We surveyed college students around the U.S. to find out their campus dining experiences, preferences, and behaviors…

Millennials see food as a reflection of their culture, passions, and status symbols, and they have heavily influenced the food industry as a whole—including their college dining halls. In 2015, higher education food service sales were expected to reach $16.2 billion—2.4% of the food industry total. With this kind of buying power, colleges and universities are expected to step up their game and cater to their food-savvy students. According to the founder of Spoon University—a website with food-related articles that focuses on college dining—“people are demanding higher quality, more innovation, and creativeness—dining halls have had to respond to that.” What once was known as a cafeteria where the menu item of the day was “mystery meat” and the most edible food was a burger off the grill, has now at most universities been reshaped into a gourmet experience. Providers are looking beyond food, as students are now expecting their dining program as whole to reflect their values and ethics in the food, location, and in their messaging. To bring more insight to the industry, we surveyed college students to find out their thoughts on college dining programs, including what they like, and what they wish was better. Check out our infographic snapshot on the findings below!

The full data and report for this survey is available to premium subscribers here. Click here to contact us if you are interested in gaining access.