May 8, 2025
Lyons Township High School District 204
Board of Education
100 South Brainard Avenue
La Grange, IL 60525
Dear Members of the Board:
On behalf of everyone at OrganicLife, we thank you for the opportunity given to Joe
Arvia from our team to speak at the May 5th Board meeting regarding your food service
RFP and contract. We sincerely appreciate the open, transparent process Mr. Stachacz
has conducted, as well as the thoughtful questions and concerns raised by Board
members. In particular, we commend you for including student voices in the decision-
making process—this empowers young people to play an active role in their school
community and reinforces Lyons’s reputation as a caring, forward-thinking district.
At OrganicLife, we focus on delivering the highest quality and service for students in all
of our school districts, regardless of whether they participate in the National School
Lunch Program or not. We feel that every student deserves the best meal and experience.
We are so confident that we are serving better quality food that we would gladly put any
of our schools even those on the NSLP up against any non-NSLP program. Which is why
it doesn’t surprise us that your students overwhelmingly chose our food on paper and in
practice. At the end of the sampling, students were provided with carry-out containers
and helped themselves to most of our remaining sample foods, speaking volumes about
our product when compared to the other vendors. This was a great learning opportunity
for the students and gave them a voice by allowing them to directly participate in the
selection process. Therefore, it’s puzzling how their input was set aside by providing
them with anything but their first choice. Money over quality and service is a tough
lesson.
We respectfully wish to share a few significant concerns we believe warrant the Board’s
attention prior to the May 19th vote. We are proud of our proposal and would like to take
this opportunity to reiterate some of the key points Joe made at the meeting, along with
some he did not have time to present. We hope this information can assist you in making
the most informed decision possible.
1. Student Involvement and Communication
• By all accounts, the taste test was conducted fairly, and all 19 participating
students overwhelmingly selected OrganicLife as their preferred vendor. Given
this notable outcome, we were surprised that no one from LTHS reached out to
discuss our proposal or references further.
435 W. Erie St., Ste. 104 § Chicago, IL 60654 § 312.929.2005 § www.OrganicLifeusa.com
• If students are to be given a genuine voice, we respectfully question why their
strong preference appears to have been set aside without additional due diligence,
such as reference checks or clarifying questions to OrganicLife. As far as we
know, nobody has reached out to any of our references or visited any of schools
for a site visit to-date.
2. Discrepancies in Revenue Projections
• As Joe emphasized, there is a stark discrepancy between Quest’s projections at
different districts: Quest projected $1.74 per capita at District 214 and
OrganicLife projected $2.33. Based on limited publicly shared information, it
seems that Quest is projecting $3.21 per capita for Lyons while OrganicLife is
projecting $2.65 per capita.
• We believe the Board deserves a clear, transparent explanation of this disparity. If
a company is posting drastically different “per pupil” revenue expectations across
districts with similar demographics and lunch participation, it raises questions
about the accuracy or sustainability of those projections and whether these
numbers are truly achievable, especially since Quest’s projections for multiple
districts vary to such a degree.
3. Contract Submission and Potential Hidden Costs
• Our understanding is that all FSMCs were asked to submit a full contract with
their proposal as was explicitly required in your RFP; OrganicLife did so.
However, Quest appears to have provided a new or revised contract within the last
few hours—well after the original RFP response date.
• We encourage the Board to carefully scrutinize any late-stage contract changes.
These may include references to “assumptions,” “investments,” or other
obligations that become hidden costs, effectively binding LTHS to a multi-year
term through debt or “forgivable loans.” Some of Quest’s contract terms appear to
pass certain operating costs directly to the District or tie the District to the
contract for multiple years through “forgivable” investment obligations.
4. Questionable Guarantee, Capital Investment and Start-Up Costs
• Quest mentioned a $200,000 “investment” without a transparent, itemized
breakdown. If this amount is treated as a loan to the District, LTHS could be
obligated to remain in the contract for its full term to avoid repaying those funds.
The “investment” remains largely undefined and could effectively act as a loan—
requiring the District to stay locked in over the full contract term to avoid
repayment.
• In contrast, OrganicLife budgeted approximately $273,847 for start-up costs as an
FSMC expense, not an expense to the District. We believe charges for standard
launch operations (e.g., training, signage, and other start-up essentials) should be
435 W. Erie St., Ste. 104 § Chicago, IL 60654 § 312.929.2005 § www.OrganicLifeusa.com
borne by the vendor, not by a school community, and should never be district-
borne costs.
• Both Quest and OrganicLife have proposed a guaranteed return to the district. In
fact, our proposal indicates that we would pay out all five years at the beginning
of the contract term in a non-refundable single payment. The key to any guarantee
are the conditions behind it. We are accepting full responsibility for the success of
the program, and the district would benefit from any return beyond the guarantee,
just as with Quest’s proposal. However, will Quest pay out all five years at the
beginning of their contract in a single payment? Are they that confident in their
financial proposal, or would they be renegotiating the return annually through
contract amendments?
5. Transparency Around Free & Reduced (F&R) Meal Costs
• OrganicLife is concerned about any proposal that attempts to recoup the costs of
free and reduced-price meals from the District at disproportionate or unclear rates.
