MSU Culinary Services (CS), operating as part of the Division of Residential and Hospitality Services, strives to provide top-quality food and dining experiences for Spartans. To do that, CS must meet the diverse culinary needs of the campus community by providing the best ingredients possible. Procuring the thousands of products needed to support MSU's dining operations involves far more than placing orders. Careful planning, inventory management, storage and distribution are all essential parts of the process. Leading these efforts is the Food Stores warehouse team.
The team plays a critical role in supporting Culinary Services by sourcing and delivering food and supplies, as well as receiving, storing and properly rotating inventory across campus dining operations. Located on Service Road, the Food Stores Warehouse is staffed by 13 warehouse attendants and supported by four managers and a customer service administrative assistant. Together, they help keep the university's dining operations running efficiently and seamlessly behind the scenes.
“We deliver Food Stores and MSU Bakery products. This happens with a fleet of six refrigerated trucks and two vans,” says Warehouse and Operations Manager Alan Wilkinson. “Food Stores actively stocks 1,600 products with hundreds more non-stocked [items ordered only when requested] that are procured throughout the year.”
The team operates six days a week from 5 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Sunday during the fall and spring semesters.
Working Together to Support Dining
Every two weeks during the fall and spring semesters, the warehouse team meets with Food Stores procurement, CS executive chefs, MSU Bakery representatives, CS dietitians, CS retail managers and the CS projects and equipment coordinator. Topics discussed include product quality and highlights, vendor performance, menus, allergens, special events, and more.
These meetings focus on collaborative and inclusive planning, system-wide inventory, order demand signals, and the rationalization and consolidation of stock-keeping units. Essentially, the teams work together to plan improvements, review inventory needs, understand ordering trends and simplify the number of products being stocked.
Wilkinson shared that they rely on their campus customers like Residential and Retail dining and the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center to forecast menus and products and assist in placing timely orders that allow their procurement team to get products here in time for order picking.
The Business Behind the Meals
The Food Stores team isn't the only team working behind the scenes to keep MSU's dining halls and retail locations stocked and running smoothly to feed Spartans across campus.
The CS dietitians and chefs collaborate directly to develop dining hall menus. After the dietitians prepare forecasts from the ingredient-level data, the Food Stores procurement team is responsible for combining those forecasts with historical usage data to project demand for staple items.
“Procurement collaborates with chefs, dietitians, managers, warehouse staff and other stakeholders to evaluate products, compare pricing, conduct product testing and select the awarded supplier,” says Senior Purchasing Agent Kelsey Harrington. “We also identify potential suppliers or issue bids to source products for chefs and dietitians to review.”
The Food Stores accounting team is the gatekeeper of payment information for Support Services. They audit each invoice that comes through the warehouse and facilitate the annual physical inventory audit.
“To date, MSU Food Stores has purchased over $42 million of product for the fiscal year 2026,” says Accounting Manager Sandy Sturm. “We audit each invoice, [which is] over 45,000 invoices a year.”
Also, the accounting team supports Culinary Services by providing accurate and timely financial statements for Support Services and ensuring internal controls are followed throughout procurement, warehouse and customer service processes. They are responsible for archiving accounting and procurement records, preparing financial data to support informed business decisions and scanning and indexing more than 180,000 pages of invoices, purchase orders and other supporting documentation each year.
While much of their work happens behind the scenes, the MSU Food Stores team plays a vital role in supporting campus dining operations. Through careful coordination and a commitment to service, they keep these complex operations running smoothly, ensuring quality, safety and consistency in serving our Spartans.
Author: Kendal Blanchard