BC Companies Gain Olympic Games Experience

Publish Date: Summer 2006

"Getting involved in the Olympics for the first time was scary because we didn't know what we were getting into and had difficulty judging the costs" says Debra Lykkemark, president of Culinary Capers catering.

"I thought it would cost the company money but an associate kept saying it was an experience we needed to have. In the end we did so many extra events we actually made money." Turning a profit was not the only pleasant surprise for Lykkemark, she also discovered, "There is no substitute for being there because it's the best way to meet sponsors and have a chance to show them what you can do for them in the future."

Culinary Capers responded to a Request for Proposals from the BC Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Secretariat posted on the 2010 Commerce Centre website for catering services at BC - Canada Place in Torino. In the beginning, she was only contracted for 8 events at BC - Canada Place with another 12 pending from BC businesses who were hosting events at the house. Culinary Capers ended up catering 42 events, everything from coffee and breakfast to events serving several hundred. Getting the work was just the beginning.

Part of Lykkemark's winning proposal included the tenacity to figure out how to make things work in a foreign country without language skills, food suppliers or a commercial kitchen. But that was only the beginning. "We thought there would be three full days to get ready in Torino but we ended up delayed for a day on the way and by the time we got there the numbers for the first event were up from 80 people to 300. Communication was also a challenge -- we thought we had someone to do all the shopping but when we landed he was no where to be found. When he finally arrived he didn't bring any food. Eventually he was able to get a third of the food we needed but we had to scramble to get the rest of what we needed."

Lykkemark's advice for businesses who want to do Olympic business, "Keep an eye on the 2010 Commerce Centre website and get involved in any 2010 related RFP's. Find out who are the Games suppliers in your business area and go meet with them to try to create new business partnerships. If you can get to Beijing, go, you don't necessarily have to work there but meeting people is the key. Try to get introductions to meet sponsors there so you can figure out what their needs are and try to help them."

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