Emerging from a pandemic, the Camp Fire, enrollment drop, hybridization of classes and the threat of a buyout, Chico State’s Dining Services is gearing up to implement a 5-year plan to reshape all its operations following recommendations from consulting firm Webb.
Dining Services operates independently compared to many other universities, which generally use private companies to feed their community. Dining Services meals are often curated from ingredients sourced in our area, and served and prepared by students and seasoned professionals.
Dining Services doesn’t get any money from student fees; it relies solely on foot traffic on campus and meal plans.
“All money used for any of these projects including the consultant costs was produced by income generated through our numerous services. We do not receive any money from students fees nor from the university. In fact we pay the university 2.25% of our gross sales in our retail operations. We don’t make money in retail if people don’t come to our businesses. Additionally, we get paid a contract fee for our services for University Housing paid for by the meal plan revenue generated by live-in students.” Rider said in an email.
As Dining Services has grown past the lingering effects of the pandemic, it’s now reshaping its approach.
Associated Students spent $100,000 for Webb to come to campus and interact with students, staff and alumni, and to observe the Dining Service operations on campus. Webb sent in a 200-page document on its findings and recommendations to Dining Services.
Webb commended Dining Services for its “creative and innovative” approach and ability to adapt quickly. Its recovery from the pandemic is notable when compared to other universities that are struggling to meet staffing requirements.
But Dining Services also have opportunities for improvement. The one with the vision is the Director of Dining Services Thomas Rider.
Butte Station
With over 14,000 transactions a day it’s extremely difficult to keep up, Rider said, especially since their inventory is located in the basement of the Dining Hall. This requires him to keep a larger staff whose sole purpose is to fetch product to fill the shelves before each rush.
Rider plans to get a metal box, similar to a cargo container, next to Butte Station and use that as storage, along with this he plans to extend Butte Station to the awning. Another large change is the $200,000 already earmarked in the budget to remove the reach-in refrigerator with prepared fresh food in the middle of Butte Station, which costs them $10,000 to $30,000 annually, Rider said.
Another option they are considering is bringing in the Mashgin self-checkout machine, which uses artificial intelligence and digital scanners.
Èstom Jàmani
Dining Services is planning to remodel Èstom Jàmani, Rider said. The dining hall has a Jetsons – cartoon from the 60s – theme, which Rider and Webb see as outdated. The consultants recommended embracing muted earthy colors to celebrate the mountains and to add a mural in there.
Dining Services plans to start using Cheftec, an inventory management software, to help better track the amount of people who were moving through the dining hall and what they were eating. Currently, Dining Services is using spreadsheets and excel to track everything from waste to menuing.
Another recommendation from Webb was to find a balance between comfort food and high quality food. With about 40 career chefs all with restaurant experience, Rider acknowledged that sometimes they get too complex with their meals.
“Maybe all the students sometimes want is scrambled eggs and pancakes for breakfast.”
Marketplace
The Marketplace in the BMU will undergo renovations. Currently, there are several businesses there, and they each have to compete for the same storage space. Rider’s intention is to renovate the space, making it more efficient for businesses.
Rider also plans to renovate the front-of-house. He said that it’s not pleasing and wants to transform it into a place that people want to hangout in.
Wildcat Den
Rider has walked a local business through the space and is hoping to come to an agreement before the Fall semester to offer something new. Currently, the Wildcat Den offers mainly drinks such as coffee and boba and the majority of its foot traffic are resident students.
Common Grounds
Common Grounds is struggling, Rider said. “Everybody loves Lovebird,” something that he clarified wasn’t a bad thing. Going forth he is looking for ways to make Common Grounds different, and have it not compete in the same arena with Lovebird.
Rider is in conversation with a local company to bring something new to campus, while it will still have coffee it’ll do something different. He emphasized that there will never be a large coffee shop chain such as Starbucks or Dutch Bros on campus and the importance of bringing in local, community-centered businesses.
Other Changes
Additionally, Rider plans to host a farmers market on campus next year and has applied for alcohol to come to campus; though denied by the Alcohol Beverage Control, he is looking for alternative ways to bring beer and wine to campus.
Dining Services is also attempting to boost their image, recently hiring a graphic designer and a marketing person.
“Trauma” Dining Services faced
The pandemic forced Dining Services to lay off its entire staff. As students arrived back on campus the notable drop in enrollment, about 20% from pre-pandemic, and the growth of online options for classes impacted the amount of foot traffic.
Despite growing back to its pre-pandemic staffing levels and getting its operations up and running they were faced with the potential takeover of Chartwells.
Chartwells is one of the big three – Aramark and Sodexco – food service providers. Currently only nine CSU campuses are Chartwells schools, but serves over 300 campuses around the country, according to the Chartwells website.
“Chartwells brings standardized meals, with coloring-aid and ultra-processed foods,” Rider said. “The Chartwells Chico would’ve looked like all other Chartwells.”
This would’ve stood antithetical to Dining Services mission. Rider shared the mission at Chico State is built with local relationships. He emphasized that the best food is grown here, and the closer to food being ripe the nutrients and vitamins are healthier.
Chartwells created a pitch for the university on its vision for Dining Services. It was rejected by Associated Students, much to Rider and Executive Chef Mimi McClusky-Wise’s delight.
“You don’t really have that independence at all. You’re working within their set menus, you’re working within their set vendors,” McCluskey-Wise explained. Later saying it was “a cloud over their heads.”
Rider acknowledged that Dining Services couldn’t – and shouldn’t – do everything. “You as students don’t think things that we do are very cool.” Dining Services is bringing more vendors in to take over under-utilized spaces.
What is the “cool factor?”
But Dining Services still maintains many of the operations on campus. Keeping up with the day to day operations and the constantly evolving trends is something that McClusky-Wise is aware of.
“Pork is out and lasagna is in,” McClusky-Wise said.
McCluskey-Wise uses TikTok to track current trends – she will regularly use the platform to see how she can subsume current trends into the dishes. By working closely with the career chefs on staff, they craft meals which seek to be creative and thoughtful.
Sourcing local ingredients is important to McCluskey-Wise, who said that approximately 25% of the options on campus are locally sourced. While it isn’t necessarily a cheaper option, she views promoting local business to be important for the overall culture and mission.
With a full kitchen and basement with plenty of storage in the dining hall, they don’t shy away from taking the time to prepare their own meals, sauces, pizza dough and put in the heavy lifting and patience to give students meals that they all “put their heart and soul into,” McCluskey-Wise said.
In October, they have bug night where they offer food such as ants in cupcakes, cricket tacos and scorpion brittle among other bug-related dishes.
Dining Services is only possible with the help of their student staff. Employing more than 200 students, they prep, store, prepare and provide service to the community.
“We’re producing better products, we’re using more local produce, we’re better in that regard than we were pre-covid,” Rider said.
He has also envisioned moving the bike hub and replacing it with a student lounge, creating a place for students to take a break from classes and play pool while hanging with friends, perhaps while sipping on a beer with a Chico State logo on it.
Chris Hutton can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com or cshutton@csuchico.edu
