US FOODS

Yesterday, we took a field trip to US FOODS which is ISU's primary food vendor. There we got a tour of all of their facilities. We saw the receiving docks in their dry storage, cooler, and freezer. We did not go back into the ice cream freezer because it is below ten degrees. Something interesting I learned was that the edges of the storage building were painted white, this was to help detect rat or cockroach droppings. It also deterred rats from living in dark corners because there has been studies that rodents like dark places. We also toured office and saw their customer service people, tech people, and transportation people. The transportation people tracked and planned all the routes for the trucks. Very cool!

Some things I learned while on that tour was that when buying products cheapest is not always best. You need to pay for quality. For example if you pay for a thin low quality plastic glove and end up throwing away 1 of 5 because they keep breaking it is well worth paying the higher cost for better quality gloves. Also when considering what products to buy do not look at the cost of the case but at the plate cost. Case cost is irrelevant, what you need to look at is your plate cost.

Ordering

Today, I worked one - on- one with DesaRae, the procurement manager from Southside, on ordering. The day began with printing a sheet that listed all the pars for each item. The bare minimum that should be in storage is what a par is. CBORD conveniently generated a list that organized all inventory items into each location, such as cooler 1, freezer 2 etc.

We then went to each location and counted to see how many there were of each item and compared it with the par sheet. Special considerations were taken into account such as the weather ( it is very hot so we ordered more ice cream), or the population that we were serving (a Korean group was here so we ordered more tea). DesaRae commented that much of her forecasting came from her own experience and knowing when things would be needed more so than the par indicated.

After making our "order list" we sent an order to all of the food vendors. Some vendors such as Bakemark you must reach $500 to order anything so those times were set on the back burner until more was needed. Order lists were saved to later check with invoices to ensure everything was delivered. The procurement manager is a very important role and it was good for me to see some of the things involved. You don't realize how important this manager is until she leaves and you realize your storage itmes just don't appear magically.

catering

 

Catering is much different than the other areas of campus dining namely retail and dining center. With catering, it is all about PRESENTATION. Everyone was taking their time to ensure the food looked great. And it did. Everytihng was the best of the best. Instead of worrying about pumping out as much chicken nuggests as they could (like in the dining centers) they worried about the placement of each asparagus speare. It was very fun!

So the event I helped to cater was held at Pres. Bowmen's home, the president of ISU. We served: 

Foi Gras over rice wrapped in seaweed with a chocolate soy sauce drizzled over the top. The garnish was these small leafy things and teeney tiny grapes. Foi Gras is the fatty liver of a goose or duck that has been forced fed and not allowed to exercise. This expands the liver and makes it three times its natural size. There was so much fat in it, we did not add any oil to the frying pan the natural juices seeped out and did the trick. It was fairly good - I don't know how it couldn't be with all that fat. 

Tuna (raw) that was packed into a circle shape and covered with caviar half red and half blue. There were green oinon tops sticking out from the middle and a wasabi sauce drizzled over the top. This was served with crackers. 

Raw Oysters with salsa. Try opening an oyster, heck I couldn't do it. i concluded I would probably starve if ever stranded on a island.

Creme Brulee. There were three kinds, green tea, sesame seed, and truffle. 

It was quite the event and I very much enjoyed my day at catering. Much different purpose and pace.