Käfer, SAP and luca start digitisation project with the Bavarian State Opera

• Käfer, SAP, Luca and the Bavarian State Opera are joining forces to jointly digitize the gastronomic offerings at the National Theatre in Munich.
• Visitors can pre-order food and drinks for the presentation breaks. This eliminates the annoying waiting time during breaks.
• The collaboration between Käfer, SAP and Luca is intended to be a blueprint for further digitization projects that are being initiated across Germany.
• In the first few weeks, more than 1000 orders have already been received digitally.

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Berlin and Munich, December 14, 2023. The traditional Munich-based company Feinkost Käfer, the software company SAP, GastroTech luca and the Bavarian State Opera are working together to digitize the gastronomic offerings at the National Theatre in Munich. The collaboration enables visitors to the Bavarian State Opera to pre-order food and drinks for the break as soon as they buy tickets. The digitization project at Germany's largest opera house is a milestone on the way to fully digitizing the catering experience in Germany and taking it to the next level.

The start of the new season at the Bavarian State Opera also marks a new start in theatre catering: Feinkost Käfer won the call for proposals from the Bavarian State Opera this year and is returning to the National Theatre as a caterer. The partners' joint offering was launched on September 21, 2023. Guests can pre-order food and drinks for the evening at the opera via a web link. This applies to both the “Ludwig Zwei” restaurant and the “Rheingold Bar” as well as the two smaller bars in the foyer and the gallery of the National Theatre.

luca uses its intuitive user interface for the ordering function: First, visitors select the date, then decide on a time slot before or during the presentation and the corresponding gastronomic offer (restaurant or bar plus a selection of food and drinks). In the last step, visitors can select a tip amount and pay for their order. In the backend, SAP ensures that up to 2100 guests can be served at the same time with its integrated and intelligent “SAP Customer Checkout” cash register system.

“For many people, going to the theatre and opera is something very special. That's why I'm all the more pleased that we are now responsible for catering in one of the most prestigious opera houses again. With the new digital offering, we are putting an end to waiting during breaks and the hustle and bustle when the gong sounds. With luca and SAP, we have two strong partners at our side, for whom customer service is just as much a part of our quality promise as it is for us. Together, we are making breaks more predictable and stress-free for guests and service staff,” says Michael Käfer, CEO of Käfer AG.

With the merger, the Bavarian State Opera is taking a further step in its digitization strategy. “A visit to the Munich National Theatre is always something special. It is important to us that our guests can fully immerse themselves in the presentation and the atmosphere on site and experience an all-round successful evening. Käfer enriches these evenings with its culinary offerings; the joint digitization project ensures smooth processes and a contemporary opera experience. We are pleased to be pioneers in improving the user journey together with Käfer, SAP and Luca,” says Michael Würges, Director of Communications at the Bavarian State Opera.

SAP and luca are responsible for the technical implementation. Fadi Naoum, Senior Vice President at SAP Sports and Entertainment, is pleased that the existing partnership with Käfer is being continued and expanded to include Luca's GastroTech solution. “Our SAP Customer Checkout POS solution has been used at the Käfer Wiesn-Schänke since last year and has already proven that it fully meets the demanding requirements of the catering industry. Thanks to the merger with Luca, we can represent the processing of orders even more digitally. This is the future of hospitality: merging established systems with new solutions to offer customers an even better experience. ”

“The cooperation with the Bavarian State Opera is a good example: Together, we ensure that guests have more time to enjoy the culinary offerings, talk to each other and enjoy the performance in a relaxed way. At the same time, we relieve the service staff, who often have to accommodate many guests in a short period of time,” says Patrick Hennig, CEO and founder of luca. “Our cooperation with SAP and Käfer clearly shows that we will ensure that the catering industry does not miss out on digitization — neither the small café around the corner nor the event catering in theaters, trade fairs or soccer stadiums. ”

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