Franklin Pierce University Student Run Café Study

Dimitri EliasJohnathen Matlock

Steph PrestiCrystal Colon

Josh Holt

Introduction

• •Franklin Pierce University’s main undergraduate campus is located in Rindge, New Hampshire and educates roughly 1,399 students

• •Franklin Pierce University has a student population with ages that primarily range from 18-23

• •Franklin Pierce University's sole provider of food on campus is Sodexo

Problem Statement

• Research is necessary to determine if there is a demand for a Franklin Pierce University student run café.

Research Objectives

•Review the literature related to on campus cafés•Determine what brands and products students are interested in purchasing•Determine the most productive hours of operation.•Determine prices of how much students are willing to pay for various products•Identify if students would be interested in managing the cafe’s daily operations•Analyze demographic relationships to the above objectives

Literature Review: Convenience Foods

•College students rely on convenience foods•Quick and easy •Not a lot of time during the day to cook a meal•Low costs

•Getting into the habit of snacking •75% of college students eat snack foods to replace meals (2)•Main snacks include granola/energy bar, chips, fruit, and baked goods

•Fast food is a major convenience food for students•College students eat an average of six to eight fast food meals a week (3)

Student Jobs

•provide useful job experiences and skills that future employers will look for in an employee. (1)•learn skills like marketing, finance, human resources, operations, management, and customer service.•The marketing team would spread awareness of café by giving the location and hours.•Also focus its efforts on promoting products, specials of the week and even special sales to keep peeking student interest.

Student jobs Continued

•Finance/accounting team would keep inventory, sales, profit, and any expenses towards equipment or any expenses the café may need. •The human resources team would keep track of student hours, student scheduling and payroll.•The operations team would primarily be the ones making the food and beverages, running the cash registers, dealing with customer service,

opening and closing the café etc. •The management team would oversee the operations team and make sure the café is running as efficiently and effectively as possible and would constantly be innovating with the marketing team and operations team to keep up to date with trends and new products

Procedure

•Need to determine the type of products that will be sold and how they will be produced (1)•Products will determine equipment •Need to determine whether or not cafe will be independent from Sodexo Foods •The Business Department as well as Business Students should come up with a list of potential

business associates to deliver fresh food and or beverages to the student run cafe everyday. •The cafe would have to come up with a way of paying local businesses for their cooperation whether that be a weekly/monthly/yearly fee or if the profits will be kept by the business and students will be paid through HR

•An alternative to paying the students would be to have a group of students work in the caféfor a semester as a full class credit (3 credits)

Other Campuses

•Wells College located in Aurora, New York. •Student run café and coffee shop called “The Grind” that recently opened in January 2015. •Offers hands on experience to achieve full success after graduation.•Positions for students include president, and vice-president, which will be supported by human

resource manager, a finance manger, and an operational manager.•Accommodate to student, staff, and faculty interest in organic, vegan, and vegetarian options

they may to be able to find elsewhere.

Other Campuses Continued

•Wellesley College located in Wellesley, Massachusetts.•Three different student run cafés/restaurants including Cafe Hoop, El Table, and

Punch’s Alley that are all ran by students with a business major or interest in pursuing a career in business. (5)

•Cafe Hoop•Student run and student owned •Serves late night snack and drinks

•El Table•Student run•Serves soups, salads and sandwiches as well as snacks.•Offers gluten free and vegetarian options.

Other Campuses Continued

•Punch’s Alley•Student managed pub (5)•Known for vibrant red decor and affordable drink pricing.•Know on Yelper as “The place that have $3.00 beers. Even the good ones.”

•According to Research•Sixty-nine percent (69%) of students purchase food and beverage from on-campus foodservice facilities at least once a week or more often. (4)

•Sixty-six percent (66%) of students say they regularly explore new types of foods and flavors, an increase from 59% of students who said they did so in 2011

Methodology: Problem Identification

• •The research group identified that evidence have been found that on-campus there is not sufficient convenient food options for students.

• •There are only a few local convenient food options outside of campus.

Data Collection Method

• •The research team utilized a non-probability convenience quota method.

• •The surveys were first handed out on November 9, 2016.

• •They were handed out in classrooms, dining hall, dorm rooms, and library.

Development of survey

• •First developed through the construction of our research objectives.• •Our team put together a questionnaire based on our research objectives which

included question types like dichotomous, nominal, interval scale, and ordinal.• •Once our questionnaire was put together it was first reviewed by our Marketing

Research class and then a final revision was done by Professor R. Welsch, Associate Professor of Anthropology

• •Throughout this process we have used face and content validity through expert review.

Definition of Population

• The population that we as researchers examined was the student population at Franklin Pierce University located in Rindge, New Hampshire which has a current population of about 1,400 students.

