Scanned by CamScanner  A. Executive Summary 2 B. Business Description/Company History 2 1. Firm Analysis 2 2. Industry Analysis 2 3. SWOT Analysis 3 a. Strengths 3 b. Weaknesses 5 c. Opportunities 6 d. Threats 7 C. Project Description 7 1. Owner Objectives 7 2. Problems/Concerns 8 D. Strategic Business Recommendations 8 1. Interpretation of customer survey results 8 2. Marketing Plan 8 3. Feasibility Analysis and Recommendations 9 4. Other Recommendations 13 E. Conclusion and Summary of Recommendations 14 1. Short-term Recommendations 14 2. Long-term Recommendations 14 F. Appendices 15 1. Passport Bistro and Da Vinci’s Survey Results 15 a. Passport Bistro Results 15 b. Da Vinci’s Results 15 2. References 15 3. Letter of Engagement 17 A. Executive Summary B. Business Description/Company History 1. Firm Analysis Passport Bistro is part of the WKU Restaurant Group, under the management of Aramark Corporation. Aramark is an international company and first started working with WKU in 1997, providing food services and staff. They currently manage twenty-five prepared food and grab-and-go locations on campus.  Passport Bistro is located on the first floor of the Honors College and International Center which opened in fall 2015.  The restaurant opened for business November 3rd, 2015. The menu has a variety of breakfast, lunch, and dessert options, as well as a number of different coffee based beverages. Most of the menu items are considered international cuisine. Passport Bistro is open from the hours of 10:00AM-2:00PM Monday through Friday and is closed on the weekends. They use two employees per shift and operate in 1 shift per day increments. The store is managed by Vedrana Forsythe who works under the supervision of our contact Steve Hyong. 2. Industry Analysis Aramark is part of the Food Service Contracting Industry in the US (NAICS code # 722310). Food Service Contracting companies provide food services at institutional, governmental, commercial or industrial locations. Examples of services locations include airports, food courts, college and university cafeterias and recreation and sports venues. The industry analysis that follows will focus on the college and university dining. In a study conducted and concluded September 2016, the revenue growth rate from 2012-2017 was 2.0% and the projectioned rate for 2017-2022 was 1.8%. Revenues were consistently in the $40 billion range for the last 4 years. The educational segment of the Food Service Contracting Industry is expected to sustain slow grow due to increased enrollment rates and increased cost of attendance. The most recent 2017 statistics on food service Some current trends existing in the industry are a steady consistent growth rate, as a whole in the maturity phase of its life cycle, high concentration and competitive levels, high turnover, and low profit margin. The industry exists in a highly competitive environment which will only increase in level of competition. The  number o.

1. Scanned by CamScanner
A. Executive Summary 2
B. Business Description/Company History 2
1. Firm Analysis 2
2. Industry Analysis 2
3. SWOT Analysis 3
a. Strengths 3
b. Weaknesses 5
c. Opportunities 6
d. Threats 7
C. Project Description 7
1. Owner Objectives 7
2. Problems/Concerns 8
D. Strategic Business Recommendations 8
1. Interpretation of customer survey results 8
2. Marketing Plan 8
3. Feasibility Analysis and Recommendations 9
4. Other Recommendations 13
E. Conclusion and Summary of Recommendations 14
1. Short-term Recommendations 14
2. Long-term Recommendations 14
F. Appendices 15
1. Passport Bistro and Da Vinci’s Survey Results 15
a. Passport Bistro Results15
b. Da Vinci’s Results 15
2. References 15
3. Letter of Engagement
A. Executive Summary

2. B. Business Description/Company History
1. Firm Analysis
Passport Bistro is part of the WKU Restaurant Group, under the
management of Aramark Corporation. Aramark is an
international company and first started working with WKU in
1997, providing food services and staff. They currently manage
twenty-five prepared food and grab-and-go locations on campus.
Passport Bistro is located on the first floor of the Honors
College and International Center which opened in fall 2015.
The restaurant opened for business November 3rd, 2015. The
menu has a variety of breakfast, lunch, and dessert options, as
well as a number of different coffee based beverages. Most of
the menu items are considered international cuisine. Passport
Bistro is open from the hours of 10:00AM-2:00PM Monday
through Friday and is closed on the weekends. They use two
employees per shift and operate in 1 shift per day increments.
The store is managed by Vedrana Forsythe who works under the
supervision of our contact Steve Hyong.
2. Industry Analysis
Aramark is part of the Food Service Contracting Industry in the
US (NAICS code # 722310). Food Service Contracting
companies provide food services at institutional, governmental,
commercial or industrial locations. Examples of services
locations include airports, food courts, college and university
cafeterias and recreation and sports venues. The industry
analysis that follows will focus on the college and university
dining.
In a study conducted and concluded September 2016, the
revenue growth rate from 2012-2017 was 2.0% and the
projectioned rate for 2017-2022 was 1.8%. Revenues were
consistently in the $40 billion range for the last 4 years. The
educational segment of the Food Service Contracting Industry is
expected to sustain slow grow due to increased enrollment rates
and increased cost of attendance. The most recent 2017

