights of food events so far this year. It is a unique event both in terms of organization and services offered during the event. Moreover, the annual event will continue to attract more and more people in the coming years since the event organizers’ have already set a date for next year’s edition. This goes a long way to show that the event organizers have already started planning for the next event. Bibliography Allen, G. and Albala, K. (2007). The business of food. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Allen, J. (2009). Event planning. Mississauga, Ont.: J. Wiley & Sons Canada. Baum, T. (2009). People and work in events and conventions. Cambridge, Mass.: CABI. Bowdin, G., Allen, J. and Harris, R. (2012). Events management. Oxford, U.K.: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Carter, L. (2013). Event Planning. Bloomington: AuthorHouse. Chen, W., Fei Lee, F. and Lin, L. (2012). Investigating factors affecting festival quality: A case study of Neimen Song Jiang Jhen Battle Array, Taiwan. Afr. J. Mark. Manage., 4(2). Dorsetseafood.co.uk, (2015). Festival Chefs - Photo Gallery - Dorset Seafood Festival. 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