<p> Jennifer McFarland Director of Food & Nutrition Services Center Grove Community School Corporation Memo</p><p>To: Dr. Steven Stephanoff From: Jennifer McFarland CC: Dr. Paul Gabriel, Dr. Bill Long Date: 5/21/2018 Re: CIESC Region 9 Food Service Bids</p><p>CIESC Region 9 Food Service Bids The Central Indiana Educational Service Center (CIESC) has been established through state legislation that allows public school districts to work together for greater efficiency and effectiveness. The CIESC Region 9 food service cooperative is a partnership created by membership districts to facilitate shared food/non-food bids and services that allow schools to function at the lowest possible cost while maintaining the highest possible quality. Cooperative purchasing among member school districts increases volume of purchases which results in lower unit costs.</p><p>Benefits of joining CIESC Region 9 food service bids include purchasing high quality food at lower prices, collaborating with 10 central Indiana School Districts on bid specification writing, division of bid workload and preparation, and group testing of products for approval. Other benefits include teamwork on menu ideas, student promotions, and labor saving preparation methods. </p><p>The Food Service Consulting Study compared Center Grove’s 2008-2009 bid to the CIESC 2008- 2009 cooperative purchasing bid. Analyzing 19 high volume items, CIESC cooperative bid was $41,870.25 less than Center Grove’s line item bid. This year’s savings are still uncertain since I am still in the process of revising menus at all levels. By comparing the two bid processes, CIESC cooperative purchasing had significantly lower product costs. Listed below are a few examples of savings. 2009-2010 CIESC Region 9 Center Grove Savings per Products Bid Prices Bid Prices item Chicken Patty 0.201/each 0.328/each 0.127 (61%) Hamburger Patty 0.148/each 0.32/each 0.172 (46%) Cheese Pizza 0.249/each 0.43/each 0.181 (58%)</p><p>Based on this potential savings, I will be moving forward ordering with the vendors approved for the 2009-2010 Region 9 bid. Our primary food vendor will be US Foodservice, bread bid was awarded to Aunt Millie’s Bakery, and non-food vendor will be ACORN Distributors. I plan on attending the monthly scheduled co-op meeting and taking part in the group email system.</p>