Expanding Convenience, Engagement, and Innovation
Students have long been passionate about the foods served on college campuses. Way back in 1766, Harvard students were up in arms over the poor quality of the butter being served, which they said was sour and rancid. One student, Asa Dunbar (the grandfather of Henry David Thoreau), stood on top of a chair, exclaiming, “Behold, our butter stinketh! Give us, therefore, butter that stinketh not.” Thus the Great Butter Rebellion was launched, which ended in half the school being suspended. Ultimately, however, the suspensions were revoked and the butter was upgraded.
While there are certainly better ways to get students engaged in campus dining, that doesn’t mean it’s an easy task. Today’s students have grown up with nearly every food imaginable available to them, while social media introduces them to new trends and ingredients every day. At the same time, their attention is pulled in many different directions, making it difficult to cut through the noise and reach them.
So how do you do it? Consider these three modern student needs, each with ideas on how today’s campus dining programs can meet them:
1. Convenience is key: micro-markets and late-night eats.
Students today want dining options on their terms. In an on-demand culture, they want foods, including plenty of snackable options, available constantly. Think beyond the traditional college dining hall and consider:
24/7 grab-and-go options: Technology has made it easier than ever to ensure students have the foods they want on their terms. Self-serve food lockers can allow students to pre-order food and pick it up when it’s convenient, while smart fridges and high-tech vending machines make it easier to offer fresh, healthy options that students can help themselves to. At Suffolk University in Boston, the campus dining program has four 24/7 automated dining options to keep students engaged at any hour of the day: Farmer’s Fridge for fresh salads and wraps, Costa Coffee for a caffeinated pick-me-up, Pepsi Snack Vending for a quick treat, and Smart Market for a wide range of foods and beverages.1
Late-night pop-up events: Drive after-hours engagement with fun, indulgent, late-night experiences on game days, during finals weeks, or even on a random weekday. Think ramen bars, street taco stands, and make-your-own bowl stations – flavor-packed concepts that have a late night feel. In addition to late-night pop-ups, consider extending hours at venues across campus. The University of Nevada at Reno focused on expanding access to food options both day and night in response to student feedback, adding longer hours to existing venues, launching all-day breakfast, and introducing grab-and-go vending options.1
Brand partnerships: Students today are particularly passionate about the brands they love, including many limited-service brands. So why not leverage their popularity and find a place for them within the dining program, giving students the options they want. Experiential Brands, a restaurant group that includes fast casual brands like Original Hot Chicken and INKED Tacos, opened locations at three universities – Auburn, East Carolina, and the University of Tennessee. The partnership brings the type of fresh, bold flavors that students want to campuses, while also allowing Experiential Brands to reach new consumers.2
These types of options not only provide new ways for students to utilize their meal plan, but they also reduce food waste (allowing students to choose meals when and where they want them) and support non-traditional schedules.
2. Find ways to connect: the cafeteria as a social hub
Finding friends and making connections can be particularly difficult for some members of Gen Z, which is especially true at the start of a new school year. But the university dining program can be a connection point, bringing a wide range of students together and making them feel more socially engaged:
Introduce themed dining and cooking demos: Events have a social feel built right into them, requiring more engagement and interactivity. Consider options like hands-on food events that get students talking, chef-led classes where they can learn about a dish or cuisine, or student-led recipe challenges to get their creative juices flowing.
Collaborate with student organizations: Student organizations are already one of the top sources of connection on campus, so tap into that network with options like cultural meals that celebrate a particular cuisine, game nights for some friendly competition, or events that highlight unique campus traditions or history. (Do you have your own Butter Rebellion?)
Make dining spaces more flexible: The design of a dining space can go a long way in creating spaces that naturally bring students together. Create spaces where students can lounge and hang out together on comfy couches or chairs, study areas where they can study alone or in groups while having a meal or snack, and even dedicated social zones for students to meet.
By offering these types of social events and environments, you encourage students to spend more time in dining halls, increasing both foot traffic and engagement. Plus, you create opportunities for students to make new friends, improving their school experience overall.
3. Engage students with technology
It’s often said that Gen Z is the most technologically plugged-in generation in history. So how do you create dining options that resonate with these tech natives? Some options to consider:
AI-powered meal suggestions: While professors may have mixed reactions to AI, the technology makes it far easier to support customization in a dining program (major restaurant chains are already using it for this). Modern AI tools make it possible to automatically crunch the numbers on trends and preferences in order to create custom meal suggestions.
Social media and influencers: Social media continues to be a key source of information for students, so why not harness the technology to engage them on their own terms? Promote student-generated content on social media platforms (something restaurant brands do constantly), launch dining challenges that embrace social media (like hashtag contests), and use interactive polls to communicate with students. In the age of influencers, consider who is influential on your campus and partner with them, such as student athletes or students with a high follower count.
Launch loyalty and rewards programs: App-based loyalty programs can be the nudge you need to engage students more. Could you develop a points-based system that provides incentives for trying a new dish, or making more sustainable choices? Integrate these into a complete university dining app that also features mobile ordering (pick up the meal from the previously mentioned digital lockers), information on sustainability, etc. and create a complete, frictionless dining experience.
Grubhub Campus Dining, for instance, has partnered with more than 60 schools across the U.S. to bring these types of tech solutions to campuses, from automated delivery robots to tech-enabled sustainable packaging platforms to Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. These types of tech integrations not only engage these techy generation, but they also make your program more efficient and create a more modern campus dining environment.3
