ALEX HOBEN
editor-in-chief
alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

Genuine Foods is introducing new food options to the TCC community in the new semester.

Since the contract TCC had with Subway ended in May the administration had to start looking for a different vendor. After presentations and food samples were provided to TCC staff and students, it was decided that the new contract would be signed with the food service operations company Genuine Foods.

Carl Preyer, the General Manager overseeing the Genuine Foods contract with TCC, was quick to talk about how smooth the transition went.

“TCC administration worked really well with us,” Preyer said. “We stuck to our timeline pretty well with the exception of having to delay a couple of days for two openings, but we’re right on track, we’ll be up and running and ready for students on Monday everywhere.”

Preyer also explained how the main thing that will separate Genuine Foods from Subway for the TCC community is the quality and diversity of choice.

“Variety is the key, variety and quality,” Preyer said.

Executive Chef Joe Ladine explained how many more choices the menu has from the previous offerings.

“We’ve stepped up the game from Subway,” said Ladine.

When deciding the menu, he had to take into account age group, availability, and most importantly the type of food the local area likes the best.

“Keeping in mind the local area of where we’re at in Texas,” Ladine said. “So Tex-Mex is a popular thing that we’ve put an influence in, barbecue, pizza — you know college kids love pizza.”

TCC NW financial aid associate Rachel Alvarado is glad to see the change.

“I did use the Subway,” she said after ordering her food at the kiosk station for the first time. “It kind of got boring after a while. I like that there’s a variety.”

With these new stands, the TCC community will have more cuisine choices at the new sites. TCC’s executive director of procurement Michael Herndon explained all the possibilities that will be available at the new locations.

“Genuine will be offering a wider variety of options than what was available through Subway,” he said. “Those will include Stacked Mile High Deli, Rooted Plant based Bowls, Motown Pizza, as well as a hot food station that will rotate between campuses.”

The stands currently use a cashless ordering system where students can walk to the kiosk located next to the counter and order or get the app “Toast” on their phone which allows them to order ahead of time. 

“I like the ordering,” Alvarado said. “The way you can order online instead of standing in a line.”

But what Alvarado was most excited about was the fact that she would not need to be using the food trucks again. She described how she didn’t know where the food trucks would be on campus, nor what time or even if they were going to be there that day.

“The food trucks were just ridiculous,” she said. “Their pricing of the food — it was a hit or miss. We never knew, sometimes they never showed up, or we didn’t know the location. It was always inconvenient to find them.”

When asked about the food trucks NW Coordinator of Testing Martin Pham expressed his frustration with the price of the food compared to the quantity.

“They were expensive! 12-20$ per plate and the plates were ridiculous,” he explained while gesturing to show the generally smaller size of the plates.

The food trucks were arranged by Genuine Foods for TCC during the transition period from the closing of Subway to the opening of the new sites.

“We were obligated to keep that process going, Sandra handled that schedule in the phone calls, scheduling that daily as well as the groundwork,” Preyer said.

He explained how the initial offer of the food trucks was made without fully understanding how the industry worked, thus it was difficult to keep it consistent. Sandra Bartron – the Retail Manager for Genuine Foods contracted by TCC was the one making phone calls to ensure that the food trucks for the next day were locked in for TCC locations.

“A day of break even is a day of wasted time for them,” Preyer said. “And so it was very difficult, certain locations and certain campuses really supported that effort. Through the rotation, you found out what campuses those were and that’s where the trucks wanted to be, other locations there was no interest.”

Genuine Foods is currently looking for students to apply for the positions they have available across the district. 

Preyer is hopeful that the TCC community will be able to see the effort that Genuine Foods has put into its stands to make a high-class product.

“Everything, as you’ll see, is done with quality in mind, and just making it a good experience for everyone,” he said.