If 11.5% of the student population qualifies for F&R, but the contractor is still
projecting to retain upwards of 88.5% of the overall revenue, the Board may wish
to examine precisely how F&R is being accounted for in the financials.
• Ensuring equity for families in need should never be a hidden cost center or a
budgetary “shell game.”
• Mr. Saccaro made a comment during his presentation that cost was a
consideration when not providing all choices to the free/reduced students. We find
it perplexing that with such a staggering return, some money could not be
reinvested into the kids, which is exactly what our program does. As Joe
mentioned, we have no menu limitations in our programs and students are free to
choose their meal from all available options. This completely prevents overt
identification and brings total equity to all students. We purposefully dismantled
the “Bulldog Meal” at Batavia HS, which resulted in most of the free/reduced
students choosing to take a meal every day. Along with overwhelmingly higher
food quality, we are now serving more students there than ever before under
Quest’s previous stewardship.
6. Pricing and Menu Quality
• While Quest references their experience with private high schools, what they do
not mention is that they often raise or even double prices to meet guaranteed
returns in those programs over the years. OrganicLife’s approach is different: we
focus on quality, variety, and fair pricing, which boosts participation naturally and
increases revenue in a sustainable way.
• OrganicLife has made a significant investment in management with a culinary
background. This provides solid leadership for the team and a focus on culinary
excellence. Along with our corporate culinary team, the program at LTHS would
have more of a restaurant focus than that of a school lunch program under our
leadership.
435 W. Erie St., Ste. 104 § Chicago, IL 60654 § 312.929.2005 § www.OrganicLifeusa.com
• Along with a strong culinary program, we consistently work with coaches and
athletic directors to provide sound nutrition for athletes. Whether it’s a pre-game
meal where carbs are important for energy, or a post-game meal where recovery is
the focus with a higher protein food offering, OrganicLife provides solutions to fit
all scenarios.
• We echo Joe’s point that if a vendor claims a specialty in private high schools, but
then shows inconsistent revenue logic from one district to another, it calls into
question the authenticity of their “niche” and whether it truly benefits a public
school like LTHS.
• At another school board meeting that Mr. Saccaro recently attended in which
Quest was proposing sustained program losses that would need to be supported
from the general fund, Mr. Saccaro stated that it takes time to build a program and
achieve financial success. We are confused how in this scenario Quest can
provide such immediate and substantial financial growth given his comments
there. In OrganicLife’s history and Joe’s 30 years in the industry, we have never
seen this happen in any size school district, whether they are on the NSLP or off
program, without significant increases to student and staff pricing. Mr. Saccaro
gave several examples of where they met the guarantee. We suggest you contact
those clients and specifically ask about how much prices have increased from the
inception of the Quest program to the present year.
• We also invite Board members to visit our partner districts (e.g., Batavia 101 in
which we operate both private and NSLP programs, and Indian Prairie 204 where
we operate on the NSLP) to observe the high-quality menus, which in many cases
outperform even what’s offered in private schools by Quest. In some instances,
OrganicLife has directly followed Quest and immediately improved both food
quality and student participation.
7. Ready to Serve
• We understand the tight timeline, especially since Sodexo has served LTHS for
50 years. However, OrganicLife has successfully transitioned large districts
(D300, Thornton 205, West Aurora 129) on shorter notice. We are confident we
can do the same for LTHS if given the opportunity and only require one-week
notice to transition you to our world-class program.
• If you find that Quest’s final guaranteed revenue figures are not what you
expected, OrganicLife is available to discuss any aspect of our proposal or handle
a seamless transition even if your vote is pushed out beyond May 19th. Given
most districts don’t transition food service vendors until July 1st at the earliest, if
the Board chooses to do so, it has plenty of time to consider its options regardless
of what Quest tells you.
8. Our Commitment
• As Joe states, it’s not just about “chasing money.” OrganicLife invests in great
food, hospitality, and transparency rather than aggressive marketing or hidden
435 W. Erie St., Ste. 104 § Chicago, IL 60654 § 312.929.2005 § www.OrganicLifeusa.com
terms. We trust that improved quality and student engagement will drive
participation and revenue.
• In two decades, OrganicLife has grown at a rate ten times that of Quest (which
has been in business for forty years). We believe this track record reflects our fair
dealing, our quality standards, and the trust we have earned from our partner
districts.
We deeply respect the Board’s responsibility to choose what is best for LTHS and its
students. If you ultimately choose Quest, we wish you success and appreciate having
participated in your process. However, we feel it is vital to highlight these concerns so
that you are fully informed. Should you decide to further evaluate your options, we stand
ready to assist in any discussions and can implement a flawless transition, providing
quality meals from day one.
Thank you for your time and careful consideration. We look forward to any further
dialogue and remain hopeful that the Board will uphold the transparent principles
demonstrated thus far.
Sincerely,
Justin Rolls
President and Chief Operating Officer
OrganicLife, LLC
[email protected]
435 W. Erie St., Ste. 104 § Chicago, IL 60654 § 312.929.2005 § www.OrganicLifeusa.com
