Can food not purchased in cinema be taken from a child?

my own big problem with food in cinemas is the fact that it is so expensive.

I'm sure if it was cheaper people wouldn't bother to bring their own food into a cinema.
 
I went to Omniplex this evening with my eight year old. He has a liking for these particular jelly snakes which he can get in the local shop for 20c each. I spied them among the pick n mix sweet counter in the Omni so, as treat, I put four into a bag. The assistant weighed them and said 'that will be €4.20!' I mean.....come on. Needless to say I told her I didnt want them, Over 400% mark up! I always bring my own goodies and will keep on doing so,
 
rmelly said:
Is this food contributing to breaking even and making a normal profit, or 'super profits'?

If it is to make super profits then this argument is not valid - are any of the cinemas public companies whereby we could see their accounts to see how profitable they are?

If the inclusion of food is only allowing them to breakeven, then even if they took 100% of the ticket price with no food sales then they would still not be doing much better, so I suspect they are doing much better than breaking even with food included.

You seem to think they should have a licence to print money, that they can charge whatever they want on the food because they know they have a largely captive market.



I don't accept they have this right, unless they explicitly notify patrons of it before they purchase their tickets.
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So what are you saying,if there not making money on ticket sales,then you'll buy there food,but if there making super profits you wont,now you want to see there accounts,will you bring a copy to the cinema with you,so when the usher stops you with your bag of goodies,you can produce a set of accounts,showing there profit margin,and that gives you the right to bring your own food,,please compare any of your
arguments to any other business,i've never heard the like in my life.
do you know the mark up on food in a restaurant,imagine producing a copy of accounts in a restaurant when you recieve your bill!!!:)
 
exactly - you read my mind. Why do you keep going back to the restaurant analogy?
 
rmelly said:
exactly - you read my mind. Why do you keep going back to the restaurant analogy?
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Well i did ask for you to compare your arguement to any other business.
acording to your arguement,the food is not the core business of the cinema,,,,so you go to the pub and produce a few sandwiches from your brief case for your lunch,how long before your thrown out........
 
yob said:
Well i did ask for you to compare your arguement to any other business.
acording to your arguement,the food is not the core business of the cinema,,,,so you go to the pub and produce a few sandwiches from your brief case for your lunch,how long before your thrown out........
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I don't know - why don't your and report back to us...
 
This topic upsets me as this also happened the children of a friend of mine.
Personally, I go to the cinema to see a film while it is newly released in a comfortable atmosphere and experience the surround sound / big screen etc. That is what I expect to get when I go to a cinema and that is why I go and that is what the cinema owner’s offer.

They also sell food to enhance your experience. They are not experts in this area, it is not their core competency, they do not provide a great choice, but it is a very very profitable sideline to their main business. It is probably even the most profitable part of the business.

For all the discussion defending the cinema owners right to confiscate food not bought on the premises or to enforce their 'policy' that such food cannot be consumed within the cinema, no one has pointed to any legislative support for their actions.

To go back to the original posting, I think it is a disgrace to pick on a group of children like this. Children do not tend to have the kind of money on their person do just say ok we will buy from the cinema shop at the inflated prices. They could have warned them of their policy, watched for their parents picking them up etc. instead of ruining their experience at the cinema. It is also worth noting that in my experience, they do not enforce these rules consistently, especially with all adults.

With regards to their margins, it is amazing how many very large cinemas have popped up nationally in the last few years. Was it not an expensive time to build these huge buildings with plush finishing’s? Until a few years ago, we had the luxury of a local family run cinema. The ticket prices were less that the larger cinema chains and the shop prices were no more expensive than the local convenience stores (they only sold popcorn in branded packs like you would get in the supermarket). They sold out for development in the end, but had made a living out of the business. If these larger cinema franchises really can't make a living out of the ticket sales, then increase the ticket price and stop making stealth income from food sales. (I wonder should there be a maximum margin businesses are allowed to make on food products? – but that’s a point for another discussion).

On a lighter note, if there was legislation backing this type of behaviour up, then surely Ryanair would not be disposing of air travellers empty plastic bottles and sandwich wrappers and hovering up their breadcrumbs all purchased before they got on the plane? I think they may be getting away with because no one is challenging them!

Please correct me if I am wrong, it is just my opinion.
 
