UK Dining
Sourcing Report
Fiscal Year 2014-15
Contributors:
Lilian Brislen
Scott Smith
Kenny Stancil
Jairus Rossi
UK Dining Sourcing Report: Fiscal Year 2014-15 2
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES
e purpose of this project is twofold: 1) To propose and
test a methodology for replicable evaluation of regional
food sourcing by an institutional dining services provider
2) To provide an assessment based on that methodology
of Kentucky Proud and local purchases by Aramark,
contractor for University of Kentucky Dining Services,
during the 2014-15 academic year. Our overarching goal
is to support institutional and community stakeholders
who seek to better understand and evaluate food
sourcing trends. e proposed methodology should
assist more informed comparisons over time and across
institutions.
In this assessment, we worked to develop a metric
that would fairly represent relative impact of food
purchases on 1) the Kentucky food economy (using
business ownership and activities as a proxy) and, in
particular, 2) Kentucky farms (using rough percentages
of Kentucky sourced ingredients as a proxy). We do not
attempt to evaluate, nor should our results be assumed
to represent, food characteristics such as environmental
impact, fair labor practices, sustainability of production
methods, or consumer health. However, in complex,
often obscured institutional food supply chains,
identifying vendors and cataloguing what products are
procured is an essential first step to address these and
other values-based questions about our food.
e UK Dining agreement requires annual reporting
by Aramark of “Kentucky Proud” and “local” expendi-
tures. e former is a state branding program operated
by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture; the latter
is defined in the UK agreement as Fayette (where the
main campus is located) and the six adjoining Kentucky
counties. Neither of these designations consistently
defined Kentucky food vendor type or KY farm source
in our data set. Our objective was not to replace these
designations, rather to provide additional, replicable
information about food sources.
Contents
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES 2
METHODOLOGY 3
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR 2014–15 4
Vendors 4
Kentucky Farm Source 5
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS 6
Attachment 1:
Complete Vendor List
with Classification 7
Attachment 2:
Expenditures for Fiscal Year 2015 8
Attachment 3:
Expenditures for Fiscal Year
2014 vs 2015 9
Attachment 4:
Complete Definition of Kentucky Farm
and Vendor Source Classification 9
Attachment 5:
Map of UK Dining Vendors 10
UK Dining Sourcing Report: Fiscal Year 2014-15 3
METHODOLOGY
In this assessment our data set consists of all Kentucky
Proud and local food and beverage purchases reported
to the University of Kentucky by UK Dining (Aramark)
as defined and required in the dining service contract. In
developing our alternative evaluative metric we considered
the role and interests of the University of Kentucky as a
land grant institution of our commonwealth. As such our
goal was to apply an evaluative metric that reflects the
potential relative impact of each vendor and food item on
our Commonwealth’s food and farm economy.
UK Dining works primarily through two distributors,
Piazza and Sysco, and purchases a limited number of
items directly from vendors. Purchases made through
all three channels were itemized first at the vendor level,
and then by specific food and beverage items. For our
evaluation we classified vendor and item procurement
data along two variable axes: vendor type and ingredient
source. e variables and their three defining categories
are summarized in Table 1 with a complete definition in
Attachment 4.
e format and completeness of data provided to our
research team varied among distributors and direct
purchases by Aramark. For purchases made via distribu-
tors, we reviewed complete procurement records listing
the various vendors for which that distributor sourced,
the items purchased from each vendor, and the total
dollar value spent by Aramark on each item over the
course of the year.
For vendor classification we employed a combination
of publicly available business information, and on-site
or telephone interviews. Interviews were conducted
during the fall of 2015 by the investigators identified
here, and guided by a common protocol. Vendors with
potential Kentucky farm impact were contacted directly
and asked a series of clarifying questions to determine if
their product had a) majority b) mixed of c) no Kentucky
farm sourced ingredients.
VENDOR TYPE
Category Definition
Kentucky Food Business/Entrepreneur
A food producer or farm that is privately held and majority owned by
residents of Kentucky, and operates primarily in Kentucky.
Kentucky Located Food Processor
An enterprise not classified here as a Kentucky Food Business, but which
engages in significant food production or processing at a Kentucky facility.
Kentucky Distributor
or Not a Food Business
A vendor which in Kentucky primarily transports or repackages, a majority
share of ownership is held by non-Kentucky residents.
INGREDIENT SOURCE
Category Definition
Majority Kentucky Farm Source
The food product or the primary ingredient is sourced exclusively or pre-
dominantly (>50%) from Kentucky farms. Specific farm sources are
or could be identified, though they may be co-mingled.
Mixed Kentucky Farm Source
It can be reasonably concluded that >10% of the food product or a
majority fraction of a primary ingredient was sourced from Kentucky
farms. In most examples, Kentucky and non-Kentucky farm products are
co-mingled with no means to identify specific Kentucky farm sources.
