Catering @ Penn
October 9, 2013
Presented by:
Angela Martyak
Colleen Reardon
Catering Services
Purchasing Services is responsible for developing and managing a list of
University approved caterers that meet the University's business and insurance
requirements. When scheduling an on-campus event, departments should
ensure that there is a legitimate business requirement for the event and can only
use a University approved caterer for the event.
An approved caterer is an approved supplier of catering services that meets or
exceeds all University catering related business and insurance requirements.
Competitive bids are not required for purchases from approved caterers
regardless of the total aggregate cost of the purchase order.
The University of Pennsylvania does not have a liquor license. Therefore, the
host of an event must provide their own wine & spirits, and it must be purchased
within Pennsylvania at a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board or from Capital Wine
& Spirits. Only Approved Caterers with Liquor Liability Insurance are permitted to
provide bar service and serve alcohol at events on campus.
A list of the approved caterers can currently be found on the
Purchasing website at this link:
http://www.purchasing.upenn.edu/buyinfo/suppliers/caterers.php
When planning an on-campus event or function, check the approved caterers list
for available caterers. If you would like to have a new caterer considered for
addition to the approved list, complete the Request to Add a New Supplier form
found on the Purchasing Services website in the “Forms” section. In the
“Description of Goods/Service to be purchased” field, type Catering. Purchasing
Services will send a Caterer Information Request packet to the supplier.
Purchasing will only add those suppliers that meet the institution's business and
insurance requirements.
It is the responsibility of the caterer representative to complete the necessary
forms and submit them to Purchasing Services for review and consideration for
"approved caterer" status. Purchasing Services will not follow-up with suppliers
that do not assume responsibility for a timely response to a request from the
University.
When a request is received from a caterer, Purchasing Services will review the
request to ensure compliance with all University business and insurance
requirements. If all business and insurance requirements are met, the caterer will
be added to our approved caterers list.
Selecting a Caterer
When considering an approved caterer for an on-campus event, please be sure to
ask the following questions:
What catering packages are available?
What menu choices are available?
Will the food presentation meet my expectations?
What is the cost based on the food selection and number of people?
How will delivery/set up/clean-up be handled?
How flexible are you in dealing with last minute changes?
Is your staff trained and will they act in a professional manner?
Do you offer event planning/consultation services?
A Purchase Order must be issued to the successful caterer. The MasterCard
Purchasing Card cannot be used for any on-campus catered event. No service can
be provided by an external supplier without prior issuance of a purchase order.
Penn faculty and staff are encouraged to utilize our Dining Services partner, Bon
Appetit Catering, whenever possible when considering larger catering events. For
more information, visit the Dining@Pennweb site or contact Amy Kryzanowski
Catering Director, at (215) 573-0830.
Ordering Guidelines
On-Campus Catered Events: A University approved caterer must be used for all
on-campus catered events and a Purchase Order must be issued to the
approved caterer prior to the event as indicated above. All caterer contracts or
agreements must be submitted to Purchasing Services for review and approval
prior to final approval of the purchase order.
Box Lunches: Purchase Orders and the MasterCard Purchasing Card are both
authorized buying methods when ordering box lunches for internal department
functions. Samples of this type of service include, but are not limited to,
sandwiches, pizzas, hoagies, donuts, bagels, etc. where the items are picked up
by the department or delivered to the office/laboratory by the supplier without
performing any set-up, serving or related services.
Dining at an Off-Campus Establishment: Dining at a restaurant is considered a
travel and entertainment expense. University faculty and staff can use the Penn
Travel Card to pay for this type of entertainment expense. Through the Concur
Travel and Expense Management (TEM) application, the University will facilitate
payment of charges included on approved expense reports to Bank of America
on your behalf
New Initiative
In fiscal year 2014 one of Purchasing’s operational improvement goals is to
establish a method of automating the catering orders across campus, increasing
functional ease of ordering and fostering competition to foster better pricing.
Additionally, it is our goal to increase Penn purchases from local/West
Philadelphia caterers, particularly West Philadelphia catering businesses that
may be owned by under-represented minorities and/or be economically
disadvantaged and/or be startups the could create new jobs in West Philly.
