The art of minor league baseball concessions in a Food Network world
They don’t order products by the pound for Rocket City Trash Pandas concessions, they order them by the ton and by the pallet. “Our average fan base is 6,500 to 7,000 for Friday and Saturday nights,” says Garien Shelby, food and beverage director for the Trash Pandas, the double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball franchise Los Angeles Angels.
On a recent morning, Shelby checked in from the Trash Panda’s Toyota Stadium homefield in Madison, Alabama, for a Zoom video interview. Below are edited excerpts.
Garien, what’s the process for coming up with new menu items for Rocket City Trash Pandas games at Toyota Field?
Garien Shelby: I mean, it takes a lot of testing, it takes a lot of sourcing, it takes a lot of logistics. it takes a lot of testing, it takes a lot of sourcing, it takes a lot of logistics. Something from pretzels, to hotdogs, burgers, to chicken tenders, to fries, ice cream, all those great things that our fans like, it’s a team behind me that really puts in quite a bit of work and quite a bit of hours, just from sourcing products to shipping and receiving. You’re not talking about you know, a couple of cases here a couple of cases there.