Amid Global Shortages, Sodexo Meets Demand at TCU

The Sodexo food service unit at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas, like the rest of the nation, has struggled with labor and supply chain shortages. Despite this on-going challenge, the Sodexo team is determined to offer the same high-quality food service and experience to students.

With a talented culinary team and cooks behind the scenes, all retail locations and resident dining hall were open all semester with full operational hours and full menus. Once orders are placed with vendors, the dining team follows up by contacting them immediately to ensure product availability. If any products are shorted, chefs find substitutions to keep an array of options available on the menu. Menus are generally made two weeks in advance. However, a full delivery is not received, the team makes appropriate adjustments with little notice.

With an increased student population this year, Sodexo made sure the student experience met and exceeded expectations. The dining team relied on staffing agencies to keep locations at peak service levels. Longtime partnerships built with these agencies help keep up with demand.

With a 100 percent open capacity for football, the Sodexo sports and leisure segment had a game plan for seven home games and the Armed Forces Bowl. Existing relationships with community and non-profit organizations, such as area churches, Boy Scout troops, and high schools, whose volunteers work the concession stands to raise money for their causes, elevated stresses of the labor shortage. These groups helped Sodexo provide a total fan experience with all concession stands open. This season non-profit groups earned over $300,000.

Sodexo even expanded its culinary menu for concessions to feature specialty items such as the Dog Factor – a 2-foot boat of hot dogs, a huge bone-in rib sandwich, local craft beers, and Wine on the Goal Line – an assortment of wines paired with a charcuterie board or hummus and pita.

The semester culminated with a unit-wide holiday party open to celebrate employees and the staffing agency employees. The success of getting through this semester goes to the tenured employees who have a special relationship with the Horned Frog students and the staffing agencies that worked closely with managers.