On June 18, the Student Representative Assembly of the McMaster Students Union met to discuss a number of points. One of the most substantial points to come out of this meeting was the unanimous vote in favour of, “1280 Café Capital Allocation (Marauders Nest Project).”
There are two main phases this. Daniel D’Souza, vice-president (Finance), explained the perspective that the MSU took to start these projects.
“Our mindset is being able to provide the best value to students. Not necessarily the most fancy options, but the most affordable options.”
The first phase deals with preparation space and the café, and will cost $99 000.
This preparation space will be a created area in the back storage room of Union Market to provide items in house for the café, detailed in the second phase, and to expand Union Market’s food offerings.
“The idea is that sandwiches can be made in TwelvEighty, but they can be packaged in Union Market,” said D’Souza.
D’Souza stated that the plan for this may change over the next few months, but currently stands as a way to reduce expenses. As detailed in the proposal, sandwiches from TwelvEighty are better quality and less expensive, $1.60 at cost, than the alternative, but are unable to produce during the year due to how busy they are with their own operations. Taro, the supplier for the academic year, provides the quantity at a $2.25 price point.
The proposal also mentions that sandwiches are one of their top selling items in the summer due to their affordable price and quality.
The expected immediate savings during the school year from making them in house is calculated to be $8060, and the profit increase during the school year is calculated to be $45 384.
The café itself will be located where the side bar and current unused lounge space in TwelvEighty currently is with a lot of promises based on student feedback.
“Some of the reoccurring themes that we see are, one, price. That food is way too expensive on campus. Two is when it comes down to the cheaper foods, there aren’t many healthy options. And three was dietary restrictions and culturally appropriate foods,” said D’Souza.
He expanded on the last point by stating how there were a limited amount of healthy halal options available and a large lack of kosher food on campus. He also highlighted the lack of choice that can come with using a meal card plan.
“There are a couple of areas around campus that are quite successful at that. When you look at My Dog Joe or Brown Dog Café, but there’s no feeling like that on campus. I think that’s the niche that this fills."
Daniel D'Souza
Vice president (Finance)
McMaster Students Union
The intended purpose of the café is to satisfy a lot of the middle ground that currently exists with food options on campus. Its target price level will be between Union Market and TwelvEighty as is, will be ideal for hour or two hour long breaks between classes and for students that want the flexibility to sit down and study or get a grab and go hot lunch at that lower price.
“There are a couple of areas around campus that are quite successful at that. When you look at My Dog Joe or Brown Dog Café, but there’s no feeling like that on campus. I think that’s the niche that this fills,” said D’Souza.
When it comes to the financials, a lot of it will be dependent on how successful the café is and what the demand will be for a relatively unknown entity. However, the break-even point is projected to be one-third of Union Market’s sales numbers during the school year.
In addition to this preparation space and the café, a longer term plan for online ordering is expected to roll out next year.
“The idea is that students will be able to order either through a website or an app for pickup,” said D’Souza.
While details are unclear this early in the process, there has been progress towards selecting the company that will design this system.
The second phase of all of this is to eventually expand the lounge space if the café is successful. This will be determined once the café has been completed and demand can be sufficiently measured, but it is a possibility down the line.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
The second year that I worked for The Silhouette, at least 50 percent of my job revolved around food. I ran the Lifestyle section, and I took restaurant reviews very seriously. I still love eating out now, so when the new MacEats app was released, I was quick to download it and give it a try.
The new app is the offspring of Hospitality Services and the Student Dining Committee, a group of students devoted to sampling and judging the foods on campus. The app allows students to search across the menu offerings at campus eateries and compare their options before swiping their meal card. With categories like Food Types, Open Late, Locations and more, with the tap of a screen, students can find out which campus restaurants are open and what they are selling.
While the app will surely be helpful for many students, there’s one category that seems to be missing — budget.
It checks all the boxes for showcasing food options and even highlights which locations cater to dietary restrictions, but it has no way for students to search meals based on price.
It’s no secret that food on campus is expensive. And for many students, it can be exceedingly difficult to find an affordable meal that isn’t going to take a huge chunk out of their weekly budget, especially if they didn’t factor in eating on campus.
The app is great for students who live on campus and have meal plan dollars to use up, but for those of us who do not have a large pool of funds attached to our student cards, budgeting is important. Especially now that most campus vendors accept credit and debit, the purchasing habits of the full student body should be considered.
If the app had a section where students could program in the amount they were willing to spend and view options based on that number, not only would it help those looking for a more reasonably priced meal, but it may even increase sales at campus vendors since students wouldn’t be so turned off by what appears to be exclusively high-priced cuisine.
Student finances should be a priority across campus, especially when it comes to making campus life something affordable or at least accessible for all financial backgrounds. Budgeting a student life shouldn’t be something hard to swallow.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
