It is the 20th year Sodexo has provided the catering for The Open. The Sodexo team has been planning for the Royal Portrush venue in Belfast for over 18 months.
The on-course and hospitality catering went live on Sunday 14 July and continues until 21 July. 1,200 staff have been recruited to serve more than 215,000 expected spectators for The Open that ‘tees off’ on Thursday 18 July.
Stephen Frost, executive head chef for Sodexo’s sports & leisure division, said: “Catering for an event as prestigious and world-famous as The Open is an intensive almost 24-hour a day operation that has to run like clockwork over the seven days.
"We’ll be serving over 20,000 meals in the private hospitality areas and around 100,000 meals in the public areas. We’ll also be catering for 750 media personnel covering the event and roughly the same number of external contractors like florists, electricians, technical and design teams, along with 5,000 lunch bags for security, police and pay gate staff."
Sodexo is the catering partner of The R&A, which organises and stages The Open. Both organisations are 'committed' to supporting local food businesses including North Coast Smokehouse, Abernethy Butter, Ballylisk Dairies, Morellis Ice cream and French Village Bakery.
Philip Russell, assistant director – sustainability at The R&A, said: “Our GreenLinks programme forms an important part of The Open and ensures that we address the broad range of sustainability considerations required to stage a major global sporting event.
“We are delighted to be working alongside these local businesses and suppliers to offer tens of thousands of fans a wide range of delicious regional food and drink to enjoy when they come to Royal Portrush.”