Kenyon chooses AVI Foodsystems as food-service provider, dropping Aramark

Kenyon has chosen a new food-service provider, replacing the Aramark Corporation with AVI Foodsystems, an Ohio-based company that College officials say will offer greater variety and more creative choices in the dining halls, a stronger commitment to the Food for Thought program, better catering service at College events, and innovations like a grab-and-go food cart in the library atrium.

AVI will assume responsibility for Kenyon's food service by the start of spring-semester classes in mid-January, said Chief Business Officer David McConnell. McConnell met with AVI officials on campus last week to begin discussing the transition. He plans to meet soon with dining-hall staff members to explain the change, answer questions, and assure them that AVI will offer all current dining-hall employees the opportunity to continue working at the College. Members of an AVI transition team will meet with employees individually to discuss employment options.

McConnell notified Aramark last Thursday that Kenyon was terminating its contract because of problems ranging from poor sanitation in the Peirce and Gund dining halls to poor service and unimaginative menus at catered events. He had detailed the College's complaints, which also included double-billing and overcharging for events, in a September 13 letter that served as a contract-mandated notice giving Aramark thirty days to address the concerns.

"They've made some improvements but not nearly enough," said McConnell, "and, frankly, we don't have confidence that Aramark can give Kenyon the quality we expect." Since coming to Kenyon in June, McConnell said, he has found the food-service operation to be "totally unacceptable" and has heard complaints from students, College offices, and summer programs such as the writing workshops offered by the Kenyon Review. Aramark, one of the world's largest managed-services companies, has held Kenyon's food-service contract since 1981.

AVI Foodsystems is also a major company in the field, providing food and catering services, as well as vending machines, to more than 4,000 clients, primarily businesses and hospitals. Four years ago, the firm started a division focusing on food service in colleges, universities, and schools. Kenyon will be the sixteenth educational institution on AVI's client list, which also includes Alfred University in New York, the University of Toledo (in Toledo, Ohio), and Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio.

Founded in 1960 and based in Warren, Ohio, AVI is an independent, family-owned company. "The Ohio connection and the sense of commitment, creativity, and flexibility embodied in family ownership appealed to us," McConnell said. "And AVI's proposal was excellent. They have great ideas and are very much attuned to Kenyon. I expect to see not only better quality food but also a more engaged management team working collaboratively with students."

McConnell led a committee that considered proposals from both AVI and a California firm, Bon Appétit Management Company. In researching AVI, the group visited both the Alfred University campus and the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, another AVI client. A dinner at the company headquarters, with food prepared by AVI chefs from the University of Toledo and Wayne State University, gave them an idea of the firm's catering abilities.

AVI will expand the Food for Thought program, company officials said, by increasing the use of locally produced foods and providing more information about them. The firm's proposal also calls for a composting project, facilities to grow herbs year-round in greenhouses, and a "summer food production program" in which locally grown fruits and vegetables will be frozen for use in recipes throughout the academic year.

According to AVI officials, students can expect to see changes in the food service starting from the day they return to campus in January. Peirce will have a new, expanded salad bar, for example, and Gund will have a food station with made-to-order international dishes. AVI's proposal promises "more vegan, vegetarian, and authentic global cuisine," with managers taking advice from an international student food committee and a vegetarian advisory board. Other offerings will range from "homestyle" dishes such as carved meats to panini creations and "New York-style" sandwiches. There will be a greater emphasis on food stations serving made-to-order dishes. In the Olin Library atrium, the company will introduce "Cart Blanche service," a food cart offering freshly brewed coffee and a range of packaged foods.