Frank Miller was the Director of Hospitality Services at Western University in London, Ontario, and led a team that has been responsible for bringing about the tremendous growth and development of Western University dining operations via healthy, sustainable concepts.
Tell us a bit about how you started on the journey that led you to being the director of hospitality services at Western?
Well, it started with the Pancake House on Clifton Hill. I was 15 or 16, working there after attempting to be a parking attendant with no drivers license. So I started working and supervising at the Pancake House and became the pancake guru of Niagara Falls.
As the season ended and everyone was leaving, it was suggested that I stay in this sort of restaurant business - of which, believe me, I had no intention because it was hard work.
But I liked it and kept taking on more food service jobs for a few years until I got a call from my colleague from Cornell University. He said “Frank, how's it going? I'm now the Vice President of Food Services for a major department store. Would you like to move to Toronto to become District Manager of 9 stores?”. I hesitated… then I found out about the benefits and company car.
So, through that job, I learned great organizational skills that helped me along the way, certainly in terms of leadership, and a detailed understanding of food services and also recognizing most people that were reporting to me were probably twice my age but that was the beginning of my food services journey.
Some ways down the line, a supplier mentioned that there was a job opening at the University of Western Ontario and I thought “Well that's kind of interesting! I had previously gone through stints of high level corporate positions with 2 companies at about 8 years each and I was always striving to improve myself with versatility in the industry, so I joined Western in feeding 20,000 students a day with very diverse menus and operations.
So throughout my career at Western, we evolved food services into a 40 million dollar operation with 9 dining halls, 30 operations on campus where the main feature had always been 99 cent grilled cheese. We rebuilt it based on my past experience and the notion of understanding the nature of students and faculty. Really getting to enjoy the landscape of education and understanding what students want.
And the rest is history. I became a director and 29 years later, with numerous awards for our operation, I decided to retire. Though I really don't like the word retirement. I like to think I repurposed myself with a new adventure of consulting to university food services with business plans reviews and management change. I am busier than ever but it gives me great satisfaction in helping others that perhaps do not have the experiences ! was able to obtain, by reinventing myself every year to stay on top of global and local trends.
Do you think the role of food services has changed from the time you started?
Absolutely.
We’ve gone from serving people cafeteria food to restaurant-quality food. Students want food that was made for them, that gives them a sense of home and quality meals.
If you're doing, let's say sushi night, then students want to see how the sushi's made. It's harder to do with bigger operations with thousands of students, but the key is bringing food services from a back of house concept to a front of house concept, where you see food being made for you.
Also, it’s essential to remember that students drive the process. If you don't ask what they want, you’re making success more difficult. So, it's a collaborative method of making food. They dictate the trends. I really focused on that over the years, spending a lot of time researching each morning to get a bead on what’s really happening.
Sometimes we nailed it. Sometimes we’d have cases where the trends we would identify would be “too new”. We’d see something gaining momentum in the U.S. but it wouldn’t take. Universities in Canada tend to generally adopt later than universities in the U.S. - and that’s okay.
Is there anything that you've seen lately that's made you more optimistic or less optimistic about the future of food services?
Well, what we think is important to our students and what we see coming is local and seasonal foods, protein snacks, regional cuisine, plant-based, of course - food as medicine, clean labels. I mean our students are really inspired by helping communities, buying local, sustainability, reducing energy.
All of those things, they're not buzzwords. They’re issues of concern that need to be practiced by Food Service Directors.
Do you have any direct advice for someone starting out in this area today?
It’s a great business to get into if you have a full understanding that it requires abnormal hours. It requires the ability to understand politics - it is a political environment. That you clearly have to state your intent and really never give up in telling the story about your food service operation.
Also, get mentorship from other people that have been through it. Get that education, that degree or certificate in food services, and encourage your people to take time to upgrade themselves constantly because it is such a demanding, changing business. Oh, and don't forget about your frontline staff. I truly believe that food services build community within a university.
We’re one of the few departments that talks to our students every day, same time, same place. Do not be afraid to utilize a third party to look at your operation as it is very easy to get siloed within the walls of your walls.