Aramark Dietetic Internship

2014/2015

Management Business Plan Project

Harrington Memorial Hospital

Grilled Salmon Cucumber Salad

Hallie Berger
April 12, 2014

Table of Contents
1.0 Executive Summary
1.1 Mission Statement
1.2 Objective....
2.0 Company
3.0 Market Analysis
3.1 Market Analysis Summary
3.2 Market
Segmentation..
3.3 Target
Market......
4.0 Promotional Event Concept..
5.0 Strategy and Implementation
Summary
5.1 Marketing Strategy..
5.2 Sales Forecast...
6.0 Resource Summary.
6.1 Employee Resources..
6.2 Equipment Resources
6.3 Food Resources
6.4 Financial Resources
7.0 Evaluation..
8.0 Appendix
Executive Summary
1.0 Executive Summary
Loyal employees flock to Harrington Hospitals Caf for quick and convenient
delicious items as a reward and release from their hectic work days. After
meticulously viewing customer feedback via surveys and comment boxes, it was
discovered that Harrington Hospital employees desire convenience when dining and
desire more healthy/allergen-free options. They also voiced their need for menu
variety. As a result of customer feedback, a new menu item called the Grilled
Salmon Cucumber Salad was added to the 3 week menu cycle. This promotional
2

event opened many doors for the food service establishment such as incorporating
more daring salad options to the Just 4 You menu and possibly a made-to-order
salad bar in the caf. This promotional meal was inspired by its nutritional benefit
and the approaching warm weather in Massachusetts. The aim of this promotional
event was to increase specialty salad sales and improve customer satisfaction.
The promotion met and exceeded all expectations, deeming the made-to-order
Grilled Salmon Cucumber specialty salad a huge success.
Strategic marketing and advertising contributed to the 560% increase in specialty
salad sales as compared to the past 2 Thursdays. Customer satisfaction goals were
also achieved and survey analyses showed over 95% of customers were satisfied
with the value, taste/flavor and temperature of the specialty salad.
The goal of the promotion was achieved and surpassed. Overall, the promotional
event on April 9th was successful and profitable. Twenty three more specialty salads
were sold on promotion day compared to a typical Thursday.
1.1 Mission Statement:
Harrington HealthCare Systems provides comprehensive healthcare to residents
and communities of South Central Massachusetts and Northeastern Connecticut.
Harrington is committed to total local care. Harrington provides compassionate care
and advanced technology close to home. Harrington offers integrated services,
including comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care along with community
outreach programs. Harrington Memorial Hospital operates as a non-profit institution
governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, serving the best interests of the public.
Harringtons mission statement is an unwavering commitment to provide the best
care possible to the residents of our portion of The Last Green Valley.

Aramarks service mission is to enrich and nourish lives. The iconic red star
symbolizes Aramarks customers and employees worldwide, always moving forward
with devotion and ingenuity. Aramark prides itself on innovative solutions for
tomorrows challenges. Aramarks Business Purpose outlines the aim of the
organization in the following statement:

Our vision is to focus on growth for our customers and clients with a
combination of innovation and service to accelerate growth.

As One Aramark, we pursue excellence across Selling, Service,

Execution, Operations and Marketing through a High-Performing
Organization with front line capacity, the right capabilities and a culture of
recognition and engagement.

We will achieve our goals by being our clients and consumers Most
Valued Partner while becoming the Most Efficient Operator empowered by
the Most Engaged People.

Aramark values:

Passion is ate heart of our performance & Pride is at the core of our
services 1

1.2 Objectives
-

Goal: Increase sales by implementing a new standardized Aramark recipe for the

Just4U Grab-n-Go Cooler to revitalize the Harrington Hospital cycle menu.

Objectives:
o Increase Just4U specialty salad sales by 50% compared with net total
specialty salad sales from the last two Thursday.

