Now that Holiday season has unfolded, and the New Year of 2009 is fast approaching, doesn’t it seem like yesterday that the fall semester began?

This has been an extraordinary year for UMass Dining, we won several national awards, but I think that 2009 is going to be even better.  Our meal plan participation continues to grow, the latest fall customer satisfaction survey was the highest in recent memory, and most of all, we are going to be able to continue to provide you with a high quality program and meet the budgetary requirements during these economic challenging times.

There are some challenges facing us as we enter 2009. We have continued to experience high commodity prices in food, energy and labor.  Just in food alone, in spite of aggressive negotiation with our vendors, prices rose by 5% and continue to rise. Our energy bill will go up by another 7.7% next year and our labor costs will be up 13% compared to last year.  We are a revenue generating department just like Housing, and Continued Ed in that we do not receive any findings from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In other words, we must be self-supporting and meet our financial objectives annually. We are a lean organization and always try to be as efficient as possible. The state budget cuts to UMass may not have any direct impact on us, but it  will affect us in cash sales, catering and other areas. Our goals remain the same - to continue to provide you with a top notch dining program second to none, and to put customers first.

Here are some of my wishes:

1.    The food commodity prices to become stable with  not more than 2 % price increase
2.    Less food wastage everywhere. Please just take what you can consume whether using a tray or not using tray
3.    Help us to conserve energy and at all DC’s; the thermometer  will be set at 67F
4.    Continue to implement weekly specials in the spring semester, many of them are new and improved
5.    Offer more healthy options from whole grains, fruits and vegetables to less sodium in the recipes
6.    Continue to enter contest to receive several national recognition,  including being in the top 20 of campus food programs in the 2009 Princeton Review

Happy New Year and Best Wishes to you and your family!

Ken Toong
Director
UMass Dining
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

During the last couple of days, we had so much snow that the University had to close early on Friday, some exams had to be rescheduled and two DCs had to stay open, one day longer than anticipated. Being open during a winter storm is nothing new to us, as we are part of essential services on campus; we always open in cases such as this and in fact the DCs are usually busier than usual since there are no classes and the roads are usually not great for traveling.

This was the first time in recent memories that we had to postpone some exams; on Thursday morning, I got a call from the Housing Services to alert me that students might stay one day to two days longer in the residence due to the inclement weather. Immediately, I told them that the DCs would stay open, no questions asked. Here at UMass Dining, we understand how important it is to provide a good meal to our customers and the last thing that we want is to have them worry about eating. Immediately, the managers contacted our staff at Hampshire and Worcester and asked for volunteers to work on Sunday, if needed. First came Friday; the school was closed at 10:00 am, our contingency plan kicked in for Sunday, and many staff stayed and worked OT.

I can not say enough good things about our staff; with a moment’s notice, they came in to work on their days off, rather than shopping for holiday gifts or other chores - they surely possess the spirit to serve.

I was into work on both Saturday and Sunday after shoveling snow numerous times in my driveway; it was indeed a winter wonderland outside with about 10 inches of snow. But it was even more wonderful when I walked into the DC and saw our customers being served by our dedicated staff especially during the stormy weather.

I am blessed with wonderful staff and world best customers. It truly is a most wonderful time of the year!

Ken Toong

Director
UMass Dining

Contact ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

Dear Customers:

As we approach the end of  this semester, I want to personally thank you for your continued support of UMass Dining. It was an exciting year for us. We won several national awards; 23% of our produce came from local farmers and the number on the meal plan increased to 14,000, however, we have not forgotten our commitment to continue to improve.

I often hear from many of you in comments about my blog and want to thank you for your good wishes, great ideas and suggestions on how we can serve you even better. As we enter 2009, we intend to introduce more exciting concepts and specials, with healthy options in mind; and we will be rolling out new menu concepts throughout the spring semester.

I wish you the best of luck on your exams. Have a safe and happy holiday.  I’ll look forward to seeing all of you at the DC’s in the new year.

