5 things: Sodexo reports 28.2% Q1 revenue increase in North American unit

In this edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments affecting onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

Sodexo reported strong first fiscal quarter 2022 revenue growth of 18.8%, with an even stronger 28.2% organic increase in its North American operations, though “North America is still at only 85% of pre-Covid levels," the company said in its press release. Among individual markets in North America, the rebound was strongest in Business & Administration, which includes Sports/Leisure (up 48.6%), and Education (up 39.9%), while Healthcare increased by a more modest 4.2%.

Read more: Sodexo: Strong recovery continues, Q1 Fiscal 2022 revenues 18.8%

Yale has instituted a campus-wide quarantine until Feb. 7—the date on which in-person classes are set to resume after two weeks of remote instruction—that says students may not visit New Haven businesses or eat at local restaurants (even outdoors) except for curbside pickup, while on-campus dining is grab-and-go until public health conditions improve. With the Omicron variant of the COVID virus raging across the country, Yale is one of a number of prominent universities imposing restrictions on campus dining. For example, at Ohio State seating capacity at dining halls will be set at 40% to allow for additional physical distancing while grab-and-go options, with mobile ordering, will be expanded so that students may take their meals to go. At Princeton, grab-and-go will remain the primary option in dining halls for the month of January while Harvard announced that for the first two weeks of the spring term, all on-campus dining will be restricted to “grab-and-go” options and the size of indoor gatherings will be limited.

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Some other schools are going all virtual to start the spring term, such as the University of Texas campuses at Dallas, Arlington, and San Antonio; Carnegie-Mellon; Lehigh; and the Claremont Colleges in California.

Read more: Yale Bans Students From Visiting Local Businesses And Restaurants

Meanwhile, hospitals across the country are tightening visitor restrictions in response to the Omicron surge, a development that impacts retail dining revenues as they attempt to recover from the restrictions imposed since March 2020. Among healthcare institutions recently announcing visitor restrictions or bans are the Mayo Clinic, Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, Allegheny Health in Pennsylvania, Hartford Healthcare in Connecticut, Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital in Virginia and CarolinaEast Medical Center in North Carolina.

Related:5 things: Michigan to allow school caf workers to substitute teach

Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Chicago has opened four micro food pantries at its outpatient locations in Aurora, Joliet, Kankakee and LaSalle with two more at the Hoffman Estates and Oak Lawn locations set to launch in early 2022. Starting at the Kankakee Community Based Outpatient Clinic, the micro food pantries are private spaces that provide basic food staples and other necessities to veterans in need and their families and are stocked by nonperishable food donations from staff and community members.

Read more: Micro food pantries open for veterans at Hines VA Hospital and outpatient clinics

Delaware North is developing The Courtyard by Marriott Titusville–Kennedy Space Center hotel that is slated for opening in March near the Kennedy Space Center and will feature a rooftop deck with a restaurant and “Space Bar” for guests to enjoy as they watch rocket launches from Florida’s Space Coast. “The Space Bar will offer a unique experience for local residents, visitors who work in the aerospace industry along with space enthusiasts of all ages,” said Delaware North General Manager Wayne Soard. “It’s going to offer once-in-a-lifetime views of rocket launches and also be a fun night out in a cool setting for corporate and association retreats, government meetings, weddings and other group events.”

Read more: Hotel near Kennedy Space Center with rooftop views of rocket launches to open in March

Bonus: Top 10 feel-good food service stories of 2021

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]