Goal: Increase the satisfaction of customers by implementing a specialty salad

following a standardized Aramark recipe.
o 90% of customers will be satisfied with the food taste/flavor, value and
temperature of the new specialty salad offered on Harrington Hospitals

caf menu.
2.0 Company Summary:
For 2 years in a row the Leapfrog Group named Harrington one of its Top
Hospitals. A distinction awarded to hospitals nationwide for demonstrating
excellence in hospital safety and quality through the Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
Meaning Harrington falls within only 94 prestigious hospitals nationwide recognized
as top leaders of healthcare. Harrington has a complete range of inpatient medical
services such as medical surgical, ICU/CCU, psychiatric, pediatrics, and Ob/Gyn
beds) and a wide range of outpatient services including mental health, substance
abuse, and occupational medicine.
Harrington Memorial Hospital is a comprehensive regional healthcare system
anchored by the hospital, a modern, 114-bed acute care center in Southbridge. In
2009, Southbridge welcomed the Cancer Center at Harrington to its community
allowing patients to receive advanced, local oncological care, including
chemotherapy, counseling, pain management and reconstructive surgery.2
Aramark has been partnered with Harrington Memorial Hospitals Nutrition
Department and the Maintenance Department for the past 3 years. The food service
director, an Aramark employee and Aramark clinical II dietitians all work together to
provide a full-service cafeteria with a variety of food items for patients, staff and
visitors. Striving to ensure satisfaction Harrington caf regularly conducts
patient/customer surveys in the cafe, and consistently receives excellent feedback.
Together, both Harrington and Aramark provides continuous safety, quality and
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service excellence. Harrington and Aramark commit to addressing issues that matter
to their clients, customers, shareholders and communities. Harrington cafs hours
of operation include breakfast from 7:00AM to 10:30AM, lunch from 11:15AM to
1:30PM and Dinner from 4:45PM to 6:30 PM Monday through Friday. The caf
remains open on the weekends offering slightly less hours.
At this time Aramark has a Cost Plus contract with HMH. This means that
Aramark is responsible for paying all expenses and maintaining the receipts.
Harrington Memorial Hospital is responsible for reimbursing Aramark for all of the
expenses as well as paying a percentage in management and administrative fee.
3.0 Market Analysis
According to the 2010 census, Southbridge, MAs population was 16,719. The heart
of the city remains Harrington Memorial Hospital, Southbridge Hotel and Conference
Center, and Southbridge Town Hall. With that said, Southbridge comprises of a few
pizza places such as Zoes Pizza which hospital employees may order out on the
weekends when the cafe is closed. Other convenient fast food places such as
McDonalds, Subway and Dunkin Donuts are within a 2 mile radius from the hospital.
Harrington Hospitals caf provides a nice alternative to fast dining right on campus
for visitor and staff convenience.3
Zoes Pizza & Seafood resides on Main St, within walking distance from the
hospital. Zoes Pizza is family owned. Advantages include a convenient location and
offers delivery.
Many of the hospital employees and visitors of patients utilize Dunkin Donuts for
their morning coffee.
Harrington Hospital caf offers two hot entrees, two soup selections, two to three
starch and vegetable options, a hot or cold exhibition item, a sandwich station which
occasionally serves paninis, and a full salad bar. Pizza and chicken tenders

alternate every other day. The grab-n-go cooler, conveniently placed near the
register, offers snack items such as Greek yogurts, hummus and pretzels, fresh fruit
cups, Just4U sandwiches and specialty salads made fresh every day. The nearby
food establishments provide similar options such as fast food meals that are cheap
and convenient, which is why it is imperative for Harringtons caf to be mindful of
pricing and innovation. Providing the same cycle menu continuously throughout the
year may cause customers to become disinterested in the caf and resort to other
establishments for food or cause them to pack their lunches more often. The
production manager makes sure standardized Aramark menu options change often
to keep customers satisfied. According to the cafs Care to Share
comment/suggestion box clients claim to desire healthier menu items and increased
allergen friendly dishes. These people most likely comprise of medical professionals
or medical students, who express desire to purchase healthier fresh meals. Other
customers include patients visitors, volunteers and people receiving outpatient
procedures.
Zoes Pizza offers week day specials, 2 large cheese pizzas for $12.00 +tax,
grinders buy one get one half off and buy one pasta dinner get one half off etc.
Grinders, Syrian, or assorted wraps run between $4.75 and $7.25. Pizzas and
Calzones cost about an average of 6.75 depending on the size. Gluten free pizza is
offered, providing an essential competitive edge for the establishment. Other dishes
include cheeseburger platters, chicken tenders, wing dings, gyro platter, BBQ ribs,
grilled chicken stir fry and stuffed peppers. Specialty seafood dishes are served as
well, such as New Englands own clam chowder.4

