Delaware North Sportservice -- a division of global hospitality and foodservice provider Delaware North -- has announced its plans for food and beverage offerings at SunTrust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves. The ballpark's concessions will be grounded in providing regionally inspired, fan-favorite dishes using local ingredients and companies. The "Taste of Braves Country" program will feature traditional items from around Georgia and five other neighboring states considered "Braves Country," while a "Farm to Fan" initiative will bring fresh, homegrown ingredients to the ballpark from Atlanta-area farms and other local producers.

"The Braves envisioned and built a state-of-the-art ballpark so we wanted to design a food and beverage operation that was just as forward-thinking," said Carlos Bernal, president of Delaware North Sportservice. "The gameday experience has evolved and fans expect as much out of their food as they do their baseball team. This means incorporating food trends like locally sourced ingredients and partnerships with hometown brands and companies."

"Delaware North has done an incredible job creating an authentic southern food experience for fans coming to SunTrust Park," said Mike Plant, Braves president of development. "With everything from the flavors to the vendors having a local tie, we know our fans will enjoy and appreciate the food experience and the quality service".

The Taste of Braves Country program was designed to showcase the best southern cooking from "Braves Country," which encompasses Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. Time-tested dishes and flavors from around the south will be found on concessions menus across the ballpark. Some highlights include:

• Georgia: Fox Bros. BBQ; Hugh Acheson 1st & 3rd Hot Dog and Sausage Shack, Chick-fil-A; Waffle House

• South Carolina: Pimento cheese patty melt, served with caramelized onions and smoked paprika on rye

• North Carolina: Smoked whole hog BBQ sandwich, served on white bread with chopped southern slaw and vinegar BBQ sauce

• Tennessee: Nashville hot chicken, served with bread and butter pickles

• Mississippi: Blackened catfish po' boy taco, served with slaw and comeback sauce

• Alabama: Fried tomahawk pork chop, served on an extra-large potato roll with collard green slaw and white BBQ sauce

"Braves fans come from far and wide, and each one has a different and delicious food they enjoy while watching a baseball game," said Shawn Mattox, Delaware North's general manager at SunTrust Park. "We designed a menu that underscores the diversity of southern cooking and created dishes that we know all fans will enjoy while in Atlanta for a game."

For its Farm to Fan initiative, Sportservice will draw from a network of more than 40 Atlanta-area farms, urban and college gardens, and other local producers to incorporate their produce into a variety of concessions dishes. The produce and fresh ingredients will vary throughout the season based on market availability and each game will feature a different farm or local company. A guest farmer component will also bring the farmers to the ballpark to work alongside Sportservice chefs and meet with fans as they try the locally sourced dishes.