In the second installment of the Technology and the Evolution of Campus Dining series, we explore the dining environment at the University of Rochester with the university’s Director of Campus Dining and Auxiliary Operations, Cam Schauff.
The University of Rochester was one of the earliest adopters of mobile ordering technology, deploying the service on campus to help ease lines at the campus Starbucks and help students order coffee. What quickly followed was a realization that the university could could use mobile ordering as a tool to help in a number of other ways.
Hear how Rochester, post COVID, used Grubhub mobile ordering to adapt. “My biggest concern was figuring out how to serve students that couldn’t or didn’t want to leave their dorm rooms,” says Schauff.
During COVID-19 and through quarantine, Rochester used the mobile ordering platform to improve student service. Hear how Rochester launched its off-campus program and leveraged both the students’ optional spending accounts as well as the campus meal plans to pay for food on campus and order food from off-campus restaurants.
Schauff and his team worked closely with Grubhub on unique use cases for the mobile ordering platform, including offering reusable flatware and straws at cost in the app for students to help reduce waste.
Another example: “Students wanted to order coffee in a reusable mug so we figured out how to do it via the mobile ordering system,” says Schauff. “No one had ever done this via the Grubhub platform and no one had ever done it at a Starbucks.”
“Today we see about 50% of our business coming through the mobile ordering app,” adds Schauff.
Check out the other episodes in the Technology and the Evolution of Campus Dining series:
- Episode 1: Ben Anderson, Head of Industry Relations, Grubhub Campus talks mobile ordering, ghost kitchens, and more
- Episode 2: Cam Schauff, Director of Campus Dining & Auxiliary Operations, U. of Rochester, on using Grubhub mobile ordering to solve post-pandemic challenges
- Episode 3: Kevin Steffes, Food and Nutrition Director, Carle Foundation Hospital, on how Grubhub helps underpin the hospital’s ghost kitchen
- Episode 4: George Kuzma, Vice President for Business Development, Gourmet Dining, on the technologies that are reforming the campus dining experience
- Episode 5: Angelo Mojica, Senior Director of Food and Culinary Services, Johns Hopkins Health System, on mobile ordering in hospital cafeterias
- Episode 6: Casey Witherow, Food Service Retail Manager, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, on how mobile ordering is redefining food service for patients and staff.