McDonalds also offers a seafood option, the Filet-O-Fish combination meal that
includes medium French fries and a 24 oz soda priced at $5.49. McDonalds foods
are highly processed and tend to contain very high amounts of sodium and fat. As
stated above, Harrington Hospital caf customers are seeking healthier options and
allergen friendly options. The Filet-O-Fish and French fries are both fried products
verses the salmon which is grilled with a bed of green leaf and a simple deliciously
flavored white vinaigrette cucumber salad. Additionally McDonalds remains open
24-hours providing breakfast, lunch and dinner options.

3.1 Market Segmentation

Based on a Customer Survey conducted by the Dietetic Intern, 85% of Harrington
Hospital Caf customers are employees of Harrington Hospital and 15% comprise of

volunteers or visitors of patients. Most customers at Harrington Hospital caf are part of
the Support Staff team (22%) most likely due to the food service department discount.
Each support staff is provided $3.00 for meals bought at the caf. The other 22% is
directors and management most likely due to the employee deduct option available.
16% of the caf customers are nursing staff or technical staff; this data can be found in
table 1 and 2 of Appendix B.
The racial makeup of the city/town of Southbridge, MA, according to the 2010
census:
- 81.2% White
- 2.6% African American
- 26.6% Hispanic/Latino
31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them. 25.4% of the population Is
under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64,
and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.8
males. Harrington Hospital employees mainly comprise of local residents of town/city,
and many commuters from neighboring towns and cities such as Sturbridge, Charlton
and Worcester. 33.9% of the population are below 200% poverty (area percentage) and
20.7 are below 100% poverty. The median income for a household in the city was
$33,913, and the median income for a family was 41,863. These people have a
relatively low income on average, and one can assume that most are looking for a high
value for their dollar when making decisions on meal purchases.
The survey conducted by the dietetic intern revealed that 87% of HMH staff eat
on campus at least 2-3 times per week, showing very high customer loyalty (refer to
Appendix B)
4.0 Promotional Event Concept

As a result of the dietetic intern observing the food service establishment at

Harrington Memorial Hospital while completing Food Service Management rotations
and Clinical Dietetic Rotations a need for cycle menu innovation was voiced. The
promotional idea was to revamp the cycle menu at Harrington Hospitals caf
primarily based off knowledge of the customer population.
The Dietetic Intern, the Food Service Director and the Executive Chef/Production
Manager worked together to add new Grab-n-Go salad items and new wraps for the
sandwich station to the cafs cycle menu. All items followed Aramark approved
PRIMA recipes and were chosen based on nutritional attributes, seasonal
considerations and their selling potential. Other financial considerations included an
increase in revenue, check average and retail traffic, while adding exciting new
menu items. This business plan focuses on the specialty Grilled Salmon Cucumber
Salad for the Just4U Grab-N-Go cooler at Harrington Hospitals Caf.
5.0 Market Strategy
The Dietetic Intern and the Food Service Director came up with the Marketing
Strategies, discussed in this section, with the intention of increasing the promotion,
thus increasing sales. Upon completion of the new cycle menu, all HMH employees
were informed of the menu changes and new selections via mass e-mail a week
before the promotional event. Kitchen staff members received specific direction
regarding proper storage, correct times to pull certain ingredients, such as the
Salmon, and production instructions. The four aspects or the 4Ps utilized in effective
marketing include product, price, place and promotion.
The product, the Grilled Salmon Cucumber salad, was sold as the specialty
salad of the day on Thursday April 9, 2014. The specialty salad varies daily.
Harrington Hospital Caf customers are accustomed to having a different choice in

