Chartwells addresses food shortages and supply chain issues
Supply chain issues and product shortages are affecting many businesses across the country.
This is the first semester Chartwells will serve as the new food service provider at Central Michigan University. Despite the recent headlines the company said it will continue to provide the dining experience it promised.
Concerned parents posted messages Sunday, Aug. 29 in the "Official – CMU Parents, Supporters and Guardians" Facebook group after students told them some on-campus dining locations reportedly closed early due to food shortages.
Chartwells checked in with the CMU parent account leader and reported all stations were fully open through closing, said Amanda Armstrong, Chartwells Central Division Senior Director of Marketing.
"Occasionally, we may 'serve-through' a popular item (until it is gone) and replace it with another item to ensure our guests have a variety of choices for their meals," Armstrong said. "We are unaware of any large outages on Sunday evening."
Venue closures will be announced via social media and posted on the Campus Dining website.
Armstrong said the company is paying attention to various supply chain issues, just like other businesses which operate on a national scale.
"Supply chain issues are affecting many national restaurants and businesses and will continue to do so for the near future. We are doing everything possible to ensure product availability at CMU," Armstrong said. "Regarding future product availability, Chartwells has been closely monitoring the supply chain for several months while implementing plans to minimize the impact of any national supply chain issues caused by the pandemic."
Although Chartwells anticipates menu changes based on potential product substitutions from their suppliers, Armstrong said students and guests can still count on them to provide a variety of "convenient, healthy and delicious" food.
In order to be proactive, Armstrong said Chartwells planned menus for the first four weeks of the fall semester in July. It placed advance food orders to help the suppliers plan their stock to fulfill CMU's supply needs.
"We identified alternate suppliers and products in case our existing suppliers could not meet our needs or were unable to deliver specific products," Armstrong said. "In many cases, our teams changed ordering schedules to allow distributors more time to identify new sources for out-of-stock products."
The company has contracted with additional distributors to assist in fulfilling product orders, Armstrong said.
"We want to thank the CMU campus community in advance for their flexibility and understanding," Armstrong said.
Students and parents can provide feedback to Campus Dining by connecting on social media (@CMichDining on Instagram and Twitter and Central Michigan University Dining on Facebook), or emailing the campus marketing director, Kellie.Dziuk@compass-usa.com.
