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College Students Want Schools to Offer More Unique and Ethnic Foods
Comfort foods are on-trend throughout the foodservice industry, but the culinary team and customer insights experts at foodservice management giant Sodexo say that these foods—with a twist—are especially appealing to college and university students.
Students use familiar comfort foods to alleviate stress, says Tom Pose, president of campus services for Sodexo. 
However, he says, students tend to prefer their comfort foods inspired by ethnic cuisines and flavors. Sodexo identified Vietnamese pho, chicken adobo, and vegetarian jambalaya as three of the top 10 food trends on campus, based on information gathered though multiple sources. Regional differences were found as well: More students in the South like red beans and rice; traditional meatloaf is on-trend in the Southeast; and collegians in the Northwest are craving classic carved turkey and clam chowder.
Technomic’s College and University Trend Report confirms that students tend toward adventurous palates and are interested in ethnic cuisines. Although many college campuses already offer a range of bold flavors and ethnic foods, many students say they want even more. A quarter or more were in strong agreement that they would like their school to offer more “unique” foods (30 percent) and more ethnic foods (25 percent).
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This information is provided by Technomic, considered an industry expert for over 40 years. Information can be segment-specific and it is important that operators understand the segment to which they belong in order to determine how this particular data may or may not impact their own operation.
Source: Technomic, Consumer Food Trends, February 2010
