It takes eye-opening campus experiences and settings to stay competitive and not only yield the best students, but also keep them coming back.
The right partnership offers students dining experiences that exceed expectations throughout their respective collegiate careers. A trusted partner is your answer to transitioning dining from a distraction to a recruiting and retention tool—highlighting your campus as an attractive institution.
Aramark is the largest independent provider of dining services in North America, serving the needs of over 275 colleges and universities. But we have never lost sight of how important it is to serve with an eye to the distinct needs of each institution.
Our ability to transform campus dining is built on extensive experience and continuous research, including our annual survey. Our culinary teams of chefs and dietitians design menus that meet students’ ever changing dietary preferences and lifestyle needs—so you can continue to exceed expectations while focusing your efforts where they matter most.
Our venue design teams create exciting dining experiences, including residential restaurants, national brands, fast-casual concepts, coffee shops and convenience stores. And our marketing experts provide proven strategies that boost meal plan revenue and student engagement.
Value has never been a greater concern for students and parents, so we leverage our industry-leading position to develop efficient, cost-effective solutions and flexible and accessible meal plan options—passing the savings on to you and your students.
We bring an innovative and open-minded approach to every relationship, allowing us to stand apart from the one-size-fits-all position of other meal service providers.
Fresh, forward-focused dishes and experiences help you attract and retain dedicated students and keep them engaged far beyond graduation. Here’s how we do it.
IMPACT — Create custom, inclusive campus dining programs that increase student satisfaction, campus pride and retention
Because we have our fingers on the pulse of students’ dining preferences, we deliver dining experiences students love. Our residential dining environments feature chef-created menu options that take advantage of fresh, sustainable, local and organic foods. Plus, we celebrate endlessly diverse cultures, perspectives and cuisines. We are the largest franchise operator among food service providers and bring established and relevant national and regional brands to campuses. And we deliver marketplace convenience through our award-winning Provisions on Demand® Market concept.
IMPACT — Deeply understand student habits, behaviors, tastes and trends
Understanding students’ ever-changing dining preferences is a full-time job. Aramark goes directly to students every year with our DiningStyles™ survey, where we analyze responses from hundreds of thousands of college students. The survey delivers actionable insight on attributes—including evolving trends, tastes, habits and behaviors. Further, our campus-specific Your Voice Counts™ program gleans real-time data so campuses can immediately respond to students’ preferences. Plus, we communicate with students every day via social media, so they feel listened to and appreciated.
IMPACT — Deliver what students want, including healthier menu options and sustainability
Today’s students demand healthy food choices and sustainability. That’s why we bring our health and wellness platform, Healthy For Life™, to all campuses. It features healthy food, nutrition education, wellness programs and delicious ‘good-for-you’ menu items. Further, we leverage our environmental sustainability platform, Green Thread™, to develop sustainable dining programs that are unique to each campus we serve, including responsible purchasing, waste minimization and green building operations.
IMPACT — Boost sales of campus dining options with appealing marketing and social media campaigns
Achieving reliable, recurring meal plan revenue is significantly more challenging as off-campus dining options expand. Aramark boosts sales with our proven marketing programs. Our Digital Center of Excellence provides social media strategies, plans and training so campuses can create social media programs that have a real impact on food sales and convenience purchases.
IMPACT — Boost revenue and community appreciation via exceptional event services
Aramark recognizes that catering is not only a valuable service for campuses to offer, but also an added source of income. Based on years of experience catering for everyone from U.S. presidents to Super Bowl audiences, Aramark’s catering operational excellence ensures memorable events every time. Our wide-ranging catering systems, such as event planning through the Catering Operations Management toolkit, menu-planning using the proprietary Catering Menu Program, detailed and ongoing staff training through the Catering Essentials educational program and cost-conscious planning via a fair-pricing structure, ensure successful events that are on budget each time.
"We understand the value of the partnership we have with Aramark, and how they positively guide the growth of our dining services, help us reach our five strategic goals and impact student satisfaction with their college experience.”
Aramark has also had a significant impact on our student recruitment program. Prospective students and their entire family are given tours of our facilities, educated about the various meal plans available, made aware of possible employment opportunities, and even given the opportunity to taste samples of the food they will be eating when they matriculate as a student.”
“Early on, we saw the many opportunities that Aramark could deliver to help expand and improve our student dining services program. Our Aramark team helps keep us on the leading edge with their innovative ideas on everything from the latest dining programs to campus sustainability initiatives. They help us ensure we’re meeting our students’ dining preferences, so they are happier dining on campus.”
