Marquette University, a leading educational institution in Milwaukee, faced a challenge with its main campus café: two of its stations were significantly underperforming. Not only were these stations serving just around 100 meals a day, but they were also dragging down overall profit margins. Despite Marquette’s attempt to bring in outside vendors, they struggled to find a financially viable solution to improve the situation.
That’s when Fooda stepped in, partnering with Marquette and the existing campus dining operator, Sodexo, to turn things around by bringing in popular local restaurants. As part of the partnership, Fooda helped refresh a campus cafeteria into a bustling, diverse operation, bringing authentic food and unique experiences to the student population.
The core challenge for Marquette was twofold: to boost profits from these underperforming stations and to enhance the overall dining experience for students. They were looking for a novel solution that would not only increase sales but also fit seamlessly with the existing operations managed by Sodexo.
Financial Viability: Increase profits by introducing a new vendor or service model.
Community Impact and Culinary Diversity: Introduce local restaurants to diversify food options for students.
Stakeholder Satisfaction: Integrate with Sodexo’s existing operations and registers to ensure a smooth transition and satisfaction among all stakeholders.
Marquette University partnered with Fooda to test a new dining concept that would include local restaurants in the campus dining scene. The specific steps included:
The impact of these changes was dramatic. The university now averages around 2.5x in incremental profit from these two stations alone while elevating the dining experience for students. More importantly, the collaboration has had a ripple effect, benefiting not just the university and its students but also making a meaningful contribution to the local community.
