School Work

Catering school meals delivers new business opportunities to operators

By Margaret Sheridan, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 11/15/2003

Operators seeking predictable hours, steady customers and revenue as well as word-of-mouth advertising consider local school-lunch programs business worth cultivating. And customers reap the benefits: Such arrangements can introduce variety to school menus and aid schools that lack a foodservice program.

Restaurateur John O’Toole agreed to cater lunch to St. Edward-Epiphany Catholic School in Richmond, Va., last year, supplying 200 baked potatoes every Tuesday and macaroni and cheese and burgers once a month. The hot meals provided by O’Toole’s Restaurant & Pub and other local operations were the idea of parent volunteers who work with area restaurants to cater the school, which lacks foodservice facilities. Now, students can opt to buy something hot every day. Participation runs 50% to 85%, with students paying between $2 to $3.25 daily.

It is not a new venture for O’Toole, who has catered nearby Good Shepherd Episcopal School for three years. Providing 40 to 60 lunches three times a week during the school year nets about $6,000 annually.

Though profit from St. Edward is small, about $1,500 a year, he says school business generates additional catering opportunities, such as church picnics, a fund-raiser for 600 and silent auction for 400. In total, school catering and related events add 5% to the restaurant’s $1.5 million in annual sales. Plus, O’Toole earns free advertising. “Kids tell their parents, then the family comes to my restaurant,’’ he explains.

St. Edward also uses Little Caesars, Chick-fil-A and another local shop on a rotating basis, giving priority to operations run by families of school children.

Local Leverage
Most national chains generally leave catering policies up to individual franchise owners, such as Timothy Putnam. The chief operating officer of Richmond-based CML Pizza operates 14 Little Caesars units, all of which maintain relationships with public and private schools and daycare centers.

“My competitive edge is I’m a local guy,” he says. “My [partners] and upper management are all Richmond natives. We give back to the community where we were raised and where our children go to school. Customers know us.’’

Operating locally allows Putnam to create flexible relationships with clients. “Whatever the schools ask for, they get.’’

His operations cut pizzas to suit each school’s tastes, be it wedge or square. If a school cannot pick up, he delivers. If it needs an order before the shop opens, no problem. And if special billing is requested, it is accommodated.

Though Putnam declines to give sales figures, he says that on a busy day, his stores produce 1,200 pies solely for schools. Putnam intends to pursue additional school accounts. “It’s not a great profit center, but it’s steady and generates more business.’’

The resulting word-of-mouth buzz in the community also attracts catering business, such as festivals, sport events and concerts, Putnam adds.

Teacher Benefits
Jim Poeptgen demonstrated pizza-making 14 years ago during a nutrition-education program at Saddleback Valley Unified School District in Mission Viejo, Calif. That participation resulted in a catering job for the owner of Ball Park Pizza Team of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. Though Saddleback district contracts with Gaithersburg, Md.-based Sodexho USA’s School Services Division, it occasionally allows outside catering for menu variety. Poeptgen also caters some of the 53 schools in Capistrano (Calif.) Unified School District. Unlike Saddleback, Capistrano is self-operated.

“Students don’t like our baguette-style pizza,’’ says Dawn Davey, coordinator for food and nutrition services at Capistrano. “They prefer the branded product.’’ Though pizza from commercial operators costs more than the school’s product, the district absorbs the expense to please the students. Plus, it raises participation. Pizza is sold as a meal with milk and fruit as a monthly option in grade schools and as a daily option in middle and high schools.

Poeptgen delivers 185 or more pizzas several times a week to the two districts. Food costs and overhead for each 15-inch pie runs $4, with schools paying $5.85 to $7 per pizza. He sells the same pie to consumers for $13.65. About $235,000 of his of $1.2 million in annual sales comes from schools.

Four employees work morning detail to prepare the school pies. Rolling dough and assembling pizzas starts at 7:30 a.m., with baking begun by 9:15 a.m. Warming ovens hold finished pies until delivery starts at 10:45 a.m. Poeptgen uses four to six employee cars (including his own) to carry pizzas to three locations by 1 p.m. “Delivery time never exceeds nine minutes,” he explains. “I want the pies to be hot.”

If there is a downside to school catering, Poeptgen says, it is the payment schedule. “The check comes once a month. Putting out $2,500 worth of product each month and waiting for payment puts a squeeze on funds.’’

About Face
The eight schools in Glenview (Ill.) Public School District 34 turn to Jay Phillips to spice up lunch. The owner of Goode & Fresh Pizza Bakery delivers 50 to 150 16-inch pies to as many as five schools once a week. Six to eight drivers deliver orders by 11 a.m. “I’m not the only one catering schools,’’ Phillips explains. “It’s competitive.”

Though each school in the Glenview district has self-operated foodservice, students and teachers appreciate the variety. It doesn’t cost the school any more to offer pizza from an outside source, and the product meets nutritional guidelines, according to Principal Mark Walther of Hoffman Elementary School. “We pay the same, $2.25 per student.’’

Phillips intends to expand his menu with pastas and market to six new schools when his restaurant’s kitchen renovation completes in January.

Delivery to Madison Elementary School in Hinsdale, Ill., depends on parent volunteers. Linda Ziesmer organizes hot lunch day five times a year, and local restaurants are happy to participate, she says. The owner of an area Chinese restaurant often visits the school and talks about the cuisine. Ziesmer alternates a local hot-dog shop with national chains such as Burger King and Boston Market.

“It gives students menu variety and teaches about other cuisines,” she says. “For restaurants, it’s good business. It means 200 to 300 lunches and no delivery hassle.’’