For the fourth time, Marc Bruno has taken on the Herculean task of overseeing Aramark’s foodservice operations at the summer Olympic games, to be held this year in the city of Beijing.
In addition to the pressures associated with this Olympian effort, Bruno assumed a new position last month when he was promoted to president of Aramark’s stadiums and arenas division. A company veteran of 15 years, Bruno, who has spent most of his career with Aramark in corporate- and campus-dining services, says he is excited about his new role and the challenges that go along with it.
What has the transition from corporate dining to sports and entertainment been like? What are the biggest differences between the two?
I’ve had the luxury and pleasure of working in our education division, as well as business services and international, as well as overseeing the Olympics, and I’ve had lots of fun with all of it. Obviously, in business dining the accounts are much smaller [than at stadiums and arenas].
The average size for a business services account’s operation is smaller than the one that takes place at a stadium, and we’re obviously serving a different clientele. In business services, we talk about the notion of serving a captive audience, and at stadiums we’re looking at how we can be part of the fan experience. In a sports setting, customers are coming to be entertained and to relax and our job is to deliver the services they’re going to want in that kind of environment.
So what do sports fans want?
It varies by sport, the time of day and what the actual event is. From a culinary perspective, our job is to figure out what the fan bases want and the answer is different for each venue. Obviously, they want something that works well in the environment they’re in.
How do you determine their desires?
We work in conjunction with the team and diligently [try to find out] what our different fans are looking for. For example, at a pro baseball game, some guests are coming to entertain clients and others are coming with their families. Then there are the fanatics who are looking for an experience that won’t detract from watching the game. And others are looking for a culinary experience or for something that works well with kids. We try to understand what kind of fans we’ve got at each venue and what they’re looking for at each one.
What are you most excited about concerning your new position?
Certainly, I think the opportunity to work in this industry and this business is a very exciting [one]. The evolution of the industry and the sporting world is just a fantastic one. Fans can experience not only a high level of sports competition but a part of an American way of life. It’s a fun aspect to be a part of.
AT A GLANCE Name: Marc BrunoTitle: president, Aramark Stadiums and ArenasCareer highlights: 15 years with Aramark; working on four summer Olympic Games; working in different lines of business; meeting a variety of clientsHometown: ChicagoEducation: bachelor’s degree, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration; master’s degree, Harvard Business School
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced providing foodservice for the games in Beijing?
Beijing is a massive, wonderful city that has lot to offer. Typically, it comes as a surprise to many that the actual distribution [system] of food is not fully developed as of yet.
For example, as a city, it now has developed a series of roads that allow for easy access. The common mode for transport had been very small cars or vans; I’ve never seen an 18-wheeler on the road delivering food. So if an Olympic Games, [or some other big event], needed a significant quantity of food, they wouldn’t have had the network of vehicles to deliver [supplies], which seems surprising for a city of 20 million people. So the Olympics served as a kind of impetus for that [expansion and growth].
We’ve helped create what will become a standard process post-Olympics and, quite frankly, we’re very proud to be part of that. Local companies have invested in servicing the Olympics, which ultimately will allow them to take part in the economic process afterwards. We’ve told them that if they built warehouses and invested in trucks, we’d help them figure out how to develop [the business] afterwards. We’ve allowed for the development of infrastructure and technology and expanding the transportation network. Now there’s a safe and robust ability to host these types of events much into the future.
Did you have a sports and entertainment foodservice background in the past?
I worked in the Olympics environment in Atlanta in 1996, where we operated the foodservice for some of the venues and the Olympic Village. We served spectators in the stands, media personnel and the athletes. I worked with Aramark in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, and in Athens, Greece, in 2004. And now I’m overseeing the catering services program for Beijing, so I’ve had the pleasure of working on those international sporting events, and it’s been a fantastic opportunity.