3. statistics on food service
Some current trends existing in the industry are a steady
consistent growth rate, as a whole in the maturity phase of its
life cycle, high concentration and competitive levels, high
turnover, and low profit margin. The industry exists in a highly
competitive environment which will only increase in level of
competition. The number of establishments within the industry
is expected to increase at a 2.9% average annual rate through
2022. This projected rate of establishment growth is slightly
higher than the rate of enterprise growth which indicates
existing operators (in our case, Aramark) will add locations at a
faster rate than new entrants will join the industry. Over this
same period employment within the industry is projected to
grow at an annualized 2.4%.
3. SWOT Analysis
After conducting industry research and meeting with Mr. Steve
Hoyng, RDM at Aramark, ABNT International Consulting team
constructed a SWOT analysis to analyze the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for WKU Dining’s
Passport Bistro location.a. Strengths
. Quality of Ingredients -- Passport Bistros’ food options consist
of higher quality of ingredients compared to that of other
restaurants’ on campus due to the lack of fried food and oil
based cooking. Again, it could be argued that the fact that the
food items on the menu of Passport Bistro are of international
cuisine, then the quality standards are guaranteed.
. Nutritional Value -- Due to Passport Bistro using higher
quality ingredients as well as healthier cooking options,
Passport Bistros’ food tends to hold more nutritional value than
other campus dining options such as Popeyes, Steak n’ Shake,
or Papa Johns. The raw materials used to make food items in
Passport Bistro conform to certain standards set by WKU
Restaurant Group. For this reason, the quality of products
should not detract from the health of the consumers. In this age
of increased rate of diet-related diseases, the nutritional value

4. of food items is very important consideration by any restaurant
establishment (Lynn & Angeline 2016).
. Coffee Stand -- Passport Bistro is one of three of restaurants
on campus to offer specialty coffees in addition to regular
coffee as well as providing food options to the consumer. The
fact that Passport Bistro is providing specialty coffees means
that the restaurant has the potential to attract more students
whose desire to take something unique and customized for their
own needs and preferences.
. Quick Service/Short Lines -- Passport Bistro offers quick
service time as well as no more than 5-7 people in line,
compared to the sometimes 100+ at other locations on campus
. Atmosphere -- Passport Bistro offers one of the best
atmospheres on the entire campus. A consumer can sit down and
eat or drink coffee while they do work or just simply enjoy their
meal in an environment which feels almost private. The
customer base on campus have busy schedules and desire to get
a “cool” place to relax and refresh their minds. Passport Bistro
has been able to exploit this market need and meet it by
establishing an appealing atmosphere where customers can eat
or drink coffee and feel relieved of the stress of the day.
Usually, busy people hate a noisy and congested place. For this
reason, Passport Bistro has the potential to attract more
customers. b. Weaknesses
. Structural Limitations-- Due to the location of Passport Bistro,
they are restricted in a few ways. The first being due to the
space where the restaurant is located. They are unable to install
a large scale ventilation system, which would be used to remove
any smoke/odor/steam from cooking. This stops Passport Bistro
from adding any new food items into their menu that would
require extensive preparation. Not having this type of
ventilation system also means that any pungent or especially
fragrant foods permeate the rest of the building, which contains
many offices. Along with this, expansion of the dining area for
Passport Bistro is not a viable option, and the current seating
which can only hold around 20-25 students would not be enough

