Dining Services works to maintain quality, prices

    This article is the third in a four-part series about how the recession has affected different parts of the university.
    As the economic situation remains gloomy, students are buying fewer high-end food products, utilizing the dining halls more and spending less on food in general. But Dining Services is trying to ensure that empty pockets do not result in empty stomachs.
    The recession impacted campus food services noticeably "across the board," influencing customers, employees and vendors, and Dining Services has made cuts to try to keep prices down while ensuring food quality, according to Associate Director of Dining Services Ralph Perrotto.
    "It certainly impacts the way our customers choose to spend money," Perrotto said. "Since we're customer-focused, we need to do a lot of adapting."
    While food prices in general have been increasing for nearly a year, prices on campus have remained unchanged. In fact, Dining Services has begun to offer lower-cost options in the campus center, including a ten-item value menu in the Commons, with the hope of appealing to more customers.
    But even though Dining Services has worked to keep food prices on campus consistent, campus eateries like Brown and Brew, Tower Café and those located in the Mayer Campus Center have all experienced decreases in business, according to Perrotto.
    Brown and Brew has been hit the hardest, he said, explaining that a combination of causes, including the eatery's location and uncooperative weather have impacted revenue. Perrotto added that the effects are compounded by "the fact folks are spending less to begin with."
    Students have begun decreasing their use of JumboCash, especially toward the purchase of more expensive, luxury food products. Sales of higher-end goods — such as sushi, Odwalla products and all-natural vegetarian meals available at a number of eateries — have declined. On the other hand, the number of students enrolling in meal plans this semester has increased, Perrotto said.
    He could not say, however, whether this change was a result of the economic downturn or of this year's changes to the meal plan structure.
    To combat the decrease in business, Dining Services has followed multiple strategies, including looking carefully at decisions regarding which products it should buy, reigning in costs by suspending certain services and making staff adjustments.
    A food cart in the Tufts building at 80 George Street and a small lunchroom in the Tufts Administration Building were closed over break. In addition, the faculty and staff luncheon buffet service in the Chase Center in Carmichael Hall was suspended this month.
    Dining Services has not laid off any of its employees, but the department has made changes to employees' hours and locations. "We may have employees who typically work in one operation on campus working in other operations depending on where the customer flow is at that time," Perrotto said.
    The recession's reach is not limited to dining on campus though; student business at several restaurants that are part of the Merchant Off-Campus Partners (MOPs) system has declined as well.
    At Andrea's House of Pizza in Watertown, business in general has slowed down almost 30 percent due to the economic downturn, according to owner Bob Iliopoulos. Business from Tufts students is down by about 15 percent from last year, he told the Daily, attributing the smaller decline to the fact that Tufts students continue to make purchases using JumboCash.
    Zeynep Sutlu, a manager at Wing Works in Somerville, has seen an even greater decrease in student business. "There's definitely probably like a 40 to 50 percent difference in the sales totals from last year to this year from Tufts students," he told the Daily.