HUDS Finagles A Bagel Switch

While several students caught on to Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) switch to generic cereals this year, few seem to have followed the trail of crumbs in the wake of another carb swap.

Just before the school year started, HUDS signed a contract with a new provider for breads and bagels, and while the breads remain generic, the bagels now bear a brand name: Finagle.

“What happened was that the company we had before, Nesson, declared Chapter 11 just before we opened this fall,” said Rudolf Gautschi, HUDS director of residential dining. “We had to protect ourselves, so we made the switch.”

But according to Susan Burgess, HUDS assistant director of procurement, the search for a new bakery began before rumors of Nesson’s bankruptcy.

“Every few years we put everything up for bid,” she said.

Before awarding a contract, a panel of HUDS chefs test the taste and quality of the new product. After trying a variety of breads, HUDS selected a local bakery, La Ronga, and ended up saving 10-20 percent of what it paid to Nesson.

“In this case, it was a pretty simple decision,” Burgess said. “The prices were better. Percentage-wise, it was a double digit decrease, and the quality of the bread is much better.”

Though La Ronga offers a range of flavors from marble and rye to raisin and wheat, they don’t make a low-calorie bread.

While La Ronga produces its own breads on site in Somerville, it does not produce bagels. As Harvard’s bread and bagel provider, the bakery will deliver fresh bread daily and also serve as a middle man between the Finagle-a-bagel factory and dining halls.

Gautschi said he approved of the switch.

“The new bagels are an ounce bigger and a little fluffier,” he said.

But unlike the disappearance of brand name cereals from dining halls, fewer students seem to have noticed the bakery change.

“I guess bread is just bread,” said Alexander J. Vannoni ’07, although he added that he makes “a lot of sandwiches” and had noticed a different name on the packaging.

At brunch yesterday, several bagel eaters were surprised when they learned where their bagels had come from.

Upon hearing about the switch, Bo Meng ’06 rushed to try an everything bagel and said he was pleased with the product. “This is exceedingly moist and delicious, especially compared to the dry crusty bagels of yesteryear,” he said.

Sarah J. Murphy ’06 said that she had noticed the change from last year. “There are a lot more varieties now,” she said, including cranberry and strawberry.

—Staff writer Wendy D. Widman can be reached at widman@fas.harvard.edu.