Parents Meet Concessions

[GymMomStarQuest29]

Last meet we went to had such a thing. They called it a “walking taco”. As someone who cares about healthy eating, I’ve never seen a single thing for sale that I’d consume or allow my daughter to consume, which is a shame.

We do walking tacos here. I don’t like them, because IMO they’re messy and more work than the rest of the stuff we offer. Walking tacos always feel like the ingredients don’t mix well and when you pull the spoon out of the bag, everything just falls out of the bag. But alas, they’re popular, apparently.

 

[ORgymmom]

My husband chimed in with a vote for hot dogs.

That’s the ticket… right idea! I’d go $5 though. It’s not chips or a soda… so $5!

that’s a good idea! Our old gym had a microwave and kettle and sold those at the front desk to parents and rec kids waiting for siblings through dinner times. You could do the same with any leftovers.

 

[GymMomStarQuest29]

I'm intrigued by this. I feel like our gym tries to do to much with concessions and usually has a lot leftover. I don't know if they'd be open to change for future meets (we host 2 per season), though...

I’m concerned that if we plan too. Ugh, it’ll all be left over and if we plan too little, we will run out of food the first day. It’s this weekend. I’ll let you know how it turns out

I tried to find options that anyone would be able to choose while also keeping in mind we don’t want it to be too difficult. My issue is that I’m used to swim meets. Swimmers eat anything not nailed down. And they can roam and wander during the meet. And their parents are just chilling. So you can really sell everything quickly. But, this is different. The gymnasts mostly don’t eat and unless you’re in a wide open gym with a lot of space, parents don’t roam. And from my experience, most just go out to dinner afterward. So I have zero idea how much food to plan for.

 

[ORgymmom]

I volunteer at swim meets. Definitely don’t buy swim meet quantities! Swimmers eat like raccoons, including the part where they toss wrappers everywhere.

 

[B&M's mom]

I echo the votes for hot dogs. We did a small inhouse meet for the first time. We bought boxes of snacks to sell. I bought a large package of hot dogs and buns for the volunteers as we were there from early morning to late at night. We didn't advertise them but had them sitting in a crock pot. People kept begging us to buy one. We ended making more money selling the hot dogs than the other snacks. We bought pizza for the volunteers after the meet which they liked better than the hot dogs!

 

[Rockygym]

I have 2 words for you - Food Trucks and ask them to donate a portion of their proceeds. We have done this and it was a hit with everyone and no left overs!

 

[GymMomStarQuest29]

I have 2 words for you - Food Trucks and ask them to donate a portion of their proceeds. We have done this and it was a hit with everyone and no left overs!

Can’t. They’re all at another local event all weekend. Trust me I tried.

 

[Em09]

My gym has a canteen that is open all the time, so we don't have concession stands for comps, but they mostly sell chips, French Fries, Slushies, chocolate, soft drink, candy, muffins, fruit, ANZAC biscuits and water. And lamingtons (good old Australia .) I feel like some sort of meal deal would be best in this case.

 

[LucyRobinson]

Simple concessions tend to do the best like many others have said. However many gymnasts who have siblings or friends competing or are helping with the meet might spend most of the day at the venue. I would add a healthy option like maybe a sandwich, salad, protein bar, etc. Makes it more complicated but would be very helpful for gym families.

 

[raenndrops]

One big concept issue that gymnastics gets wrong with concessions…

You are feeding the audience… not the competitors. The competitors should all come fueled and ready to go.

I would agree with above… many meets just don’t do concessions… it just isn’t that necessary.

Concessions is where we make our money at meets.
Coffee, Water, Soda, Sports Drinks.
Baggies of grapes, celery, baby carrots.
Apples, bananas.
Assorted granola bars / power bars.
Yogurt tubes, applesauce pouches
Hot dogs, sloppy joes, shredded chicken, walking tacos.
Doritos, Chips, Pretzel twists.
Assorted individually wrapped candies.
Cookies, brownies, other individually wrapped yummies .
(in the morning) Amish pastries ... fyi, the apple fritters are to die for!!!!! In addition to the apple fritters, pecan rolls, long johns/creamsticks, jelly doughnuts, cinnamon rolls.
(starting at 11am) pepperoni pizza, cheese pizza.

 

[Coach Kate]

I have 2 words for you - Food Trucks and ask them to donate a portion of their proceeds. We have done this and it was a hit with everyone and no left overs!

I was at a meet where they did this, and as a coach, I loved it. We got vouchers and placed orders so the food was ready at the end of the session. And the trucks rotated throughout the weekend so we had different options on different days. There was also a coffee truck and the meet hosts took coffee orders for the early session the night before, so our coffees were ready when we got to the gym in the morning. We all absolutely loved it! It looked like they had lots of business from gymnasts and families too - especially the ice cream truck in the afternoons and evenings!

 

[twinmomma]

We host 6-7 meets per year so leftovers aren't a huge issue for us, but anything packaged is ideal, that way even if you don't host another meet you can host concession tables on rec showcase nights or even on cold nights for rec families in the gym. There's lots of ways to get rid of leftovers.

 

[GymMomStarQuest29]

We host 6-7 meets per year so leftovers aren't a huge issue for us

For gymnastics?? That is crazy! How many meets do you attend in a year? I think my daughter had like 6 meets this year, total.

 

[twinmomma]

We host 2 during compulsory season (fall here), 2 during optionals season (winter/spring), usually one state meet - this year it was an optional one, next year it'll be a compulsory one, an Acro meet, and a boys meet. This year we also held a small T&T meet.

 

[twinmomma]

Oh, as for attending, it's different for each group. Compulsory I think tends to do four or 5 and state, optionals is entirely dependent on what level optionals you are (the 9 and 10s do more travel than say the 7s do). Boys I couldn't tell you. Acro does 6 but that includes nationals, and T&T probably 5 including nationals.

 

[Racpp]

My biggest advice is to know your local and state requirements for concession stands.

We were at a meet where the health department showed up and shut it down. Most of the food couldn’t be sold. They were down to pre-packages brownies, chips, water, and sodas. Their food handling wasn’t the problem, it was they didn’t follow the HD guidelines of their area.

Depending on your location, you may not be allowed to use crockpots (seriously!), there may be a certain way silverware has to be presented, there may be rules about having food thermometers on site and recording food’s temps at given time intervals, there may be rules on minimum temps for hot foods, there may be a rule of someone in charge holding a food service certificate, there might be a requirement of having a full list of ingredients for every items (so home baked cookies have to submit recipes), etc.