When onsite dining operators go looking for brands to put into their dining mix, they traditionally looked either to established national names like Subway and McDonald's or they tried to create their own. But now, with authenticity and “local sourcing” two powerful industry trends, some operators have turned to an alternative that's been under their noses all along: local restaurant brands that may not be known nationally but have powerful resonance in their particular markets. In this special section, FM looks at three examples of this phenomenon in B&I, higher education and healthcare.

Microsoft: Emphasis on Local Flavors

Independent restaurateurs provide unique benefits to the onsite dining mix.

For a global enterprise, Microsoft sure is loco about local. At least, that seems to be the case when it comes to its onsite dining mix.

“Microsoft is a big company here in Seattle, and this is an opportunity to give back,” says Microsoft Senior Services Manager Mark Freeman. “We also want the choices to be restaurants our employees can relate to, can recognize as local, while also giving the vendors a chance to build their local businesses.”

Of course, unlike national chains with established protocols for licensing and franchising their concepts, local independents rarely have any experience with extending their operations — much less to an onsite environment, and much, much less to an onsite environment with as massive a scale as Microsoft, where some 25,000 meals a day are served at its headquarters complex alone.

Some are literally mom and pop establishments that have earned local reputations for their food but remain fairly informal when it comes to other aspects of their operations. Freeman says that is an understood part of the package, a necessary tradeoff for the authenticity and variety offered by the local entrepreneurs.

HEAVY VETTING

The process for picking the concepts is as straightforward as it is meticulous. “We start by surveying our employees annually,” Freeman explains, “asking them what concepts they like when they go out. We take those results, look at the local market and see what's available. Our due diligence looks at their finances and their health department scores, and we inspect their facilities so that we are satisfied with their sanitation practices and their understanding of the importance of food safety. We go through the checklist and narrow it down to the top two or three in each menu category.”

The deal is fairly straightforward for those that secure a place. The operator serves dishes from its established menu, does its own procurement (for authenticity) and provides its own labor. Microsoft pays the space and utility costs and owns the equipment.

In return for the free rental and equipment, the operators are required to charge menu prices at least 10 percent lower than they do for the same item in their street operations.

Microsoft's Local Brands Program was launched soon after Freeman took over management of dining operations for the company in 2005. From an original group of six concepts, the program has mushroomed to encompass 28 at the headquarters complex in Redmond, WA, plus at least one local favorite at each of the company's five other U.S. locations where it offers onsite foodservice. Most recently, another 14 local concepts debuted when Microsoft opened its new West Campus Commons in late April.

Early in the Local Brands Program's life, Freeman had to approach the candidates to pitch the opportunity. Now, as word has gotten around, it's starting to become the other way round.

He says he keeps a number in the queue in case one of the established operators pulls out. The approach is to keep a consistent cuisine mix without duplication. So only one pizzaria can operate at the Commons at a time, for example. This also lets Microsoft keep the same equipment in a station even if the operator changes.

For the local restaurateurs, there is the prospect of more sales. For some, it also means adding a new daypart if their primary location is mainly for dinner business. They also get a chance to participate in Microsoft's lucrative campus catering business. Those are made through the central catering office.

Catering production is handled at the station of each concept. All product is delivered to a common receiving and storage space located in the Commons' basement area, and then transported to the different stations.

The Local Brands Program, already the staple of the main campus dining program, received extra emphasis when West Campus opened a few months ago.

DON'T CALL IT A MALL…

Sitting just across Hwy. 520 west of the Redmond headquarters campus, West Campus is the latest word in American corporate community building. Designed to house Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division (X-Box, Zune, etc.), it consists of four office buildings arranged around a central “Commons” that consists of three buildings housing an array of restaurants, stores and retail services.

“Our intent,” Freeman explains, “is to help our employees be more productive. When they need a break, they can come to the Commons, which serves as a kind of town square. There, they can eat, do their banking, go to the post office, even buy a cell phone or get a massage — all without leaving the campus. One local report showed one of our employees checking her e-mail while getting her hair done. I think that perfectly captured what the Commons is all about.”