Summer Camp Food Service
What is it about Summer Camp Food Service that is so challenging?
Running a Summer Camp kitchen is demanding, strenuous, complicated, and requires a great team that's skillsets answer all the challenges of running a smooth operation for 6 to 12 weeks or so during the summer.
Any Camp Director or Leadership Staff Member that has had the luck of spending a majority of their time in the Camp Kitchen making sure that their Camper sand Staff are fed will tell you that is was stressful. This is what can happen if you are managing your kitchen in-house (not outsourcing).
If you are a camp who has a long-term Food Service Director (FSD) or Food Service Manager (FSM) that is committed to your camp, you are really in a great spot. Let’s be honest here — it is half the battle. Having an experienced and skilled Food Service Director is the first key to a successful Summer Camp Food Service Operation.
In this article, I will discuss the biggest challenges and how to overcome them.
1) Staffing
Staffing is something that Camps are very use to doing in general. Searching for Chefs in the virtual world can be daunting. Summer Camp Cooks internal statistics show that roughly 10% of interviewees will make a good camp cook. That’s 10 for every 100 who made is through the vetting process to the interview. This can be time consuming and requires a huge amount of time and effort to find potential candidates that qualify (considering living on campus, being vaccinated, having a friendly attitude, passing background checks, working long hours, and the list goes on…you get the point). If you have that great FSD or FSM on staff that you can rely on, then they can do this for you. If not, it is hard to properly vet these applicants and you end up in a situation where you really learn what they can do 2 weeks before camp when they arrive for staff training week. The other option is to outsource your Food Service and let someone else deal with it.
2) Learning Curve
How do I use this dish washing machine? Do I need to wash the lettuce? Where do I put the platters? Why are there forks that are red and forks that are blue? Who do I speak to about my schedule? Can I eat food from the walk in? Can I make a sandwich? They came and asked for smores, so I gave it to them.
The above are all valid and important questions that ALL kitchen staff ask in one form or another. This is because they simply DON’T KNOW. Being in the know will make all the difference in the Camp Kitchen. When people have a grasp on how the kitchen SHOULD operate, it really helps to maintain some flow during Camper Sessions. Putting together solid Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) for your kitchen can be difficult, but it can also impact the operation in a huge way. Knowledge is power, and in the Camp Kitchen, knowledge contributes to a well oiled and functional kitchen.
You should ask either your FSD or FSD or the company who you outsource your Food Service to, to put together this document.
Alongside a solid training plan for Staff Training weeks, this SOP will be a guiding light during the Summer. People who work in the kitchen should be required to read this and sign off on it. This way they are semi-familiar with the way your Camp runs its Food Service Operation.
This coupled with real live training during Staff Training week, will set expectations and instill kitchen values that will assist the entire kitchen (Chefs and Support Staff) in working towards a common goal. Food safety, time management, great attitude, and team unity — all characteristics of a well run camp kitchen.
3) Special Diets
In the ever evolving trend of increased special diets and expectations placed upon Camp Kitchens in fulfilling these needs, a plan must be in place on how these will be managed, WHO will manage them, and to what extent the camp is willing to service special diets.
The biggest problem with these special diets is not having anyone in the kitchen that is familiar with at the very least the top few: Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Vegan (*most camps are Nut Free these days — if not that one too).
Our recommendation here is to make sure that you have a Chef in the kitchen who is familiar with these things and knows how to cook for these diets. Each menu should include preset options for these diets. If there are not Vegans, then the Chef simply doesn't cook those items, but having a menu for it, ensures that it is NOT an afterthought. A robust salad bar help with this as well.
To make sure that the Chef knows what these diets are, how to cooks for them, and there is a Chef who own the Special Diets role will put both Campers and Staff at ease while allowing the kitchen to remain organized in the approach to special diets.
4) Kitchen Equipment
One last important piece of the puzzle is to give the kitchen the correct tools it needs to execute the menu. For example, if you have a salad bar, make sure you have a commercial grade food processor in your kitchen arsenal. An immersion blender is something that will pay its dividends in any commercial kitchen as well. Invest in equipment that will help your Chefs be more efficient with their time and you will thank yourself later!
5) Communication
Last on this list but NOT LEAST is communication. There should be one or two people in the kitchen that field questions and a few designated people from the leadership team that are able to make changes to kitchen ops such as eating times, etc.. The flow of information and requests coming into the kitchen need to be managed in an efficient fashion. If too many people are asking for too many things it can cause friction between the kitchen and program staff. Make sure to outline the chains of command and how to go about communicating to the FSD or FSM or Head Chef.
Take the time to develop a standard “Special Request” sheet that gives the kitchen at least 72 hours to get the items ready. If it is last minute, they should be able to handle it but make sure that is NOT the standard. The FSD or FSM needs ample time to get the items requested in stock AND time to prepare them for delivery.
Keeping a solid understanding of who communicates with about what will save you headaches down the line — I promise!
In conclusion, you can totally handle these things in house if you are able to overcome all the challenges that come along with running a Summer Camp kitchen.
However, if you don’t want to be in the “Food Service” industry and do it on your own, outsourcing your Food Service is a great option for long term continuity and a great partnership that will pay its dividends over the years. With a strong Food Service partner, you can be sure that the Food at your Camp will impact your registrations in a positive way.
Learn more at https://summercampcooks.com/
