FLIK services has been providing food to Providence Day for a number of years, while FLIK knows our needs and wants, how well do we, the community, know FLIK?
In the Providence Day School community, food is an essential part to the school day. The students’ days revolve around eating and the joy that accompanies it. The most social and laid back parts of school are during either break or lunch when students are talking with friends. The process of buying and eating food during these periods has become so habitual that the students have never stopped to question the whole process, or the standards of the cafeteria. Where is the food they are eating coming from? Who is providing it? Where do the profits go, and what are the motives behind FLIK Independent School Dining food and its parent company Compass Group?
Providence Day School does not directly provide food for its students and faculty, but rather it employs an outside catering group known as FLIK dining services. FLIK and its parent company set the prices, quantities, and run all of the logistics within the cafeteria. FLIK is one of the largest catering groups in the United States, focusing mainly on independent schools. However, they are just the beginning of the corporate chain. They are a subsidy of a larger company based out of the U.K. known as Compass Group. Compass Group is a 25 billion dollar organization, and the largest catering company in the world. While FLIK is a wonderful service and has provided fabulous food for the community for many years, Compass Group does not have the same track record.
On the Compass Group website you can find many photos and quotes that help add to its professional value. Also, their mission statement which is posted on the front page reads “ Everyone in Compass Group is committed to consistently delivering superior service in the most efficient way, for the shared benefit of our customers, shareholder, and associates.” While this mission statement sounds wholesome, genuine, and realistic, leaders have not always followed or enforced these morals within the Compass Group headquarters. Multiple scandals within the organization and its subsidiaries have substantially damaged the company’s reputation.
The first scandal occurred in 2006. It was announced that Compass Group was using money to bribe the United Nations. Compass Group had been providing food to the UN peacekeepers since 2000, sending meals all around the world to places such as Sudan, East Timor, and Lebanon. However, when a new contract arose, and three other catering groups wanted to become the main food providers to the UN, Compass Group veered off their clean path and began bribing their way into winning the contracts.
The briberies involved multiple wired money transfers, reaching up to one million pounds. Additionally, they granted UN official’s children jobs at high ranking job positions around the world. These scandals and errors were brought into the light when the UN launched an investigation regarding shady practices by Compass and its subsidiaries.
Shortly after the investigation broke, the two other providers Es-Ko International and Supreme Foodservice brought forth lawsuits, alleging Compass Group to be involved in criminal conspiracy. They sued for a combined 600 million pounds of damage to their companies, equivalent to around 737,691,000 million US dollars. Compass Group settled for 40 million pounds (around 50 million US dollars) concluding the legal cases, and stopping the damage to the company. While Compass Group never admitted to what had been done, they claimed that the correct steps had been taken to ensure an issue would not arise again.
Another scandal that rocked Compass Group occured in 2013. It is important to note that this incident did not affect either Providence Day School or FLIK catering services in any way. Beginning in 2013, reports around the UK had begun to arise regarding the potential of contaminated food and products, including the mislabeling of beef products. As people began to look more into the rumors, they found an issue arising from within Compass Group. The food that Compass Group provided was tested. The “beef” lasagna that they had been distributing tested positive for horse DNA. This was a huge loss for Compass Group, as they had to recall large amounts of food, and try and repair the damage that had been done to their reputation, and regain trust amongst consumers.
The Charger contacted Cheryl Queen, the Vice President of Communication and Corporate Affairs within the North American branch of Compass. Queen fully acknowledged the errors that Compass Group had made in the past, and stated that the most important part of a scandal is how a company behaves once they learn of a problem. Queen said that acknowledging, correcting, and then putting safeguards in place to ensure that the problem does not occur again is the right thing to do. Queen assured The Charger that this was the path Compass Group took. Lastly, Queen commented that the events that unfolded have led to a stronger emphasis on safety and control, and the promise of keeping true to their ethical commitments.
It has been nearly four years since Compass Group was involved in a large public scandal. Being a large company comes with lots of pressure. They have to manage thousands of employees, and make sure that everything is running smoothly. While things have been troublesome in the past, it is about what happens in the future that will leave the lasting impact. FLIK has been nothing but good for Providence Day, providing students and teachers with wholesome, healthy, and reliable food. While Compass Group made its mistakes, it is all about they they responded, reacted, and changed what actions they make in the future. It seems as if Compass has felt the effects from their mistakes, and want to be the best company they can be. As of for now, FLIK will continue creating a healthy, enjoyable environment for students to relax and eat in under the command of Compass Group.
While FLIK is a wonderful service and has provided fabulous food for the community for many years now, Compass Group does not have the same track record.
Multiple scandals within the organization and its subsidiaries have substantially damaged the company’s reputation.
The flag of the UN, an organization who accepted bribes from the Compass Group regarding catering to peace workers. Photo by Wilfried Huss
The briberies involved multiple wired money transfers, reaching up to one million pounds.
Queen fully acknowledged the errors that Compass Group had made in the past, and stated that the most important part of a scandal is how a company behaves once they learn of a problem.
A misguided Compass
By Sam Katz
Photo by Sam Katz
The Charger, March 2017
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A look into the Providence Day School cafeteria. Photo by Sam Katz