Express Lane

The University of Chicago is intelligent about foodservice too

By Margaret Sheridan, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 4/15/2004

The launch of Express To-Go last September proved that foodservice at the University of Chicago—where 75 Nobel Laureates have been faculty members—can work smart to create high-quality operations on its own. Instead of buying sandwiches and salads daily from two local suppliers, UC foodservice created the Express line, and as a result raised quality and sales, lowered food costs and increased output.

Express To-Go's on-site operation daily prepares up to 600 items for four retail outlets and three residence dining halls. "No one was satisfied with the quality of the outsourced foods," says Jodi Smith, director of marketing for Philadelphia-based Aramark Dining Services, which manages the University of Chicago account. "We knew we could do better for less. Plus, we didn't want the headaches of paperwork and transportation."

Bartlett Dining Commons' production area includes a kitchen for Express To-Go, where daily output ranges from 350 to 600 items.

Express To-Go was just an idea in the summer of 2003. Chefs and managers, convinced of the underutilized skills of the 80 employees of UC's Bartlett Dining Commons, spent weeks researching trends and holding student focus groups, testing recipes and analyzing packaging and marketing. As students responded with ideas and feedback, the retail operation evolved from business plans and sketches in the office to a stainless-steel production table in Bartlett's kitchen.

Production Detail
Express To-Go operates one shift of two or three persons working 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. five days a week. Since September, output has increased from 350 items daily to 600; depending on season or demand, it can reach 1,000. The Express product line comprises six categories: lettuce salads; sides such as pasta or Thai noodle bowl; platters (chicken or turkey); sandwiches/wraps; desserts/ juices; and "others," including hummus dips, salsa, ranch-style dip and sweetened cream-cheese dips.

The operation's high productivity comes without an increase in payroll. "Overall output is up 10% over last year," says Patti Haugh, production manager and assistant foodservice director. Employees reassigned to Bartlett when two underperforming branded concepts closed, pitch in. And everyone works a little harder. The morning crew fries more bacon, peels more fruit and makes dips for Express. The deli station slices extra cheese and meats for Express sandwiches and platters.

Other costs also were controlled. New packaging wasn't necessary; containers in the existing inventory found new uses. Parfaits and puddings use clear-plastic lidded beverage cups. Clamshell containers are used for sides, salads and sandwiches. Smith and a local printer took the basic Aramark label and jazzed it up with more color for Express.

Though Bartlett Dining Commons closes at 9 p.m., customers find substantial choices at Maroon Market, a convenience store open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. Express To-Go items are displayed in a rectangular cooler amid the usual c-store inventory of paper products, housekeeping supplies and candy.

Tortilla and potato chips, made on site, outsell national brands. Customized labels for Express To-Go include nutritional information.

Express products usually are merchandised in pairs, such as chips with dips. Individual snack platters are mini-meals, nutritionally speaking, with smaller portions of starch, vegetable or fruit, protein and condiments.

Three styles of sandwiches sit next to lidded fruit cups and mini appetizer platters under plastic domes. Sushi from a local vendor is wedged between beverages and salads. Sage-green name labels detail product ingredients, such as sandwich fillings of goat cheese and grilled portobello mushrooms, and provide nutrition information. A $4.99 hummus-and-pita platter with fresh veggies contains 335 calories and 11 grams of fat. Baguette sandwiches, from $4.79 to $6, outsell less-expensive basics such as tuna.

"Students in focus groups said they're concerned with quality first, then price," says Haugh.

Sophisticated tastes also ask for simpler, fruit-flavored gelatin, cottage cheese, applesauce, fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and 100% cranberry juice, says Haugh. Though cake, brownies and cookies are available, pudding is a campus favorite. Signature Bartlett Pudding (banana custard swirled with crushed vanilla wafers) edges out chocolate/vanilla pudding.

Smith monitors business daily. Fall- quarter sales were $90,286 from 27,770 items, with food cost of 46.8%. In winter quarter, sales reached $104,012 from 34,449 items and food cost decreased to 45.7%. "The staff went beyond improving quality," says Smith. "They shaved food costs and increased production."

University of Chicago

Enrollment: 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students

Management: Aramark Corp.
Retail locations: 4
Residential dining locations: 3
Foodservice employees: 150
Operations: Catering, coffee shops, convenience shops, food court, residence-hall foodservice, vending, marketplace
Total annual revenues: $10 million
Students on mandatory meal plan: 2,579
Students on voluntary meal plan: 202
Customers on dining debit program: 560

Chips Away

Making chips on site pays off. A 6-ounce bag of campus-made chips (potato or tortilla) sells for $1.69. A similar sized national brand sells for 99 cents. The campus product outsells branded, 2-to-1. "Students like our chips better because they're less salty," says Patti Haugh, production manager and assistant food- service director. Tortillas and thick-cut frozen potato slices are used. Cooks cut a six-inch tortilla into quarters, fry them, then season to taste. Likewise, the frozen potato slices are fried and tossed with coarse salt or any of eight spices.