There are several components of this work, such as helping catering businesses
get certified as Penn vendors, helping those businesses increase their
administrative and service capacity so that they could handle increased
business, getting the word out to buyers through various means, etc. This
Purchasing partnership includes the Netter Center, Wharton SBDC, and the
Dorrance Hamilton Center for Culinary Enterprise.
Opportunities
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Approximately $14 million spent annually for catering
•
Oversight and transparency are minimal in this area
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End-users have limited knowledge of caterer offerings
•
Opportunities for bidding are overlooked – assumed by end-users to
be too time consuming
•
Tipping threshold is not controlled systemically or by policy
•
Locally and diversely owned businesses get a fraction of the spend or
are unknown and not on the approved list
•
The Dorrance Hamilton Center for Culinary Enterprise is primed to
introduce new caterers to the campus.
Partnering with America to Go
America To Go is an online food ordering and expense management
company. They create customizable electronic marketplaces for clients to
connect with a broad network of restaurants and caterers. Since 1999
organizations have benefited from their product suite and 24/7 customer
care.
The America to Go system allows employees to order food - team lunches,
business meals, gala events and holiday parties - from a network of local
restaurants and caterers. Their proprietary technology is flexible enough to
bring all our catering needs online and integrate with the BEN Marketplace.
With streamlined order tracking, customizable expense policy enforcement,
and efficient reconciliation functionality, America To Go saves time and
money.
All approved caterers will be preloaded with their standard menu(s) and
negotiated pricing.
Benefits
Highly customizable platform which is already fully integrated into the
Sciquest system
Custom filters provide the ability to have local-owned businesses appear
first in any searches, or to call attention to new or recommended caterers.
Ability to flag/highlight caterers which hold liquor licenses, have
sustainable products & practices, meet dietary restrictions, etc.
Can save drafts orders whether needed because of interruptions in the
ordering process or to duplicate for frequently used services (i.e: boxed
lunches)
Customer service can assist with planning for large events or first time
planners
Will develop a training program which entails a series of events and
activities, including distributing FAQs, hosting on-campus trainings,
webinars and vendor tastings. After initial roll out, a dedicated account
manager and 24/7 customer service are available to provide assistance
Fully Customizable Site
The landing page is customizable. For example, users can be presented
with a choice of meal types, each with a brief description.
Catered Events
For events requiring staff and set-up
Business Meetings
For meetings needing simple drop-off catering
Boxed Lunches
For simple grab-and-go options
The system can create filters for type of caterer, local & diverse
ownership, and add Penn-specific notes/banners to the front page.
Begin Your Order
Set your Delivery Time
Select a restaurant or caterer
Once you set a delivery time, a list of approved vendors will appear
You can sort vendors by various filters or mouse-over a vendor’s name to see
basic information such as delivery fees, minimums and lead times.
Place your order
Select the items you want and simply add them to your cart
Confirm your order
A summary of your order will appear for review
Submit your order
Review your order one final time and then submit it
Next Steps
Upon submission, your requisition is returned to your Penn Marketplace
shopping cart.
You will be taken through your normal hierarchy workflow and your order will be
submitted for approval.
Once your order is approved, the vendor receives a copy via email or fax.
Make sure your approver approves your order with enough time for the vendor to
prepare for your delivery.
The order will then be confirmed with the restaurant.
You will receive a confirmation email from America To Go once your order has been
confirmed.
America To Go’s Accounting Tool provides real time access to all orders placed by your
institution
Order data can be searched, grouped and filtered across any date range, according to multiple criteria,
e.g., employee, vendor, order total, and delivery date.
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The Grouping function provides an overview of broader spending patterns
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The Filtering function facilitates efficient review of orders that meet your pre-selected
criteria
Quickly search through thousands of orders and employees to find the exact data you need.
A search for all orders placed in December returns over 650 results.
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Exact copies of every invoice are available to show detail down to the very items
ordered
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Questions & Discussion