Indiana Memorial Union Dining Services� Sugar & Spice bakery is known for its natural and organic treats.

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It is critical for Sodexo Campus Services to keep pace with the tastes of students at Indiana University (IU), in Bloomington, Ind. A division of Sodexo Inc., the company oversees 12 retail operations in the college’s Indiana Memorial Union (IMU) Dining Services program.

In addition, Sodexo provides catering services to support community and academic events, IMU General Manager Steve Mangan says. Sodexo has managed IMU’s dining and catering programs since 1989. “We see probably 90 percent of the students on campus during the year,” he says.

IMU Dining Services’ retail operations feature “a mix of national brands and Sodexo brands,” Mangan says. Its national brands include Starbucks, Burger King and Chick-fil-A. It also operates two Sodexo brands, Sub Connection and SmartMarket.

The dining program includes IMU-created brands, such as Kiva, a restaurant that offers paninis, salads and soups. In addition, the IMU-created Sugar & Spice bakery has become a favorite of IU alums, Mangan says.

“It’s been an institution for 50 years,” he explains. “We’ve got alumni coming back for their favorites when they were students here.” He notes that favorites include Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Gingerbread Men and Oatmeal Chewies.

Although the bakery has retained those longtime favorites, “We’ve added a mix of natural and organic treats to supplement what we’re dong here,” Mangan says, noting that Sugar & Spice now offers organic coffee and products from local companies such as Dillman Farm.
    
Strong Support
A certified executive chef, Mangan is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a former chief instructor of the New England Culinary Institute.

In addition, he has held positions at James Madison University, Liberty University, University of Mary Washington and Marriot Management Services. This fall will mark Mangan’s third year at IMU Dining Services.

“What keeps the job interesting [for me are] the relationships that we have with our customers, supporting their departments and events,” he says.

He has enjoyed watching his employees develop skills as the dining program has improved its offerings. In addition, “It’s great to work with the students here,” he says, noting that the dining program employs between 60 to 100 students annually.

Student diners continue to look “for what’s currently trendy,” Mangan says. Starbucks is very popular, as are ethnic foods, including Mediterranean, Latin and Asian.

IU’s students also want more nutritional options. Recently, a student group approached Mangan about adding more salad bars and healthy meals to its menus. To fulfill this request, “We’re going to be looking at how we can incorporate more salad bar choices into our mix,” Mangan says. “They don’t want the salad bar that’s just iceberg lettuce. They want creative choices with some nice, interesting [products].”

Member Recognition
IMU Dining Services’ catering staff has been critical to its success, Mangan says. This includes Director of Catering Bart Perry, who has been with the program for only a year. “[He] has done a fabulous job growing our business, getting the details down [and forming] relationships,” Mangan says.

Its staff includes catering managers Josh York and Tracy Right. “[Both] have been really working hard to establish a consistent and great track record for what we do every day,” Mangan says.

In addition, Mangan himself has earned honors for the program’s charitable efforts. This year, he received Sodexo’s Heroes of Everyday Life Award, “which is related to feeding the hungry and the efforts we make with our food bank here,” he says. “Our team is very active is supporting in supporting the local food banks programs in our community.”

An Attractive Choice
This year, IMU Dining Services expanded its operations when it assumed management of the food programs at one of IU's fraternities, Phi Gamma Delta. Initially, “They approached us to take a look at their operations,” Mangan remembers.

After IMU Dining Services made suggestions for improvement, “[The fraternity] asked us to take over the management of it,” Mangan says, noting that IMU Dining Services sees growth opportunities ahead with other fraternities.

“We can bring in our menu programs, purchasing leverage, food safety and responsibility for the human resource piece,” Mangan says. “[We] can be an attractive choice.”