John Clark Jr.
The new $59 million food service contract for the Chicago Public Schools will not include Reggio’s Pizza for the first time in eight years, but the company that won the contract and CPS officials say the exclusion of the city’s only Black-owned pizza manufacturer was strictly business.
Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, a minority-owned food service company based in North Carolina, which has had the contract to provide food services for CPS for eight years, said it dropped Reggio’s Pizza Inc. in an effort to save cash.
CPS officials described the departure of Reggio’s Pizza as a cost-cutting move made by Chartwells-Thompson. Reggio’s Pizza is currently one of 13 minority subcontractors Chartwells-Thompson worked with this school year.
Bob Bloomer, regional vice president for Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, said the company had been trying to get Reggio’s founder and CEO John Clark Jr. to reduce his production costs to help Chartwells submit a successful bid.
An e-mail Clark received from Bloomer dated March 11, obtained by the Defender, said that Chartwells-Thompson did not believe Reggio’s Pizza could reduce its cost and make a profit.
“To ask you to reduce the cost to the point where we needed it to be would not have been feasible or even possible, and still allow you to generate a profit,” the e-mail read, in part. “In this tight, financial market we had to look at every way to remove cost from our program and unfortunately, your pizza, though delicious and well-received by most students, was far and away the most expensive entr%uFFFDe on any of our menus.”
However, Clark said he was misled by Bloomer to believe that he would remain a subcontractor for Chartwells-Thompson.
“He (Bob Bloomer) never told me he was going with another subcontractor so when I found out I was surprised,” Clark said. “I previously told Bob that I would do whatever is needed to keep our working relationship intact.”
“I was never given the opportunity reduce costs. I reached out to Chartwells-Thompson in February letting them know that I was meeting with General Mills Corp. to discuss producing a whole grain crust and that if there were any other changes needed I was open to it,” Clark told the Defender.
LaVerne Hall, director of the Office of Business Diversity for CPS, said the school district does not plan to use Reggio’s Pizza ingredients because it does not support its healthier choice concept. “We have been trying for years to get Mr. Clark to lower his price but he has resisted for fear of reducing his profit margin,” said Hall. “Reggio’s Pizza is not the only minority vendor who CPS has asked to reduce costs. Others, including ComfortCake have complied with changes, but for some reason Mr. Clark did not.”
Bloomer said Chicago-based and minority-owned ComfortCake LLC would produce a whole grain crust while the CPS kitchen staff will now prepare the pizzas. In all, he said the changes would total $1 million in savings.
ComfortCake currently provides the school district with the company’s revered pound cake. “At the end of the day it’s all about business and cutting costs. This is nothing personal against Mr. Clark. I just wish he had come to me to discuss his dissatisfaction rather than the media because it seems as though he is talking to everyone but me,” Bloomer said.
Clark said loss of the contract could result in his company laying off as many as 40 workers from his 200-person staff.
The new business for ComfortCake allows it to hire 15 additional people, said Amy Hilliard, founder and CEO of ComfortCake.
Bloomer explained that at this point, there isn’t much he could do to maintain Reggio’s Pizza as one of its minority partners because “we have commitments already out to ComfortCake and others.” Clark has requested that the inspector general for CPS investigate what he suspects are flawed Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise participation percentages. CPS confirmed that the investigation is active, and Bloomer said because of the investigation he was limited as to what he could discuss with the Defender.
Clark points out how ComfortCake plans to produce the pizza crust as an example of shrewd minority numbers, noting that ComfortCake is contracting with a south suburban Harvey company to produce the pizza crust, which will be delivered to the district’s middle and high schools.
“My cakes are also produced at this facility, which is minority-owned,” said Hilliard. “I am not doing anything illegal and this type of partnership is standard in the food service industry.”
“CPS is not a certifying agency so we rely on the city and state to certify these companies are minority-owned,” explained Hall. “But even if the Harvey facility was owned by someone white I would still credit ComfortCake dollar for dollar because they are minority-owned.”
Hilliard acknowledged that the Harvey facility Clark mentioned would produce the crust on behalf of ComfortCake.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender.
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