Residential Dining Spring 2012 Satisfaction Survey Summary

• 1,996 respondents
•  75% are omnivores
•  Of non-vegetarians, 44% eat vegetarian 3 or more times weekly

• Overall satisfaction: 3.87

• In line with satisfaction for the last five years (which peaked at 3.96 and has been as low as 3.46)
• Satisfaction in Food, Service and Concerns categories remains fairly level (see charts that follow), though a few areas, when combined with respondent comments, reveal key areas on which HUDS will work more extensively over the summer:

o   Menu taste, variety & freshness

o   Cleanliness of plates & utensils

o   Health/nutrition concerns around food

•  A “scoring of key customer service areas revealed the following:

o   When there's a checker on duty, are you greeted warmly? 94% yes

o   When you place a grill order, are your interactions with the grill cook helpful/friendly? 94% yes

o   Are your grill orders made quickly and accurately? 88% yes

o   Are menu items replenished quickly during mealtime? 89% yes

o   Are serving lines still fully stocked if you come in at 6:45pm? 78% yes

o   Do you feel comfortable asking the staff for something if you don't see it? 88% yes

o   When you order a bag meal, is it completed accurately? 87% yes

• Best practices in each area will be identified and rolled out to all units
• Key themes of open ended comments:

o   Healthy options are much in demand. While students have guilty favorites, they do want to make healthy choices and are interested in seeing less fried food, cheese, and sauces or heavy preparations. They’re looking for many and varied fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and grains. They view less processed foods as being more nutritious. They eat with their eyes first, and look for colorful, fresh foods as first guides to making healthful selections. 

o   Fruits and vegetables are much in demand – in greater variety and creative preparation. They want a rainbow of colors, and foods prepared with an emphasis on taste, making it more interesting and therefore inspiring to eat healthy.

o   Many acknowledge that HUDS has made significant positive moves this year with the addition or premade salads, the Tuesday fruit bar, and new vegetarian offerings. They just want more of this.

o   What they want less of: oil and butter on vegetables; chicken; unauthentic ethnic foods.

o   What they want more of: interesting ice cream flavors on Sundays; nutrition and allergy cues on menu cards; Korean barbecue; alternative vegetarian proteins like seitan and beans; red meat and fish; greek yogurt; cohesive menus at a given meal.

o   Many pointed to an opportunity to reduce the number of items offered in favor of providing better quality, freshness and variety of what is on display.

• All the above will be utilized and considered in the seasonal cycle menu revisions already underway.