into a brave new way of doing business. We don’t have a toolkit to offer – we only have our knowledge of the program and the courage it takes to make a bold move. As an Alliance, we decided to stop “just talking” about procurement and move into action. This change in process means that we are no longer going to be subject to the marketplace, we will drive the marketplace. It is our mission to leverage purchasing power to drive food quality UP and costs DOWN while incorporating sound environmental practices. There are four goals of Transformational Procurement through the Alliance: 1. To proactively craft bids and policies that focus on elevating school meals for the health and wellness of students 2. We will champion quality food, environmentally friendly supplies, local sourcing, and lower overall prices 3. Our Alliance will be a disrupter in the marketplace 4. We will push against the industry norms and test new and innovative procurement models HOW DO YOU RESET AN OUTDATED PROCUREMENT MODEL? The Urban School Food Alliance members determined that we would focus on four specific steps to achieve this must- needed procurement reset: 1. Unification 2. Volume 3. Purchasing Power 4. Quality
Now that we had determined the need, set goals, and created a step-by-step plan, the next step was to begin moving the procurement needle toward transformation. And we did it with chicken. And so, the Boost the Roost Initiative was born. We set out as a UNIFIED procurement group, to achieve significant product VOLUME to strengthen our PURCHASING POWER which would ultimately drive the prices down of QUALITY products. This change in process means that we are no longer going to be subject to the marketplace, we will drive the marketplace.
two chicken products we were able to: • Meet all the standards and specifications of our members choosing • Eliminate unwanted ingredients listed in the Ingredient Guide for Better School Food Purchasing • Ensure that each product meets No Antibiotic Ever (NAE) classification The biggest key was commitment. No turning back – once the product order was committed, it was committed. This was an all-in, all-hands-on- deck, no-looking-back project. And we did it. HOW, YOU ASK? With bold and courageous steps, we: • Did research, counted the costs, developed budgets, and set forth a plan • Hired a firm to help us develop the chicken product recipes • Partnered with a large purchasing CO-OP for proposal management • Conducted student taste tests to ensure satisfaction • Successfully purchased 955,550 pounds of clean- label chicken product • Served the high-quality chicken products in over 16 districts across the United States while maintaining its affordability to districts. Beyond the successful completion of the task at hand were the invaluable lessons that were learned during this project. There is still a long way to go in the journey to Transformational Procurement in the K12 marketplace, but the Urban School Food Alliance will continue to lead the way.
WHY CHICKEN?
Chicken is the highest volume protein item consumed throughout the 18 USFA member districts across the United States. Having such a large quantity of product to work with allowed the greatest opportunity for improvement while also reducing production and purchasing costs. But the perfect chicken product didn’t exist – so we moved into action to create our OWN recipe.
By creating our own recipe for
BOOST THE ROOST | USFA INITIATIVE RECAP | PAGE 7
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