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MWR FEEDING

At Whiting Field

The new North Field Snack Bar at NAS Whiting Field in their burritos, tacos and other Mexican choices. “Generally,
Milton, Fla., fills a foodservice need for the personnel when they are building their own burrito, they pick their protein
on that sector of the base. and they are just heaping those vegetables on,” he said. “It is
The space it occupies had been a foodservice venue many really nice that they can custom make that burrito with those
years ago, but remained vacant for the last few. “The base healthier choice options that we are providing. We have it set
is divided into north and south sectors,” said Lenny Nord- up basically as a steam table. We wanted healthy options. We
mann, marketing manager for MWR (Morale, Welfare and have the meats and all kinds of vegetables that they can put
Recreation) at Whiting Field. “The South is
predominantly helicopters and the North Field, on it and different kinds of beans.”
where the new snack bar is, has fixed-wing The burritos are the most popular. “By the time they get
aircraft, and they didn’t have anything there
... We really needed to tap into that market done with them, they are well over a pound,” said Allen. “They
there. We needed something that was more are just huge. They are getting way more for their buck. As
conveniently located where those North Field big as they can go, that is what they like.”
hangars are, so they didn’t have to get into
their vehicles; it is within walking distance. The guests are pleased with the healthier items and the
It was conveniently located for a market that Mexican twist. “We have a place that they call ‘The Greasy
we hadn’t tapped into yet.” Spoon,’ and we were just trying to get away from the deep-
fried items,” she said. “We do spinach wraps and avocado and
When the decision was made to re-open the different healthy options. They are pilots, they have to really
space for food service, the MWR staff used watch what they are eating, and they really have to keep their
surveys of base personnel to decide what type
of food to serve. “They do surveys with the MILITARY CLUB & HOSPITALITY | FEBRUARY 2017
students who are graduating, and ask them
which facilities they use and what they would
like to see on base,” said Darlene Allen, food
and beverage manager. “Everyone was asking
for Chipotle, or something along that line. We
did something quite like it, where they come
through the line, they tell us what they want
and we put it all together.”

Another aspect of the survey results taken
into account was that respondents wanted healthier choices.
“We listen to those survey results,” said Nordmann. “One of
them keeps drilling up to the top on my memory. One of the
gentlemen said, ‘You know, with our challenging training here,
we are really required to burn the candle at both ends, and we
want to make sure that there are more than just cheeseburgers
and French fries available.’ I know that Darlene took all those
things to heart and patterned those menu items around those
healthier choices.”

Similar to fast-casual fresh Mexican places like Chipotle
and Moe’s, guests can choose their own ingredients to put in

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