Colleges and universities are gearing up to welcome students back to a more ‘normal’ campus environment in the fall of 2021. Here are six tips that JGL recommends every higher education institution keeps in mind as they think ahead about dining services.
- Technology is Key (Obviously!): Prior to COVID, many campuses were experimenting with pre-ordering, pick-up, delivery and kiosk options. At that time, a relatively low percentage of students were taking advantage of these upgraded services. Now, having contactless transactions available is not only expected, but viewed as a primary safety measure. If your operation is self-operated or if you partner with a food service management company, be sure to have the technology in place prior to student arrival. For self-operated campuses, software programs such as Tacit are available and designed to implement technology solutions for the hospitality industry.
- Know Your Numbers: Many campuses are anticipating that population levels will be back at 100% by September, which is great news! For those campuses that are not expecting a full population on-site, it will be important to review the sales history at each dining location to be sure it makes good financial sense to have them open. Perhaps one of the locations would be more useful as a pickup destination as opposed to a full service servery.
- Pick-Up Locations: It will be important to plan out how pick-up locations are operated. Racks will be needed to transport and store packaged orders. The racks will need to be placed in accessible location(s) so that students can easily access their orders. Runners will be needed to ensure that orders are fulfilled properly in a timely manner.
- Menu Engineering: The option to have hot and or cold lockers for pre-ordered meals is certainly available but could come with a hefty price tag. Lockers also require more dedicated space than a portable speed rack, but can offer contactless, temperature controlled, high tech solutions that racks cannot. Assuming many campuses will opt for the rack concept, it will be ideal that many menu items offered via app are room temperature and should include timed pick up for hot and cold foods too. Heads up – robot delivery is on the near horizon!
- Restaurant Partnerships: Prior to COVID, campuses were starting to work with companies like Tapingo (now owned by Grubhub) and Doordash so their students could use dining dollars or campus cash to order from outside restaurants. This is now a must. Offering or encouraging students to take advantage of outside restaurant delivery was crucial to the success of many quarantine and isolation programs in the 20/21 academic year. Most on-site dining programs were halted or operating with limited staff and resources and were not able to accommodate preparation and delivery of individual meals to a variety of locations. Now, restaurant delivery is quickly becoming an integrated facet of many dining programs. Students appreciate being able to support local restaurants and having the freedom to eat beyond campus walls. Depending on whether your dining program is self-operated or managed by a third-party company, colleges and universities can work with larger companies (Doordash, Grubhub, Seamless) or choose to manage it on their own with programs such as GloriaFood to arrange for delivery services from outside restaurants and even on-site dining halls!
- Safety Communication: Although many campuses are requiring students be vaccinated upon return, questions regarding the food service programs are to be expected. JGL recommends preparing communication prior to student arrival explaining COVID safety and sanitation guidelines that the food service team will be following. The name and contact information for the person responsible for overseeing the implementation of these procedures should also be included. The more information that is shared ahead of arrival, the more confident parents and students will be in the program.
It’s so exciting to get back to a more ‘normal’ place, especially for colleges and universities. Shared experience, collaboration and community are the pillars of higher education. We are grateful to play a role in helping higher ed institutions welcome students safely back to campus. If you have questions about your self-operated or managed dining operation, contact JGL Foodservice Consultants for more information!