Under the Hood at the Auto Show
News
General Manager Jason Hougard, Chef Jamie Miller, and our team at the Cobo Convention Center supported by a crew of visiting managers welcomed the media in advance of an anticipated crowd of more than 800,000 to Detroit for this year’s Auto Show, including the amazing Charity Preview Event.
NAIAS is by far the largest show during any given year, and it keeps getting bigger. With the additional space and growth of the show, the company has seen a 76-percent increase in catering from year one. A ballroom space opened just before the 2014 show in the former Detroit Arena with additional meeting space underneath, as well as the addition of the atrium.
Centerplate has a total of nearly 2,000 smaller events in the five days leading up to the public show.
“We have a seven-inch, three-ring binder and a nine-inch, three-ring binder to hold all of the Banquet Event Orders,” said Jason Hougard, Centerplate’s general manager for Cobo Center. “It’s big scale, but once you break it all down and put them into one-inch binders it looks more manageable.” The company flies out about 50 out-of-town managers for a total of about 600 hotel room nights just to help with the massive undertaking.
Centerplate made a considerable capital investment in equipment, but state funds for the renovation allocated for a new 8,000-sq.-ft. eating space called the ‘Detroit Made Kitchen,’ featuring four food shops based on Detroit-inspired dishes and locally-sourced ingredients.
“Before, you walked into Cobo Center and didn’t see anything that really said ‘Detroit’ other than the Joe Louis statue,” said Hougard, who added that the city has a pretty good food scene including a strong pizza tradition and large Polish population.
“The Polish items have been doing fantastic,” he said. “There are some conventions where pierogis are keeping up with how the burgers are selling.”
Year over year, food and beverage sales have increased 25 percent in retail, and between 2013 and 2015, sales have increased about 50 percent total. Healthy options have helped spur those numbers. A ‘Go Natural’ concession stand has increased sales in its location by 20 percent in the first year, even after having reduced the number of items sold by 60 percent.
“Your costs do go up a bit when you go with high quality, but the gamble is the revenue increase will make up the difference in increase in cost,” Hougard added. So far, the gamble is paying off.
The city has hosted an annual auto show since 1907 (with the exception of the World War II years), transitioning into a truly international event in 1989 after a $225-million renovation and expansion to Cobo Center.
Brenda Jenkins March 2, 2015 at 9:27 am
Congrats to the Cobo team!!
Franco Brady February 11, 2015 at 10:57 am
Congratulations Jason!! Great Job!!