Food User Group
Minutes
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
10:00am – 11:30am
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Attendance:
Fran Wdowczyk, Office of Business Development
Indy Karu, Food Services Director of Aramark LTD
Frank Peruzzi, Project Coordinator Food Services
Michelle Verbrugghe, Director Student Housing and Residence Life
Adriana Koufis, Staff Representative from Dept. of Physical & Environmental Sciences
Aryal Maharaj, Commuter Student Representative
Emzhei Chen, Coordinator Campus Life and Special Events
Mohsin Jeelani, Project Coordinator, One Card
Hilda Seedanee, Internal Events and Logistics Coordinator
Nadia Harduar , Sustainability
Shonagh Crawford, Special Projects Office of Business & Administration
Absent:
Deborah Hahn, Assistant Director, Business Development Retail & Conference Services
Jananie Manoharan, Health and Wellness representative
Sangeeta Acharya, Lead Academic Programmer and Promoter, Student Housing & Residence Life
Khalil, First Year Resident Student
Wynona Bardgett, Retail & Conference Services
Kavita Siewrattan, Vice President Students and Equity for SCSU
1. Welcome & Introductions
Fran welcomed the committee and asked everyone to introduce themselves
Business Arising from the Minutes
2. What to Eat App (Moshin Jeelani)
Moshin updated the committee on the App Star contest and the winners were the “What to Eat” app. Team. The team has been working with IITS to embed the code into the app and working on a native apple app. They are hoping to have things in motion mid February. The “What to Eat” app, will include all the food vendors on campus La Prep, Tim Hortons, Marketplace vendors, Rex’s Den, student union vendors etc. You would simple click on the app to get access to menus for each vendor can see menus, hours, etc. They are hoping for a March launch but the question was raised, if the launch is going to go beyond March, should it wait till Fall?
One card Presentation (Frank Perruzi and Moshin Jeelani) – see attached presentation
Frank and Moshin have been meeting with various groups/departments on campus to introduce the new card program. Full presentation is attached but here are some of the highlights.
Program Highlights:
· Program would use the current t-card which is currently only used by the library
· The t-card would be come a “one card”
· Initial pro
· Students would have web account with utorid, see what funds were available, load funds on line, transaction history,
· Tcard – meal plan and flex dollars including off campus vendors i.e. pizza pizza
· Can include deals and discounts
· June 2013 pilot, food vending and printing
· Looking to save students money
· September 2013 launch food vending and printing –
· Phase 2
o Additional modules , eg Access control, parking, laundry
What’s in store – parking, access, athletics, registrar, laundry, visitor cards, events ticketing and attendance tracking, utsc own loyalty points program mobile expansion remote terminal for off campus events ie. Food trucks, events, can generate reports based on usage, Farmers’ market,
Can freeze account if card is lost there are security features in place where the account can be frozen so it cannot be abused
When you load $ can specify how you would like the funds allocated within the government regulations – meal plan but in the flex you can add as you wish
Can offer value added with the meal plan you could save the tax but the option is always there to use just the flex dollars
A way to really create a presence in an increasingly technological society
Discounts will vary by vendor
Looking to set up a tcard office/helpdesk
3. Update from Director of Business Development & Special Advisor to CAO
Fran and Frank are on the logistics committee for food for the Pam Am games. It is run as a entity separate from the UTSC Food and Beverage Services. The committee is in place to aid with the RFP process but the decisions will not come from the committee itself.
The New Advanced Science Institute (the new building being constructed behind the IC) is scheduled to be completed in about 18 months. The food visioning report asked that food services be considered for each new building but there will be no food services in this building due to its close proximity to “La Prep”.
The next building on the North Campus will have food services.
The One Card will be usable in the new PAM AM facilities.
Update from Aramark
Indy introduced the new catering manager – Davitre Somir
· The introduction of “Sultan’s” has been very successful – more than 100 portions served!– the introduction of the Shwarma has been very popular
· The Tim Horton’s in the meeting place is working on getting a credit card machine. Originally scheduled for early February but it has been delayed.
· There will be a new register in the H-wing cafeteria in the near future
· The pasta station responded to feedback on options offered and is now offering tofu as an option.
· The sushi bar is doing well with a featured sushi every 2 months and lots of regular specials
· Continuing to do lots of specials and give-aways around events i.e. the Superbowl.
Request from the committee:
Looking for changes to the catering menu – always looking for new options
Idea: maybe once a month can highlight new options. Indy will forward the changes.
General business
Sustainability Food Initiative – Nadia Harduar
Nadia is working on a sustainability food initiative working on creating a community to get students engaged in cooking using locally sourced ingredients.
This pilot project would be having students come together, start to build a community and create a meal using an Aramark kitchen. The food would then be sold in the meeting place.
This lunch portion of the project is to pilot on March 20th with a sampling running at the February 6th Indoor Market. The goal is to offer the meal once a month. The project is a not-for-profit initiative with the money raised to cover the costs – all volunteer run.
Sustainability is looking into turning this initiative into a club but it is currently under discussion.