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this menu item. As a result of patients voicing their opinions about offering new
menu items at the caf, the new Grilled Salmon Cucumber Salad was added to the
3 week menu cycle. The specialty Grilled Salmon Cucumber Salad sold for an
average price of $3.25 (This figure averaged the regular price for visitors/volunteers
etc., the food service staff discount, and the HMH employee discount); an
exceptional price for a freshly prepared salmon dish. The Aramark cafeteria, or
Harrington Hospital Caf, conveniently resides right down the hall from the main
entrance of the hospital. To promote the Grilled Salmon Cucumber Salad, the
revamped 3 week cycle menu, which included the specialty salad was e-mailed to
all HMH users. The morning of the promotion, all HMH users received an e-mail
from the Food Service Director in regards to the Grilled Salmon Cucumber Salad. To
increase sales and customer awareness the salad was made-to-order. This
important detail was highlighted in the promotional e-mail. The salads were made to
order near the cash registers and the Just4U to-go cooler. The cash registers are
located in the back of the cafeteria. In other words, customers need to pass the
salad bar, hot food station, and sandwich station to arrive at the cash register. A sign
promoting the made-to-order salad was placed at the entrance of the cafeteria close
to the Sizzle hot foods station.
5.1 Sales Forecast
The promotional event will provide at least a 500% increase in specialty salad
sales at Harrington Hospitals caf on the day of the advertised promotion. On
average, the caf sells 5 specialty salads each day and this goal requires that at
least 10 specialty salads are sold on the day of the promotion.

11

It is also forecasted that average cost per check will increase by 5%, making the
average check $3.16 or higher.
6.0 Resource Summary
6.1 Employee Resources:
The Food Service Director (Raelynn Salisbury), Production Manager (David Langevin)
and the dietetic intern all had important roles in the success of the promotion.
Harrington Memorial Hospital is a non-profit organization with approximately 115 beds.
With that said, Harrington Hospitals Caf is one of Aramarks smaller accounts in the
state of Massachusetts, meaning the Food Service Director and the Production/Chef
Manager take on the role of a Retail Manager. However, the Department Secretary
Carol Crawford takes care of the financial reports for the caf along with overseeing
catered events. An ongoing discussion regarding the 3 week menu cycle becoming
stagnant, jumpstarted the conversation to implement new items onto the menu. The
dietetic intern relayed Aramark/PRIMA approved menu possibilities to the production
manager and food service director. After the approval process, PRIMA recipes were
printed according to the proper forecasted serving size.
-

Grilled Salmon Cucumber Salad: 24 servings

David Langevin ordered the Grilled Salmon the Friday before the promotional event.
The order arrived at Harrington Memorial Hospitals loading dock the Monday before the
promotional event on Thursday. Robert Proulx (Inventory) assured proper storage
following Aramark SAFE protocol. Three days prior to the event, a meeting was held
with the Chef Supervisor, Prep Cooks, Production Manager, Food Service Director and
Dietetic intern to discuss proper preparation of the Grilled Cucumber Salad and the

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logistics of the promotional event. The day before the promotional event on Wednesday
the cucumber salad was prepared by the dietetic intern with the help of the Diet Aide
Rebecca Cobb. The morning of the promotional event the Cook Supervisor, Production
Manager and Dietetic Intern set up the made-to-order salad station and prepared salads
for the Just4U Grab-N-Go to-go cooler. The Food Service Director assisted in the setup
of the made-to-order salad station to look appealing and enticing. During the pre-service
meeting all cashiers were made aware of the promotional event and proper pricing of
the specialty salad.
The Food Service Director provided the monthly cash report/daily cash reports,
and item margin (specialty salads) in order to forecast sales on the day of the event.
The Dietetic Intern was responsible for designing the flyer, creating and
placing/distributing the menu displays for the retail area, completing the invoice
summary for the products ordered, serving the specialty salads on promotion day,
handed out customer satisfaction surveys, and overseeing the days events.
6.2 Equipment Resources:
The equipment needed to facilitate the implementation of the retail promotion.
-