5. to accommodate even a quarter target goal of 325 customers per
day. Further, the building where the restaurant is cannot be
expanded or altered in any way as they belong to Western
Kentucky University and its policies and limitations are rigid to
have any expansion allowed. There is however an outdoor space
that could allow for some additional seating, but would not
limited to just Passport Bistro customers.
. Lack of Foot Traffic -- Most of the locations of the dining
services are based around “central hubs” on campus such as the
libraries, major dormitories, or campus operations buildings.
Passport Bistro is located in the Honors College and
International Center, which originally was planned to be much
larger and have many more classrooms and offices than it has.
The change in building plans lead to very few students, faculty,
or staff walking through the building compared to other dining
options. The placement of the building is not part of any major
hub, and very often the only time people pass the building is to
catch the campus bus, which has a stop in front of Mass Media
and Technology Hall.
. Lack of Diversity in Food Options -- The food offered by
Passport Bistro centers are gyro style foods, so if a consumer
does not like this style there is nothing Passport Bistro offers to
entice them into visiting the establishment. Passport Bistro is
restricted on the types of food it can offer in its menu to an
extent. Because it is under the management of Aramark, all
supplies are gotten through the company. If there are changes
made to the menu, it still has to be able to get those ingredients
through Aramark’s chain of suppliers. c. Opportunities
. Co-Branding -- Passport Bistro could attempt to merge brands
with a more established name in campus dining such as Da
Vinci’s or Einstein Bros. in order to try and attract a larger
customer base.
. Product Differentiation -- Passport Bistro currently only sells
food products, they could try and expand their market by
introducing items such as WKU apparel and Merchandise to set
themselves apart from the competition.

6. . Raise Consumer Awareness -- Passport Bistro needs to to find
a way to make the more consumers aware of the restaurant itself
so they can increase their sales to a profitable level. Though
Passport Bistro has been in operation for nearly a year and a
half, there is relatively few people who are aware of its
existence at all. Low brand recognition can only be part of that
issue, and in fact there has been very few articles, campus
advertisements, or posts on the WKU Restaurant Group’s
Facebook or Twitter accounts focused on Passport Bistro.d.
Threats
. High Degree of Competition -- Being one of many restaurants
on campus, the market is highly competitive in terms of
consumers. There are a finite number of consumers deciding
where to eat.
. External Competition -- Along with the restaurants on campus
Passport Bistro also competes in some degree with restaurants
the consumer may choose to attend outside of campus dining
which would in turn cause them a loss of customers.C. Project
Description
1. Owner Objectives
Currently, Passport Bistro’s daily sales levels are substantially
below expectations. In the Fall semester this location averaged
175 customer sales and in the Spring about 100 per day. The
number of sales required to break even would be approximately
300 per day, but the goal would be 400 per day. These goals are
based on the performance of Da Vinci’s restaurant, which is
approximately the same size and has the same kitchen
equipment but manages to attract a much larger number of
consumers through the use of branding and food differentiation.
Management of Passport Bistro would like to at the very least
break even.
2. Problems/Concerns
Passport Bistro management has requested strategic
recommendations to assist in increasing current sales. In

7. addition to increasing sales, they have requested any other
recommendations that would increase awareness of Passport
Bistro that would lead to continued growth. The consulting
group has concluded that there is also a problem with the way
that Passport Bistro is marketed and will be addressing that as
well. The overarching problem is the lack of customers per a
day needed to break-even on the business much less make a
profit.D. Strategic Business Recommendations
The ABNT intends to help increase the number of sales through
use of a customer survey and develop a marketing plan aimed at
increasing foot traffic in the Honors College and International
Center. We also intend to conduct a feasibility study to
determine the costs and benefits of the continued operations
with our recommendations in mind. Based on the survey results
we will build our recommendations.
1. Interpretation of customer survey results
2. Marketing Plan
Comparing to other restaurants on campus, very few people
recognize the restaurant because Passport Bistro has weak
social media advertising which most other restaurants do not
need because they have existing brand loyalty. One important
recommendation that can be offered to Passport Bistro is for the
restaurant thorough exploit social media in order to market their
services. Our findings show that not many students are aware of
the services offered by the restaurant. Students and young
professionals are the target customers of Passport Bistro as well
as other campus restaurants. As such, these people mostly use
social media in interacting with their peers. One way the
restaurant can successfully win more customers via social media
is posting pictures of different food items it offers. Further, the
restaurant can also notify the customers of the discounts and
special offers they have in each and every day. The restaurant
should, therefore, hire a social media expert to manage its

