Thriving Past COVID: Safety Trends in Campus Dining

Guest Contributor: Marletha Booker, Thompson Hospitality

COVID‑19 has forever changed the way that we work, live and do business. As universities and colleges around the globe wrap up their first post‑shutdown academic year, administrations are looking to understand how to move forward in higher education. While the world is slowly returning to a sense of normalcy, it will never return to where it was prior to March 2020. As trusted campus dining partners, our role is to understand the landscape of higher education, identify trends within the industry and create solutions that meet the ever‑evolving needs of our campuses. As you prepare for a new academic year, here are COVID‑19 safety trends are here to stay.

Trend #1: Can You Repeat That?

COVID‑19 caused an increased interest from guests in safety procedures. Now more than ever, campus communities want to know what steps are being taken to keep them safe. They want to be able to easily find this information and to be kept up‑to‑date on it. That is not expected to change anytime soon.

How We’re Doing It: Not only do we share this information on each campus dining website and social media platform, we also provide updates through Forward magazine.

What It Means for You: Reassure parents by directing them to any of these sites to learn more about the measures we’re taking to keep everyone safe. Feel free to distribute copies of this month’s issue of Forward magazine to students and parents. Our marketing department is available to provide digital resources regarding our COVID‑19 safety procedures.

Trend #2: Paper or Plastic? Neither!

We have waved goodbye to paper and plastic menus and predict many other food service establishments will do the same. As an example, several on‑campus restaurants are using adhesive vinyl QR codes that are adhered to dining tables. That way, when the table is cleaned so is the “menu”. This is a significant win for safety and the environment.

How We’re Doing It: All of our dining establishments have digital menus either featured on a screen or by using a QR code for a contactless experience.

What It Means for You: Go ahead and brag to prospective students about your efforts to create and maintain an environmentally friendly campus.

Trend #3: Seeing is Believing

Gone are the days when a team member could quickly wipe down a table and guests were confident it was clean. Now to feel safe, students want to continue to see obvious signs of cleaning and sanitizing. Ultimately, they want to experience a safe dining environment.

How We’re Doing It: We use custom signs to indicate if an area has been properly cleaned and sanitized. This signage alerts diners to our cleaning process and when it’s safe to be in a specific area. In addition, our teams are equipped with sanitizer sprayers and sanitize high contact areas every thirty minutes.

What It Means for You: Feel confident visiting one of our facilities and viewing our safety procedures in action.

Trend #4: I Want to Be with You, But I Just Need Some Space

Students have a desire to be safe, but they also want to be around their friends. Outdoor dining is expected to gain more traction as the year progresses. Dining outside provides additional space that may not be available inside dining rooms with social‑distancing measures in place. According to the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), outdoor dining is safer than eating indoors even while socially distanced.

How We’re Doing It: As soon as the weather permits, we’re going back to hosting outdoor meal events with social‑distancing measures in place.

What it Means for You: Investing in creating outdoor spaces for campus communities is a good idea for colleges and universities.

As we look to the future of campus dining, no one truly knows what to expect, but one thing is certain‑ COVID‑19 will still be the leading influencer of the academic year. Yet, together we will continue to set trends and #Thrive.