No Significant Kentucky Farm Source
There is no identifiable Kentucky farm source for ingredients, or the
only significant KY farm content is derived from nationally/globally
processed and co-mingled commodities (e.g. corn sweetener).
Table : Denitions for Vendor Type and Ingredient Source Variables
UK Dining Sourcing Report: Fiscal Year 2014-15 4
Limitations of the data available for the analysis presented
in this report did not permit us to sub-divide purchase
totals by item. As a result, the total purchase from each
vendor is allocated to the ingredient source category
which is most representative of the all of the items sourced
from that vendor. For example, for one large vendor from
which UK Dining purchased directly, the data provided
did not make it possible to segregate expenditures for
items that were very likely majority KY farm sourced,
e.g., milk; from expenditures from the same vendor that
were neither processed or farm-sourced in Kentucky, e.g.,
orange juice. As reliable accounts attest that the majority
farm sourced products were an overwhelming majority of
the purchase from this vendor, we classified all expendi-
tures with this vendor as majority Kentucky farm source.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR 2014-15
Results for categorization of UK Dining local and
Kentucky Proud purchases in the academic year 2014-15
are presented in Table 2 and Figure 1. A complete list
of vendors with our classification and a summary of
year to year annual expenditures by market source are
provided in Attachments 1 and 2.
Vendors
Purchases from vendors classified as Kentucky food
businesses or entrepreneurs totaled $623,051 or 5.9%
of the food and beverage purchased for the year. ere
were 43 vendors in this category providing a wide range
of products. Included were several direct farm sources,
cheese and meat producers, bakeries, local distributors
and processors. e majority (62%) of expenditures in
this vendor category was with those who use no iden-
tifiable Kentucky farm source; the two largest examples
being locally roasted coffee and hamburger patties made
from globally or nationally sourced meat. Prominent
among the Kentucky food business vendors which sold
majority Kentucky farm sourced product were cheese
makers and produce farms.
A smaller number of vendors, five, were identified as
Kentucky located food processors. One of the largest
of these was a dairy, which is owned and operated in
a multistate region. It typically sources about 75% of
the milk content in purchased products from Kentucky
farms, but also distributes a line of 100% Kentucky farm
sourced milk. Another large purchase was for bread and
rolls from a Kentucky-located bakery.
KY Vendor Type KY Farm Source # Vendors Total Purchase
Percent, Total
UK Purchase
KY Food Business Entrepreneur Majority 19 $140,137 1.4%
KY Food Business Entrepreneur MIxed 5 $95,425 0.9%
KY Food Business Entrepreneur None 19 $387,489 3.6%
KY Located Processor Majority 1 $365,626 3.4%
KY Located Processor MIxed 1 $7, 66 4 0.1%
KY Located Processor None 3 $226,571 2.1%
KY Distributor MIxed 1 $10,676 0.1%
KY Distributor None 4 $1,130,140 10.6%
Total 53 $2,363,728 22.2%
Table : Categorization of Kentucky Proud and Local Expenditures –
UK Dining Sourcing Report: Fiscal Year 2014-15 5
Only five vendors on the reported local and Kentucky
Proud purchases were classified as Kentucky Distribu-
tors, or non-Kentucky based businesses with no major
processing activities. However, this was the largest
category reported at $1,140,816 or 10.7% of the total
annual buy. Soft drink purchases from local distribu-
tors/bottlers dominated this category.
Kentucky Farm Source
A majority Kentucky farm source was identified in
products purchased for a total of $505,763 or 4.8% of
the annual purchase. ere were 20 vendor/suppliers
placed in this category; 13 of these were fruit/vegetable
growers whose product was distributed by Piazza.
Other majority farm source items were cheese/dairy (3
suppliers), meat (3), and milled grain mixes (1).
Products identified as mixed Kentucky farm source
included dairy, sausage, other meats, soups, and sauces.
ese purchases totaled $113,765 or 1.1% of the total food
purchases. ese were provided to UK Dining both by
Kentucky distributors, processors and food businesses.
In total, expenditures for majority and mixed Kentucky
farm sourcing were $619,528. is was 5.8% of the total
annual food and beverage purchased, or 26.2% of the
reported local and Kentucky Proud expenditure.
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
We recommend further review and discussion of
how food purchase information is shared among the
institution, food service providers and evaluators.
Quality and format of purchasing data was inconsis-
tent, and at times incomplete. For example, we did not
consistently receive data on unit cost or on expenditures
by item for vendors supplying various items. is would
be essential for more direct and meaningful analysis of
economic impact on farm suppliers.
Understandably, purchase information systems were
not developed with a primary objective of monitoring
and understanding local and regional food sources.
