OPERATIONS
to throw in recipe testing every single recipe on the menu in the bakery was a lot of work.” REAPING THE BENEFITS The team introduced students to the revamped recipes by holding taste tests. During the tests, they did not advertise to students that the bread no longer had eggs or dairy in it. Instead, they just let them try the bread and share their honest feedback. Now, as a regular part of the menu rotation, the breads are marked that they do not contain eggs or dairy on the menu, but the team still makes a point to not make a big deal out of it. “We’re not being really loud about it, because we just don’t want [to encourage] the mindset that it’s not going to have any flavor or it’s going to be dry, which is not right,” says Molloy. “Kids have been really receptive, but I don’t think most of them aren’t even aware [that there’s no eggs or dairy],” she says. While the students who don’t have food allergies may not think much of the revamped recipes, for the students who do, going egg-free and dairy free has been a positive change. “They get to eat what their peers are eating,” says Special Diets Supervisor and Registered Dietician Maurene Beamer. Parents of those students are also often “relieved knowing it’s something they don’t have to worry about,” she adds. While the original intent behind going egg and dairy-free was to allow students with allergies more options on the serving line, the switch has also resulted in other benefits, the biggest being reduced costs. “We’re saving almost $25,000 a year from removing egg and dairy, and almost all of that is from the eggs, not the dairy,” says Molloy. “We have saved a significant amount of money and whenever I’m speaking to other school districts, I always try to share that piece, because our food cost budget is so, so tight.” Based on the success of the quick
breads, the team is looking at introducing additional varieties in the coming months. Next on the list are a zucchini bread and carrot bread that will use local zucchini and carrots respectively. Molloy is proud of the work the team has accomplished to make their menus more inclusive. Her recommendation to other K-12 operators looking to incorporate eggless and dairy free menu items is to just try it out and see where it goes. “We went in with the mindset of, we’ll test this out, and if it works, great, and if not, we’ll continue what we’re doing,” she says. “There’s no pressure with recipe testing. You can always fail and keep moving forward.”
QUARTERLY | Q1
13
Powered by FlippingBook