case study | Egg soldiers
Newcastle United:
Retail Performance Optimisation at
St James’ Park
Retail Performance Optimisation at
St James’ Park
Egg Soldiers partnered with Sodexo Live! to optimise food and beverage performance across retail spaces at St James’ Park, improving speed, clarity and spend without requiring new concepts or capital investment.
Sodexo Live!
Our Client
Our Client
Sodexo Live! is a global leader in hospitality and food service, delivering high-volume, high-performance food and beverage operations across major venues, including elite football stadiums.
At Newcastle United’s St. James’ Park, Sodexo Live! operates within one of the UK’s most demanding matchday environments - where 50,000+ fans are served in tightly compressed trading windows, and food and beverage performance plays a critical role in both fan experience and commercial success.
At Newcastle United’s St. James’ Park, Sodexo Live! operates within one of the UK’s most demanding matchday environments - where 50,000+ fans are served in tightly compressed trading windows, and food and beverage performance plays a critical role in both fan experience and commercial success.
Newcastle United
The Brief
The Brief
The opportunity was to improve the fan food and beverage journey within the existing retail environment, with a focus on touchpoints, signage and decision-making across concourse kiosks and GA+ lounges.
Egg Soldiers was tasked with identifying friction points across the matchday customer journey that were limiting speed of service, ease of navigation and spend per head - and to implement targeted, practical improvements that could unlock immediate commercial impact in a live stadium setting.
Alongside this, we developed a forward-looking roadmap for the retail food offer, ensuring it was positioned to compete more effectively with high-quality external operators, including the recently opened STACK development adjacent to the stadium.
Egg Soldiers was tasked with identifying friction points across the matchday customer journey that were limiting speed of service, ease of navigation and spend per head - and to implement targeted, practical improvements that could unlock immediate commercial impact in a live stadium setting.
Alongside this, we developed a forward-looking roadmap for the retail food offer, ensuring it was positioned to compete more effectively with high-quality external operators, including the recently opened STACK development adjacent to the stadium.
Newcastle United x Egg Soldiers
Operational & Commercial Optimisation
- Mapping the Matchday Customer JourneyWe conducted a detailed, end-to-end assessment of the matchday retail experience, analysing customer behaviour, queue dynamics and decision-making at peak trading moments.
- Removing Friction to Unlock Speed and SpendThis identified key areas where complexity and lack of clarity were slowing service and reducing conversion.
In response, we implemented a series of small but high-impact changes — simplifying menu structures, refining digital screen content and improving the use of space to support faster, more confident ordering. - Operational Simplicity, Delivered at ScaleProduct improvements focused on specification and execution rather than introducing additional complexity.
By prioritising clarity and operational simplicity, we enabled teams to deliver more efficiently under pressure while enhancing both speed and perceived quality.
Newcastle United
The Result
The Result
By removing friction and improving clarity across the retail experience, Newcastle United achieved immediate improvements in both operational performance and fan experience.
Transaction speed increased, customer confidence at point of purchase improved, and clearer menu communication supported higher spend per head.
The project created immediate commercial headroom within the existing infrastructure, demonstrating the impact of targeted, expert-led food and beverage optimisation.
Transaction speed increased, customer confidence at point of purchase improved, and clearer menu communication supported higher spend per head.
The project created immediate commercial headroom within the existing infrastructure, demonstrating the impact of targeted, expert-led food and beverage optimisation.
Stadia, Racecourse & Events
Food & Beverage Development
Food & Beverage Development
Egg Soldiers specialise in food and beverage development for stadia and major event venues, building concepts and menus that drive throughput and stand up to intense service pressure.
From stadium food concept creation and menu development, to operational audits, labour optimisation and rollout support, we strengthen hospitality offers that must perform under intense service pressure, match after match, event after event.
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST:
Stadia, Racecourses & Event Hospitality 2026/27
Stadia, Racecourses & Event Hospitality 2026/27
What to expect from our FREE whitepaper:
- Discover how leading stadiums are redesigning F&B systems to perform beyond matchday, supporting concerts, events and year-round trading without added complexity
- Explore the power of marginal gains at scale - how small improvements in spend, speed and menu design translate into meaningful revenue uplift across large crowds
- Understand what actually moves the needle in stadium food today - practical insight across retail, hospitality and fanzones, separating high-impact strategies from operational noise
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