A new team has been brought together to provide the hospitality and catering experience for officials, guests and spectators at The 2010 Ryder Cup at The Celtic Manor Resort, City of Newport, Wales, from 1-3 October next year.
Ryder Cup Hospitality 2010 Ltd have appointed Compass Group UK who will, through Compass Wales, drive the project and deliver more than £2.5 million into the local economy, and Mecco, a catering company based in Oxfordshire and established in 1999. They aim together to create a level of catering to match the excellence of golf’s most prestigious team event.
Richard Hills, the European Ryder Cup Director, said: “Following the huge success of The 2006 Ryder Cup in Ireland, when we catered for more than 40,000 people in hospitality alone, we are determined to raise the bar even higher with the ultimate catering experience at The Ryder Cup at The Celtic Manor Resort.
“We believe the appointment of Compass and Mecco will deliver all our requirements. They were chosen following a tender process which brought an outstanding response from a number of the UK’s and Continental Europe’s leading hospitality and event caterers. It was always our intention to appoint two caterers although selecting those two was hugely difficult as we really were spoilt for choice.”
Compass Group UK and Ireland is the market leader in providing contract catering and a range of support services to customers in the workplace, in schools and colleges, in hospitals, at leisure or in remote environments. They were one of the two caterers at The 2006 Ryder Cup in Ireland and The European Tour has worked with them for more than 20 years at The BMW PGA Championship and more recently at The European Open. Compass will also manage and operate all the public catering including the International Pavilion, Moet and Chandon Seafood facility and the Media Centre.
Mecco became the official caterers of the AEGON Championships, and in addition to servicing a wide range of sporting, corporate, private and cultural events they are the in-house caterers with the MCC at Lords.
Hills added: “We chose Compass not only because we have enjoyed a long and successful relationship with them but also because of the consistency of the team that will work on the event. In addition they have superb support services based in Wales, particularly at the Millennium Stadium, and as with Bord Bia in Ireland in 2006 we will consult with the Food, Fisheries and Market Development Division of the Welsh Assembly Government. We will where possible work with the people of Wales and Welsh product.
“We have not previously worked with Mecco but they impressed us with their vision and enthusiasm for the project. We are sure there will be friendly ‘competition’ between Compass and Mecco at The Celtic Manor Resort but we know that they will work together as a team which in our opinion will unquestionably serve to raise the standard of the product.”
Compass have announced Colin Pressdee – ‘a True Taste Champion’ –as their consultant to the project. Pressdee is a freelance food writer, broadcaster and consultant with close ties to Wales. His particular interest is in natural and organic food from the land and sea and he has written over the years for the Western Mail, the BBC Good Food Magazine, The Times, Financial Times and the Observer.
Rob Holt, the Chief Executive Officer of Ryder Cup Wales, said: “These appointments represent a very important step forward as we watch The 2010 Ryder Cup take shape. We have been working closely with Welsh Assembly Government’s Food, Fisheries and Market Development Division and with Ryder Cup Europe to ensure that, now the contractors are in place, we can make the crucial introductions with the intention that quality Welsh food suppliers are well represented in 2010 and, consequently, visitors to The Celtic Manor Resort receive a real True Taste of Wales.”
Ryder Cup Hospitality 2010 Ltd, Compass and Mecco will immediately start the process of defining innovative menus through a series of tastings so that these will be available for the ‘One-Year-To-Go’ event at The Celtic Manor Resort on 12-13 October.
2010 Ryder Cup www.rydercupwales2010.com