UK Dining FY15 Procurement
•
KY Business: Majority
•
KY Business: Mixed
•
KY Business: None
•
KY Processor: Majority
•
KY Processor: Mixed
•
KY Processor: None
•
KY Distributor: Mixed
•
KY Distirbutor: None
Figure : Percentage of Kentucky Proud
and Local Expenditures by Category
48%
6%
4%
16%
16%
0.1%
0.1%
10%
UK Dining Sourcing Report: Fiscal Year 2014-15 6
Tracing and analyzing sources, vendor type and
ingredient content is further confounded by the nature
of the institutional food supply chain whereby any
given item may pass through a number of different
distributors and processors after originating with a
farm producer.
Addressing this communication and data challenge
could yield broader mutual benefits to food service
providers, producers and consumers by increasing the
transparency of food sourcing. Institutions and their
stakeholders might better evaluate the outcomes of
their dining partnerships with more informative annual
purchase reports.
We recommend that an annual report of food
sourcing by UK Dining be prepared and released.
is should feature tracking of progress against the
baselines established here. It could also include brief
summaries of continuing programs by the University
and UK Dining to diversify and expand local and
regional sourcing, and concise profiles of Kentucky
farms or food businesses supplying the campus.
is will require continuing review and monitoring of
vendors to apply the proposed classification. e task will
be simplified somewhat by this initial classification of
vendors, but by the nature of food and farm production
sourcing may change frequently with season, supply
or market price. Changes during the year were only an
occasional issue for the data set we evaluated, partic-
ularly for large expenditure categories such as dairy,
meat, bread products. Additionally, with enhanced
purchasing data, in particular for direct purchases, it
would be possible to provide a more detailed account of
total purchases by ingredient source.
e annual evaluation process can also include source
mapping of UK campus food sources, which was a
notable by-product of this study. Attachment 5 provides
a first version of this educational, informational tool.
Regardless of the format, we recommend that the
alternative purchase evaluation and results of
this analysis be released to stakeholders annually,
alongside performance on contract metrics.
It is both an advantage and a limitation that our evaluative
metric is based on relatively objective characteristics
of the vendors and products. ese characteristics are
not necessarily linked to consumers’ and stakeholders’
values-based sustainability, quality, or health expecta-
tions. erefore, some may perceive that the results fail
to address such concerns and expectations.
However, we conclude that the classification does
provide more useful information to both institutions
and their stakeholders than point-of-purchase food
miles, zip codes, or state branding programs alone.
is or similar purchase evaluation may offer feasible
reporting and accountability strategies for institutions
and their partners. Such reporting could then provide a
sound foundation for further analysis of impact on local
food and farm economies. Furthermore, it could enable
both institutional food buyers and consumers to make
more informed choices.
UK Dining Sourcing Report: Fiscal Year 2014-15 7
Attachment 1: Complete Vendor List with Classification
Vendor Name Vendor Type Ingredient Source Procurement Channels
Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese KY Business Majority KY Farm Sysco
Boone Creek Creamery KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Marksbury Farm Foods LLC KY Business Majority KY Farm Direct, Sysco
JSW Farm Chop Shop KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Weisenberger Mill KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza, Sysco
Gallrein Farms KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Jones Bros Farms KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Evans Orchard KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
UK Butcher Shop KY Business Majority KY Farm Direct
Courtney Farms KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
VanMeter Farms KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Horton Fruit KY Business Majority KY Farm Sysco
Cow-U-Met KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Mulberry Farms/Orchard KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Triple J Farm (Triple Ridge) KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
KY HydroFarm KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Grow Farms KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Grateful Greens KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Dohn and Dohn Gardens KY Business Majority KY Farm Piazza
Custom Food Solutions LLC KY Business Mixed KY Farm Sysco
FB Purnell Sausage KY Business Mixed KY Farm Sysco
Dad's Favorites KY Business Mixed KY Farm Piazza
