“F&B” it is known as in the business - food and beverage - and if you go to an IAAPA trade show (as many of us will this November), it always figures prominently in the language of theme parks and family entertainment centres, which are only theme parks indoors and which tend to have smaller rides.

Duinrell F&B 1 Duinrell F&B 1

F&B is apparently an essential ingredient in what makes a park or FEC successful. Why then, does that essential ingredient tend to be so neglected in some countries?

I have travelled widely and taken my family into many theme parks and FECs and observed, from a professional point of view, how they handle the essential ingredients of the “inner man” to reveal a satisfied customer. FECs tend to have it sorted: they usually have a whole welter of food court sitting outside their door.

The efficacy of that offer is open to some debate. It tends to be fast food, usually all heavily branded, and therefore lacking in imagination.

Theme parks, however, have to make their own facilities. And this is where I would question the amount of thoughtful planning - ground out through seminars and workshops and illustrated on the IAAPA show floor - that actually makes it into reality.

American theme parks tend to have (in my experience) a reasonable mix of fast and served food in a range of kiosks and sit-down establishments, although the actual content may leave some room for discontent. In Europe, the variation in quality is simply astonishing.

In the UK and Spain, for example, eating establishments in theme parks are not for the faint-hearted. I shun them with almost religious distain, guiding my grandchildren elsewhere for sustenance. It is all fast food, all iniquitously unhealthy and usually served by folk who have all the appearance and attitude of hating their jobs.

Then I had a couple of trips to the Netherlands. At the huge Efteling there was a revelation in good food, wide variety, served quickly and offering a multitude of healthy options. And all of it – including the “healthy” stuff, which is often avoided by children – was in great demand. Dutch kids, I concluded, are made the same way as British kids, so why are they going for chicken wraps as enthusiastically as hamburgers?

Conditioning, perhaps? Who knows, but Efteling was in no way unique. On a more recent trip to the same country, a visit to the much smaller but equally well-run Duinrell revealed that good quality is not the private domain of the substantial location. Again, the restaurant was heaving, the food choices were wide and appetising, fresh fruit figuring as strongly as pizza, while wraps and salads as prolific as burgers and chips. Soups and sandwiches were homemade and - but for the paper cup - the ham and pea soup could have come from an establishment in the heart of London.

If Duinrell can do it, why can’t the UK parks? Why are the Spanish theme parks and water parks treating F&B as a necessary evil?

Recommendation to senior management: Make a quick trip over to Duinrell or Efteling and pick up some tips.

Images: F&B offering at Duinrell in the Netherlands