Michigan Ross Catering Policies

In-House Catering

Catering at Ross (CAR) is the dedicated on-site caterer for all special event catering with exclusive use of all kitchen facilities. No other caterer can provide these services within the Michigan Ross School of Business complex. CAR does have an arrangement with local vendors who accept U-M shortcodes to offer a limited menu of their foods, including Cottage Inn, Panera Bread, Grand Traverse Pie Company, Pizza House, and Zingerman’s. Pizza or other cold foods can be ordered from these vendors through CAR with or without additional food from the CAR catering menu. CAR will order these items using the client’s shortcode and will provide the following additional services:   

• Place the complete food order.
• Accept the delivery.
• Provide linens for the buffet tables and arrange/display the food. 
• Set up and service the event.
• Clean up after the event.

Payment for food from these external vendors will be handled by CAR, which will provide you with a total bill. The fee structure for this service will be 23% (administrative fee) of the total food bill or $25 for each event hour, plus one hour of set-up time, whichever is greater. Should you wish CAR to facilitate only part of the process, the final fee will be calculated on a case-by-case basis.

CAR requires at least three working days’ notice (a week for orders of 100+) to facilitate orders through outside vendors.

Leftover Food Policy

Due to health department regulations, no one can remove leftover perishable food from any event except CAR’s food service staff. CAR works closely with local food bank Food Gatherers to donate unused food wherever possible. All food will be removed at the end of the stated service period to ensure food safety. Packaged items/sodas are put out in abundance during the food service period but are not for client use at the end of the service time.

Please contact Catering at Ross (cateringatross@umich.edu) to confirm the current list of accepted external vendors.

Food Orders without Catering at Ross

For more casual events and meetings with fewer than 100 attendees, you can order food through external vendors to be dropped off at Michigan Ross or picked up; you are not restricted to using Catering at Ross. These food orders are allowed as long as they do not require on-site food preparation, warming or cooling trays, on-site staffing, or food that needs to be kept warm or cool to comply with OSHA regulations. In this case, the most common food orders include pizza, prepared sandwiches, and boxed lunches. 

While food from external vendors is allowed on the premises, the event organizers must remember that they will be solely responsible for receiving or picking up the order, setting up the food, cleaning up after the event, and leaving the space as they found it for the following reservation. The event organizer must inform Ross Operations which vendor is being used, at what time they are delivering the food, and the location of delivery (office suite or event location). This process will ensure the appropriate setup and clean-up provisions (e.g., recycling and trash bins) can be made available for the event or meeting.