According to research by accountancy firm EY, the food and beverage industry in Brazil is set to receive a $R2bn boost as both a direct and indirect result of the World Cup. Visitor’s spending on hospitality could exceed $R2.1bn
The Budweiser bill
Fifa demanded that Brazil revoke a 2003 law that banned alcohol sales in stadiums. Nicknamed the Budweiser Bill after the “Official Beer of the FIFA World Cup”, men are now allowed to buy up to three glasses of beer, while women are limited to just two in all World Cup stadiums.
Even FIFA are no match for Salvador’s street vendors
As reported by Al Jazeera America FIFA attempted to ban sellers of acarajé, a traditional deep-fried patty of black-eyed peas from the new stadium at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, north-east Brazil. After launching a high profile campaign, the female sellers, known as baianas, managed to win a significant victory over FIFA, protecting six-decades of history selling in the stadiums of the City.
During the stadium’s six matches, there will be six acarajé sellers inside the stadium.
Fans at the Arena Pernambuco will get to sample the delights of tapioca in Recife, and in Manaus, a local version of fish and chips made with Amazonian tambaqui will be available.
Catering for the teams
The Ecuadorian team demanded every room be equipped should contain a basket of bananas, sourced from Equador. While the boys from the USA have been reported to get through a case of avocados a day
They brought their own oatmeal, Cheerios, peanut butter and A1 Steak Sauce. Italy travelled with their own Parmesan, olive oil and prosciutto. The Mexican team brought their own spice to the tournament. El Tri traveled with the ingredients for pozole, along with chile peppers, chipotle chiles and nopales — or cactus
For English players, ketchup was once again allowed on the menu by coach Roy Hodgson after predecessor Fabio Capello banned the condiment.
Unfortunately for Uruguay, the team’s favourite toffee spread, dulce de leche, was reportedly confiscated at the airport in Brazil because it lacked a health certificate
The fans at home
In the UK, some figures put the potential boost to UK retailers, pubs and restaurants at £1.3bn if England had managed to get through to the second round.
A Channel 4 Dispatches investigation found that some UK retailers were selling cut-price alcohol cheaper than some brands of water.
Tesco sold multipacks of Fosters, Carlsberg and Carling lager at 69p a pint and Strongbow cider for 65p a pint. This compared with Perrier mineral water costing 73p a pint.
In Asda, the same beers could be bought for 72p a pint, compared with 76p a pint for Perrier.
USA today reports a surge in sales at pizza chains during a midday match between US and Germany, Pizza Hut’s lunch sales were up 50% over a normal Thursday, and Papa John’s and Domino’s also reported surges.
Ellie Clayton
