New grab-and-go food eliminates job positions

Dining Services’ job positions were eliminated after the university began outsourcing for packaged food, but no one was laid off to accommodate the change.

Jon Lewis, director of Dining Services, said instead of Ball State staff packaging items on campus, they now get grab-and-go items prepackaged from Food Evolution, a food company near Chicago.

“We hire hundreds of students new every year,” he said. “We hire 50-60 new part time employees every year. We simply didn’t fill those positions. So we didn’t lay anybody off, we just eliminated the position and nobody lost their job. Some were reassigned to other areas, which was fine with them because they had a job.”

Lewis said there are three categories of prepackaged items, fresh fruit and vegetables, sandwiches, salads and snack items, including pudding and applesauce.

All of the categories are now made and packaged off campus.

“People are looking for high-quality sandwiches,” he said. “This company makes the same kind of sandwich you would expect to see in a Starbucks. They produce for Trader Joe’s — for all the high-end grab-and-go types of restaurants and grocery stores. It’s a high-quality item; people recognize it and they like it.”

Charles Roberts, general manager of the Atrium, said one difference is that now, it takes a day for the food to be made and transported to Ball State, making the shelf life five days from the time it arrives instead of six.

Roberts said the Atrium goes through about 2,500 grab-and-go items a week. So, losing a day of shelf life doesn’t have an effect because the items are sold quickly.

“The health code regulations are the same,” he said. “We still make sure they are at the proper temperature. The main difference is we’re not pre-cupping them. They are coming in already packaged, so the process isn’t as involved as it was before.”

Fresh fruit, vegetables and cupped snack items are similar to previous years, except for a smaller serving size and price change. The amount of money for a meal swipe remains the same, $7.85.

“The prices have actually gone down for the fruit and grab-and-go compared to what we had last year,” Roberts said. “The portion sizes are smaller but in relation, the prices are about the same. ... What you’re paying for and what you are getting is pretty much the same.”

Lewis said dining always works on improving things and plans are being made for some minor dining room facelifts, such as the new chairs added in the Atrium. No major renovations on any of the dining locations are expected in the immediate future.

“We are always looking for improvements that make fiscal sense and make our customers more comfortable,” he said.