News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Thomas Smith 404-291-4929 or tsmith62307@aol.com
Fresh New Atlanta Public Schools Menu
Provides Healthy, Tasty Meal Options
Atlanta, Georgia (October 7, 2014) - Sodexo USA, a leader in delivering sustainable, integrated facilities management and foodservice operations and the student nutrition provider to Atlanta Public Schools (APS), partnered with Doraville-based Rold Rite Sushi & More, to introduce additional healthy lunch menu options on October 6th. The new menu items were well-received. This partnership supports APS efforts to present a diverse menu with a variety of nutritious, high quality, and good-tasting meal options. Two sushi favorites, a Spicy Crab Roll and Crisp Veggie Roll, in addition to Soy Pockets, were provided by Rold Rite Sushi & More. The new menu items were made available in select APS schools.
“Atlanta Public Schools strives to continually offer new and appealing lunch choices and opportunities for our students to explore new food groups. This new option, which is based on student feedback, aligns with our endeavors to improve our menu choices,” said Dr. Marilyn Hughes, director of Nutrition, Atlanta Public Schools.
“A major part of our commitment to Atlanta Public Schools and its students is to continually find fresh, new, delicious and affordable menu options while supporting local food producers," said Justin Gillette, Sodexo’s District Executive Chef for Atlanta Public Schools. "We seek to establish relationships with partners such as Rold Rite Sushi that share our passion for high production standards and great taste."
Chef Gillette has been working with John Stoj, President and Owner of Rold Rite Sushi, since early 2013 to determine healthy menu alternatives. Rold Rite has also partnered with Sodexo on various corporate and college food service projects since the company’s 2011 Georgia opening.
Rold Rite developed two new products for APS, Spicy Crab Roll and Crisp Veggie Roll, in addition to their Stuffed Soy Pockets, in order to achieve the nutritional and cost targets. Rold Rite was able to do this by leveraging its experience as a wholesaler of restaurant quality sushi. Rold Rite produces fresh sushi every day and handles the logistics of delivering the food safely to each school – on-time and on-temperature.
“Along with great tasting sushi, its Rold Rite’s ability to fulfill the challenge of logistics that has made them an ideal partner,” adds Chef Gillette. Allowing more people to eat healthier was one of the reasons Stoj opened Rold Rite. Sushi is naturally considered a good food choice, but Rold Rite strives to make it as healthy as possible. “None of our products contain MSG, sulfites, or high fructose corn syrup," says Stoj. “We've worked very hard with our suppliers to locate the finest quality ingredients."
This marks the first time a Georgia public school system has offered a sushi menu option. Sodexo and Rold Rite hope to deliver district wide by the start of 2015.
Sodexo, Inc. leading Quality Of Life Services Company in the U.S, Canada, and Mexico delivers On-site Services in Corporate, Education, Health Care, Government, and Remote Site segments, as well as Benefits and Rewards Services and Personal and Home Services. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation, an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $22 million in grants to end childhood hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at SodexoInsights.com. Visit Sodexo on Facebook and follow on Twitter @SodexoUSA.