As the fall 2024 semester opens, college students look for a seamless integration of their tech-driven society with their yearning for a simpler life—a nostalgia trend that is shaping how they interact with those around them. In response, Aramark is meeting these students where they are this fall: Collegiate Hospitality blends high-tech efficiency with tangible, wellness focused programs to bridge these needs while also creating classic, in-person opportunities for a human touch.

“We know that students are existing in an emotional paradox right now, based on broad-based consumer insights,” said Jack Donovan, president and CEO of Aramark Collegiate Hospitality. “Nostalgia for what they perceive as simpler times is changing the way they approach their hospitality experience on campus. At the same time, they are steeped in technology that is integrated in all that they do. Constant monitoring of student sentiment and satisfaction on campuses allows us to find unique, creative ways to build an ecosystem of hospitality that prioritizes authentic interaction.”

Collegiate Hospitality’s campus partnership is not only about nutritious meals and warm dining experiences, but it is also about providing potentially life-shaping programs that help campus programs to shine. Many colleges and university have deep relationships with  operations on campus, and Aramark welcomes opportunities to give students hands-on, long-term job skills and career pathways in the form of management programs or as interns and externs.

Additionally, Aramark is committed to providing career showcases and highlighting the exciting gamut of career paths that exist in the hospitality industry. In today’s world, practical experience and networking opportunities drive post-graduation success. At times, this looks like broader community engagement, and for campuses across the nation, this looks like participating in highly influential student advisory groups like the Council of Student Advisors and HBCU Emerging Leaders.

The dedication to the whole student provides a true path to hospitality. To do this, Collegiate Hospitality has developed a vast library of programs, resources, and menus to meet students in comfort and health.

Students will find ever expanding allergen-friendly options on campus; Aramark Collegiate Hospitality has unveiled a new pantry concept that augments its already significant work in dietary safety. The stress less zone™ provides additional foods for guests who have an allergy to gluten, peanuts, and/or tree nuts. This section, or zone, of the service area is dedicated solely to foods that meet strict guidelines and for which the manufacturer can confidently and legitimately claim the food is free from gluten, peanuts, and tree nuts. Except for select products—like sliced bread or breakfast cereals—all the zone offerings are in their original, unopened packaging. Guests can review the product ingredients clearly listed on the product label, and they can see brand names they know and trust.

Beginning in the fall semester, Collegiate Hospitality will also offer a new customer engagement and loyalty program, Dining Rewards, to all students, faculty, and staff. Dining Rewards provides exclusive perks and benefits including birthday gifts, targeted promotional offers, and discounts on select programs. All the program requires is a simple email subscription via the dining website.

There is also a constant evolution of nutritious and sustainable menus—low carbon meals have been embraced by students, and commitments like these have driven recognition of Aramark as a leader in ecologically friendly dining. Students continue to indicate that they are very interested in menu choice, embracing flexitarian attitudes and an openness to plant-forward dining.

Aramark Collegiate Hospitality’s management team at Drexel University has partnered with Drexel Solutions Institute and Drexel Food Lab, a culinary innovation and food product research and development center housed within the University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. The Food Lab focuses on solving real-world food system challenges and applies culinary arts and science to improve the health of people, the planet, and economies. Drexel researchers are evaluating the impact of introducing menu items that further reduce carbon emissions while enhancing the guest’s culinary experience. In addition to menu innovations made by the Aramark team at Drexel, researchers collected a variety of data produced from a series of tests and interventions to determine the impact these modified menus had on consumer behaviors and satisfaction. Results of this study will be published this fall.

Aramark is leveraging artificial intelligence to help students navigate the wealth of campus dining information available to them. Students can simply turn to Collegiate Hospitality’s chatbot—SAM—an enhanced virtual assistant on CampusDish websites. SAM can answer questions about dining and meal plans as well as direct users to the appropriate person or resource if additional information is needed.

Collegiate Hospitality is also removing friction from the convenience store shopping experience at campuses across the country. Whether students are shopping via self-checkout devices that leverage computer vision to instantly price a student’s basket or fully autonomous stores that use a combination of cameras and sensors, technology allows the location to operate 24 x 7, bringing access to the next level.

An added benefit to the technology is that it adds to the human interaction and relationship building that Aramark Collegiate Hospitality prioritizes. The chatbot and the convenience store technology allows employees to not be behind a point of sale or behind a computer but to be available in the store or in the dining hall to interact with students.