Aramark: Letting the Diners Drive the Menu
It's not easy to know what 15 million customers want. But thanks to massive research begun in early 2004, Aramark, the international managed-services company, is getting to know its foodservice patrons better and to understand how they like to eat when away from home. Survey results have allowed Aramark to customize menus in some venues and to help its millions of daily diners make better food choices.
The initial survey of 3,200 adults identified six distinct customer profiles, from the health-conscious female who exercises and wants grilled foods, half portions, and other healthful dining-out options, to supersize-it men who rarely deny themselves anything. Aramark has now surveyed about 200,000 of its domestic customers, getting even closer to a national portrait of eating habits and desires.
This information allows chefs and managers at each venue to customize offerings to fit their customer profiles. Using proprietary software, they can revise their menu and download recipes that fit the preferences of their client base.
In response to the research, which indicated that many customers want healthier meals and help in identifying healthy menu items, Aramark has introduced a new menu program called Just4UTM. Through icons, diners are directed to heart-healthy, low-fat, low-carb, vegetarian, vegan, and low-calorie options. The company has added hundreds of dishes in these niches, enabling chefs and foodservice managers to fine-tune their menus—and allowing patrons to get the food they want.
"This is about driving participation in our locations," says Douglas Martinides, vice president of culinary and beverage development for the company. "If we're not offering what customers are looking for, they're going to go elsewhere to find it."
The initiative has required significant staff training and some uncomfortable procedural changes. If you're going to promise a diner that a dish is low-calorie, it has to be low-calorie, which means that chefs must make it according to a recipe and serve a predetermined portion size. In the past, most Aramark kitchens operated with more flexibility.
"The individual who has worked a sandwich station for 10 years and made that sandwich the same way every day has a relationship with the customer," says Martinides, explaining the challenges. "If the customer says, 'I'd like a little more ham on there,' we would do that. Now, suddenly, we say (to the employee), you're going to scale out your sandwiches and be precise in the amount of mayonnaise. How do you train an employee and a customer? It's a major behavioral change for both sides."
Nevertheless, Martinides believes this customer-driven approach is good for business. The Just4U™ program gives patrons a range of choices. They can eat heart-healthy lunches five days a week if they like, or indulge in that bacon cheeseburger when the craving strikes.