1. The Bread Garden that is referred to, ironically in the context of Neal’s blog, is actually competition. It is not operated by UBC Food Services but instead by an independant franchisee. Mahony’s, Boulevard Cafe, AMS outlets, outlets in the Village and the Starbucks in TEF 3 are all examples of competition on this campus. We cannot think of an occasion when we have touted “monopoly” or “no competition” as a good thing.

2. Franchise pricing – see the recent article in the Ubyssey Newspaper for pricing analysis. It shows that on campus franchises operate at or below street pricing in every location except Subway. We have always been honest about the labour cost challenges of operating a Subway and, as a result, the slight premium price structure we have there.

3. Hours of Operation – both White Spot and The Point Grill, when they open, will be offering dinner and/or late night service and weekend service. This past school year had Ike’s Cafe open late night and weekends, both Residence dining rooms offer 7 day a week breakfast, lunch and dinner service, 99 Chairs was open until 8pm, Starbucks at PSP was open until 9pm and on Saturdays and many other units operated until 4 or 5pm, long after a majority of students, faculty and staff began their long commutes home.

4. Water – Free tap water is available at all UBCFS outlets. Good, old fashioned, healthy tap water. Ask for it next time you find yourself in one of our operations.

Thanks

Two comments:

1. White Spot – While no single restaurant can meet the needs of an entire marketplace, research tells us that this brand will be well received by a large portion of our marketplace, including many students, faculty and staff.

2. The Cactus Club type restaurant is at the late stages of the design phase, will be located at Marine Drive Residence, will be called “The Point Grill” and is due to open in January 2010.

From Food Services

Haven’t heard that one. Will have to ask.

LinkI also wanted to add an addendum to this post. Rereading it, it sounds like all I’m doing is bashing UBC Food. While I still stand by everything, I’d also like to say that I think UBC Food is trying, really trying, to better itself and to be responsive to the community. That is why it is disappointing to me that the effort they’re putting in doesn’t strike me as being a significant improvement.

While I poke fun at Andrew Parr’s work habits, I’m pretty sure it’s dedication that drives him (though workaholism can’t be discounted either), which is a whole lot better than having someone who phones it in. They also seem to take sustainability very seriously.

So I’m not a total sourpuss on UBC Food, but certainly have my own ideas about how it could be improved.

Haha, amazing post!