The Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) executive promised during their past two elections to replace the Mac Daddy’s in Oasis, but increased sales may make it less likely.
Current RRRA President Hyder Naqvi said his team wanted to replace the Mac Daddy’s last year, and the promise was again part of his re-election campaign this year.
“I would love to find a replacement for Mac Daddy’s, so right now we are in talks [with the university] regarding this change,” Naqvi said.
Naqvi said RRRA is in the early stages of the process, and that he is meeting with the university on March 23, which “will determine how we are moving forward with this.”
Aramark, a food services company, runs Carleton’s Dining Services and all restaurants aside from Rooster’s, Oliver’s and Mike’s Place, which are run by Carleton’s student unions.
RRRA vice-president (operations) Daniel Pollak said RRRA acts as an advisory board to Aramark and to the cafeteria, as part of its mandate of serving students.
Pollak said replacing Mac Daddy’s is “possible but unlikely,” given the increase in business.
Oasis’s overall sales increased by six per cent from last year, while Mac Daddy’s increased by 85 per cent, Paul Quinn, Aramark district manager, said in an email. Quinn added that the menu was simplified last summer, and additional focus put on the most popular items.
“I understand Mac Daddy’s has been more popular this past year, and evidently, with sales up, it would be hard to convince Oasis [to change] this coming year,” Pollak said.
“I believe it is a situation of supply and demand, wherein students and Aramark reach equilibrium,” Pollak said. “If a restaurant is doing very poorly, they will likely be replaced in favour of a more popular cuisine that would generate more revenues.”
Aramark hasn’t received a proposal from RRRA to replace the Mac Daddy’s, according to Quinn.
He said Aramark met with RRRA twice this school year, on Nov. 15 and March 7.
“We meet when we need to,” Quinn said. “The meetings are usually requested by RRRA.”
Quinn acknowledged RRRA’s input in restructuring the all-access meal plan, the Halal menu in 2016, and adding the soft serve ice cream machine to the cafeteria in 2017.
“At our last RRRA meeting on March 7, there was a great discussion on Mac Daddy’s and some of the residence fellows asked us to not replace the concept as it was a very popular brand with the floors they represent,” Quinn said.
Quinn said there is no meeting scheduled with the RRRA in future.
Aramark will make decisions on Dining Services changes in May, according to Quinn. The company will then create an action plan to present to Carleton.
“We review all our brands annually and make decisions to change them based on acceptability and current trends,” Quinn said.
He said prices for national brands such as Subway or Starbucks are predetermined by the franchise. Prices for brands that are run by Carleton like Mac Daddy’s “are based on market value and competitive analysis” by Aramark. Currently Carleton runs the only Mac Daddy’s in Canada, Naqvi said.
According to Pollak, the change was more likely last summer when Mac Daddy’s had fewer sales.
“We have less leverage now because we have less convincing points to change to another restaurant,” Pollak said.
However, despite the increased sales, Pollak said there could be better restaurants for students and sales.
“I believe there’s always room for optimization and improvement,” he said.
Pollak said RRRA lobbied—and will continue to—for the change, but Aramark ultimately makes the decision.
– Photo by Justin Samanski-Langille.
