While some visitors might use eating as an occasion to sit down and relax in a restaurant and café, many just want a snack to munch at the monkey house or sip as they watch the seals. That‘s why portability is a major consideration for most of the food offered at zoos, Burgess says. Simpson adds that parents often look for cubed or cut-up fruits because they are toddler-friendly bite-size snacks that can be eaten in a stroller.
Some indoor attractions might also offer seasonal outdoor exhibits or activities along with appropriate snack carts. Adventure Aquarium sets up ice cream carts outdoors in warmer weather. For some quick-service brands, however, the seasonality of outdoor venues can be a problem.
“Although a zoo may be open throughout the year, that doesn’t mean the volume of visitor traffic will be consistent every day,” Hahn says. “Some chains are not equipped to handle the kinds of customer activity fluctuations that are part of the leisure business.”
Institutions also count on brand partners to bring sponsorship and promotional opportunities to the table. Opportunities can be as simple as printing educational or conservation messages that support the institution’s mission on drink cups. It could be investing company resources into programs such as helping local schoolchildren understand the value of recycling. For companies with bigger budgets, it could mean putting dollars into sponsorships of exhibits, activities and local, national, or international programs such as clean water initiatives that support the institution’s core mission.
“A brand doesn’t have to be large and have a huge budget to give us the kind of support we’re looking for,” Burgess says.“Smaller, local brands often have the advantage of community support and ties, and they can offer us the opportunity for inclusion.”
Another way for operators to show their support of an institution is to become active in a trade organizations such as the AZA, with more than 5,500 members, and the AAM, which counts among its members more than 15,000 professionals and 3,000 institutions. Both organizations offer membership to product and service suppliers. In the AZA, suppliers join as “Commercial Members,” in the AAM the category is “Industry Partners.”
In addition to membership listings and discounted advertising opportunities, member companies have many opportunities to network with decision-makers at institutions at national and regional meetings and through work on committees. Aramark, Sodexo, and Service Systems Associates are also members of AZA.
Both organizations also hold annual trade shows in conjunction with the annual national conferences. AZA’s MuseumExpo, which is billed as “North America’s largest showcase for museum suppliers,” is held in September; AAM’s trade show is held in the spring. Member companies get discounted rates on their exhibit booths.
One particularly valuable marketing tool available to members of AZA is access to the organization’s Request for Proposals (RFP) database. Nonmembers can get a copy of the association’s membership directory for $125.
Burgess recommends that operators familiarize themselves with the visitor demographics of the institutions they hope to partner with. They should also find out whether the institution manages its foodservice in-house or outsources the operation to a management group.
“When there’s a management company involved, the profits have to be split three ways,” Burgess says. “The concept has to generate enough dollars to go around.”
Coen suggests that smaller or local brands “send letters every three months to the heads of foodservice of institutions in your area.
“In any given year, 20 percent of institutions are reevaluating foodservice,” he says. “You want to make sure you’re always in front of these prospective customers.”