Refrigerator
Hotel pans
Serving spoons/spoodle
Slicer
To-go plastic salad containers
Stickers with sales price and proper labeling
Whisk
Measuring cups
Teaspoon/tablespoons
Knife
Vegetable cutting board
Ice bath with made-to-order preparation table
Pencils for survey administration
Customer Satisfaction Survey
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6.3 Food Resources

Subsequent to evaluating the current inventory, items for the promotional event were
ordered Friday April 3, 2015 through Sysco, Boston to be delivered the Monday before
the event. Items ordered specifically for the event:

$71.27; 10 lb. case of Sysco pre-packaged Salmon

Items on hand:
Juice bulk lemon pasteurized refrigerated C
Oil blend vegetable C
Vegetable fresh garlic whole cloves peeled-minced oz
Salt kosher 1 tsp
Spice pepper black ground tsp
Vinegar white 3 C
Sugar granulated extra fine 5 /12 oz
Lettuce leaf green (whole leaves, oz
Fruit fresh lemon seeded, cut into 1/8 wedges
Herb fresh parsley-leaves, chopped 1 oz
6.4 Financial Resources
The Grilled Salmon Cucumber salad was the selected item used in the retail
promotion, and is therefore going to be used to determine the breakeven
analysis. The analysis is used to determine the point at which sales will equal
costs of production.
The budget for this promotional event is equivalent to the regular
operational budget of Harrington Hospital Caf. Printed materials included the
customer satisfaction survey and flyers. Color ink and paper were the only
materials used for marketing. All other marketing techniques were built into
Harrington Hospital Cafs weekly budget. Leftover items will be used in other
recipes weekly.

14

Breakeven Analysis: Sales

Sales price per meal

$3.25

Number of meals sold

28

Variable Cost (VC)

Labor per unit

$0.67
(1 hour at $18.86/hr with 28 units sold)

Raw food cost

$1.84

*Provided in the e-recipe

Total

$2.51

Fixed Cost (FC)

Marketing

Marketing costs factored in with the weekly budget

for the food service department; no extra costs
used for the promotional event.

Insurance and misc.

$0.72

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($757.84/month with 35 employees)

Total:

$3.23

Breakeven Analysis: FC/ (SP-VC) = $0.72 / ($3.25 $2.51) = 1 Unit

7.0 Evaluation
The success of this promotional event was determined by comparing the
objectives to the results. The primary goal of this 2-day promotion period was to
increase retail sales of Harrington Hospitals Caf on Thursday April 9 th, 2015. After
analyzing the sales of the previous two Thursdays, April 2 nd and April 26th, 2014, it was
determined that the first objective of this promotion, increasing Just4U specialty salad
sales by 500% compared with net total specialty salad sales from the last two
Thursdays was not only met, but surpassed. Evaluating this goal required daily cash
reports from the past two Thursday lunch shifts, as well as the daily cash report from the
day of the promotion itself. The average specialty salad sales for the previous two
Thursdays were 5 specialty salads, which totals $16.25 in profit, as most specialty
salads are sold for $3.25. Specialty salad (Grilled Salmon Cucumber Salad) sales on
the day of the promotion totaled 28 specialty salads or $91.00 in profit for Harrington
Hospitals caf. 560% more specialty salads were sold due to the promotion of the
Grilled Salmon Cucumber Salad than on a typical Thursday with plain signage.
The second goal was to increase the food satisfaction of customers by the
implementation of a new specialty salad following a standardized Aramark recipe. The
objective corresponding with this goal was that 90% of customers will be satisfied with
the food taste/flavor, value and temperature of the new specialty salad offered on

