Lackmann Under Fire

by Dave Fuller

Lackmann tries variety but isn't making the cut

Almost every student at Adelphi University has to eat the food here at some point or another. Commuting students often have a meal if they have spare time between classes, work and activities. Residential students typically eat a majority of their meals on campus as they are compelled to register for one of three meal plan options. The lowest is set at $1,100 while the highest is set at $1,600. One cannot be a resident at Adelphi University unless one signs up for a meal plan. Students are consumers and have the prerogative to demand adequate dining services and tasty meals, and many feel that those demands have not been met.

Adelphi University's food services are provided by an independent company called Lackmann Catering Services. Under the guidelines of the contract with the university, Lackmann has a lot of control to run the dining operations on campus. They purchase the foods and products in Post Hall and the University Center Cafeteria. They establish the prices of every meal and product sold at Adelphi. Lackmann plays a large role in employing and training workers at the dining halls and the Convenience Store (C-Store). According to their agreement, the university cannot purchase any other food products unless Lackmann approves of the transaction. If Adelphi breaks this agreement it could be subject to breach of contract and subsequent lawsuits. Essentially, the university is a contracted customer of Lackmann, thus making Adelphi students customers of Lackmann.

The Pricing Controversy

Over the past few semesters, a conflict between students, Adelphi University and Lackmann Catering Services arose over the pricing of various foods and goods in the dining halls and, more specifically, the C-Store. Many students argue that the C-Store is ridiculously overcharging for its products. Lackmann justifies this by stating that the C-Store is there for convenience, and convenience stores have to charge higher prices because they provide a "luxury" service.

Sean McGrath, Alexis Naudus, Michelle Strollo, and Jeremy Thorn, who are all Adelphi students, researched the price discrepancies between C-Store goods and Pathmark goods. They discovered that the 12 packs of Pepsi cost $3.10 more at the C-Store than at Pathmark. Stouffer's frozen dinners were anywhere from $3 to $3.40 more expensive at the Post Hall C-Store. Certain 12 oz boxed cereals are nearly $5 more expensive on campus. Mouthwash is calculated to be $5.30 more expensive than its counterpart at Pathmark. Maxi pads, costing $9.99 on campus, cost only $3.39 off campus. The sum total of all the items at the C-Store cost $337.59 while costing only $175.54 at Pathmark, marketing C-Store prices almost double those at typical supermarkets.

This data was brought up at the October 22nd Food Committee meeting. Lackmann representatives said they "can not be compared to Pathmark and other supermarkets." Lackmann explained why prices were so high in the C-Store: They do not buy their products in high volume, so they pay higher prices for their goods. Lackmann also states that it does not have large enough storage facilities to stock these goods. This, in effect, raises prices. Lackmann further stated that it did not raise the prices of C-Store items this semester.

Whatever the explanation Lackmann provides, high price stills creates a problem for many student consumers. Because residential students are forced to purchase a meal plan, they have to pay the steep prices Lackmann charges. Many students are also disgruntled because they cannot take money out of their plans and purchase goods at Pathmark, 7-11 or any other store of their choice. Since most residential students are from outside the Long Island/New York City area, they have limited means of transportation, and for them, their only choice when it comes to food, is Lackmann.

In addition, the price of food and goods rose while the meal plans were not adjusted properly. Robert Powers and Sean McGrath calculated that it costs roughly $7 a meal and there are three meals a day. This means that the average cost of meals per day is $21. Lackmann suggests that students on the lower, $1,100 meal should expect to spend around $100 per week. But with these figures, the weekly average cost for food is $140, a $40 differential. These calculations are only for meals and exclude snacks and the purchase of items at the C-Store.

As a result, McGrath, Naudus, Strollo, and Thorn authored a petition directed at Adelphi University and Lackmann Catering Services. The petition demands more reasonable prices for Adelphi University and cites breaches of the exisiting contract with the food service. The petition cites from the Lackmann brochure, "The Gift of Value - We promise to be competitive in prices and in speed of service." The authors of the petition believe that prices and services are unfairly high and not competitive. Second, the petition argues that Lackmann is a monopoly. Residential students have to purchase meal plans and Lackmann appears to have arbitrarily increased prices of their goods. One Lackmann employee stated that prices were raised "because we have not raised them in three years." The petition also addresses the lack of adjustments to meal plans while prices have increased. According to the petition, the $1,100 meal plan has become obsolete because it can no longer sustain three meals a day. Attached to the petition is the research McGrath, Naudus, Strollo, and Thorn have done. They made a table of every item in the C-Store compared to Pathmark. Research is being done by McGrath and other student to compare prices of Hofstra prices and other convenient store prices.

McGrath was not alone is his beliefs that Lackmann has monopolized the food industry on campus. As of October 22nd, roughly 250 students signed the petition. "I hope to get around 3,000 signatures," said a determined McGrath. He suggested an alternative meal plan where $500 to $600 would be set aside for Lackmann products while another $500 to $600 is placed into an account where students can take this money out and spend it at their discretion. Michelle Strollo seconded this idea: "Adelphi needs a lower meal plan so I can go to Pathmark and other markets." McGrath started this petition because he was "sick of the low quality food at high prices. It just is not fair."

There is another dimension to this pricing controversy. Some items in the UC Cafeteria are sold at different prices than they are at Post Hall. Bottled water and ice cream are among the suspect items. Alain Lanz, director of Auxiliary Services, who is present at every food committee meeting, admitted there were pricing inequities. "We saw some discrepancies in the prices," said Lanz. He added this should not have taken place and we will establish the same prices for the same items no matter where they are sold on campus. There were also complaints of students getting charged for cups of ice to cool their drinks when the coolers are not cooling beverages adequately. Lanz and Rob Lakey, the newest chef in the UC Cafeteria, said, "There should not be a charge on ice and we'll make sure it doesn't happen again."