Pfoodman breaks out of the foodservice management mold.
Retailer: Kevin Miquelon, president, Pfoodman Holdings LLC, St. Louis www.pfoodman.com
Campus dining isn't what it used to be. College students have adopted higher standards, and foodservice management companies, such as St. Louis-based Pfoodman Holdings LLC, have responded with quality food and smart branding. They've realized that to succeed, they must listen to the needs of not only the school, but the students as well.
"It's a shift, almost like what happened with McDonald's when they started marketing to kids, turning the child into the consumer, [as opposed to] their parents," says Kevin Miquelon, president of Pfoodman.
This increased pressure has led Pfoodman to look beyond the boundaries of onsite food management, to a retail space where they can test new ideas, increase their visibility and show potential customers just what they're capable of -- the Lone Wolf Coffee Co.
The Lone Wolf Coffee Co., which opened in January, came to be through two converging paths. About a year ago, one of the company's college customers, Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., commissioned Pfoodman to develop the foodservice program for its new student center. One of the concepts was to be a coffeehouse, so Miquelon and his colleagues began work on a brand that could apply to not only Lindenwood, but their other sites, too, which include senior living and business and industry clients.
At the same time, the company was moving its corporate headquarters to a new building -- an old Russian restaurant. As they turned the dining room into an office space, an idea was sprung to turn the old bar into a coffee shop. "It came together very rapidly. We made the decision when we had to sign the lease," says Miquelon.
From there, they set to work cultivating the Lone Wolf brand: walls adorned with canoes, bicycles and skis, photos capturing the great outdoors and an atmosphere that offers the coziness and comfort of a coffeehouse, without the confusing coffee jargon or highbrow stigma.
The kitchen was turned into a commissary to prepare the store's sandwiches, pastries, soups and salads, as well as food for a few private schools Pfoodman has contracts with.
All of the menu offerings are named for far-flung locales, such as Mt. Fuji (house-roasted beef with red pepper, cilantro, red onion and zesty wasabi sauce), Marrakesh (harissa-grilled chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion, spices and yogurt sauce), and Provencale (Albacore tuna salad with greens, tomato, egg, black olives and a lemon-caper vinaigrette; all $6.95).
While a standard cup of coffee is the most popular beverage choice, Pfoodman also created a "brew bar concept" that allows customers to order a cup of coffee that's ground, brewed and poured to order just for them. A 16-ounce cup costs $1.75, 50 cents more than a traditional cup.
"We've captured that community coffeehouse feel, and that was our goal," says Miquelon, adding they focus on a 3-mile radius around the store. There are no other coffee shops in the area, and the only competition comes from locally based Panera Bread, but "we're a gnat on an elephant's behind to them," says Miquelon. "All we want is a little piece of the pie."
With the commissary and the customers, Pfoodman uses the Lone Wolf as an R&D lab -- as well as a prototype for future Lone Wolf stores. Miquelon expects to have the Lone Wolf brand in four colleges by the end of the summer.
And the company is not stopping there. It hopes to one day franchise or license the Lone Wolf concept, particularly in parts of the country where it already does business.
Campus dining isn't what it used to be. College students have adopted higher standards, and foodservice management companies, such as St. Louis-based Pfoodman Holdings LLC, have responded with quality food and smart branding. They've realized that to succeed, they must listen to the needs of not only the school, but the students as well.