With students across the country returning to school this month, the time seemed right to check in on K-12 and collegiate foodservice to see what challenges today’s operators face and identify some potential solutions.

K-12: Equipment Replacements, Turnkey Renovations and Flexible New-Build Designs

To kick off the new academic year, school foodservice operators in Texas must contend with new rules and regulations around state funding that impact how they structure their renovation projects and equipment purchases, according to Lance Brooks, president, Foodservice Design Professionals, LLC.

For example, Brooks says his school foodservice operators in Texas must get TDA approval for all renovation and equipment purchase projects and there’s often a little strategic maneuvering that needs to happen to meet construction needs. “Child nutrition departments can’t always pay for construction, so as consultants, we need to have the correct verbiage in our documents, so it doesn’t trigger a red flag from the TDA,” he says.

Oftentimes, Brooks says the solution calls for conducting more “turnkey” projects that involve simply replacing older equipment with newer models. “If we get into a project where we need a wall modified, we work the owner to make that happen without triggering full-blown construction,” says Brooks, who has about a half dozen districts every summer going through this process.

At the very least, his team focuses on “opening lines of sight and showcasing the serving counters for the students. That increases student participation,” Brooks says. “We always try to give [our clients] a new design within the existing footprint — not just replace the serving line with the same design. We’re often bound by walls and ceilings, so sometimes we need to get a little creative.”

When it comes to those equipment swaps, common replacement pieces include serving lines and elements, beverage merchandisers, walk-in cooler freezers, combi ovens, convection ovens and ranges, Brooks says.

It’s a mixed bag as to how much tech his clients want. “Anywhere I could put a digital control, I’m going to provide that unless the owner doesn’t want it,” Brooks says. “Combi ovens with digital controls give [clients] a huge advantage because there’s so much staff turnover in the kitchen. But it seems that the one piece of equipment that a lot of end users do not want digital controls on is the convection ovens. Too many digital controls in the kitchen can cause issues with comfort level.”

Brooks has also been recommending more ventless — and trenchless — equipment where it makes sense. “K-12 is not heavy in it, but we are seeing more of a need for it, especially in bistro/café areas,” he says. “The nice thing about not needing a trench liner for a pressurized tilt skillet gives us more flexibility as designers.”

College/Universities

Robin Hungerford, principal, Webb Foodservice Design, says many of her college/university clients face some unique operating circumstances, primarily due to enrollment declines and changing student demographics. More recently, changes in governmental funding have only further added to the complexity. “With the enrollment cliffs happening, now there’s less revenue as a whole, and that means sort of everyone has to tighten up, including the dining program.”

Post-pandemic, colleges and universities continue to “struggle with labor shortages and labor talent as well as the continuous evolving of student preferences and student expectations around food,” she says.

What’s more, the student population has changed. Hungerford reports colleges are seeing students’ average age shift to later in their 20s and 30s and there are even some students in their 40s and 50s returning to school. “There’s just an opportunity to bring fresh eyes in… and create a new path forward.”

As a result of these changes, some of the new considerations include determining the mix of branded and non-branded retail outlets on campus. “More clients are interested in bringing in well-known local and regional brands to improve the financials of the overall dining program,” Hungerford says.

Menu engineering has become an important part of the equation to drive revenue and profits. “We’re focused on quality over quantity; authenticity not generalization, rotation versus static,” Hungerford says. “Some programs try to do too much with the best intentions,” she adds, but it becomes an operational nightmare for the staff when offerings are too vast and complex.

When it comes to equipment and design, Hungerford continues to focus on streamlining operations, in part, through logistics to offset labor shortages. Take, for example, a servery. “If you disperse all your stations, a cook can’t maintain two platforms that are separated by 40 feet at once,” she says.

Like in the K-12 sector, there’s a growing interest and need for more ventless equipment in colleges and universities. “When we’re doing renovation work, we also look to how we can modernize without having to run all new hoods and ductwork,” Hungerford says.

There’s one part of the kitchen that continues to get overlooked. “We try to make dish rooms not suck to work in,” Hungerford says. “We do this by trying to source the best machine, add a better hood, improve the makeup air, put in a dehumidifier or leverage technology to pull more heat out of those spaces.”

Indeed, Hungerford and her design team have found a need to take a more “human-centric approach” to design — primarily just to keep and attract staff for the long haul. In the college/university segment, it often includes students working.

“Foodservice and kitchen jobs are already really hard, that’s why people aren’t staying,” she says. “We need to think more about the people doing the work and what would make their lives easier and more efficient. We’re always focused on creating beautiful spaces out front, but I’m always preaching that we also need to focus on making spaces better for the humans behind the scenes.”