The Arena will feature two Old El Paso units, one selling nachos and the other fajitas. Old El Paso previously had a small stall and took £2,500 in the first two hours at Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway on Tour and at the Horse of the Year Show; the nachos unit sold over 1,000 portions over five days.
Such is the success since the launch that Amadeus would like to double the size of both units at the LG Arena.
Mark Brown, marketing manager for Old El Paso, said: “We are delighted with our new partnership with Amadeus and the LG Arena. Old El Paso is all about sharing fun mealtimes together and this partnership gives us the opportunity to connect with our consumers as they have fun at some of the most exciting events in the UK.”
Amadeus uses its in-house marketing insight team to monitor food and beverage trends, and adapts its offering based on industry developments, consumer behaviour and demand.
The deal was brokered by the NEC Group’s sponsorship agency Eight Feet Tall and includes a mobile unit for the Group’s National Indoor Arena, which will be launched as the Barclaycard Arena in December following a £26 million redevelopment.
Kevin Watson, managing director for Amadeus, said: “Amadeus is committed to offering a range of high quality catering options for visitors at all of its ‘meet’ and ‘visit’ venues. Amadeus has already seen the popularity of street food concepts at the LG Arena and is pleased to have partnered with Old El Paso to open the country’s first Arena retail outlet.”
The LG Arena, with a capacity of over 15,500, hosts over 90 shows a year and welcomes around 800,000 people through its doors. It was ranked seventh in the list of ‘Top 100 Arenas Worldwide’ by Pollstar and hosts music, sport, comedy and family events.