Ken Toong
Director
UMass Dining

Visiting College Chef is coming to Town
Time flies when you are having fun. Christmas is coming soon and the fall semester has less than 3 week to go. Our famed Visiting College Chef Series will kick off this Tuesday with Chef John Krickl of Northwestern University who will be in town. Last year, we had 10 chefs representing eight schools, in ten weeks, who joined us for the special series. It was popular with our customers and it even made to to the NY Times. It should a great feast. I had a good peek at the menu which will feature Roast Pork Loin, Grilled Chicken Tuscany, Athenian Beef & Eggplant Bake and many goodies. Northwestern is new to UMass and they have a nice “nuCuisine” program ( fresh food, made for you). I know the district manager Paul Komelasky, well back to the days of Marriott International. Both of us were on the Menu Task Force and met several times a year to come up with an innovative menu for the company. Paul is nice fellow and has been proactive in innovation. Northwestern is managed by Sodexo (former Marriott) and Tuesday’s visit will mark the first time that a management company chef will come to UMass. I usually see Paul several times a year at trade shows and conferences, and we always have a great chat. Although he and I are working for different outfits (state vs. food management company), we are in the same college dining segment and share the same philosophy of putting students first. The event will be at Berkshire DC on Tuesday, December 9th, beginning at 5:00 pm. Come and say hello and enjoy some great food. As for the Visiting College Chef Series, we plan to invite 12 schools this year with some chefs coming as far as Canada and Mexico. Bon appétit!

Thank you to our world best customers
Last night, several managers and I were present for the pregame ceremony of the UMass Men’s Basketball team vs. BC. With the sponsorship of the game by UMass Dining, during the pregame ceremony we were able to say thank you to our customers and to recognize their support in making UMass Dining what it is today. When they announced UMass Dining on the loud speakers, it gave me goose bump and it was quite an experience to walk out to the center court, with crowds of people in their seats. Later, during half time, part of a video on UMass Dining was also shown. I just cannot say enough about how appreciative I am for our supportive customers and it is also nice to have a partnership with UMass Athletics - Go UMass!

Ken Toong
Director
UMass Dining

Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

I hope you had a great holiday with family and friends while you have been away from UMass. It was a nice break for all of us. My sister-in law, Janice and her husband Stu visited from Canada, so we had a relatively busy weekend. Janice loves to shop whether or not it is back home (in Canada) or here. She always thinks that there is a greater variety of things in the US and Black Friday provided her a big incentive to shop for good deals. They stayed at the hotel nearby, which was a great arrangement so that we did not have to step on each other’s toes. When she called us at 6:00 am on Friday morning and wondered if anyone in our house was ready to go shopping, I told my wife that I was going to stay in bed instead of getting up and going to buy something that I might not need - since I was mostly the cook at home all week, it was hard work and I needed the extra sleep. Stu worked out in the hotel gym each day and this allowed him to be a big eater, without gaining an ounce. It is always nice to spend time with your relatives especially at this time of the year. Stu retired recently and is much more relaxed than ever before. He is not yet 50 years old and walked away from his job after spending 25 years as an executive with the same large company – reason being: too much stress and it was no longer worth it; however, he had the benefit of being financially secure from many years of hard work.

I did find time today, to read an article in December’s issue of Newsweek about a similar situation in which a successful executive, Tom gave up a 31-year publishing career to open a diner in Maine so that his family could have a better simpler life. Tom was well aware that a switch from corporate life in the big city to owning a diner that opens at 6 a.m. would not be a piece of cake, but he felt it would be worth the challenge.

Both my brother in law Stu and Tom would describe their former jobs as being in a rat race. They had something in common: after years at the same job, even with different challenges — it was the same endless cycle of early mornings, late nights, long commutes and little time left over to do all of the things they wished they had more time for.

Stu is busy meticulously painting the interior of his house, with plans to remodel his kitchen and build his own cabinets (he has already put down hardwood floors); however, he has no intention of opening a restaurant. Meanwhile he will keep training and one day plans to run the Boston Marathon.

To me, both Stu and Tom are risk takers. Both of them lost the passion for their past jobs and thy wanted to control their own schedule, their success and their sanity. They are much happier people now and I wish them all the best in whatever they choose to do.

As for myself, I love my job, have a great boss, and work among great managers and world’s best customers; plus I only live 7 min away.

I feel blessed and even get paid for something that I love to do.

Ken Toong
Director
UMass Dining
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu