Princeton University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

The timeframe of the data review is July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020.

Campus Dining utilizes the FoodPro® menu management system to coordinate day-to-
day operations such as menu planning and costing, forecasting, purchasing, inventory control, food production, and financial analysis. We used reporting from this system as the basis for all purchased items and amount of spend. We have presented the percentage of overall spend of items and categories.

COVID-19 Impact: Planning for the impact of COVID-19 on campus operations began in January, 2020. On March 23, the University moved to virtual instruction with most students leaving campus. The Campus Dining operations moved to a takeaway service at fewer locations. We focused on reducing batch cooking and honed our production numbers to reduce as much waste as possible.

To address food insecurity in our local communities, Princeton University developed the Summer Food and Nutrition Program. With this program, several departments within the University collaborated to implement the program with the Office of Community and Regional Affairs, the John H. Pace, Jr. ’39 Center for Civic Engagement, and Campus Dining at the forefront. The initiative includes partnerships with the Princeton Public Schools, Meals on Wheels, Home Front, and
The Rescue Mission of Trenton to provide meals for at-risk families, children, and individuals in East Windsor, West Windsor, Hightstown, Princeton, and Trenton. The program also offered continuity of employment including health benefits to Campus Dining employees. Throughout the summer, Campus Dining produced approximately 9500 meals per week for an estimated 1800-2000 people in the community. The beginning of this program along with the decrease in production and shift in service all are reflected in the data set.

Residential’s COVID menus always had a vegan option for guests.

Campus Dining believes in pulling together elements of culinary arts, wellness,
sustainability, and education to form our approach to food service. We’re led by
fundamental tenets, which include a commitment to exploring culinary principles,
supporting our team, strengthening the community, celebrating diversity through cuisine, thinking Earth-forward, and ensuring safety.

We celebrate the full bounty of the earth with seasonal menus that change regularly. It’s a soil-to-supper-to-soil approach that includes a deep exploration of where we source ingredients, how we prepare them in healthful and sustainable methods, and creative solutions to handling waste.

The Culinary Council is comprised of representatives from residential, retail, catering, and Bake Shop operations and meets regularly to evaluate culinary standards and approaches from several sources to form our own principles for healthy menus that reflect the diversity of our student population. The Council is committed to an inclusive dining experience that recognizes all types of cultural and religious backgrounds.

When purchasing ingredients, we focus on social responsibility. We identify local and sustainable products with low environmental impacts—from sourcing to packaging to distribution. We engage manufacturers and purveyors who align with our vision and seek out new and innovative solutions for production, kitchen equipment, and durable goods.

We strive to meet the wide-ranging dietary considerations of our community. We run a fully kosher dining hall, located on the first floor of the newly renovated Center for Jewish Life, that is supervised by the Orthodox Union.
Halal options are available in all of our retail, residential, and catering operations.

Last year, we also partnered with the Office of Religious Life to ensure that students observing Ramadan were able to pick up to-go breakfasts and dinners for their pre- sunrise and post-sundown meals.

We celebrate the diversity of our Princeton community each day with our menus.
Through food, we not only nourish the community, but we also inform about cultural sensitivities and diverse cuisine types. During most months, we partner with student organizations to host heritage dinners, which are often part of larger celebrations on campus, that reflect the cuisines of specific cultures or regions of the world.

We built dining experiences around Latinx Heritage Month in October, Native American Heritage Month in November, Black History Month in February, Eastern European Heritage Month in March, and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in April.
https://issuu.com/princetoncampusdining/docs/campusdiningvisionbook_ay20.21_single
page

Data was extracted from multiple reporting sources including FoodPro ® menu
management software, individual vendor reporting, and accounting reports. Purchasing is shown as percentages which represent categories of purchased items as a percent of total food and beverage purchases in accordance with departmental policies.