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Trends
and enjoy a smoothie even after they’ve
eaten a full meal with us.
Another food trend we’ve seen is the
popularity of international fare, not hy-
brids like Tex-Mex, but truly original
international cuisine. Georgia State hosts
one of the most diverse student popula-
tions in the nation, and we love giving our throughout the meal period; the result
international students a taste of home.
Our students will even provide us with
some of their favorite recipes and cook-
ing tips so we can ensure authenticity
in our international dishes.
COST CONTROL
OCH: Keeping control of food costs
is always an important part of keep-
ing an effective operation. In what
ways do you keep your costs at a
manageable level?
BURNETTE:
Food does not have to be complicated
to be highly acceptable and consistent
from a food-cost standpoint. We work
within the seasons with fresh, local op-
tions to provide great food at low cost
to our customers. Following food builds
and recipes not only provides consis-
tent food cost, but also enables us to
provide accurate nutrition information
to our consumers.
CROSS:
This is always a challenge in our busi- over-purchase, because over-purchasing
ness. With the consistent increase in the
cost of food away from home (supported
by the Consumer Price Index), we have
to constantly focus on product utiliza-
tion and controlling our processes. We
experience a low-30 percent to low-40
percent food cost depending on the busi-
ness. Retail, board and catering all have
different food costs.
We are working hard to take the food
that can’t be utilized or thrown away and
using it in a positive way. We are working
hard to find a composting partner. We
presently give our used coffee grounds
to the University Physical Plant for com-
posting. Recovering leftover food and
redistributing to local food pantries is
part of our model, too (Food Recovery
Network). We are working hard with the
student body to make this a larger part
of our daily operation.
14 | OCTOBER 2016
DISTEFANO:
Food cost is a top concern for UMass
Dining; we use multiple approaches to
keep cost in line. First, we continuously
train our culinary staff on fundamental
techniques. Secondly, we practice just-in- routinely and ask managers why, if some-
time cooking — producing small batches
is not only a reduction of food waste,
but a fresher, higher-quality dish. Third, margins and more on market price and a
portion size: UMass Dining practices
a “small plate, big flavor” philosophy;
proteins, such as pork and chicken, are
served in 2- to 3-ounce portions.
Finally, UMass utilizes a waste man-
agement system, LeanPath, to continu-
ously monitor pre-consumer food waste.
The system allows managers to examine
specific ingredient waste and take cor-
rective action. The LeanPath system
diverted over $750,000 of food waste
in the past three years.
FLOCCARI:
When it comes to food-cost controls,
there is no one magical solution. There
are a multitude of factors that affect an
operation’s food cost. We don’t believe
in waiting until the end of the week or
period to see how we did. The man-
agement team operates with the idea
of managing our business every day,
meaning purchasing the right products
in the right amount and then controlling
production and usage to minimize waste
and over-production. We work hard to not
leads to waste and over-production.
One of the best methods we have
implemented in controlling product
purchases is by forecasting our weekly
usage amount and using that number for
our purchase target. By forecasting our
revenue and working backwards with
our food-cost percentage target, we can
calculate a target usage amount. If rev-
enue forecast is $100,000 for the week
and our target food-cost percentage is
36 percent, we can calculate our target
usage for the week as $36,000, and work
to not purchase more than that amount
for the week. This will drive down in-
ventory, which reduces over-production,
usage and spoilage. By having a weekly
spend limit, the chefs make much more
conscious purchasing decisions and it
forces them to know what is on hand.
Visit www.oncampushospitality.com for the respondents’ thoughts on the protein shift and strategic partnerships.
ON-CAMPUS HOSPITALITY
GOLDBERG:
New prime vendor and GPO. More
attention to our food/recipe management
system tools and vetting of new items
before they go live. Review food costs
thing is off budget. At the same time, we
have to better manage waste, shrink and
price/portioning. We are less focused on
desired food cost. Manage your sales mix
and make sure it allows you to achieve
your goal. Otherwise adjust the menu,
pricing and portions to move people to
a more diversified choice.
IRVIN:
We are heavily dependent on our
computerized management system to
help us be as efficient with ordering
as possible. We have recently signed a
new prime supplier agreement in concert
with the two other state schools in Iowa
(University of Northern Iowa and Iowa
State University). One of the initiatives
we will pursue with this contract is to
standardize across the staff some prod-
ucts and/or manufacturers to increase
savings. The prime supplier will look
at items each of us uses and provide
examples of possible savings by making
product switches.
MUSICK:
Keeping food costs at a manageable
level is incredibly important to the suc-
cess of our department. One of the first
ways we accomplish this is by providing
our chefs with a weekly allowance, with
them managing their funds almost like
you would with balancing a checkbook.
Technology is also another important
piece to the equation. We use FoodPro
as our inventory system, so it’s very
recipe-specific to ensure that we’re not
overspending, as well as utilizing our
current products in a timely manner.
Along with FoodPro training, we train
our employees on LeanPath, which helps
us get the most yield out of our pur-
chases. LeanPath enables us to make
adjustments on quantities and serving
sizes, ultimately leading to manageable
food costs and less food waste as we can
better utilize all of our products.
—OCH