For Parents

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Bon Appétit Management Company implemented rigorous sanitation and service measures to ensure students can dine with us safely and comfortably.

These measures have been developed based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), health and sanitation experts from our company’s Coronavirus Response Team, and local health regulations:

• COVID-19-specific training for all staff designed by sanitation experts and updated regularly as new issues emerge. Topics covered include proper disinfection, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and more, and are integrated with food safety and sanitation protocols.
• Pre-shift wellness screenings for employees in alignment with local regulations, which include daily interview questions. 
• Decision tree and step-by-step action plan for unit managers who have employees who are sick or who may have had contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. (Bon Appétit offers paid sick leave to all employees.)
• Amped-up cleaning and sanitation schedules with clearly detailed procedures that meet or exceed all local guidelines and national best practices. This includes frequent disinfection of high-touch surfaces.
• No-touch sanitation stations at entrances.

The health and well-being of your student is our top priority. Our corporate safety team is continuously monitoring CDC recommendations, updating our guidance as needed, and regularly communicating with our on-site team.

We would like to add that while safety is a key priority, it is not our only one. We still believe that food has an important role to play in building culture and community. Our chefs will still be cooking from scratch, using fresh local and seasonal ingredients that meet our sustainability standards. (We are pleased to mention that in March the Humane Society of the United States ranked us the #1 food service company, the only one with an A+ grade, thanks to our early commitments to cage-free eggs and gestation-crate-free pork.) We are offering free online wellness resources to support students’ health and well-being. In addition, your student will continue to find abundant plant-forward, vegetarian, and vegan options as well as ones that are made without gluten-containing ingredients every day. We are happy to work with any students with food allergies or other dietary restrictions to make sure everyone can enjoy plenty of delicious food, safely, with us.

As always, we welcome any questions or feedback from concerned parents.

Sincerely,

Amy Tomes
General Manager

Dining with Bon Appétit at Macalester

As Macalester College and Bon Appétit Management Company welcome new and returning students to campus in the era of COVID-19, we’re ensuring that you have the best dining experience possible. We’ll of course be implementing new measures to keep our guests and our teams safe, but while safety is a key priority, it is not our only one. We think we’ve got a great program planned for you, but rest assured we’ll be refining and adapting to make it even better as we go along.

REASONS TO BUY A MEAL PLAN:

Makes Life Easier: Life is difficult enough right now! A meal plan means: No worrying about grocery shopping or meal planning. No dishes. No unexpected financial surprises: for students who have flexible spending dollars, we help them manage their funds appropriately.

It’s Convenient: We offer lots of freshly made grab-and-go items, and contactless payment — you don’t even have to carry cash!

From Scratch = Flexible: We LOVE food, so we cook it from scratch: stocks, sauces, soups, salsas, you name it (also things that don’t start with S). This means we can be flexible with our recipes to accommodate all sorts of dietary needs without any fuss. It’s our passion to create delicious food that suits every need and taste. Vegan, flexitarian, or avoiding gluten? We’ll have options for you every day.

It’s Healthier: Our chefs make crave-worthy dishes — built on whole grains, deep-color vegetables, fresh fruits, and lean or plant-based proteins — that people look forward to eating every day. They also follow portion control guidelines.

Satisfying Options: From global bowls to seasonal pizzas, there’s always something new to try. And we love suggestions — our chefs don’t use cycle menus or corporate recipes, so they can add in new items with only a few days’ notice.

Seriously Sustainable: COVID-19 may have disrupted the food supply chains, but we’re still committed to upholding our industry-leading commitments to environmentally and socially responsible sourcing, from Farm to Fork partnerships to sustainable seafood. (The Humane Society of the United States ranked us the #1 food service company — the only one with an A+ grade.)

Knowledge is Power: College isn’t just about academics, it’s about learning life skills, too. We are committed to helping students learn to make healthy choices in and outside our café through nutrition & wellness information and education about how food choices impact the environment, and more.

Still Social: Mealtimes are still the perfect time to catch up with friends, and make new ones. We’re committed to making our dining spaces both safe and inviting places to hang out and to offering interactive events to bring students together.