CHICAGO — A new Technomic report shows there’s room for growth in foodservice programs at Canadian colleges and universities, as just 21 per cent of students use their school’s meal plan, down nine per cent from 2011.
“The key to increasing on-campus traffic, and impacting meal-plan enrolment, is offering a wide range of foodservice concepts suited to a variety of occasions. This can encourage students to take advantage of on-campus foodservice,” reads an analysis by Technomic’s Saba Ahmed, a research analyst at the Chicago-based research company, which recently released the “Canadian College & University Consumer Trend Report.”
According to the report, 43 per cent of students polled said they buy or would like to buy food and beverage from mobile food trucks. The mobile meals, which offer convenience to students and a chance for schools to partner with local businesses, are key areas of opportunity for foodservice operators.
And, on-campus retail locations are another opportunity, as 43 per cent of students surveyed and 62 per cent of students enrolled in a meal plan, say they wish there was a retail location where they could purchase their groceries using their meal plan.
