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SSP Secures One of the World’s Largest Airport F&B Contracts at Oslo

Dépèche transmise le 24 mai 2011 par Business Wire

SSP Secures One of the World’s Largest Airport F&B Contracts at Oslo

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SSP has secured a major new deal to run over 30 food and beverage outlets at Oslo Airport. The five year deal means the company will remain the sole F&B operator airside and on the landside departure level. SSP will invest approximately 8 million pounds sterling in the new development (6 million of which will be as initial capex). The new and refurbished units are scheduled to open between November this year and March 2012.

As part of the deal, SSP will be introducing a number of the world’s most popular and prestigious brands to the Norwegian market in an impressive line up to be announced shortly. Several of the company’s successful international own names which are already operating at the airport will remain. These include Upper Crust – a firm favorite at Oslo airport, which boasts the world’s two largest outlets of this popular bakery brand. Alternatively passengers can visit casual dining brand Salmon House Seafood Bar (where they can enjoy first class Norwegian seafood together with a selection of fine wines), the leading sports bar O’Learys (offering good food in a relaxed and entertaining environment), and tapas offer Sinnataggen (which serves a stylish menu in an intimate lounge-style atmosphere). The company’s eye-catching Monolitten free-flow restaurant, (which was specially created for the airport and named after an iconic sculpture displayed in the capital’s Vigeland Park), will also continue to trade. These bars and restaurants will be complemented by SSP’s successful convenience store brand Point, which was especially created to meet the specific needs of the travelling consumer. A number of these outlets will be refurbished as part of the redevelopment of the terminal.

SSP’s Le Grand Comptoir brasserie (which was named ‘best food-led café bar/restaurant’ for its Houston outlet at the 2010 Moodie Report Airport Food & Beverage awards), will also be featured, which will mark the brand’s first appearance in the Norwegian market. SSP will also continue to run two lounges, as well as a staff café for flight crews.

New insights research into the needs and behaviors of passengers at Oslo helped to shape SSP’s selection of brands, and before the company submitted its tender proposal, it conducted detailed research into how each of the brands would meet the specific requirements of passengers at each location. It was the company’s strong brand portfolio, coupled with the success of its current operations at the airport that were instrumental in securing the deal, according to Espen Ettre, Director of Business Development and Real Estate at Oslo Airport. ‘SSP offered an outstanding range of bars, cafés and restaurants that are ideally suited to our passengers here at Oslo. They really understand the travelling consumer, and how to operate within the travel environment. The local management team is a strong one, and we’re confident that SSP Norway will continue to meet the high expectations of our customers.’

Commenting on the new deal, Morten Solberg Nilsen, Managing Director of SSP Norway, said he was delighted that SSP’s long and successful relationship with Oslo Airport would continue. ‘Oslo is of course one of Europe’s most important airports, and we’re very pleased to be playing a part in this major development project which will double the retail space at the airport by 2017. We’re looking forward to working in partnership with the airport and making a significant contribution towards helping them achieve their goal of becoming the best airport in Europe. This prestigious and significant contract win enables us to consolidate our business here in Scandinavia, and underscores our credentials as The Food Travel Experts.’

Passenger numbers at the airport are forecast to rise from 19 million in 2010 to 22 million in 2012. As a consequence of this growth, SSP expects the number of people it employs at the airport to rise from the current level of 700 people to 800 people by the end of next year.

Editor’s notes:

www.foodtravelexperts.com

About SSP

SSP is the leading dedicated operator of food and beverage brands in travel locations, operating restaurants, bars, cafes, food courts, lounges and convenience stores in airports, train stations, motorway service stations, shopping malls, conference centres and other leisure locations. With a heritage stretching back over 60 years, today SSP has 30,000 employees, serving over a million customers every day. It has business at over 140 airports and over 250 rail stations, and operates more than 2,100 units in 30 countries around the world.

SSP operates an extensive portfolio of over 200 international, national, local and speciality brands. These include Upper Crust, Starbucks, Caffè Ritazza, Burger King, M&S Simply Food, Bonne Journée, Pizza Hut, Caviar House & Prunier, and leading Japanese noodle brand Ajisen Ramen as well as stunning bespoke concepts such as the Montreux Jazz Café in Geneva and Sydney and the Bambini Wine Room in Sydney. Its brand portfolio is tailored for each specific location, depending on variables such as passenger profile, consumer need states, location type, size and design.

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