NewsUpper SchoolStudent LifePre-K to 8Service
SAGE takes the cake as food service provider
Jun 1, 2001 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
As of June 1, SAGE Dining Services became the food service provider for the Upper and Middle school campuses as well as serving meals to the Lower School. Their responsibilities also include the School Store and catering special events.
For the previous 14 years Darlington has contracted for food service. In order to fulfill fiduciary responsibilities, the School felt that a solicitation for bids and a comparison of available services was necessary.
In March, the School requested proposals from three companies: ARAMARK, the current provider; SAGE; and Sodexho-Marriott. After meeting with company representatives, reviewing proposals, and calling other schools for their opinions, Gordon Neville, dean of students, Emily Stuckey, controller, and Bob Rogers, vice president of finance, narrowed down the search, then received final presentations from SAGE and ARAMARK. Considering costs, services, results of reference checks, and perceptions of which would be better for Darlington, the committee decided to contract with SAGE.
“SAGE’s proposal, we felt, was better in several ways. The cost was dramatically less than ARAMARK’s even though the quality of the food service package appeared to be superior,” Rogers explained. “The schools we talked to about SAGE were unanimous in giving SAGE high marks. We felt that SAGE’s emphasis on the independent school market was also a plus, as was their size.”
The SAGE transition team began the process on May 22. “All of the current dinning hall employees except Fraser Pearson and Neal Miller will be given the opportunity to work with SAGE with a small increase in salary. This, hopefully, will make the transition smoother. This process and its outcome were made much harder because Fraser and Neal are both beloved members of our community. They have done a good job here. We will miss them, and we wish them well,” Rogers said.
For the previous 14 years Darlington has contracted for food service. In order to fulfill fiduciary responsibilities, the School felt that a solicitation for bids and a comparison of available services was necessary.
In March, the School requested proposals from three companies: ARAMARK, the current provider; SAGE; and Sodexho-Marriott. After meeting with company representatives, reviewing proposals, and calling other schools for their opinions, Gordon Neville, dean of students, Emily Stuckey, controller, and Bob Rogers, vice president of finance, narrowed down the search, then received final presentations from SAGE and ARAMARK. Considering costs, services, results of reference checks, and perceptions of which would be better for Darlington, the committee decided to contract with SAGE.
“SAGE’s proposal, we felt, was better in several ways. The cost was dramatically less than ARAMARK’s even though the quality of the food service package appeared to be superior,” Rogers explained. “The schools we talked to about SAGE were unanimous in giving SAGE high marks. We felt that SAGE’s emphasis on the independent school market was also a plus, as was their size.”
The SAGE transition team began the process on May 22. “All of the current dinning hall employees except Fraser Pearson and Neal Miller will be given the opportunity to work with SAGE with a small increase in salary. This, hopefully, will make the transition smoother. This process and its outcome were made much harder because Fraser and Neal are both beloved members of our community. They have done a good job here. We will miss them, and we wish them well,” Rogers said.
