Campus Dining Today - NACUFS 2023 - 24

2023 RETAIL SALES - SINGLE CONCEPT/MULTIPLE
CONCEPTS/MARKETPLACE
GRAND PRIZE:
SUNY at Buffalo,
Campus Dining and Shops
ONE WORLD CAFÉ
The State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo
created One World Café as a dynamic campus hub
for gathering, dining, and collaboration. Situated
in the heart of campus, One World Café reflects
University at Buffalo's (UB) global diversity and
creates an open and inviting atmosphere that
encourages the university community to come
together to dine. A university-wide undertaking,
students, faculty, and staff brought their ideas,
feedback, and creative energy every step of the way.
From the initial survey regarding international food
preferences to many sampling events over the multiyear
project, thousands of respondents played a role.
The array of international dishes, snacks, beverages,
and desserts offered at One World Café reflects
UB's global diversity while appealing to everyone's
culinary curiosities. An immersive food experience
with favorites from across the globe, One World Café
contains five bistro-style concepts featuring open
kitchens with exhibition cooking and new cooking
technology at each platform to provide enhanced
menu offerings. Platforms include Kali Orexi, createyour-own
Mediterranean, Tikka Table, flavors of the
Indian sub-continent, 1846 Grill, a classic American
diner, Pan Asia, cuisines from Thailand, China, Japan
and Korea, and Noodle Pavilion, Asian comfort food
in the form of hot broths, savory ingredients and
chewy noodles.
The collocated retail space contains an attractive
display of international snacks. The multi-tiered
dining room with a seating capacity of 560 also
features more than 250 electrical outlets to allow
guests to power up their devices while they fuel their
bodies.
Serving meals that are rich in
vegetables, healthy fats, and whole
grains, and highlighting the natural
flavors of ingredients is a top priority
at the café. The entire UB culinary and
management team has been trained
and certified through a food allergy
and gluten-free certification program,
and digital signage displays allergen
information, nutrition icons, and a Qr
code to read nutrition facts for every
meal. The menu caters to nearly every
food preference including vegetarian,
vegan, and gluten-free, ensuring a
vibrant university community today and a share in
the long-term health benefits of society. Similarly,
One World Café aims to get as close to zero
waste as possible, therefore, all food and beverage
containers, along with utensils, are 100 percent
compostable. To bring additional culture to One
World Café, student artists were commissioned to
design artwork for the new international eatery.
With the sounds and aromas of a fast-paced urban
market environment, One World Café shattered
expectations in traffic volume, sales, and customer
satisfaction. Customer feedback collected
multiple times after opening revealed high levels
of satisfaction among students, and an in-house
secret shopper program scored One World Café
an overall 95 percent across service, food, and
facility categories.
From its design to its inspiring artwork to its
internationally themed cuisine, nearly every aspect
of One World Café's evolution has been informed
by students, faculty, and staff. The winner of the
student-wide naming contest, Sayre Stowell ('19),
a campus dining employee at the time, said that
he wanted his submission to capture the unity and
diversity at UB. Indeed, One World Café-both
the name and the shining example of UB's 21stcentury
living-learning environment-does just
that.
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