Sample Size

• •Franklin Pierce University students at Rindge campus. • ◦40 Students from each class• ◦Specifically, 20 males and 20 females from each class were selected.• ◦Total sample size was 156 FPU students.• •Non Probability Convenience Sampling Method • ◦The researcher’s did not pre determine who exactly was taking the survey• ◦The researcher’s passed out surveys until correct amount of students (with the correct

numbers from each class standing and genders)

Assumption and Limitations

• •Assumption

• ◦That the respondents answered the questions completely, honestly, and accurately.

• •Limitations

• ◦Busy schedule, took a little extra effort to get the surveys filled out

• ◦Respondents who filled out surveys gave information that might not help with the research

How likely are you to purchase convenience food from a student run café on campus?

Mean: 3.85Std. Deviation: 1.021

What foods are you most likely to purchase from the café?

What beverages are you most likely to purchase from the café?

What time of day would you be most likely to visit the café?

What days of the week would you be most likely to visit the café?

Do you currently have a meal plan?

What is your class standing?

What is your gender?

Where do you reside on Campus?

What is your major?

What is your overall interest in working at the student café? Mean: 2.11

Would you be interested in receiving class credit for managing the café? Mean:3.17

Discussion

• Healthy Options Including Vegetarian, Vegan, and Gluten free• Related to the Literature Review, Wells and Wellesley College both have on campus student cafes that sell

vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free items.• In several surveys, students wrote “gluten free” for other.• 83% selected sandwiches, so a thought would be to have gluten free bread as an option.• Based on our data 58% selected fruits/veggies • 43% selected yogurt• 47% selected protein bars• 40% selected soups• Based on data, healthy options is a trend.• The pub does not really cater as well to these specialty diets.

Discussions Continued

• Students chose some of the top popular snack choices that college students always buy which are granola/protein bar and veggies/fruits.

• 58% students for the veggies/fruits

• 47% students for the granola/energy bars

Conclusion

• Objective 1- Determine what products students are interested in purchasing

• Food- Sandwiches 83%, Fresh fruit/veggies 58%

• Honorable mention- Pastries, Protein bars, Chips/Pretzels

• All around 46%

• Beverages- Water 72%, Smoothies 65%, Coffee 63%

• All other options 40% or below

Conclusion Continued

• Objective 2- Determine how much students are willing to pay for the products.

• Price students would be willing to pay in one visit

• Mean $9.76

• Median $10

• Mode $10

Conclusion Continued

• Objective 3- Determine most productive hours of operation

• Time of day

• Most productive- Late Night 8pm-2am 64.1%

• Second most- Afternoon 11am-4pm 59%

• Third most- Evening 4pm-9pm 57.1%

• Least Productive- Morning 7am-11am 43.6%

Conclusion Continued

• Objective 3- Determine most productive hours of operation

• Days of the week

• Most productive- Weekdays 73.7%

• Less Productive- Weekends 55.8%

Conclusion Continued

• Objective 4- Identify if student would be interested in managing the café

• Overall interest- Mean 2.11

• Interest in receiving class credit for managing the café- Mean 3.17

• Most popular majors but saw significant increase with possibility of class credit

• Business From 2.17 to 3.31

• Natural Science From 2.39 to 3.26

Recommendations

• A café be put on campus that serves as a supplement to Sodexo options

• Weekday and weekend hours

• Operate for non-breakfast hours

• Healthier options (Sandwiches, Fresh fruit and veggies, smoothies, water, coffee)

• Provide opportunities for students to earn course credits for managing the café (internship)

Recommendations

• Further Research

• Trends toward different food types on campus

• Increasing student populations effect on results

• “If we could do it again”

• Get surveys out sooner

• Larger overall response

References

• (1) Chantler, C. (2015, February 11). The daily Grind: Wells College opens new student-run cafe. Retrieved October 4, 2016, http://auburnpub.com/lifestyles/the-daily-grind-wells-college-opens-new-student-run-cafe/article_ad576354-2d39-5247-a1eb-55f8b79a7e36.html

• (2) An In-depth Look at College Student Snacking - Convenience Store Decisions. (2014). Retrieved October 04, 2016, from http://www.cstoredecisions.com/2014/09/26/depth-look-college-student-snacking/#_

• (3) King, P. B., & Students rely more on convenience, price when considering food options Evan King Staff Writer The Flor-Ala | 0 comments. (n.d.). Students rely more on convenience, price when considering food options. Retrieved October 04, 2016, from http://www.florala.net/news/students-rely-more-on-convenience-price-when-considering-food-options/article_1574daf4-3a21-11e0-8bc5-00127992bc8b.html

• (4) COLLEGE CAMPUS DINING. (2014). Restaurant, food & Beerage Market Research Handbook, 15186-188

• (5) "STUDENT-RUN COOPS AND BUSINESSES." Wellesley.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2016.

• (6) ""The Grind" Student-run Café and Coffee Shop Opens on the Wells Campus." Wells.edu. Wells College, 30 Jan. 2015. Web. 2 Oct. 2016.