SCSU food outlets update
Update on food initiatives
5. General Business
a. SCSU food outlets update
Joel Clark reported that there are no substantial updates. Maintenance of the food court in the Student Centre has been stepped up. Frank noted that they are talking about the disposal of green waste to tighten up the University’s green efficiency. Joel also noted that Rex’s Den was doing as well as they have ever done. In response to an inquiry about catering, Joel indicated that there was no menu or pre-determined package but that appetizers were popular with the student groups so Rex’s has dropped the prices on this to make it more attractive. While service levels have improved, Rex’s is also still trying to sill the gaps.
Joel noted to Frank in response to a question that Asian Gourmet is open on Saturday and KFC and Hero Burger were open later on Saturday. KFC, Hero Burger and Subway are open on Sundays. SCSU is working with Athletics on perhaps a pre-sold event to Rex’s being open on the weekend.
b. Hours of Operation for UTSC outlets
Frank noted that there have been no changes in the hours of operations for the UTSC outlets. Frank highlighted that Beechgrove is open late on Wednesdays and Thurdays, La Prep is open until 9pm from Monday to Thursday. Fran noted that these hours will change as we enter into the exam period and that Michele will circulate the hours of operation for the study break and exam period.
c. Update on food initiatives
Frank noted that the department is currently working on weekend food initiatives and that Michelle has suggested talking to Mike Plumpton about Super Bowl Sunday, Sunday brunch and Thursday BBQ dinners in Residence.
Frank noted that food trucks will be on-campus next Wednesday in the ARC Quad from 11am to 3pm. Participating trucks are Gourmet Gringos, Texas Tornado, Fidel Gastro, Caplansky’s Deli Truck and Colobo’s Italian Food. The event will be promoted via twitter and with assistance from Residence.
Frank also noted Saturday initiatives every so often on campus or late night events from 8pm to midnight to coincide with pubs or exams. One idea was to bring in a food truck. The idea behind these initiatives is to augment and change life on the campus.
Frank noted the upcoming Holiday Faculty-Staff Lunch as well as The Rendezvous. The Rendezvous happens every Friday from 3pm to 7pm in the Ralph Campbell Lounge and will continue into December just before Christmas targeting the faculty, staff and graduate students. Fran noted that the sustainability of the pub will be looked into based on the schedules of faculty. Frank noted that wine and scotch tasting events will be added as programming for The Rendezvous.
Frank indicated that he was working on initiatives for late night events such as a food truck or even having Aramark deliver. Khalil agreed that this was a good idea as it allowed Residence students the option of not going off-campus for food. Location suggestions for locations to park the food trucks during late night events were the south residence parking lot or outside the Student Centre.
e. Update from Aramark
Indy noted that there is now a new management team at UTSC with Carol, Office Manager and Davitre, Catering Manager and Indy himself taking over the operations a few months ago. Indy reported that sales for Timmies was up by 50% which was helped by the boost in the speed of service through the line-up. The Meeting Place Timmies will get a new cash register expected in December or January to help speed up service there while the new electronic menu boards mentioned earlier by Frank has not yet been confirmed due to problems with the larger Tim Horton’s group.
Indy also noted that Aramark will be launching a new Christmas catering menu which is currently being reviewed by Frank. Gift baskets will also be available at reasonable prices with samples available next week in the Market Place.
Indy reported that the sushi bar was taking over the sales of all the other outlets in the Market Place. In January, the Grill will be offering falafels – this is currently awaiting the installation of a hood vent in the Grill area. Indy also noted that every station offered Halal food but that it is only served upon request.
g. One Card Update
Frank noted that the One Card system is in its planning stages for implementation in September 2013. Frank explained that the way this works would be the T-Card will be loaded up with food dollars and flex dollars. Food dollars will be available for use at any food outlets across the campus and the flex dollars will start out with printing and will then continue to evolve to include services off campus such as other restaurants, hair dressers and grocery stores. Money will be loaded up online through plans where users will pay no tax. This service will also be available to staff.
In response to questions raised, Frank noted:
- It will be able to eventually evolve to perhaps grant access to classes and residences
- It will be able to be used at vending machines but will have limited swipes as a preventative measures because there is no one to police the ID on the card
- It will not have a pin because the pin software has not yet been developed
- If the One Card is lost, the user can go online to suspend the card. The picture ID on the card will also help in identifying the user. Kavita noted security issues but Fran noted that the system was working well at UTM.
- It will eventually be able to purchase books from the bookstore using the flex dollars but for the time of launch it would focus in on printing, making copies and purchasing food
- It will not allow the user to purchase alcohol on campus
- It will not be able to be used across all three campuses because the One Card will work on its own system. The other reason is also the pre-set plans for tax savings.
- The card will be geared mainly towards students in Residence but commuter students especially first year students by allowing them to go into an office with their debit card to reload their cards
Kavita noted that currently the T-Card is only used in situations where it is required. Fran noted that with the evolution of the T-Card into the One Card it will become a bigger part of students’ lives because of its regular use to purchase food. Also noted by Fran was that the onus would be on the cardholder to pay more attention to the card as it now has more uses.
In response to Sangeeta’s inquiry about whether it will also cover laundry in Residence, Fran noted that it would someday soon but it will take a while for the card to get there. The University has a goal to be a pioneer in technology but in order to garner more support at a higher level, the One Card needs to make it through the food process first.
Frank noted by using the modules on BlackBoard the One Card will focus on food and printing. It is also through this common back of house platform that the One Card may be able to move to a tri-campus program.