Exclusivity contract leaves bad taste in the mouth of current campus restaurants
Written by Matt Wiley, Jan 24, 2012, 0 Comments
On the eve of a new food service contract agreement between one of two major providers and the university, several local restaurants have a lot on their plates to worry about.
If signed, the contract will ensure exclusivity of all event catering for one year to the winning provider. When the year is up, the university will evaluate food and service quality before extending the exclusivity agreement.
With an estimated $60,000 per year spent on catering at USFSP, this contract is a big deal for small businesses.
“It was news to us,” said Courtney Kent, manager of The Campus Grind, a coffee and sandwich café that borders the university. “Administration told us that we would be included.”
Kent said that catering makes up a substantial amount of the Grind’s business, about 25 percent.
“It puts us in an awkward position,” Kent said. “It’s really unfortunate.”
The Tavern at Bayboro shares a wall and a set of doors with the Grind. Along with its outside beer garden, the Tavern is another campus restaurant frequented by students and faculty in between and after classes.
Owned by Tom Herzhauser for the past two years, the Tavern has been in business since 1982. After receiving news of the looming dining contract, Herzhauser plans to talk to some the restaurants on USF’s Tampa campus to figure out how to coexist.
Herzhauser said he will set prices aggressively, but has more plans in the oven.
“When they [the food distributor] print a menu, that’s the menu they’re going to have for years,” Herzhauser said.
Herzhauser said that he’s been anticipating new competition and plans to expand his menu and put in a kitchen for making burgers and cheese steaks, but also higher-class fare, such as grouper sandwiches and crab cakes.
He added that if the contract locks him out of the catering business, he is going to pursue getting the Tavern included in the “flex bucks” system.
Some meal plans include flex bucks that can be used at restaurants on campus, rather than the traditional dining hall.
Another restaurant that could potentially be in jeopardy is Bayboro Café & Catering at 1110 Third St. S.
Open for the past three years and run by Jeremy Dupuis, Bayboro Café caters to many USFSP organizations. Two events have been catered by Bayboro in the past week.
“I can’t ultimately say the direct impact,” Dupuis said, “but it will be huge because the university is always calling us to throw something together for them when they’re in a jam. It’ll take a lot of business away from us if this does happen.”
Dupuis said that while he does deal with food distributors Sysco, US Foods and Cheney Brothers for some of his ingredients, he tries to keep it local.
“I deal with everybody here, local growers, as well,” Dupuis said. “I also deal with the local businesses over here in St. Petersburg for beef and pork and all my other meats that we serve out of here.”
Regardless of which distributor wins the contract, the food catered on campus is going to be much different over the next year.
“This whole thing of them going to one catering company might hurt a lot of people around here,” Dupuis said. “It’s not going to help us, that’s for sure.”
Email: news@crowsneststpete.com
Photos by Daniel Mutter
