Merlin Entertainments Names Aramark Food and Beverage Partner

Merlin Entertainments, a location-based entertainment company, announced that it has named Aramark, a food, facilities management and uniform company, as its food and beverage partner for five locations in the U.K. and two in the U.S.  

The U.K. locations for the multi-year contract include Alton Towers Resort, Chessington World of Adventures Resort, Thorpe Park Resort, Warwick Castle and LEGOLAND Windsor Resort. U.S. locations are in LEGOLAND California Resort and LEGOLAND Florida Resort.  

"Building an innovative and high-quality food and beverage offering for our guests is part of our continued business strategy to deliver the very best guest days out and short breaks," says Nick Varney, chief executive, Merlin Entertainments. "Aramark's accomplishments in driving world-class hospitality programs at many of the most prestigious sporting events, iconic locations and leading destinations in the world make them a great partner to elevate our food offering as part of the magic and memorable experiences we offer our guests."  

At Merlin Entertainments resorts and hotels across the seven locations, Aramark will be introducing food and beverage programs that offer family and guest favorites, fresh concepts, themes and events, coupled with technology solutions to make it easy and convenient for visitors to navigate the varied choices. Each resort and hotel will have its portfolio of food and beverage offerings based on the location.  

In addition, Aramark and Merlin Entertainments are already collaborating to ensure sustainable practices are core to the operations at all locations.  

"We are proud to share our hospitality culture with Merlin Entertainments guests and families," says John Zillmer, chief executive officer, Aramark. "We like to say that we're 'rooted in service' and our scale, experience and expertise as a global leader in foodservice innovation positions us to deliver world-class dining experiences at Merlin's resorts and hotels, both in the U.K. and in the U.S."  

Food and beverage operations at the respective attractions will begin under Aramark from this March in the U.K., with the transfer expected to complete by the end of March 2023 in the U.S.