CKC Good Food - Tips for a Successful Contract Bid Process

Tips for a Successful Contract Bid Process

Bid season is here! If your vended meal or food service management contract expires at the end of this year, now's the time to pull together your Invitation for Bids (IFB) or Request for Proposals (RFP). Remember, unless you have had a significant change in scope to your food service program or are unhappy with your current vendor/food service management company, your current contract can be renewed for four consecutive years you need to bid your contract again.

Barb Reinhold Announces Retirement

We are saddened to share that Administrative Coordinator Extraordinaire Barbara Reinhold will soon be retiring. Barb was originally hired to be the Executive Assistant to CEO Nancy Close but quickly became a go-to for most everyone in the corporate office as well as our kitchens.

Summer Meal Planning Begins Now

Summer break will be here soon! While it's a relief for many who work in K-12 schools, it can be unsettling for kids, especially those whose families are food insecure. Your school or organization can help close the hunger gap when school is out by either offering free summer meals or simply sharing the information on where kids can find free meals in your area (see sidebar for sharing information with others).

RSVP Today for Spring Taste Tests

We encourage you to assemble a group of those you serve, family members and board members to come to our commissary for our spring taste tests and tours!

Team Spotlight: Hiawatha Collegiate

Hiawatha Academies is a network of tuition-free public charter schools in Minneapolis's Northrop and Seward neighborhoods. CKC Good Food is proud to be the food service partner to Hiawatha's three schools, which combined serve students from kindergarten to 12th grade. This edition of our Team Spotlight shines a light on our team at Hiawatha Collegiate High School.

Team Spotlight: Naj Bagdadi

In this edition of our Team Spotlight, we’re highlighting a team member who works almost exclusively by himself: Najil Bagdadi, our Executive Catering Chef.

Taste Tests & Facility Tours: Look Behind-the-Scenes of Your School Meals

One of our favorite times of year is approaching - the season when we welcome groups to our commissary for tours and taste tests of foods we're evaluating for our menus. Our guests always give us very honest, valuable feedback that only makes CKC Good Food and our menus better. And guests are generally engaged as we tour them through our massive kitchen and warehouse. We invite schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program to bring a group to our commissary for a session between March 3 and May 22.

Vegetarian Menu Refreshed

While only about 10% of the meals prepped at our main commissary are for our hot vegetarian menu, our menu development and recipe team doesn't neglect refreshing the menu. They aim to offer a menu that has a variety of tasty options, including some ethnic meals, such as bean and cheese pupusas, cheese quesadillas and bean & cheese burritos.

Cook & Hold Enhances Food Service Programs

When Farmington, Minnesota-based charter school Great Oaks Academy began working with CKC Good Food in the fall of 2023, the school had its lunches delivered hot the morning they were to be served and served cold breakfast five days a week. That's how many CKC Good Food client partners run their food service programs.