Taking Back The Food Service Program

Newfound Also Petitions For Special District Meeting On Bank Purchase

Members of the Newfound Area School Board meet on August 11. (Tom Caldwell Photo)

BRISTOL — Prompted by the acquisition of its food service group by another company, the Newfound Area School Board is bringing the operation of its culinary program back into the district. The board also signed a formal document asking the Grafton County Superior Court to approve a set of special meetings to let district voters decide whether to purchase the former TD Bank building in downtown Bristol.

Whitsons Culinary Group, the 15th largest food service management company in the United States, and the fourth largest K-12 food service operator, has purchased Abbey Group, which has headquarters in Sheldon, Vermont, and serves schools in New England and Upstate New York. Newfound was in the fourth year of a five-year annual contract with Abbey Group.

Until 2017, Newfound operated its own food service program. At that time, Business Administrator Michael Limanni persuaded the school board to switch to an independent vendor, arguing that, with its larger supply chain, it would be able to procure food at lower prices than the school district could negotiate. After federal reimbursements, it had cost the district $95,000 that year, he said.

Both Abbey Food Services Group and Fresh Picks Café sought the contract, but Limanni persuaded the board choose Fresh Picks, based on recommendations by the Pemi-Baker Regional School District and Fresh Picks’ offer to provide $60,000 in capital improvements for the food services program over a five-year period.

Abbey Group later purchased Fresh Picks.

In arguing to take back the program, Superintendent Paul Hoiriis told the school board on August 11, “I found out by having an email forwarded to me — so not even directly — that our current food service group, Abbey Group, was purchased by Whitsons.”

Hoiriis said that, even before learning of the purchase, administrators in the central office had been discussing the benefits of returning to self-operation. Due to a non-compete agreement in Whitsons’ contracts — but not yet in Abbey Group — if they did not act now, they would be unable to hire their current food service staff.