Are you looking forward to a Wilf's veggie chilli?

[Big Jon]

I don't think anyone should be losing sight of the main objective of this exercise which is to provide the best possible service to the customer. If the process is not achieving this then it's the wrong process.

To me it looks like it's starting in the wrong place. Is the landowner charging per unit? If so then ask the traders to cover it and apply a fee which will still ensure it's worth their while to attend. As long as costs are covered the priority should be about enhancing the event.

I couldn't agree more.

[buzz]

I don't think anyone should be losing sight of the main objective of this exercise which is to provide the best possible service to the customer. If the process is not achieving this then it's the wrong process.

I agree, although I would suggest BO have an obligation to the sport as a whole not just the JK and British. BO should do everything possible to ensure that suppliers like O'Nosh and Podium are able to attend and profit from the larger events so that they can continue to service the smaller events throughout the year where I imagine profits are harder to secure.

[madmike]

I don't think anyone should be losing sight of the main objective of this exercise which is to provide the best possible service to the customer. If the process is not achieving this then it's the wrong process.

I agree, although I would suggest BO have an obligation to the sport as a whole not just the JK and British. BO should do everything possible to ensure that suppliers like O'Nosh and Podium are able to attend and profit from the larger events so that they can continue to service the smaller events throughout the year where I imagine profits are harder to secure.

yes my view too Buzz

[awk]

I would suggest that it should be a requirement for the awarding of a contract that the provider has a track record of providing catering at a minimum number of smaller events, to show commitment to the sport.

[Mrs H]

buzz - I said all that on page 2

[Electrocuted]

I honestly can't see why BOF felt the need to tender for catering at the JK. Fair enough, they spend public money (funds provided by SportEngland etc.) so should tender for any services that they will be spending these funds on but this is different and the interests of the members in fulfilling their requirements should surely be the primary concern here.

I'm not surprised that small traders found the tendering process intimidating and perhaps didn't manage their bid particularly well. I'm involved in tenders at work and it is very time consuming and difficult to know exactly what is being looked for occasionally.

Looking at 'Taste of Wales' website while they seem experienced in outdoor catering, they cite therir experience in music festivals, concerts, race days and football and rugby matches. Not exactly their clientele here. I don't know about anyone else, but I really don't fancy a hog roast, carvery, steak or burger after a run and I certainly won't be feeding my toddler son that sort of food. At least they have baked potatoes but I like a mixture over the weekend and will really miss veggie chilli with pitta bread and pasta and similar.

[IanD]

I'd like to know what food traders were invited to tender for and how the bids were evaluated.

Is a caterer winning exclusive rights obliged to provide a range foods, including vegetarian options, some sort of pasta, a choice of wholemeal & white bread in burgers, etc?

Are there any limits on the price they can charge?

If British Orienteering have effectively said to the caterer, "give us a wodge of money and we'll provide you with a monopoly which you can use to rip off our members with any old rubbish", then that would be unacceptable. But it isn't clear to me that this is what actually has happened.

[AndyC]

Tenders are often regarded as "Commercially sensitive" and if published amounts and tenderers are often scrambled -so you may learn little.
And if my recollection of this thread is accurate at least one traditional orienteering caterer didn't tender in time.
BTB it is also possible that the tender was published in an appropriate "journal" (e.g OJEC) and no-one was actually "invited" formally.

[IanD]

What I'm suggesting we should be told is what requirements were specified in the invitation to tender and what criteria were used for evaluating the tenders. This does not require disclosure of the actual tenders.

[Duncan]

Tenderers were asked to submit details of the food they would be offering, sample menus etc. That would then be taken into account, along with the price they bid, exclusivity requests etc.

[awk]

The whole concept of exclusivity is a major bother to me. One of the pleasures of previous events has been the range and variety. Instead, just four trailers for 3000+ people from one monopoly, with perhaps one, maybe two trailers at the outside, selling vegetarian options. Nowhere near enough. Although, actually, it may well be, as we I suspect won't be the only ones who decide to forego the queues and bring our own food.

BTW, I wonder how much the tendering process had regard to long term implications rather than simply short term gain.

[RJ]

Anyone considered that BOF might just have to ensure the food on offer is 'fit for purpose' (I'm sure there is a better way of saying that!), and that the tendering process is there to make sure that happens. To protect us from food poisoning etc. Maybe the first requirement of the tendering process is to show their 'Food & Hygiene' certification. Who knows! We live in the H&S world now.

[Mrs H]

...are you suggesting that some of the usual caterers don't have hygiene certificates?

[andypat]

Anyone considered that BOF might just have to ensure the food on offer is 'fit for purpose' (I'm sure there is a better way of saying that!), and that the tendering process is there to make sure that happens. To protect us from food poisoning etc. Maybe the first requirement of the tendering process is to show their 'Food & Hygiene' certification. Who knows! We live in the H&S world now.

I'm pretty sure a food hygiene certificate is a requirement of selling food anywhere, and not necessarily an integral part of any tendering process.

[AndyC]

Can I point out that as well as the standard hygiene certificate - which I think andypat is right in saying is mandatory- there are a number of other schemes relating additionally to food standard and service?