Vendor Spotlight

GREAT TASTE AND PROFIT TOO!

With the theme, “Feed MORE Teens … Guaranteed!,” Smart Mouth, a Choice Partners awarded vendor, has done just that and more. This pizza manufacturer offers all the ingredients, machinery and training for school nutrition staff members to make personal-sized pizzas in-house for that fresh-from-the-oven experience most middle and high school students desire. It is the only pizza with self-rising dough that is handmade and baked onsite. The focus of the company is helping feed more children and fund the schools. Smart Mouth is a resource to market to teens and help school districts grow their bottom line.

As a site-based pizza program, Smart Mouth creates a pro forma statement before any sale so the district can gauge the effect of introducing its novel way of offering pizza. Customers may purchase the ingredients like dough, sauce, pepperoni and small individual-size boxes as well as 100 percent mozzarella cheese. A pizza conveyor oven is a must for this product. Smart Mouth offers the option to purchase one or a district/campus may use one already onsite. Each customer contract guarantees three days of staff training to ensure proper use and quality control of the product produced. Chris Bomberger, director of child nutrition at Denton ISD, said the program is overwhelmingly successful.  “When you sign the contract, Smart Mouth helps you every step of the way. They train your staff staying for 3 days at every school where the program is implemented to ensure the end result is by their standards. Their follow-up is thorough. Smart Mouth is not a product; it is a concept,” Bomberger said.

As students age (like a good cheese), their interest in school food and cafeteria experiences decline.  Offering onsite fresh pizza engages their attention as well as palates.  This in turn creates a substantial revenue increase for any child nutrition director looking to do both. “I was given a directive by administration to increase revenue.  When I saw Smart Mouth Foods at the SNA conference, they shared their program that included equipment purchase plus product that would do just that,” said Cheryl Rayburg, Boerne ISD food service director. “Our director of purchasing found access to a Smart Mouth contract through the district’s membership in Choice Partners Co-op and we were able to move forward. A portion of the weekly product ordered contributed to the equipment purchase until it was paid in full.  We netted a $100K profit the first year.  It was a big plus for me to be able to use Smart Mouth through Choice Partners.”

Smart Mouth pizza meets all nutritional guidelines and with this company on your team, you have several avenues to build revenue. The pizza may be sold as an a la carte item for profit or can be bundled with a fruit or vegetable to meet the nutritional requirements as a reimbursable meal through Texas Department of Agriculture USDA. Either way helps to increase the child nutrition budget which benefits kitchen staff in meal planning. Frisco ISD nutrition coordinator Katherine Smith said Frisco uses Smart Mouth in special promotional offerings to students. “Smart Mouth has provided us the marketing tools we need to promote limited time offers that increased our reimbursable meals and a la carte sales. We serve over 27,000 reimbursable meals weekly with Smart Mouth.”

Log on to the Choice Partners website for more information about CP Smart Mouth contract #17/035TJ-01.  For more information about Smart Mouth, go to www.smartmouthfoods.com.

Anyone who’s ever attempted to clean up a major spill with a minor amount of tissue understands that not all janitorial supplies are created equal. Whether you’re buffing a gymnasium floor or taking out the trash, it pays to know that you can rely on your vendor to deliver products that get the job done.

Buckeye Cleaning Center-Houston, a branch of Missouribased Buckeye International, knows the janitorial supplies industry inside and out, and members using its Choice Partners cooperative contract are riding high as a result.

“Buckeye is an exceptional vendor,” said Manuel Vasquez, assistant director of operations, Pearland ISD. “Floor finish looks as good on the last day of school as it does on the first – it lasts.”

Pearland ISD contracts with Buckeye for chemical supplies, paper supplies, dispensers, trash liners and equipment such as buffers to be used on the district’s 23 campuses. Vasquez gave Buckeye credit for helping his facilities look as polished as can be.

“We have developed a good partnership that has helped keep our schools looking world-class,” he said.

Other members who use Buckeye’s Choice Partners contract for janitorial supplies echoed Vasquez’s statements about excellent customer service and industry-leading knowledge.

“Buckeye’s customer service is top-notch,” said Scott Bryce, operations supervisor, Deer Park ISD. “I can email or call them at any time.”

“Excellent quality, excellent service,” said Nancy Dunn, school district buyer. “Each and every contact with this vendor is pleasant, efficient and leaves me with complete faith that we are in great hands.”

While Buckeye brings the expertise and customer-friendly approach, members said, Choice Partners cooperative purchasing contracts make their jobs even easier.

“I know it saves time, as our operations folks hold a high standard and only want specific products,” Dunn said, “and being able to buy those items through the co-op is an asset.”

Speaking of assets, Bryce mentioned yet another reason why cooperative purchasing is the way to go.

With Choice Partners contracts, “We have certain vendors who are easier to use, and we usually get a better price,” he said.

Buckeye Cleaning Center’s contract is national, so members across the nation may access their products through the Choice Partners contract. To learn more about Buckeye and its Choice Partners contract, go to https://www.choicepartners.org/ vendors/buckeye-cleaning-center-6 or call 281-873-4200.