Champagne sales at the 2011 RHS Chelsea Flower Show reached a new high with a 13% increase in sales this year on top of an 8% rise the previous year.
2,860 bottles and 5,600 glasses of Laurent Perrier Cuvée Rosé and Brut were sold during RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2011 compared with 2,711 bottles and 5,400 glasses the previous year.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2011 was a great success for the official caterer Sodexo Prestige. During the course of the week, the visitors to the show consumed:
* 37,700 coffees
* 2,100 Chelsea buns
* 710 seafood platters
* 2,900 paninis
* 35,900 cups of tea
* 25,500 servings of Pimm's
Glorious weather on the first days meant that visitors were able to take time out from the gardens to relax with a glass of Champagne and a platter of delicious seafood at the new Laurent Perrier Champagne Bar, which was set in the North Ranelagh Gardens.
Lorraine Blake, sales manager, Sodexo Prestige says, "The hospitality village has been another great success this year. We had 16 chalets, each seating 40 people and it was a total sell-out. We were turning requests away in March due to the unprecidented demand for hospitality. The President's Marquee was our real showstopper and we have a waiting list for next year. In the week before RHS Chelsea we released a catering app for iphones which enabled visitors to find their way to the different restaurants and mobile outlets around the show. We had nearly 1000 downloads with 214 the day before the show opened."
Paul Boon, events director, Sodexo Prestige says, "We sold over 800 bottles of Laurent Perrier on the first day of the show this year so we knew we were in for a good week. Much of this was due to our Laurent Perrier Champagne
Bar which was new for this year. There was a great atmosphere at this bar with guests given the option of sitting outside or within the Osborne & Little wall papered interiors and it was busy all day.
"As well as the chalets in the Hospitality Village and the Champagne Bar there are three restaurants including the Rock Restaurant, Bistro and Champagne & Seafood Restaurant. We also manage three public food courts, two cafes, the Exhibitors' restaurant, press tent as well as the Sponsors area.
"Each day I manage a team of around 700 staff, some of whom are receiving the first deliveries at 5.00am and it's midnight before the last staff leave. We are delighted to have MSC Accreditation for the first year at the Champagne & Seafood Restaurant and we can name the trawler that caught each of the fish on our menu."
Highlights from the Champagne & Seafood Restaurant menu included British oysters accompanied by fresh lemon, Tabasco or & shallot vinegar served on crushed ice; shellfish platter with lobster with a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Brut NV; roast kippered salmon, Severn & Wye cure cold smoked Albacore tuna; lemon sole served with chervil crushed new potatoes, snow peas, edamame beans and green beans and lemon hollandaise sauce and English strawberry and vanilla cream tart.
David Hesketh MW, Managing Director, Laurent-Perrier UK comments, "Our week has started perfectly with the Laurent Perrier Garden, designed by Luciano Giubbilei, being awarded a Gold medal by the judges. We're also thrilled to be working with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and Sodexo Prestige for the twelfth-year, serving Laurent-Perrier at the prestigious Gala Night and 160,000 visitors attending throughout the week".
Sodexo Prestige is the exclusive caterer for RHS Chelsea Flower Show and has been working with the show for over thirty years. Each year Sodexo Prestige raises the bar with regard to the style and quality of the food it provides.
