After the end of a three-year contract with ISAC Food, J&J Catering took over the position of food provision for DIS students and staff from the 2025-2026 school year. The handover led to change beyond just the menu, with new upgrades and services embraced by students, teachers, and staff.
J&J expanded the cuisines and served new additions such as chicken quesadilla, tacos and cold buckwheat noodles. The cafeteria now features a wider range of international flavors, offering both Asian and Western dishes.
Teachers welcomed the major change in the variety of menus. “I like more variety for the salad bar—we have a lot of seeds, some grains, romaine lettuce and everything,” Ms. Wang, secondary math teacher, said.
Along with the salad bar, J&J introduced a diverse range of main dishes as well. “The new company has a wider variety of delicious food. I love it. It’s amazing.” junior Flora Yoon said.
The diet improved not only in taste and options, but also in terms of nutrition. “They make a lot of food that is filling instead of food that doesn’t have a lot of protein,” fifth-grader Amelia Park said.
To respond to the increase in the number of side dishes, the chefs incorporated a brand new type of service platter. “The new tray has extra dishes like Ttukbaegi. I needed more components to put my salad in, so I really like it,” Yoon said.
The cafeteria staff also benefited from this transition. “While other places usually serve four, we provide five side dishes. That’s why the tray layout is a bit more varied and structured like this,” Yeonjeong Kim, the Cafeteria Manager at J&J, said.
J&J implemented eye-catching equipment during distribution—for instance, they served quesadilla warmed up in a barbecue machine. “The food tastes better when it is served warm, so we cooked it right before it was handed on. The quesadilla tastes better with [the cheese] melted, so we planned to cook it fresh for them,” Kim said.
Near the tray return section, a new opinion board allows students and staff to easily share their thoughts. We need to observe the students’ reactions on the spot—which menu items they liked and which they didn’t. We need quick feedback to make fast adjustments,” Kim said.
The idea received positive reviews from the students. “I think it’s a good way for the service company to know how the students think about their food, so maybe they can change how they prepare for the food,” seventh-grader Molly Doh said.
Despite the students’ favorable responses, the company raised concerns about the reliability of the system. “I noticed that elementary students play around with it a lot, so I started to think that it isn’t really trustworthy.” Kim said.
J&J hopes to continuously provide satisfactory service to the school community. “We have only been here for a short while, and we are still learning what the students like and dislike. So in the future, we hope to offer a wider variety of delicious food. We hope you will enjoy your meals.” Kim said.