8. social media accounts. What follows is a marketing plan,
formulated to help initiate the further use of already existing
social media accounts that the WKU Restaurant Group has in
order to promote and increase target market awareness of
Passport Bistro specifically.
3. Feasibility Analysis and Recommendations
The following estimated income statement and analysis is based
off of information given by Passport Bistro management.
Passport Bistro
Spring
Fall
Break Even Point
Conservative Goal
Desired Goal
Average Daily Customers
100
175
106
300
400
Weekly (Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm)
500
875
532
1500
2000
Monthly
2000
3500
2129
6000
8000
Expected Revenue, avg check per customer ~$7.26
$14,520.00

9. $25,410.00
$15,459.46
$43,560.00
$58,080.00
Direct cost, 24.7% of sales
(3,586.44)
(6,276.27)
(3,818.49)
(10,759.32)
(14,345.76)
Food Cost, 38.3% of sales
(5,561.16)
(9,732.03)
(5,920.97)
(16,683.48)
(22,244.64)
Labor costs, $1430 per week
(5,720.00)
(5,720.00)
(5,720.00)
(5,720.00)
(5,720.00)
Gross profit (loss)
($347.60)
$3,681.70
$0.00
$10,397.20
$15,769.60
Hourly Customer Flow (4hr/weekday)
25
44
27
75
100
Based on this information, and break even analysis, given
a few more customers, Passport Bistro would break even and

10. not be a drain on other dining locations’ revenue. To reach the
conservative goal there would have to be an hourly increase in
customers of about 50 during the spring semesters and about 30
during fall semesters, and to reach the desired goal there would
have to be an increase of 75 during the spring and a 56 customer
rate increase in the fall.
The following adjusted analysis is based on the
information given by Passport Bistro management and the
assumption that extending the hours of operation would increase
revenues by proportionately increasing the rate of customer
sales while also increasing labor costs proportionally, assuming
that labor costs are variable within this range. For this analysis
Passport Bistro would operate from 8am to 2pm on weekdays,
an increase of 2 hours per day. Break even point 6 hour daily
expected customers computed through data analysis.
Labor cost at $1,430 per week
$1,430.00
4hr/weekday, Mon-Fri
20 hrs/wk
Labor cost per hour
$71.50
Spring
Fall
Break Even Point
Daily customer average
100
175
Daily hours of operation
4
4
Hourly rate of customers
25

11. 44
21
Increase to 6 operating hours per weekday
6
6
6
6 hours of daily operation expected daily customers
150
263
126
Spring
Fall
Break Even Point
Conservative Goal
Desired Goal
Average Daily Customers variable rate
150
263
126
300
400
Weekly (Mon-Fri,8am-2pm)
750
1313
629
1500
2000
Monthly
3000
5250
2515
6000
8000
Expected Revenue, avg check per customer ~$7.26

12. $21,780.00
$38,115.00
$18,255.32
$43,560.00
$58,080.00
Direct cost,24.7% of sales
(5,379.66)
(9,414.41)
(4,509.06)
(10,759.32)
(14,345.76)
Food Cost,38.3% of sales
(6,163.74)
(10,786.55)
(5,166.26)
(12,327.48)
(16,436.64)
Labor costs, $71.50 per hour, 6 hours per day
(8,580.00)
(8,580.00)
(8,580.00)
(8,580.00)
(8,580.00)
Gross profit (loss)
$1,656.60
$9,334.05
$0.00
$11,893.20
$18,717.60
If operating hours of Passport Bistro were to be extended to 6
hours per weekday, assuming that labor costs are variable at
$71.50 per hour, and there would be an increase in customer
sales at a proportional rate, the number of hourly customers to
break even would decrease from 27 per hour to 21 per hour.
Assuming that the current average hourly rate of customers for
spring and fall semesters would remain the same, daily average

13. customer numbers would increase, and the gross profits for both
semesters would both be above the breakeven line.
Based on the same assumptions as above, in reaching the
conservative and desired goals, from what current spring and
fall customer rates are (25 and 44 respectively), there would be
a spring rate increase of 25 customers for the conservative and
an increase of 42 for the desired. For the fall semester there
would be an increase of 14 for the conservative goal and a 23
increase for the desired goal.
Conservative Goal
Desired Goal
Daily Customer
300
400
Daily hours of operation
6
6
Hourly rate of customers
50
67
Considering that through slight changes in practice over the last
two years of operations, there haven’t been significant changes
to the customer flow, the chances of increasing hourly
customers by 50-75 at minimum is highly unlikely whereas an
hourly increase of 25-42 is considerably more reasonable.
4. Other Recommendations
· Since ESLI moved to the International Building, their classes
start at 8:00 am but since Passport Bistro opens at 10:00 am,
they may be losing out on potential customers. Opening early
might be a chance to make more sales.
· Because Passport Bistro is not a recognizable brand they could
change it to one of the recognizable brands. The idea of calling
it “Da Vinci’s Passport” is suggested since Da Vinci’s is a well

