Getting Back to the Future

Nostalgia and Holistic Wellness Rule Yearly Collegiate Hospitality Trends

Each fall, Aramark Collegiate Hospitality surveys students to reveal what they are looking for in their dining and hospitality experience on campus. Nearly 70,000 students—close to 70% of whom live on campus—responded to the Aramark Collegiate Hospitality National DiningStyles call for feedback. The 2023 data shows interesting and exciting shifts in what students look for, revealing a desire that aligns more with students of 20 years ago than a mere five years ago. Additionally, the survey found that holistic health and wellness are top of mind for students.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240521101598/en/

Each fall, Aramark Collegiate Hospitality surveys students to reveal what they are looking for in their dining and hospitality experience on campus. Nearly 70,000 students—close to 70% of whom live on campus—responded to the Aramark Collegiate Hospitality National DiningStyles call for feedback. The 2023 data shows interesting and exciting shifts in what students look for, revealing a desire that aligns more with students of 20 years ago than a mere five years ago. Additionally, the survey found that holistic health and wellness are top of mind for students. (Photo: Business Wire)

The findings show that students do still align with their immediate past peers in that connectivity is paramount to their experience; they want to feel relaxed and welcome in their dining environment. They also, however, are looking for practicality and routine, a parallel to current nostalgia trends where association with simplicity resonates with a generation looking to the early 2000s as a time with less social stress and pressure.

“In order to build a deep partnership with a campus, we need to understand what students connect with emotionally, what associations of comfort, home, and security are linked with their hospitality experience,” said Jack Donovan, President and CEO of Aramark Collegiate Hospitality. “We prioritize constant feedback to do this—from on-demand Voice of Consumer surveys that students always have access to so we know the micro pulse on campus to the periodic and massive industry student polls that we undertake over the course of the year. We also garner additional insights from our discussions with our national Council of Student Advisors, our HBCU Emerging Leaders, and other student audience groups.”