Pedestal Foods, an independently owned food service company based in St. Louis, has forged a deep partnership with Lindenwood University, a liberal arts institution in St. Charles, Mo., that will result in a multimillion-dollar reimagining of on-campus dining for its students.
Critical to the path forward, Pedestal Foods engaged Lindenwood students for feedback – meeting with the student led food committee, fielding a robust survey and gathering testimonials captured by the campus National Broadcast Society. The research proved invaluable in developing a new era of dining on campus.
Starting this summer, facility renovations will make way for Chick-fil-A, Qdoba and Caribou Coffee, the first national food brands at the St. Charles campus. A new and unique convenience market on campus and expanded operating hours much more flexibility for student’s dining choices. The Belleville campus will receive a new café with an expanded menu which includes Starbucks coffee. Uniquely, this modern venue will have patio seating to offer students and the surrounding community, an open and relaxing place to eat and socialize.
These are all results of Pedestal Foods’ process of listening to customers’ needs and developing creative solutions to deliver incredible dining experiences for students and faculty.
Remarkably, they discovered, among other things, that:
- Students rated quality dining as important as campus safety.
- Millions of dollars were spent going off-campus to eat, revealing ample opportunities to keep students safely on campus with new meal options
“In seeking to understand student preferences and then create the right solutions for them, food service must align with the overall vision for the campus. We are introducing a new dining culture for Lindenwood students to relax, study and socialize,” said Joe Scherer, Director of Operations for Pedestal Foods.
The familiar food brands will be part of a whole new culinary feel for Lindenwood students in the fall, as major renovations to the Evans Commons and Spellmann Center dining halls and Matt’s Café (Belleville campus) will take place over the summer.
“Our partnership with Pedestal Foods is all about the students,” said Lindenwood University President Michael D. Shonrock, Ph.D. “We asked them specifically what they wanted, and we’re delivering an experience that will be like no other.”
Pedestal Foods is an on-site dining services company serving clients in the spaces of K-12 foodservice, on-campus dining for universities and colleges, and senior-living dining. The company offers quality programs that are uniquely customized for the needs of each facility in which they serve. For more information about Pedestal Foods, please visit www.PedestalFoods.com.
