New Food Service to Up Quality in West G Schools
Students may notice a change in cafeteria food selections this fall, as the West Geauga Schools Board of Education contracted with a new food service company for the coming year.
Students may notice a change in cafeteria food selections this fall, as the West Geauga Schools Board of Education contracted with a new food service company for the coming year.
Board members voted unanimously July 6 to approve the contract between the district and AVI Foodsystems, Inc., a Warren-based company.
“One of the benefits from AVI is that their food is really almost, pretty much, restaurant quality. It’s very good food,” said Superintendent Richard Markwardt. “I know this from experiences earlier in my career.”
Included in the contract is a $17,000 consulting fee that covers a variety of services, including culinary training and workshops, purchasing and standards control, culinary audits, menu and recipe development and safety program training.
The contract also provides for a dedicated on-site chef manager, who will oversee and manage the dining program.
The cost for this position is $65,000. The contract allows for up to $25,000 in dining equipment and related services to be purchased by AVI on behalf of the district, with the ownership of the equipment transferred to West Geauga upon reimbursement.
“The ESC (Educational Service Center) of the Western Reserve provided nutrition services for West Geauga’s schools from 2017 to 2022,” said Jay Bishop, director of operations and capital improvements. “The contract included hiring a nutrition services director to manage the program and ensure compliance with Ohio Department of Education and United States Department of Agriculture regulations and cost savings.”
The contract cost with ESCWR was $56,625 per year.
AVI provided a list of sample menus in their proposal to the district. Board member Ben Kotowski questioned how the menus and consulting process will work.
“They have menus that they utilize based on what they serve in a variety of schools,” Markwardt said. “But they give quite a bit of latitude to the individual schools to compose menus that are in response to the likes and expectations of the community and tastes of the kids.”
Bishop said the chef will not only cook on site daily and travel to different buildings, but that person will also monitor what the students are buying, so menus can be adapted to their liking. Any food options offered will meet federal and state guidelines.
“AVI’s vast network of suppliers will provide many fresh food options for West Geauga’s students,” said Bishop.
Other local school districts who contract with AVI include: Beachwood City School District, Shaker Heights City School District, South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District, and Cleveland Heights-University Heights City Schools.
“I actually happened to visit Shaker and observed the students eating – forming lines – the burrito bar was very popular on that day that I was in Shaker,” Bishop said.
Markwardt is hopeful school staff will notice the change in quality.
“What we anticipate happens here — what we hope happens — is that our staff will start purchasing food again for lunch from AVI because it really is a higher-than-anticipated quality of food for a school lunch program,” said Markwardt.
