A school foodservice has centralized procurement and production facilities with distribution of prepared menu items to several remote areas for final preparation and service. What name is given to this type of operation?

• A. Conventional
• B. Ready prepared
• C. Commissary
• D. Assembly-serve

Answer: (C)

This pattern describes a commissary system. In a commissary setup, one central kitchen handles procurement and production, then ships prepared menu items to multiple remote sites where-final preparation and service are completed. That centralization and distribution to satellites for finishing is the defining feature, making it efficient for large districts through standardization and bulk purchasing, while requiring strong logistics and food-safety controls to keep items safe during transport and at service sites. It differs from a conventional system, where cooking and serving happen at each site, and from assembly-serve, where most on-site cooking is minimized and meals are assembled from pre-prepared components; ready-prepared also centralizes production but is typically described as items finished at service sites rather than at remote locations finishing and serving across many sites.