Feeding Olympians no small feat for food staff

When it comes to feeding the world’s top athletes at the Summer Olympics in Athens, almost everything comes supersized.

There’s a 42,000-square-foot kitchen, hundreds of tons of meat and produce, millions of gallons of bottled water and thousands of voracious swimmers, runners, weightlifters and others who want tasty cuisine – and lots of it – all the time.

“They’ll normally double up and triple up their portions, so we’re talking about two or three pounds of food per meal, and three or four meals per day, for each athlete,” Michael R. Crane, senior executive chef of Aramark, said in a telephone interview from Athens.

The Philadelphia-based food service company estimates it will serve more than 2 million meals to athletes, coaches and officials in Athens for two months, including the 17 days of competition.

The company has had to contend with construction delays, concerns over security arrangements to stop terrorists and a blackout that hit Athens on July 12, but Aramark officials said things will be running smoothly by the time the games open Aug. 13.

“There are some things that are a little time-sensitive, roads are congested, you’ve got construction and a lot of things happening everywhere,” Marc Bruno, a vice president for Aramark’s International Group, said from Athens. “It’s all going to come together.”

Aramark, which has run food services at 12 previous Olympics, is partnering with Greek hospitality company Daskalantonakis Group to feed some 10,500 athletes from a record 201 countries, along with coaches and Olympic officials.

In all, 85 Aramark executives and chefs are managing and staffing the kitchens in Athens, along with well over 1,000 students from U.S. and Greek culinary schools and colleges providing assistance.

Aramark expects to serve 24,000 meals a day – and 55,000 a day during peak times.