Interface: Lorna Donatone

Facing new rules and providing more services, school dining is at a turning point, one Sodexho executive says.

By Christine LaFave, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 9/1/2007

When Lorna Donatone officially takes over as president of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Sodexho’s School Services Division this month, she’ll lead a team facing increased pressure from parents, school boards and legislators—not to mention finicky students. The former president of foodservice for Spirit Cruises, which Sodexho divested in 2006, says that she has come to appreciate school foodservice’s unique challenges during her transition time. Lesson 1: The rules are changing—literally and figuratively.

Q. How do you feel your transition to Sodexho School Services is going?

A. Good—I transferred into this job in mid-April, and I officially take the helm Sept. 1. I’ve been able to learn more about the intricacies of this division. I’ve been with Sodexho since 1999—I know the company; I know how things work; I know the structure. It’s been such a fabulous opportunity for me to learn about this division.

Q. What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities in school foodservice?

A. Our biggest opportunity and challenge right now is in the health and wellness area. We’re looking at ways to make the school lunch and school breakfast programs healthy alternatives for students, so we can help drive down childhood obesity and drive up health education.

We’re doing some very cool things. We just did a really neat event out in Napa, Calif. It’s called an A-Z salad bar, and it’s for elementary-school students. It helps get students to try something new that maybe they wouldn’t have had before. We do different things like that to engage kids and enhance their eating experience.

When people think about school services, they think about school lunch, and they wonder, ‘What’s so hard about that?’ But there are a lot of school regulations, a lot of state regulations, and a lot of our clients are very demanding, as they should be with their students. Our job is to help students make wise choices in food, help educate on health and wellness, and help our clients keep kids in school and improve their graduation rate. And it’s not just lunch anymore. Breakfast is a big part of the school day in many districts, and in some districts it even extends into dinner. There are a lot of other things that go into school services other than serving lunch. There are lots of moving parts.

Q. How do you help schools meet the varying demands of students, parents, school districts and the government?

A. We really do try to act as partners with our clients. What we try to sell when we’re going into a new account is that this is our job; this is our business. The biggest thing we bring into a school district is our people, from our general managers to our wonderful lunchroom employees who execute on a daily basis for our client. The industry changes on a daily basis. I believe that the school-services business across the country is at a turning point with the very much-needed focus on health and wellness. There will be lots of change in the future, and my job is to lead us through that change.

Q. How do you see health-and-wellness initiatives playing out across the country now?

A. Overall, the general tone right now is that everybody is trying to do the best things to help educate, and I think the foodservice industry is as engaged in that process as we can be without losing business. What customers want in restaurants, not unlike in schools, is choice. Everybody likes a variety of food, and our obligation is to provide options for students that provide balanced meals so that they can have their choice of food. It’s all about balance. It’s not about ‘You can never eat a french fry or never eat a hamburger,’ you just can’t eat them every day.

Q. Do you ever feel like you’re being asked to fight a losing battle with regard to trying to encourage students to eat more healthfully?

A. No, I don’t believe that. Students are exceptionally bright and very knowledgeable. We need to keep up with them and be on top of things with them. I think they’re just a fascinating group.

We in foodservice have the ability to really affect people’s lives. Our tagline right now at Sodexho is ‘Making Every Day a Better Day.’ Food’s fun. And then you add the students to it, and that’s just a blast. It’s a challenge, but it’s a blast.