Procurement Assignment

Greenhouse Café at Allerton Park, Allerton, IL

Brynn M., Krissi P., Haley S., Serenity T., and Annie W.

November 17th, 2022

First image: Greenhouse Café logo from Greenhouse Café Facebook profile

Second image: Chef Leah Bodine with her husband in front of the Greenhouse Café from Journal-Republican

Third image: the inside of GreenHouse Café from an advertisement

 In the operation, we met with Blue Dragonfly Catering LLC at the Greenhouse Café,

located at Allerton Park and Retreat Center. Leah Bodine is the chef and owner of this

establishment. This establishment was described as a fast-casual walk-up café that is proudly

owned by herself, making it 100% women-owned. This location is at 588 Allerton Rd,

Monticello, IL is only operational for part of the year. Since it is essentially a one-person

managerial operation, Bodine ensures all requisition goods from vendors receive the items and is

responsible for the entry of supplies into the area. The location is in Allerton Park, which the

University of Illinois owns after being gifted by Robert Allerton. This location is said by Bodine

to have an excellent relationship with highways, different population areas, and the environment.

Upon further research looking up this area. It is beautiful and has a historic mansion that brings

many people to experience its beauty and some stay in the building as a hotel. The Greenhouse is

located off of I-72 within 5 miles of Monticello. Bodine mentioned how this is a ‘destination

location for park attendees and café clientele from all over the state.’ This café is a popular spot

that can serve up to 500 people a day and, as mentioned before, is a fast-casual service style

where people order and receive their food. This allows people to eat at any location at the park or

inside the restaurant. The target market is anyone who wants to enjoy some delicious food,

families who wish to enjoy the park and get a quick bite, or guests staying at the hotel. The food

is relatively affordable which is a great benefit for customers.

The menu was taken from Greenhouse Café website

The menu at Greenhouse Café is curated month to month by the chef based on seasonal

flavors and the availability of foods. Due to this fact and the fact that this is essentially a one-

woman business, Bodine has a variety of informal methods for procuring foods needed each

month. For basic ingredients that are needed from month to month, like butter, eggs, flour, sugar,

etc., an inventory list of each product is kept. Those products are purchased as needed to keep the

amount of food at a previously established minimum. For example, if the established minimum

for butter is to have at least 10 lbs on hand, Bodine will purchase more when the inventory notes

the amount of butter left is at or below 10 lbs. A variety of suppliers are used in order to obtain

the rest of the ingredients needed each month. Gordon Food Service (GFS) is used for all meats,

fish, poultry, dairy products, processed produce, and grocery items. Bakery goods are from

Central Illinois Bakehouse. Sam’s club is used to purchase any additional grocery items that
could not be found at GFS as well as non-alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages are obtained

from Skeff, Koerner, and Pure Wine Company. Any non-food items, including furniture,

fixtures, and equipment, are found at Webstaurant.com. GFS products are delivered directly to

the café biweekly. Skeff, Koerner, and Pure wine Company orders are made once a month. Other

products found at Sam’s Club and Illinois Central Bakehouse are picked up by Bodine on an as-

needed basis. For the products that are delivered, payments are made in cash on delivery. For all

other purchases made at physical store locations, an electronic transfer of money is used.

Typically, Sam’s Club is used to purchase items that are needed in smaller amounts, while GFS

is used for the purchase of bulk items in order to comply with the order minimum requirements.

Criteria for purchasing are determined month to month. No policies and procedures are

noted by Bodine, but there are seasonal considerations. Purchasing is determined by the time of

year they are open since it can affect seasonal produce. The café opens in April through the first

weekend in November. Purchasing is determined by the month and events held at Allerton. The

high season is Memorial Day through mid-August. After mid-August, park traffic begins to

decline due to school starting. The menu is developed to cover any seasonal food shortages and

use in-season ingredients as much as possible.

The way that goods are transported to the facility is by supplier transport rather than

transport by employers at the facility. There are no forms used when dealing with receiving,

storage, or issuing methods during distribution. When receiving shipments at the facility, they

are inspected upon arrival to ensure quality and return things if a problem were to occur. After

inspection, all foods are implemented into inventory immediately and dated by the date received

to ensure the FIFO method can be used during sales. All inventory and storage are done by

Bodine herself including coding, access, and security. The types of storage that are present are
refrigerated, frozen, and dry goods. The 1-door upright refrigerators and freezers are located in

the café, and dry goods are stored on shelves also in the café. No issuing methods from storage

are noted.

Physical inventory procedures are taken into account when stocking staples or products

that frequently run out and perpetual inventory is taken into account with more infrequent

produce or things not needed every day. Inventory is usually checked weekly with a visual

inspection of items to determine ingredient usage compared to the sales summary.

Bodine states there are no official forms at this time, but as the operation expands, this

can be a possibility.

There were many comments by the management during our meeting about the operation.

The food purchasing process in the establishment is fairly efficient. An example of efficiency is

that Leah is the sole person in charge of the food purchasing, therefore, is done the way she

wants, resulting in less time and energy costs. A lack of efficiency is that the menu changes

based on what the chef wants to cook that week. This means that the operation may not have

certain foods in stock and may have to do an “emergency” food order. A more efficient menu

may be a seasonal menu so that the menu stays consistent for a few consecutive months. For

example, a seasonal menu may be November through January, February through April, May

through July, and August through October. The Greenhouse Café opens in early Spring and

closes in late Fall. To apply this concept to the café, the menu could change every few weeks to

reduce the number of “emergency” runs or any problems.

Another comment concerned the need for improvement within the operation. Bodine

shared that the café was leased by Blue Dragonfly Catering LLC in the Spring of 2021.

Currently, it is in the building phase as it just finished its second season this past fall. This past
season demonstrated a substantial increase in profit and increased foot traffic. Additionally,

specific procedures and processes need to be implemented to ensure continued growth and

delegation of purchasing. For example, more employees could be hired and put in charge of the

purchasing department, allowing Bodine to focus on other aspects of the operation.

The positive aspects of the food purchasing at Blue Dragonfly Catering are that the chef

is in charge of it and she can get the shopping list done correctly the first time. Details won’t be

lost in communication or forgotten. The downfall of only one person putting together a list of

necessary ingredients for the café is that one person may not be able to remember everything.

Sometimes it can be beneficial to have multiple people create the list so that all areas of

production are covered. A positive aspect of Blue Dragonfly catering receiving practices is that

Leah does the receiving herself. Being the chef, this is efficient for quality check purposes. The

negative effects of this would be that if an item from her order was not up to the standards of her

establishment, she herself has to either go out and find better options or put in a new order.

Either option will delay the food prep process. No Issues with food storage and inventory

procedures. All food is stored properly with FIFO and in areas of proper temperature and

moisture. Food is also properly labeled and stored after opening. Any food that is left in the

temperature danger zone for too long due to service is discarded. Suggestions that one could

make as a consultant would be to hire another individual who has their manager certification so

that they can do the food receiving and some inventory/food storage work. This may distribute

job responsibility more evenly for the chef.