Foodservice

Aramark teams with Pittsburgh Penguins on arena food lockers

Image courtesy of Aramark.

March 9, 2022

The Pittsburgh Penguins are testing the latest innovation in food locker delivery systems at PPG Paints Arena as part of a collaboration with Aramark, the arena's exclusive food and beverage concessionaire, and Cargill, provider of food pickup system, according to a press release.

The new self-service concept, which launched at PPG Paints Arena in late February 2022, allows fans to select and order food and beverage items from an exclusive menu directly at their seats and pick up from one of 24 dual-chamber, temperature-controlled food lockers located at the Ford Food Garage in Section 115. This location, adjacent to the Ford Lounge, not only allows all arena guests the ability to order from a new, curated menu featuring everything from truffle buffalo chicken tenders to beer and canned cocktails, but also serves as an added amenity to Ford Lounge patrons.

Using Cargill's Chekt system and Tapin2's mobile order fulfillment solution, which connects the Penguins Mobile App to the lockers with a simple SMS-based notification system, concession items will be placed into the locker's hot or ambient temperature compartments, depending on the food or beverage item, ensuring fans can enjoy their order fresh and at their convenience.

Using the Penguins app, fans will locate the Ford Food Garage tile and click to view the exclusive menu of food and beverage items.

Once they've added items to their virtual cart and they're ready to place an order, fans pay through the app and receive confirmation via SMS.

When the order is ready, fans receive a text instructing them to retrieve their food. When they arrive, fans simply reply "here" via SMS, and the locker containing their order lights up and unlocks.