Food Services Advisory Group

Minutes - 04/15/13

Members present: Katana Brown, Jeff Caponera,Frank Gleason, Celia Esposito-Noy, Shelly Massey, Don Wallace

  1. Don Wallace welcomed the group and each person introduced him or herself.
  2. No changes to the agenda were suggested.
  3. The October 10, 2010 minutes were reviewed in detail to determine which of the follow up items had been accomplished. The following is noted:

Item 4.a.- Aramark has made the “better pastries” from Java City available after the JC closes in the afternoon.

Item 4.b.- Question was asked as to why the turkey burger is not listed on the menu. Aramark states that it was a limited time only trial and although it was very popular they are not officially offering it at this time. They will, however, keep turkey burgers on hand if anyone should ask for them. Question was asked, if turkey burgers were popular, why not continue to offer them? Response from Aramark: if we keep offering the same popular items, we cannot push other new offerings. Example: Aramark is pushing Raging Burrito even though it has not proven to be a popular option.

Item 4.c.- Aramark is making nearly all the grab-n-go items now instead of buying them, so they have control over the size and price of items. However, their current offerings seem to be selling and they have no interest in changing the size or prize of the items.

Item 4.d.-Shelli and Jeff to explore using Student ID cards to purchase CARE meals. This item was inadvertently overlooked and was not discussed.

Item 6.a.- Aramark has not yet created the price comparison but plans to do that by next week.

Item 6.b.- Aramark has offered some vegetarian items such as fruit cups, yogurts, wraps, pizzas, salad bar, and burritos.

Item 6.c.- Aramark offered a Hawaiian menu and potato bar shortly after the October meeting in which it was agreed that they would offer ethnic and holiday meals on a regular basis. Although the meal was popular, Aramark has discontinued the ethnic and holiday meals in lieu of pushing Raging Burrito. Question was asked, why would you discontinue the popular offerings in order to push Raging Burrito which has not proven to be successful after a long period of pushing it? Response from Aramark: we are going to bring in Lauren Roberts, Aramark’s marketing specialist, to do some intercept surveys and find out what people want.

Item 6.d.- Aramark has not created the menu calendar but plans to do so next week.

Item 6.e.- Aramark did not do the taste sampling or conduct a taste test panel in the fall as agreed, but they plan to do so this coming fall during the first week of the term.

Item 6.f.- Nutritional binder is in place and is being updated as things change.

Item 6.g.- Aramark has continued to run out of food items (e.g., mayonnaise, turkey burgers, homemade chips). Aramark states that they order these staple products twice a week and they should be able to keep these products in stock. They will fix the problem.

Item 6.h.- Menu entrée items are not being offered four days a week as agreed. It was suggested that maybe four days a week is too often. Additionally, it was suggested that Aramark is the expert in this area and needs to be more proactively managing the restaurant to maximize sales and meet the actual interest of the customers.

Item 7.a.- College needs to add signage to Garden Room indicating hours of staff dining.

Item 7.b.- Item resolved (i.e., plugged toilets).

Item 7.c.- Item being monitored by College. Action will be taken whenever necessary (i.e., “parkers”).

Item 7.d.- Item resolved (i.e., bike racks).

Item 7.e.- This item seems to be in conflict with the data. Students actually donot “generally like Raging Burrito” and, in fact, prefer to go off campus to Chipotles to buy similar products as several times the cost.

  1. The October 10, 2010 minutes were approved.
  1. Aramark Updates
    No additional updates.
  1. Frank reviewed the results of the Fall 2012 dining survey. It was noted that the survey results are a true comparison with Fall 2011 since both of those surveys were in the new facility. However, the fall 2011 survey yielded only 214 respondents district wide. Therefore, the results are probably somewhat skewed. Regardless, all the categories were slightly higher (i.e, more positive) for CRC except for the category “Comfortable and fun dining experience,” which was slightly lower. This is probably understandable in light of the fact that the new dining facility was just opened when the 2011 survey was done and there was probably a certain amount of excitement based on the newness. The CRC sample contained 99 respondents, 85% from students and 15% from faculty and staff.
  2. Other Issues, Recommendations, Comments
  1. It was suggested that more gluten free offerings would be nice. Aramark responded that it was too expensive and although people ask for such things, they generally do not buy them. The do not plan to offer more gluten free items.
  2. It was noted that students really prefer to have the full cafeteria open in the mornings because it is not convenient to wait in line at Java City when they are in transit to early morning classes. Aramark noted that sales have not decreased during the time when the cafeteria is closed, but they are willing to open the cafeteria at 10:00 instead of 11:00, Monday through Thursday. They will probably maintain the current schedule on Fridays.
  3. It was reported that the microwave is broken and is in the process of being replaced.
  4. Katana will try to do a “pitch story” on the dining center in order to give Aramark some free advertising in the college paper. Katana stated that many students do not know what Aramark offers and are leaving campus to buy food (e.g., Chipotles) when many similar items are available in the dining center at much lower prices. Aramark needs more effective advertising to get the word out. Word of mouth is not enough.