Members of the Navin family have been in the food-service business since the 1930s, when they delivered groceries and prepared meals on a horse-drawn wagon in Torrington.
Founded by Joseph Edward Navin Sr., the business has evolved over the last 80 years, from catering and preparing dinners at the Rockledge Country Club to carving out a niche market by preparing and delivering meals to school cafeterias.
Today, Navin Bros. Food Service Inc. provides food for 55 school cafeterias in Connecticut and in other northeastern states, and employs nearly 400 workers.
Joe Navin, the grandson of the company’s founder, said that through a masters’ program in urban food systems at New York University where he is a student, he is learning about bringing healthier food to urban communities and school systems that cost less.
Like many businesses, Navin Bros. is challenged by customers who want more for less money.
“It’s harder to earn our customer’s money. They value it more as it’s getting tighter,” he said, noting his clients also want to see more technology incorporated into Navin Bros.’ services, a big reason for the launch of its cashless, debit card meal card program four years ago.
An even bigger challenge for Navin is to find more healthy and minimally processed foods that appeal to kids.
“There’s a strong push for kids to eat healthy, but the push isn’t coming from the students. It’s coming from the parents and proposed legislation,” Navin said, noting he works with nutritionists and a team of executive chefs. “It’s hard to be innovative. Kids want the fried food more than the fresh. My primary focus is on changing this.”
Navin also works with school nurses to teach kids about nutrition. As part of their nutrition classes, he says the students spend time in the cafeteria learning how to read labels and count calories to help them take charge of what’s going into their bodies. Navin leaves suggestion boxes for the students in each cafeteria he services and tries to work with members of student council so he can gauge their preferences.
He says he tries to make sure that price points of the healthier menu items are not much higher than say, a hamburger. Out of all his healthy meal options, he says salad bars have been some of the most “wildly successful” because they allow kids to be in charge by adding their own ingredients.
Another example of his health food success is offering caramel on an apple, which diminishes the nutritional value but still encourages kids to make the choice over a French fry, he says.
Navin does still offer a “fry day” at least once a week, though he says he’s getting away from deep fried and leaning towards baking.
It’s at a large school in northern New Jersey where Navin says he’s very proud that he’s selling 70 to 80 salads a day.
Students in New York City, he says, are the most ahead of the healthy eating curve compared with the regions Navin Bros. services.
Navin admits that it’s not always easy to buy healthy food. For example, he says it’s hard for him to justify the price of buying organic. “Even if you advertise it as organic, most students are apathetic about it. It’s not a primary factor in their decision making,” he said.
He tries to buy from local farmers whenever possible if they can supply large amounts. The company also is moving away from using canned foods and leaning more towards fresh produce and vegetables, all of which come at a higher price to his business.
To him, it’s well worth the added cost.
“I’m happy to take a hit to have a big success when you see first-hand a student chose fresh vegetables over chicken tenders,” he said.
Joanna Smiley, a freelance writer from Collinsville, will periodically serve as a guest columnist for the Hartford Business Journal.