Kentucky Mushroom Co KY Business Mixed KY Farm Sysco
Fishmarket Seafood KY Business Mixed KY Farm Sysco
BLM Coffee Enterprise LLC KY Business No KY Farm Direct
John Conti Coffee Company KY Business No KY Farm Direct
Donut Days Bakery KY Business No KY Farm Direct
Omni Custom Meats Inc. KY Business No KY Farm Sysco
Applecreek Specialty Foods KY Business No KY Farm Piazza
Blaze KY Business No KY Farm Sysco
Trifecta Sauce Co KY Business No KY Farm Sysco
Ale8 KY Business No KY Farm Direct
Old Kentucky Chocolates KY Business No KY Farm Direct
Wildcat Creamery KY Business No KY Farm Piazza
Lexington Pasta KY Business No KY Farm Sysco, Piazza
Gluten Free Miracles KY Business No KY Farm Piazza
Bourbon Barrel Foods LLC KY Business No KY Farm Sysco
UK Dining Sourcing Report: Fiscal Year 2014-15 8
Vendor Name Vendor Type Ingredient Source Procurement Channels
Uncle Charlie's Meats Inc KY Business No KY Farm Sysco
Triad MFG KY LLC KY Business No KY Farm Sysco
Rooibee Red Tea KY Business No KY Farm Piazza
Clem's Refrigerated Foods KY Business No KY Farm Direct
Lexington Seafood KY Business No KY Farm Direct
Kilimanjaro Foods Inc KY Business No KY Farm Sysco
Southern Belle Dairy KY Located Processor Majority KY Farm Direct
Flav-o-Rich Dairies LLC (Bordens) KY Located Processor Mixed KY Farm Sysco
Klosterman's KY Located Processor No KY Farm Direct
Specialty Foods Group Inc KY Located Processor No KY Farm Sysco
Continental Mills KY Located Processor No KY Farm Sysco
Coremark Distributor Mixed KY Farm Direct
Coca Cola Distributor No KY Farm Direct
Home City Ice Distributor No KY Farm Direct
Pepsi Distributor No KY Farm Direct
Lyons Magnus Distributor No KY Farm Sysco
Attachment 2: Expenditures for Fiscal Year 2015, by Market Channel*
Direct Purchase (Vendor to UK Dining)
KY Business Majority KY Farm $12,944
KY Business No KY Farm $315,459
KY Located Processor Majority KY Farm $365,626
KY Located Processor No KY Farm $147,380
KY Distributor No KY Farm $1,127,033
Piazza (Vendor to Piazza to UK Dining)
KY Business Majority KY Farm $76,826
KY Business Mixed KY Farm $600
KY Business No KY Farm $21,501
Sysco (Vendor to Sysco to UK Dining)
KY Business Majority KY Farm $50,367
KY Business Mixed KY Farm $94,825
KY Business No KY Farm $50,528
KY Located Processor Mixed KY Farm $7,664
KY Located Processor No KY Farm $79,191
KY Distributor No KY Farm $13,783
Total
$ 2,363,728
* The small discrepancy in totals reported by UK Dining in Att. and our reported totals
results from differences in purchase data included in the analyses.
UK Dining Sourcing Report: Fiscal Year 2014-15 9
Attachment 4: Complete Definition of Kentucky Farm and Vendor Source Classification
KY Proud and Local Purchases
Purchase FY
2013-14
% of Total Buy
FY 14
Purchase
FY 2014-15
% of Total Buy
FY 15
Primary Distributors Sub-Total $598,792 7.0% $405,961 3.8%
Sysco $296,418
Piazza $98,927
Coremark $10,616
Creation Gardens
$253,199
Gordon Food Service $345,593
Direct Purchases
Bottlers, Beverage Distributors $649,289 $649,289
$1,121,433 10.5%
KY Located Processors $258,968 $258,968
$612,612 5.8%
KY Food Businesses $229,905 $229,905
$223,721 2.1%
TOTAL KY Proud $1,057,855 12.4% $1,228,014 11.6%
TOTAL KY Proud and Local* $1,727,954 20.2% $2,363,787 22.2%
TOTAL FOOD BUY $8,559,063 $10,630,395
Attachment 3: Expenditures for Fiscal Year 2014 vs 2015, as Reported by UK Dining
Ingredient Source
Majority or Direct KY Farm Source
• e food product or the primary ingredient is
sourced exclusively or predominantly (>50%) from
Kentucky farms.
• Specific farm sources are or could be identified,
though they may be co-mingled.
Mixed or Indirect KY Farm Source
• It can be reasonably concluded that >10% of the
food product or a majority fraction of a primary
ingredient was sourced from Kentucky farms.
• Farm sources are not tracked.
No Significant KY Farm Source
• ere is <10% content of KY farm product, or
• e only significant KY farm content is derived
from nationally/globally processed and intermin-
gled commodities, e.g., corn sweetener.
Vendor Type
Kentucky Food Business/Entrepreneur
• Vendor of the product is a food grower or processor
operating primarily in Kentucky.
• e owner and operator is/are Kentucky residents.
Kentucky Located Food Processor
• e vendor adds significant value to the food product
through Kentucky operations, beyond aggregation,
transportation or distribution.
• e food processor is not owned or not controlled
by Kentucky residents.
• Only food processors that are Kentucky Proud
or have at least mixed Kentucky farm content are
tracked in this category.
Kentucky Distributor or not a Food Business
• Vendor of a non-food product
• Franchises or subsidiaries of national/global brands
which have no significant KY farm sourcing
UK Dining Sourcing Report: Fiscal Year 2014-15 10
Attachment 5: Map of UK Dining Vendors
Key
•
KY Business: Majority
s
KY Business: Mixed
n KY Business: None
•
KY Processor: Majority
s
KY Processor: Mixed
n KY Processor: None
s
KY Distributor: Mixed
n KY Distributor: None
