Spring break is drawing near, and many students nationwide will soon turn their focus towards Tampa and Florida in general, planning drunken getaways from the frozen campuses of the north.
Sodexho has also turned its attention to Tampa, but for a very different reason; UT was chosen by the Sodexho Student Board of Directors (S.B.O.D.) to host the 2007-2008 Food Trends Expo.
“I am honored that UT has been selected as the host for this national event,” said Wade Burghardt, Sodexho’s Marketing Manager for UT. “A lot of work has gone into making this a success and I hope that our student body has a great time.”
UT senior Amber Osborne, a student liaison for Sodexho on campus, is excited about the opportunity.
“I feel it’s a great honor for UT to be chosen for this event,” she said. “It also goes to show that UT is a role model for campuses across the nation.”
The Expo will run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Friday, March 7 in Stadium Center. The food will be provided free of charge, and will be available from 22 vendors with at least 3 recipes each, according to Katy Kash, a member of the S.B.O.D.
“We told the vendors that we wanted portable food that is easy for students to grab-and-go,” Kash said. “They are also supposed to be actionable, meaning readily prepared ingredients that can be prepared fast in front of the guest.”
Some of the fare that will be available for tasting will include an Oreo seven layer cookie bar, a funnel cake sundae, iced pomegranate tea sangria and international mini burgers.
Of course, this is only a tiny portion of what will be available at the Expo. The vendors at the event will range from Unilever to General Mills, Kellogg’s and Kraft, and will feature dishes created by top chefs from each vendor.
“These vendors are coming from all over the country to the University of Tampa to test food on [the] students,” Kash said. “It’s a pretty big deal.”
What happens is that the vendors will bring their food for the students to sample, and students will be able to vote on what their favorite dishes are. The dishes that are selected will be made available next year as LTO dishes, or “Limited Time Offer” dishes.
“Some of the vendors will keep the LTO’s for a week, and some will extend [the availability],” Kash explained.
The selections that UT students make will literally affect what’s available on campus menus across the country. Luckily for Sodexho, UT students have a good idea of what they’d like to see more.
“I would like to see more of a variety of food, I feel there is a lot of the same kind of food each day,” said sophomore Jenelle Colantuoni.
Other students had more specific tastes in mind.
“I would like to see more beef incorporated in the menu because I am tired of chicken,” said sophomore Chris Frake.
“I would like to see more seafood or clam sauce with pasta,” said junior Mark Kieslor.
“I would like to see bread bowls for soup,” said junior Erin Maloney.
Sophomore Stephan DePalo has more than his stomach on his mind. “On Fridays I would like to see something other than meat during the season of Lent,” he said.
Other students voiced religious concerns as well.
“I would like to see kosher food in the cafeteria, I have never seen it served in there before,” said sophomore Brentin Gultz.
Most students seemed excited about the opportunity to test out the new food before anyone else.
“I am down for that! Totally!” said DePalo.
“I am really excited! I think this is a great idea!” said Gultz.
“I like the idea,” said Kieslor. “It is good for them to get more input on what [students] like and don’t like about the food.”
Others agreed.
“I think it is a good idea that they are doing this. I wish they did this sooner,” Maloney said.
“I think asking kids what they like best is cool,” said senior Marco Guadagnini.
Of course, a few feel they’ve tested enough food already.
“I feel like I have been their guinea pig already for a year and half,” said Frake.
Regardless of detractors’ opinions, the upcoming expo is a great opportunity for students to get a flavor for and help decide what the future of campus dining holds; or, at the very least, get some free grub on Sodexho’s tab.
Either way, it’s no coincidence that UT was chosen for the honor.
“We try to find someplace nice to go to, first of all,” said Sodexho’s senior director of research and innovation, Dan Dunne. “We picked [UT] primarily because we ran into Dr. McNew, your provost. She thought [UT] might be a great place to have our meeting, and wanted to know how the Student Board could get involved in the community at UT.”
Dunne also hopes that some UT students will apply to join the S.B.O.D. after meeting some of the members who will be visiting campus.
“We’re hoping that there’s somebody from campus interested in participating on the national level,” he said.
The opportunity is unique in that the board works directly with the upper echelon of the multinational Sodexho, participating in conference calls once a month and discussing the company’s moves from a student perspective.
“Any concept or idea [we have], we want to be able to say ‘designed for students, by students.'”
Jenna Angradi and Sara Haun contributed to this article.
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