14. known brand on campus.
· We intend to find out if having a bus stop right outside the
HCIC would be warranted, to increase pedestrian traffic near
the restaurant.
· Another recommendation would be that the restaurant to
introduce more food items on their menu in order to
accommodate a wider customer base. Depending on the findings
of the market research, Passport Bistro should be able to
introduce other food items that the current market requires. This
will help the organization to keep in pace with the market needs
and wants. This will enable Passport Bistro to earn competitive
edge in this industry. The restaurant should capitalize on
keeping in touch with the changing trends in the market. The
only way the restaurant can achieve this is perfecting its
techniques in understanding the market through research and
surveys. Then from there the restaurant can come up with a list
of food items that meet the prevailing needs and wants of the
market.
· Another recommendation would be for Passport Bistro to
reduce direct cost by 15% down to 20.995% this would cause
the Gross Profit to move from $347.60 loss to a profit of
$537.97 for this current semester. If these cost cuts can be made
Passport Bistro achieve a business model with greater
sustainability.
· Passport Bistro should hold different types of promotional
events such as special discounts, jump-off events at the
beginning of the semesters to raise awareness, and ice cream
socials with the gelatos. Passport Bistro could partner with
surrounding organizations such as the flagship programs, honors
college, or the international student programs.
· Passport Bistro should utilize some form of a rewards or
points program. For example if you were to buy 5 gyro meal
swipes they would receive the 6th one free or after the purchase
of some pre-determined amount of non-meal swipe items the
customer would be rewarded with a free coffee or gelato.E.
Conclusion and Summary of Recommendations

15. 1. Short-term Recommendations
The recommendations which are able to be accomplished in the
short term would be the implementations of a rewards program
and to begin hosting promotional events using the other
programs in the building as partners. Both of these options have
the aim of increasing consumer awareness, not just for the
business itself, but also how Passport Bistro’s products
differentiate from those of other campus dining locations.
Finally these events and programs should act as an incentive for
customers to return to the Passport Bistro after the initial
interaction.
2. Long-term Recommendations
F. Appendices
1. Passport Bistro and Da Vinci’s Survey Resultsa. Passport
Bistro Results
b. Da Vinci’s Results
2. References
· Alvarez, Andrew. "IBIS World Industry Report 72231 - Food
Service Contractors in the US." IBIS World. N.p., Feb. 2017.
Web.
· Deliens, Tom, Peter Clarys, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, and
Benedicte Deforche. "Determinants of Eating Behaviour in
University Students: A Qualitative Study Using Focus Group
Discussions." BMC Public Health. BioMed Central, 18 Jan.
2014. Web.
· Joung, Hyun-Woo, Dong-Soo Lee, Hak-Seon Kim, Joo Ahn,
and Lynn Huffman. "Evaluation of the On-Campus Dining
Service Using Importance-Performance Analysis." N.p., n.d.
Web.
· Mudd, Aaron. "Three Competitors Emerge for Long-term

16. WKU Dining Services Contract." Bowling Green Daily News.
Bowling Green Daily News, 11 Oct. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
· Sullivan, Tommy. "New HCIC Restaurant Opens Monday."
College Heights Herald. N.p., 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
· "Honors College/International Center Dedication Oct. 23."
WKU News. N.p., 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
· Harrison, M. Blake. "Aramark Likely to Stay through 2017."
College Heights Herald. N.p., 04 May 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
· Kast, Monica. "New Mediterranean Option Opens on Campus."
College Heights Herald. N.p., 08 Feb. 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
· "Campus Restaurant Map." WKU. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr.
2017.
· Kotler, P., (2002). Marketing Management Millennium
Edition: Custom Edition for University of Phoenix. 10th ed.
USA: Pearson Custom Publishing.
· Kuester, S. (2012): MKT 301: Strategic Marketing &
Marketing in Specific Industry Contexts, University of
Mannheim, p. 110.
· Lynn R. K. & Angeline G. C. (2016). Consumer Behavior
Knowledge for Effective Sports and Event Marketing. New
York: Routledge