How Can the Food Service Industry Level-Up to Boost Student Wellbeing?
When it comes to supporting college students across the United States, the food service industry can undoubtedly do better…
Loneliness and anxiety are prevalent among university students, with academic pressures, financial strains, geographical distance from friends and family, and unfamiliar surroundings each contributing to a decline in mental wellbeing.
For example, in a recent survey by the American College Health Association, 67% of women and 54% of men admitted to being “very lonely” in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, a report from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine revealed that mental health problems among students are a greater concern than they have ever been and subsequently urged universities to invest more money into student mental health resources.Fresh Ideas has partnered with Swedish company, Picadeli, to install a tech-enhanced salad bar at its Maryville University dining hall. How does the product work, and what benefits does it offer?
At Fresh Ideas, we understand that supporting student wellbeing and fostering success requires a multi-pronged approach, and there are lots of things we can do to better support the students we serve. We cannot solve a nationwide mental health crisis, but we can invest significant time and resources to level up our on-campus service offering.
Integrating campus ecosystems
Insufficient communication between various on-site services, coupled with a wariness among university administrators towards new technologies, sometimes impedes our ability to drive creativity and innovation.
Nonetheless, our teams are committed to establishing a more collaborative environment on college campuses. In doing so, we might foster ecosystems that prioritize the needs and wellbeing of students – providing them with a decent return on investment and setting them up for long-term success.
In most campus dining halls, for example, chefs and staff will have no visibility into the types of people they are serving – their likes, their dislikes, or their preferred dining habits. But if we can gain access to certain aspects of a university’s Student Information System, we can deliver a more personalized experience to the students in our care:
• On a student’s birthday, we can organize a special meal or prepare a cake.
• If we know the hockey team trains on Wednesday evenings at 6 pm before descending on the dining hall for dinner, we can liaise with their coach to ensure that a hot and hearty meal awaits them.
• Reserved or introverted students might choose to visit our dining halls during the less busy periods, when there might typically have been fewer food options available to them. If we can better understand students’ different preferences and routines, we can provide a good range of delicious meals as and when they are needed.
It’s worth noting that there is no need, nor intention, to collect highly sensitive or personal student data. Rather, we want to find new ways to make the dining experience special, memorable, convenient, and supportive for everyone who walks through our dining room doors.
Fostering a happy and safe environment
There are several practical steps we can take to enhance the student experience in our dining halls. This includes preparing a wide range of food options, meeting different dietary requirements, and delivering a customized service for all.
We also know that students have come to expect easy and instant access to the things they want and need, whether it’s a hamburger at 11:30 pm on a Tuesday night, a tube of toothpaste at 5 pm on a Friday evening, or breakfast when they wake up at 1 pm on a Sunday. Various delivery apps and late-night stores can meet these requirements, but there are risks associated with unvetted and unregistered delivery drivers entering a student campus.
At Fresh Ideas, all employees undergo background checks, and we record shift patterns. In addition, by providing students with access to essential items and delicious meals 24/7 via our Fresh on Demand micro market machines, they need never leave campus for these reasons. It’s convenient, cost-effective, time-saving, and secure.
Automating processes
In recent years, the food service industry has experienced some recruitment challenges, which reinforces the importance of investing in effective technologies to support existing workforces.
At Fresh Ideas, we’ve implemented some simple quick-fix solutions, such as floor-cleaning robots, and other more sophisticated ones, including the FreshX app. Via the app, for example, students can place and schedule food orders, customize their requirements, and collect orders from pick-up locations across their campus. The app tracks a student’s order history and dining habits so our team can further personalize the dining experience and better meet their needs.
With innovative technologies taking on some of the most repetitive tasks and driving significant efficiencies through the organization, Fresh Ideas employees have time to focus on retaining the warmth and humanity our students have come to value so deeply.