All The Right Moves
Noncommercial segments find cost-effective paths to improved quality and service
By Margaret Sheridan, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 9/15/2003
Location, location, location. The axiom is that the site makes or breaks sales. But location also may be one of the few significant differences between the commercial and noncommercial segments of the foodservice industry.
Michael Giuffrida, executive director of the National Society for Healthcare Food Service Management, advises those unfamiliar with modern healthcare practices to view each of his organization’s self-operated facilities as a “foodservice enterprise that happens to be in an institution.”
Such revised thinking applies to other noncommercial sectors as well, all of which wrestle with the same cost and customer challenges as do restaurants.
Retaining noncommercial guests is never easy, not even when the economy is moving forward full tilt. Factor in fallout from sluggish growth—downsized customer pools, budget cuts, less discretionary cash and pared-down staffing—and the hurdles are daunting. To prevail, noncommercial foodservice operators have become resourceful and agile.
Boston College’s foodservice department has forged relationships with some of the restaurants surrounding its campus. There, students use school debit cards for pizza and the department gets a piece of the action. At Ohio State University Medical Center, the foodservice department hosts events that attract staff and guests and generate increased customer counts at the hospital’s food units.
Much of the country is entangled in the debate over Americans’ excess girth, and school foodservice directors can’t ignore it. They’re changing menus, adding meal programs and re-evaluating dependence on vending revenues while developing ways to operate on ever-tighter budgets.
Operators in all segments face dwindling customer bases. At the same time demands for higher quality and better service are unceasing. Improved takeout menus, more labor-efficient self-serve stations and beefed-up catering capabilities help fill the gap.
Their locations may be distant from the high-traffic sites restaurateurs seek, but noncommercial operators can teach their commercial counterparts a few tricks about how to make growth happen in the toughest of times.
View All Blogs
