The new facilities will provide an ‘innovative’ range of dining options that go over and above the traditional three meals a day. The dining halls will be open for an additional 50+ hours a week to provide greater flexibility.
The Trax Diner and Heroes Diner aim to deliver a contemporary restaurant environment that encourages people to get together and socialise over food. ESS has used its knowledge and consumer insight from its Defence contracts and the wider Compass business, coupled with current high street trends, to develop a diverse food offer that incorporates:
- Nutritionally balanced meals providing great value for money
- Creative and exciting global food concepts
- Cook to order options prepared theatre style
- Hot and cold deli items to eat in or grab and go
- Lighter, healthier choices
- A selection of desserts
The projects are part of the Army EATS trial which is introducing a more flexible approach to catering at six Army sites with a view to delivering a dining and social experience that is relevant, nutritious and supportive of modern lifestyles.
The chefs are using fresh ingredients to prepare dishes that are colourful, appetising and full of flavour. Healthy plant-forward meals are integrated across the menu to cater for a range of tastes and support MOD and Compass’ net zero targets.
Bob Gray, managing director of ESS Defence, said: “We’re proud to be supporting the army in its vision to deliver a modern catering service that effectively supports its people. We’ve taken what works best across our business and the wider industry and used it to develop a completely new concept for Allenby Barracks and Kendrew Barracks; one that provides our customers with much greater flexibility around what they can eat in the mess and when they choose to eat it.
“The environments have been designed as social spaces that can be used by service personnel throughout the day, supporting wellbeing. We’re excited to continue working with the Army EATS team and will obtain feedback throughout the trial to help shape the future of foodservice provision for our Armed Forces.”
The food court layouts have been designed to support customer flow. Individual serving stations reduce queueing times and extensive digital screen media makes it easy to identify the options available.