Jake Plonka

 There are many dominant food service programs around the world.  Some big names are Compass, Sodexo, and Aramak. Based in the UK, Paris, and Philadelphia, respectively.  These companies cater food in places such as colleges, sporting events, and concerts.

 These programs have problems such as overcharging customers, underpaying employees, and just a bad overall management of their profits.

 These companies have a huge problem with overcharging customers. They give a small portion of food, but jack the price up to the roof. This is a huge problem for customers because they aren’t getting what they paid for.

 If a student were to buy breakfast, brunch, and dinner with credit at UB’s dining center, they would end up spending $ This is obviously a huge problem for a college student.  Taken from UB dining website*

 Employees are constantly underpaid in food service programs. The work is done in these kitchens requires more cash then a minimum wage job at a fast food restaurant.

 The average food service worker is making eight to eleven dollars.  The highest paid food service employees are making just above what is considered the “poverty line”.  All other food service employees are below the poverty line.

 These companies are terrible with managing their money. All of the money is kept by the higher-ups, while the workers are underpaid and the consideration of customer satisfaction is suffering.

 The world’s leading food service company, Compass, brings in 20.3 billion dollars per year, just short of McDonalds profits (22.7 billion).  After paying employees, this company would still have around 12 billion dollars left. What is this money going to?

 Some of this surplus cash will obviously go to the higher ranked members of the company, and some so the company can make a surplus.  However this would still leave money over. It would be helpful for colleges and sporting stadiums to be able to keep this money and put it back into the establishments. For instance, UB could use the student and faculty money from the food service department in order to improve dining space in the Student Union.

 Food service departments need to reconsider how they spend their money.  Pay employees more money.  Improve the quality and portion sizes of their food.  Give money back to the customers, i.e. improved seating in colleges/stadiums.  Keep the rest of the money in order to have a company surplus.

 If you find this also to be a problem, you can find the director of food services at your campus.  This would be a different director for each restaurant.  UB Examples:  Taken from UB dining website*

 “Dining Centers.” Myubcard. University at Buffalo. UB campus dining and shops. Web  “Campus Dining: Issues and Opportunities.” Unite Here. Web. 2013