{"id":14202,"date":"2020-01-30T18:11:21","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T00:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/?p=14202"},"modified":"2020-03-05T10:58:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T16:58:47","slug":"four-food-service-vendors-race-for-place-at-hardings-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/2020\/01\/30\/four-food-service-vendors-race-for-place-at-hardings-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Four food service vendors race for place at Harding\u2019s table"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year, Harding reopened the conversation regarding the school\u2019s culinary needs. After several months of discussion, there are now four food service companies \u2014 including Aramark \u2014 vying for the chance to feed the Bisons.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Jones, assistant vice president of finance, said conversations began in the fall surrounding food services at Harding. According to Jones, Harding has used Aramark as the food service provider for over 30 years. A committee comprised of staff, faculty and three students led the charge in searching for the best fit for Harding.  Jones said since discussions have continued with the potential vendors, he has found assurance that the outcome is going to be a great one for Harding, no matter what happens with the decision.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI say this with confidence that we\u2019ll have a great food service provider, whoever it is,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI think you\u2019ll continue to see changes, whoever it is.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January, four vendors \u2013 Aramark, Sodexo, Chartwells Food Service and Aladdin Foods  \u2013  remain in the running. These companies sat with approximately 50 students in four focus groups Jan. 16 to hear what they would like to see from Harding\u2019s food service provider. The four vendors will make a final presentation of their services to the committee Feb. 20-21 before a choice is made.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones said an official decision to either continue with Aramark or sign with a new company will come in March. Aramark will continue providing services no matter the outcome until the fiscal year ends June 30, at which time they will either continue doing so or officially pass the torch to one of the other three providers to begin July 1.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones said there were several requirements in order for a company to be considered. He said one such non-negotiable item stood out and may have contributed to several contenders dropping out in the early stages of the search process.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor all [current] non-management employees, you have to offer a job,\u201d Jones said. \u201cYou have to match the benefits and recognize the years of service.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior Heather King participated in one of the focus groups in January. She said she believes Aramark has received a lot of student criticism recently, and she thinks these other options might provide what students have been asking for.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese other food service providers work with other universities that are more technologically advanced than Harding is,\u201d King said. \u201cThey offer mobile ordering from restaurants on campus with delivery to your dorm or the library or wherever you\u2019re at.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From what she heard in focus group conversations, King said other service providers want to implement more ideas that students have suggested, such as bringing a different chain restaurant to the Student Center. Other ideas included ordering food from a mobile app to avoid the cafeteria\u2019s long lines.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior Briley Saunders, Student Association (SA) junior representative and head of the SA food committee, said she has noticed positive changes implemented by Aramark recently, including more food choices and extended hours in the cafeteria. She also said she is ensuring student voices and opinions are being heard by Aramark officials.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think Aramark has really stepped it up this year and is moving in the right direction,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cI think there\u2019s always room for improvement, and I\u2019m excited to continue working with them this semester to make the campus dining experience more enjoyable.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones said an official decision will be made March 27 at the latest regarding Harding\u2019s food service provider.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year, Harding reopened the conversation regarding the school\u2019s culinary needs. After several months of discussion, there are now four food service companies \u2014 including Aramark \u2014 vying for the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15165,"featured_media":14203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14204,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14202\/revisions\/14204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}