AZ is an innovative Eredivisie football club with a stadium capacity of over 19,000 visitors. On match days, everything revolves around the fan experience, both on the field and in catering. In addition to thousands of supporters, employees, volunteers, and corporate guests are served hot drinks throughout the stadium. Innovation is central to everything the club does, with the club continuously looking for ways to make processes smarter and more efficient, from sports technology to service and hospitality.
Hundreds of litres of water and too
little flexibility
Before partnering with Bravilor, providing hot drinks during home matches was a cumbersome process. In the early years, the catering team boiled hundreds of litres of water and manually mixed in cocoa. Because everything was prepared at a single central location, it was difficult to respond quickly to busy periods.
Distributing drinks throughout the stadium was time-consuming and inflexible, which was far from ideal during peak moments with thousands of visitors.
Speed and
convenience with
Bravilor Bonamat
After the 2010 World Cup, AZ started looking for a more efficient way to prepare hot beverages during match days. Together with Bravilor Bonamat, they implemented a decentralized solution across the stadium. Instead of preparing drinks from one central location, catering points can now serve hot beverages independently. This allows staff to respond quickly during peak moments while maintaining consistent quality and speed.
Hot drinks across the stadium
Nine Bolero Turbo and B-series machines enable each catering point to prepare coffee, tea and hot chocolate independently.Nine Bolero Turbo and B-series machines enable each catering point to prepare coffee, tea and hot chocolate independently.
This setup ensures:
- Fast preparation during peak moments
- Consistent drink quality
- Easy operation for staff and volunteers
- Minimal maintenance and downtime
Faster service, less waste, happier fans
Thanks to the new setup, catering at AZ is now much more efficient. Each sales point can now prepare coffee, tea, or hot chocolate on its own, resulting in fewer manual tasks, less waste, and shorter waiting times. The catering teams find the machines very easy to use, and maintenance and service are rated as excellent. “The speed with which the Bolero Turbo can prepare large quantities of hot drinks makes a huge difference on busy match days,” says Oostrom.
Innovation keeps driving the game
Both AZ and Bravilor Bonamat share the same vision: continuous improvement and innovation.
“AZ wants to keep innovating, and so do we,” says Martijn Oostrom. “Our collaboration shows that technology and hospitality can come together perfectly.”
The solution implemented at AZ has since become an inspiration for other organizations looking to serve large quantities of hot drinks in a short time without compromising on quality or convenience.