16

Harrington Hospitals caf menu. A survey created by the dietetic intern, given out to the
customers evaluated this objective.
20 out of the 28 customers who purchased the promotional specialty salads
completed surveys. Participants were asked to select the answers that correspond to
their level of satisfaction regarding food taste/flavor, value of the meal, and temperature
of the food. Evaluation of responses resulted in 100% of customers were satisfied with
the taste/flavor and temperature of their food. Customer comments included:

Dressing fabulous, Salmon very flavorful, moist, cucumbers salad very good

Excellent flavor-a nice Spring/Summer dish! Loved it

95% of the customers were satisfied with the value. Customer comments included:

Portions continue to get smaller, prices do not go down

The success of this promotional meal can be explained by many factors. All hospital
employees received the new 3 week menu cycle via e-mail. The 3 week menu cycle
was also posted at the entrance of the caf. Also, according to Harrington Hospital
Cafs Care to Share comment/suggestion box, many customers are seeking out
healthier meal options and allergen friendly meals. Commonly, hospital employees only
receive a 30 minute lunch break or tend to get tied up in clinical/critical work preventing
them from sitting down to eat their food, which makes the Grab-N-Go options so
convenient. The made-to-order salad display attracted many customers.
In summary, objectives 1 and 2 not only were achieved, but surpassed
expectations and the results were positive for this promotional event. The Grilled
Salmon Cucumber Salad may sell better throughout the warmer seasons. It surprisingly
snowed in Massachusetts the day of the promotion on April 9 th. This may have hindered
17

sales. Some improvements include moving the made-to-order salad station to the front
of the caf in order for customers to see the promotion before ordering other foods. A
way to increase survey responses may have been to make the survey available to
employees via email, as those who did not fill out the surveys were in a rush to get back
to their floors. Overall the promotion was victorious, and both goals along with their
objectives were met.

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Salmon Grilled Cucumber Salad

Customer Satisfaction Survey:

Answers are anonymous and confidential.

Q UESTION #1
Were you satisfied with the flavor value and temperature?
Yes
No
Q UESTION #2
How much money do you spend on meals off-site while (visiting patients/working
on site)?
None
$0.00-5.00
$5.00-10.00
10.00 and over
Q UESTION #3
Please mark-off what applies to you:
Harrington Memorial Hospital Employee
Other Medical Center Employee
Visitors of Hospital
Student
Hospital Patient
Q UESTION #4
Customer Occupation:
Support Staff
Administrative/Clerical
Nursing
Technical
Student/Visitor
Patient Services
Physician
Director/Manager
Researcher
Executive
#5
How many times a week do you purchase food at the caf?
QUESTION

19

Zero
1
2-3
4-5
Over 5

Appendix A

20

21

Frequency with which employees eat on campus

45%
40%

40%
35%
30%

25%

25%

20%

20%
15%

15%

10%
5%
0%

2 to 3

4 to 5

Over 5

Appendix B

22

Display Dish

23

Just4U Grab-N-Go
Cooler strategically
placed by the register on promotional day (the Grilled Salmon Cucumber Salad
priced, labeled and dated).

24

Minutes before the lunch time rush hit Harrington Hospital Cafs floors

Appendix C
25

Stop by the main campus caf today at lunch

for a specialty salad made-to-order
So Healthy, So Good!

GRILLED SALMON CUCUMBER

SALAD
*THIS SALAD WILL BE AVAILABLE IN OUR GRAB AND GO COOLER
FOR DINNER

26

Appendix
D

References:
1. New Day: Our Brand. Aramark website.
http://www.aramark.com/newday
Accessed April 9, 2015.
2. Welcome Letter: Harrington HealthCare System Total Local Care: Harrington
Memorial Hospitals website.
http://www.harringtonhospital.org/welcome-letter/
Accessed April 9, 2015.
3. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2010. United States Census
Bureau website.
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?
src=CF
Accessed April 9, 2015.
4. Zoes Pizza Menu. Zoes Pizza & Seafood of Southbridge.
http://zoesofsouthbridge.com/
Accessed April 9, 2015.

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