Campus-Style Dining Concept

Campus-Style Dining Concept

Campus-style dining is typically prevalent at colleges and universities, where items are available at locations across the premises. Additionally, most diners expect a variety of cuisines and customizations to accommodate allergies, dietary restrictions, religious beliefs, and personal preferences. For example, a lot of college campuses now offer a variety of serving stations such as:

  • Vegan and vegetarian cuisine
  • Stir-fry station
  • Salad bar
  • Full grill line
  • Gluten-free area
  • Kosher and halal options

With other cafés and even convenience stores, consumers can enjoy a broad culinary experience. Computrition has developed a similar campus-style dining concept to serve the healthcare and military industries via a comprehensive solution: myFlex Dining.

Integrated retail solutions can allow separate areas to connect to a centralized point-of-sale system, thereby consolidating data across a site. Information can then be housed in a data warehouse for thorough reporting and analytics, facilitating data-driven decisions.

A diagram of different campus-style dining options available via Computrition's myFlex Dining solution

Military

myFlex Dining translates to the Department of Defense (DoD), especially considering the growing demographic of young service members. Unfortunately, most service members only seem to be using half of their meal entitlement per month.1 Low utilization results in not only lost government dollars but also wasted food and labor in dining facilities.

Another prominent concern is performance nutrition, which should always be a core aspect of service members’ meals. However, they are frequently lured by the convenience of fast food, which has notoriously high amounts of fat, sodium, sugar, and other negatives.

To encourage meal credit usage and healthier choices, more and more DoD branches are embracing the campus-style dining concept. The Army’s goal is to give soldiers increased options in Army and Air Force Exchanges as well as Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) facilities.1 The Marine Corps could also benefit from myFlex Dining, given multiple venues within Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS).

With myFlex Dining’s retail and data solutions, the DoD would be able to assess:

  • Cost per service member
  • Utilization by base/facility
  • Nutritional analysis of meals consumed

Additionally, Computrition is exploring online ordering and self-checkout in other areas throughout the base to reach as many entitled service members as possible.

Healthcare

Hospitals also tend to serve sustenance at multiple locations: main cafeterias, smaller cafés, kiosks, gift shops, and third parties (e.g., well-known chains). Yet operators face numerous challenges like long queues, labor shortages, nearby competitors, and disjointed systems. myFlex Dining can complement the site’s setup to boost patron/employee satisfaction and increase a hospital’s revenue.

Furthermore, given that caregivers value every minute of their break time, having an online ordering option can make all the difference. With an expedited pickup process, staff can bypass long lines and have more time for unrushed patient interactions. Operators can also grant rewards to encourage nutritious selections and returning customers.

With the steady popularity of grab-and-go, Computrition developed self-checkout to enable existing hardware to function as self-service registers. Customers can feel empowered and independent, and staff can pay quickly with a simple badge scan. Moreover, self-checkout can help cover off-hours such as late-night shifts or holidays when cashiers are likely unavailable.

Last but certainly not least is payment, a vital component of managing revenue and justifying myFlex Dining efforts. Higher education facilities generally provide students with several payment options: meal credits, dining points, government funds, and/or personal credit cards. A POS system should allow hospitals to diversify as well: cash, credit, discounts, coupons, declining balances, employee payroll deduction, etc.

Here to Help!

With Computrition, you receive more than campus-style dining software; you gain a partner who will tailor myFlex Dining to your needs.

Visit our website or contact us today!

[1] Rempfer, K. “As Army wastes millions in food allowances, campus-style dining gains traction,” 11 Mar. 2020, https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2020/03/11/as-army-wastes-millions-in-food-allowances-campus-style-dining-gains-traction/. Accessed 23 May 2024.