Bill Greathouse has spent 35 years in sports concessions, and over the years he’s become one of the best operators in the business. As senior vice president of sports for Centerplate, he’s the one who introduced garlic fries and the grilled crab sandwich to Bay Area sports fans at AT&T Park. Both are now signature items at the San Francisco ballpark, a venue that consistently ranks among the best food experiences in MLB.
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A good part of our sales are specialty products. Instead of coming to the ballpark and talking about a batter’s average, fans are saying, ‘I can’t wait to get a crab sandwich.’ I like to hear that.”
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Photo: COURTESY OF CENTERPLATE
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On bubble tea, a new AT&T Park food item: It came out of Singapore and Hong Kong, a tea-based concoction with cooked tapioca balls in the base of it. They’re like gummy bears. Kids love it. It offers people under 21 an alternative to soft drinks, which they’re not drinking that much anymore. We’re going to expand the locations next year.
His twist on celebrity chefs in sports: [Food Network host] Tyler Florence does spots on our food that go up on the video board. He’ll do something on the crab sandwich, show how it’s made. Whenever a spot appears on the board, we get a line of people shooting to [the stand] — an instant return on your advertising. He’s been very helpful.
Stalwarts hot dogs and beer evolve, too: Even in those categories we’ve seen a lot of diversity. I almost sound like Bubba from “Forrest Gump” when he’s talking about shrimp: We have the grilled hot dog, boiled, all meat, all beef, veggie, kosher, topped with chili and cheese — it goes on and on. Then you have this whole phenomenon of craft beers. Same thing for wine.
Setting prices: Always an issue, but to have the quality, you’ve got to cover yourself and you have to charge for it. My approach is to have diverse levels of pricing: You have an all-beef hot dog for $7 but also a $4 value dog. A guy with a couple kids is going to love it and feel a part of the overall experience, but yet it’s not breaking the bank for the family.
Flash is cash: You can come up with the greatest sandwich in the world but if you don’t merchandise it to the fans, quite honestly, they’re not going to know about it. So you must have grills out there, displays, people putting things together creating interest — even if you can get fans to participate, such as “Build your own nachos.” Then they feel a part of it.
