With 11 locations in the U.S., Great Wolf Resorts is North America’s largest family of indoor waterpark resorts.  Their properties feature full service hotels with large indoor entertainment areas as well as themed restaurants, spas, and children's activities, making their resorts favorite family destinations.

Great Wolf became an Avendra customer in 2006, according to Marion Edwards, Corporate Director of Food & Beverage Experience and Concept Development.  Within a year, Great Wolf Resorts was realizing significant cost savings, especially on the “top 30” items. With Avendra’s programs deep-seated in the lodging industry, the benefits were clear to all.  Said Edwards, “We are a growth company, and Avendra helped us to leverage our buying power across the brand.” 

Safety & Sustainability
Food safety and quality assurance services provided by Avendra proved to be more valuable than expected, according Greg Buse, Corporate Director of Purchasing. “When many of your guests are families with children, food safety takes on a special importance. Through timely bulletins and field team expertise, Avendra has been a great resource and backup on emerging issues,” said Greg.

In addition, Great Wolf has relied on Avendra to help them meet ambitious sustainability goals for their Project Green Wolf.  As the first U.S. hotel chain to have all properties Green Seal certified, Great Wolf Resorts has made big changes to help manage water resources, reduce waste, standardize socially and environmentally sensitive purchasing, and utilize energy efficient products -- everything from more environmentally-friendly water treatment processes, to CFL lighting, to Energy Star appliances.

Marion especially credits Avendra with helping to shape to their Food & Beverage component.  “Avendra’s documentation gave us the ability to conduct audits and measure progress,” Marion summarized.  “We had a goal, and Avendra helped us get there.”

Going with the Flow
Avendra and Great Wolf Resorts are now in phase II of the cost containment initiative.  Recently, the team has been proactively conducting cost management strategy sessions -- analyzing various food, product and service categories and developing nationwide product specifications. 

For one Global Roundtable exercise, Avendra brought in key product ideas in every category to examine best practices toward cost mitigation with no reduction in quality.  As a result of these efforts, Great Wolf Resorts managed to reduce cost of food and beverage sales in 2008, in contrast to an industry-typical increase in the same period.

“We feel like Avendra is an extension of our team,” summarized Greg Buse.