2008 Woodie Awards
Bon Appétit Fields Pearlstone Complaints
Zwagil Addresses Prices, Meal Hours, and Menu Selections
Alex Ebstein
Issue date: 12/10/03 Section: News
Pearlstone, our campus's popular café, offers convenience and variety to the Goucher community, yet still sometimes dissatisfies. Students have complained of lack of choices, the prices of pre-prepared food, and not being able to use their meal plan at any time of the day. What many fail to understand is that the facility can handle little more than what it already does. In a five-day time period, the number of times a Onecard gets swiped at Pearlstone is consistently over six thousand, sometimes even hundreds more than the Stimson card reader sees in seven days.
Controlling much of the product line is the campus's contract with Coca Cola. The sale of competing companies' products would violate this contract, and thus the refrigerators will never be stocked with Pepsi. Another factor appears to be desirability. This is not to say that Pearlstone makes an attempt to carry things that people will not eat, but when pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream could not be kept in stock, the decision was made to stop selling them.
Bon Appétit makes an effort to make it easy for students to use their meal plans to get quick meals, and still keep the number of customers manageable by imposing limits to when the meal plan can be used. The company tries to offer a variety, and provide many possible combinations of foods to make up the cost of a meal. Anything that is made in front of the customer translates easily into a meal- for example, a sandwich, chips and a fountain soda.
Due to the college's future plans for expansion, Goucher has had to reconsider its options for making food available to students. Norman Zwagil of Bon Appétit has been looking into methods that other colleges employ, making visits to Towson University and Emory University to see their dining facilities. Asked what is to be done about the complaints regarding Pearlstone, Zwagil answers, "no one looking at Pearlstone with a long term vision wants it to get busier." However, he does acknowledge that the more the campus grows, the more real the need for additional food service is.
There have been many suggestions pertaining to the future of food service at Goucher. It is clear, at least to Zwagil, that there is a need for another way for people to eat. While the new addition to Stimson would seat approximately 300 more people during a meal time, it is fairly apparent that the constructions of a new dining hall is not likely to happen. Instead, Bon Appétit has been toying with the idea of making the meal plan option at Pearlstone available at all times. This change, however would have to exclude retail items, such as chips and bottled sodas in order to maintain a similar flow of consumer traffic. This is what Zwagil feels would be the best option. Other ideas being explored are additional expansion of Stimson seating, a convenient store/deli combination in the new building when it is completed, and perhaps a faculty dining room.
In the meantime, for those students looking to have more say in their food selection, Bon Appétit welcomes their suggestions. If interested, students should email NZwagil@goucher.edu with ideas both for the menu and for future dining facilities at Goucher College.
Go here for information on Bon Appétit's new antibiotics policy.
Controlling much of the product line is the campus's contract with Coca Cola. The sale of competing companies' products would violate this contract, and thus the refrigerators will never be stocked with Pepsi. Another factor appears to be desirability. This is not to say that Pearlstone makes an attempt to carry things that people will not eat, but when pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream could not be kept in stock, the decision was made to stop selling them.
Bon Appétit makes an effort to make it easy for students to use their meal plans to get quick meals, and still keep the number of customers manageable by imposing limits to when the meal plan can be used. The company tries to offer a variety, and provide many possible combinations of foods to make up the cost of a meal. Anything that is made in front of the customer translates easily into a meal- for example, a sandwich, chips and a fountain soda.
Due to the college's future plans for expansion, Goucher has had to reconsider its options for making food available to students. Norman Zwagil of Bon Appétit has been looking into methods that other colleges employ, making visits to Towson University and Emory University to see their dining facilities. Asked what is to be done about the complaints regarding Pearlstone, Zwagil answers, "no one looking at Pearlstone with a long term vision wants it to get busier." However, he does acknowledge that the more the campus grows, the more real the need for additional food service is.
There have been many suggestions pertaining to the future of food service at Goucher. It is clear, at least to Zwagil, that there is a need for another way for people to eat. While the new addition to Stimson would seat approximately 300 more people during a meal time, it is fairly apparent that the constructions of a new dining hall is not likely to happen. Instead, Bon Appétit has been toying with the idea of making the meal plan option at Pearlstone available at all times. This change, however would have to exclude retail items, such as chips and bottled sodas in order to maintain a similar flow of consumer traffic. This is what Zwagil feels would be the best option. Other ideas being explored are additional expansion of Stimson seating, a convenient store/deli combination in the new building when it is completed, and perhaps a faculty dining room.
In the meantime, for those students looking to have more say in their food selection, Bon Appétit welcomes their suggestions. If interested, students should email NZwagil@goucher.edu with ideas both for the menu and for future dining facilities at Goucher College.
Go here for information on Bon Appétit's new antibiotics policy.
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