Top Olympics caterer threatens to withdraw from Rio de Janeiro games

US food caterer Aramark, which has assured safe and healthy meals for athletes since the 1968 Mexico City games, puts fate of 4m meals in flux

A four-million-meal question mark looms over the preparations for next year’s Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro after the caterers for the past eight summer games warned organisers they were pulling out of the tendering process.

Negotiations were resumed soon afterwards, but the threatened withdrawal of Aramark, the largest food caterer in the US, raises the possibility that athletes such as Usain Bolt, Mo Farah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will be fed by a company less experienced in ensuring good nutrition, food security and preventing banned substances from entering the diet of competitors.

A source close to the tender process told the Guardian that Aramark had informed the Olympic organising committee in Rio that they were pulling out of the process, only to reopen negotiations soon afterwards.

“They sent a note withdrawing their tender,” the source said. “They wanted to participate on a broader tender, not just for catering but for other matters.” 

Aramark and the Olympic organising committee said they were unable to comment on an “active process”. While the notice to quit may just be a negotiating tactic, it comes as the clock is running down. Kitchens can be built in a few months, but more time is need to employ proficient staff and ensure the quality of supply chains. At the same stage of preparation for the London Olympics, the caterers had been decided weeks before. 

Aramark is not the only bidder, but it is easily the most experienced, having provided Olympic catering and other services since the 1968 Mexico City games, according to the company’s website.

At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, some members in the organising committee wanted a Chinese firm to provide food, but in the end the US company was chosen because of its track record in this sensitive field.

The role of the caterer is low-key compared to that of the official restaurant sponsor, McDonald’s, but it is far more important to the well-being of the athletes, support staff and volunteers. The service company provides up to 100,000 meals a day in dozens of different venues with a menu of several hundred items that can satisfy the palates of people from across the globe. 

Food safety is a crucial concern. A single food poisoning outbreak could ruin entire events. Imagine Usain Bolt – who made the occasional appearance at the Olympic canteen in 2012 – getting the runs just before the 100m final. Similarly, the use of approved ingredients are essential for the prevention of inadvertent or malignly planned drug-spiking.

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