Movie Treats Get an Upgrade
Popcorn must now compete with
edamame, churros and lobster rolls, while dine-in theaters serve whole meals
By Erich Schwartzel in the Wall
Street Journal
LAS VEGAS—Moviegoing is most
associated with one dietary indulgence: buttery popcorn, served up by a bored
teenager filling tub after tub.
Now, some entrepreneurs want to fit
the entire food pyramid into the multiplex.
“Edamame is the answer,” said Ron Law, whose
product, EdaMovie, is sold in eight theater chains.
“What people really want is
something fun, something lighthearted,” said Dr. Law, a former cardiologist
based in Denver who calls the protein-rich legume “nature’s original finger
food.”
His soybeans are fighting for
movie-theater market share with more than just Reese’s Pieces. Theaters must
now lure gourmands with options that include shrimp cavatappi at AMC theaters;
quinoa and almond crusted goat cheese salad at iPic locations or spicy sushi
lobster roll at Cinépolis sites.
And a surge in dine-in movie
theaters—equipped with full kitchens and ushers who double as waiters—has
spurred a rethink of the concession stand itself.
The expanding menus are important to
the bottom line: Major chains say tens of millions of moviegoers buy tickets
but forgo food and drinks, which are highly profitable.
The candy-counter overhaul was on
display last month at CinemaCon, an annual convention for movie-theater
operators held at Caesars Palace. On the trade-show floor, among the
wall-paneling providers and aisle-lighting firms, were samples of Oreo-flavored
churros, smoky bacon cheddar dipping sauce for soft pretzels or chips and
Popcornopolis, creators of an organic popcorn blend the company said comes with
“better for you” flavors.
Many of the newer items are
lower-fat alternatives to the traditional tray of nachos doused in cheese, and
additions that might come with a learning curve, said Bruce Coleman, an
executive vice president at Brenden Theatres, a 90-screen circuit across
California and the Southwest. He was nibbling on one of Dr. Law’s edamame
samples and said he now gets questions from patrons like, Do you have vitamin
water? And what kind of oil was the popcorn popped in?
Movie-theater executives say
consumers want the healthier options, and theaters are getting ready for a
December requirement by the Food and Drug Administration for most of them to
list calorie counts.
Not even popcorn is safe from
tinkering. Dave Waldman’s Kickers Powdered Fruit Blends are sweeteners he said
can make even the stalest popcorn taste exotic. “There are really no
fruit-based toppings for popcorn out there,” said Mr. Waldman, who lives in
Charlotte, N.C.
The entrepreneur, a former top
competitor in the Mr. America bodybuilding competition, said the chocolate
peanut butter banana flavor complements popcorn the best—although there are
other uses. He said some clients have told him they sprinkle the apple cinnamon
Kickers on their children’s broccoli, and he puts maple banana cream in his morning
coffee.
AMC Entertainment Holdings
Inc., the nation’s second-largest chain,
operates 18 dine-in theaters—part of a plan to consolidate dinner and a movie
into one location. AMC’s most popular, located in Menlo Park, N.J., can serve
more than 4,000 plates on a Saturday, said Jennifer Douglass, an AMC executive
who oversees the chain’s dining operations. Top sellers include the Southwest
fajita wrap and bistro mac & cheese.
The ventures require some creative
thinking at AMC. Ushers are recast as “server ninjas” who deliver food
inconspicuously while a movie is running—and checks before the credits roll.
Silverware can’t be noisy. And hand-held options like lettuce cups work better
than, say, a wedge salad for dining in the dark.
“We’re not going to do soups,” said
Ms. Douglass.
Mike Truesdale can appreciate that.
He left a recent Saturday afternoon screening of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” at
an MGN Five Star Cinema in Glendale, Calif., with grease stains on his T-shirt
from a Margherita pizza. “I get it on me. I can find it. I’ll eat it off my
shirt,” he said. His companion, Anita LaBonte, said she opted for the pizza
because it seemed easier to eat in the dark while wearing 3-D glasses.
Still, Mr. Truesdale didn’t seem
deterred from the dine-in experience, which he called “first class.” “We just
had a bucket of Champagne. Where can you get that?” he said.
Executives agree theater food, while
elaborate, still has to be easy to eat—even sandwiches can be dicey since they
typically require two hands.
Enter Uncle John’s Burger Dog. A
long, skinny hybrid meat of beef, pork, bacon and cheese, the Burger Dog is now
sold in about 75 traditional and drive-in theaters, said its inventors,
Christopher Mihm and Tim Braun. It has the elements of a hamburger, molded into
the shape of an easily edible hot dog.
Mr. Mihm, a Minneapolis-based
director of low-budget horror movies, designed the Burger Dog off a family
recipe—initially creating only the concept and the Burger Dog character to use
in a scene of his 2013 feature “The Giant Spider.” When Mr. Braun, a marketing
executive, saw the Burger Dog—with its top hat-wearing cartoon pitchman and
“Eat Me” catchphrase—he told Mr. Mihm they should try to sell it for real. “I
know a butcher,” he said.
They hope to expand to nearly 500
locations this year. Part of their pitch to theaters: free help with the
marketing. “We bring in a dancing, anthropomorphic Burger Dog who can high-five
your kids,” said Mr. Mihm.
All of the new food has helped build
a cottage industry in technology to help patrons order. A Grand Rapids company
called Concessions on Demand was selling display screens theaters can embed
into armrests so moviegoers can order from their loungers.
But there are some housekeeping
issues to consider. Patrons in the plush recliner seats readily drop food on
the floor, and when the leg rests close the bits are swept under the seats.
“It’s like a Hungry Hungry Hippo,” said Edwin Snell of Dolphin Seating, a New
Mexico firm. That is why he put a $350 chair model called “The Aristocrat”
front-and-center at his CinemaCon display. It comes with a movable leg rest
that lifts up for vacuums and mops to fit underneath. Given the growing menus
at theaters, he said, “there could be a piece of steak under there.”
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