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It was interesting today,as i was having a coffee there was a copy of eddie bobs sorry hobbs,mag you and your money.inside was someone complaining about the price of pop corn in cinemas.his reply was interesting.
someting on the lines,,because the cost of ditributing and showing of movies is so high,alot of cinemas rely on maxing up the price of goodies to push them into profit.they are rarely viable 21st centuary business,they will need to be subsidised more and more,be it higher ticket prices,or other extras,as home cinema and dvds take over.
Or words to that effect.
 
I took my daughter and some friends to Dundrum the other week. I prepared little bags of treats for them, no problem. I had even asked the chap on the phone the week previous and he said no problem.
 
Hi

Just a few points,

It is important one knows what the children are eating, perhaps that is why the parent brought in the food, some are on special diets, special sweets etc, if this is the case the equal status act may apply

I would be concerned about an employe taking food from any person and then giving it back later, this employee may need to have been haccp trained. I would also inguire about storage of this food while it was held by cimema.

I would sugest the parent/guardian write to managment and seek an explanation.
 
I am posting here as a Cinema Manager and so I would like to express my opinion and the happenings in my own place of work.

People who quoted info about the ticket prices are correct. Cinemas, although in the past they made their money on ticket prices, now need to use their shops and concessions stands to make their profits. Every film that enters a cinema has very low returns for the company nowadays, as the large movie companies want a larger share of the cash.

And so cinemas buy in foodstuffs at low prices, and have a massive mark up on said items. This is why they use the Policy of 'Only food purchased in the premises may be consumed in the auditoriums.'

If you look at the various sites, you will see this stated in their policy - often a piece of laminated A4 paper stating other things such as the management have the right to refuse, etc etc.

Now, in my own cinema, we use better judgement. Personally we side with people that food is way too expensive if you have a large brood. We have no problem with people bringing in their own snacks and drinks, except large bottles of pop which we ask them to leave behind the counter. We give them cups and tell them to come in and out to refill, as many used to bring in large bottles just to spill them and have us cleaning up.

We allow bags of all sizes, however I know Dun Laoghaire have a policy of no plastic carrier bags, for child safety reasons.

We also won't allow hot fast food into the screens, as they really stink the place out. If a large group of teens come in, we also ask that they leave their bags in the store room, to ensure that people aren't tripping over them, etc etc.

So, the original question. Management do have a right, from site to site, when these conditions are displayed to ask that you leave food behind the shop. Theres no law as such, but when you display conditions, people entering the premises are expected to abide by these rules.

However, if you popped along and spoke to a member of staff, you may find that you have no problem.
 
And I also found this on the Cineworld Website :

Can I bring in my own food and drink?
Cineworld have a strict NO FOOD AND DRINK policy. We reserve the right to refuse customers entry into the screens with food or drink bought outside the premises. All our cinemas display the necessary signage, advising customers of this policy.
As a food operator we offer a wide range of drinks and snacks to satisfy our customers but also protect our cinema finishes and customers clothing. Not all movie-goers are considerate of others in their snack choices and we have needed to set clearer guidelines on what is appropriate
 
Smashbox said:
And I also found this on the Cineworld Website :

Can I bring in my own food and drink?
Cineworld have a strict NO FOOD AND DRINK policy. We reserve the right to refuse customers entry into the screens with food or drink bought outside the premises. All our cinemas display the necessary signage, advising customers of this policy.
As a food operator we offer a wide range of drinks and snacks to satisfy our customers but also protect our cinema finishes and customers clothing. Not all movie-goers are considerate of others in their snack choices and we have needed to set clearer guidelines on what is appropriate
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This is funny really as they are trying to disguise the fact they are over-charging people with the assurance it is for the customers own good. If this is their reasin then display the range of foods allowed to be brough in i.e popcorn,taytoes,sweets,drinks but not allow the foods they don't approve of i.e curry chips,garlic fries or whatever!
 
fobs said:
This is funny really as they are trying to disguise the fact they are over-charging people with the assurance it is for the customers own good. If this is their reasin then display the range of foods allowed to be brough in i.e popcorn,taytoes,sweets,drinks but not allow the foods they don't approve of i.e curry chips,garlic fries or whatever!
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I agree with you, but I guess they can't put up a sign stating 'We don't want you bringing in food 'cos we want you to buy ours' so I guess making excuses is all you can do.

Its like any place, they don't want you bringing food in, because they want you to spend your cash in their shop, not give your dosh to Tesco or some other shop.

Truth be told, the only food that can and does damage customer clothes and the furnishings is gum.
 
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