Driving Flexibility via FreshX and Fresh on Demand

The student’s life is a busy one.

For many young people, starting college marks the first time they have ever lived away from home, and that’s a tough transition to navigate; new faces, unfamiliar surroundings, and no one to answer to. In an effort to meet lots of people, acclimate to their new environment, and make the most of college life, many choose to enroll in a variety of clubs and organizations.

Amid today’s economic uncertainty, many students also opt to work to help pay for tuition and living expenses. Juggling a part-time job with full-time study typically necessitates late nights in the library and frantic transitions between classrooms and employment.

With all of this and a whole lot more to contend with, most students have very little time to consider where their next meal is coming from, let alone whip up a nutritious and delicious meal from scratch.

At Fresh Ideas, we strive to accommodate these hectic schedules; providing a personalized dining experience that meets the unique needs of the students we serve.

The FreshX mobile app and Fresh on Demand vending machines are two critical components we use to help give students more flexibility when dining on campus.

How are FreshX and Fresh on Demand Providing Dining Flexibility for Students

These days, mobile apps are standard practice in the food services industry, enabling customers to order food on-demand, earn discounts and rewards, make payments, track purchases, and schedule meal pick-ups.

Fresh Ideas was one of the first in the industry to offer these kinds of in-app features – having launched FreshX back in 2015. Being ahead of the curve means we have been able to truly level up our service offerings and deliver students the flexibility, convenience, and efficiency they so desire. Here’s how.

Flexibility

Over the years, we’ve observed the extent to which our customers value autonomy. As a result, we’ve established a system that enables students to experience our college campus services on their terms.

The FreshX app, for example, leaves plenty of room for customization. While similar apps might require customers to upload a single (and permanent) photo ID, our guests can change their ID picture as often as they wish – so long as we can recognize them in the dining hall! We understand that different photos suit different moods and different days, and it is these small allowances that set us apart.

Fresh on Demand does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to driving flexibility. Forget the flimsy sandwiches and carbonated drinks you’re accustomed to seeing stacked up in vending machines. On a 24/7 basis, our students can access hearty, balanced, and delicious meals via Fresh on Demand, and we make a concerted effort to switch up the menu options on a regular basis.

For example, we know that students like to sleep in on the weekends. So they don’t have to skip breakfast, we’ll be sure to stock the Fresh on Demand machines with a variety of delicious breakfast foods on Saturdays and Sundays. On other days of the week, we’ll make sure the students working hard in the library can access a healthy late-night meal or snack to fuel their brains.

Since tastes vary enormously campus-to-campus and state to state, we can also tailor the meals we provide based on our customers’ preferences.

Efficiency

For the customers we serve on college campuses, time is most definitely of the essence. Via the FreshX app, students can pre-order food and collect it whenever convenient. This means they don’t need to hang out in long dining lines to get their nutrition.

Convenience

Not so long ago, the ability to view an in-app menu and place an order felt like a novelty. But expectations are continuously shifting and, today, our customers expect a dynamic dining experience.

Via FreshX, students can securely store payment data, load up meal cards, make payments, and view their balances and receipts. They can see what foods are available in our kitchens each day and leverage the feedback feature to chat with members of our team. This enables us to provide instant support for students and make improvements to our services in real-time.