Concorde Hotel Shah Alam recently added another feather to its cap when it successfully managed the outdoor catering for the high-profiled Sultan’s Cup Terengganu Endurance Challenge that was held from 9 – 11 November 2007. The tournament, which had 21 international riders and 15 local riders taking part, included participating teams from Argentina, Brazil, the US, France and the United Arab Emirates.

Concorde Hotel Shah Alam, who was the Official Caterer for the event, for the first time, had its entire kitchen team brought out to the state of Terengganu several days before the actual event starts. The main operation station (that is, the kitchen) had to be set up five days earlier by the main F&B crew consisting of the F&B Manager and senior staff.

All logistics had to be carefully coordinated and other details carefully planned for the transportation of food, kitchen equipment and banquet furniture. The convoy to Terengganu was made up of one chiller-truck, one 40-foot container truck, one 10-tonne lorry plus several vans and cars.

To accommodate all 130 staff involved in the event, Concorde Hotel Shah Alam had to book the entire resort of Bidong View Resort for two weeks, as this property is conveniently located about 5km away from the Terengganu Endurance International Park where the event was held.

The highlight of the Sultan’s Cup Endurance Challenge, which was the Gala Dinner that was held on the final day of the event, proved to be the biggest logistic challenge that the F&B team had to face as the venue of the Gala Dinner was located some 45km away from the Endurance Park. Despite the difficulties faced in having to re-transport some operations equipment to another location, the entire catering team persevered with great determination and good planning to again successfully carry out their important task. The Gala Dinner was attended by His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong himself and Her Majesty Raja Permaisuri Agong and accompanied by Terengganu Chief Minister Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh.

The ultimate reward for the team came in the form of praises from the organizers, participants and VVIPs, for a job well done once again.