The Olmsted Coffee Shop will soon be home to a new sweet treat for students. Because of input from the Student Board of Directors, essentially a food committee, Sodexo plans to roll out a new ice cream service that resembles the serving style of restaurants like Cold Stone Creamery and MaggieMoo’s.
“We’ll offer six flavors of Blue Bunny ice cream and about 10 different mix-ins,” said Dannie Crozier, Sodexo general manager.
The new service will occupy space that was previously home to Freshens smoothies, which has relocated to Quad Creek Café as a result of the remodeling this past spring and summer.
Flavor offerings will include traditional chocolate and vanilla, a frozen yogurt option and specialty flavors which will be rotated out to accommodate students’ requests. Mix-ins vary from popular candy bar crumbles to the traditional nuts and sprinkles found on most ice cream sundaes. They will also be making waffle cones in-house.
“I’m a big fan of late-night ice cream, and since there’s no place nearby campus, I’m definitely likely to stop by Olmsted and grab a treat every now and then,” said junior Autumn Moore.
The change came about through discussions with the Student Board of Directors, a group of students that works with Sodexo to voice students’ concerns about menus and offerings at campus dining locations. The idea was tossed around last spring and has been made into a reality for this fall.
“Basically, we wanted an option for students to eat ice cream who may not normally eat in Hubbell,” said junior Greg Larson, vice president of student activities and a member of the Food Committee. “This will allow students to have access to different varieties across campus. I think students will receive it with open arms and stomachs.”
Sampling of the ice cream began last week and will be used to raise awareness for the new treat in the coming weeks.
“We plan to announce the sampling and eventually the service through our Facebookand Twitter channels as well as on our television screens in the dining areas on campus,” Crozier said.
The service will go through a trial period to see how students respond to the offering.
“We did raise a few questions about health as we investigated offering the ice cream option to students, which is why we plan to have frozen yogurt available and will consider offering healthy specialty flavors as well,” Crozier said.
Sodexo is also looking at new ways to provide food solutions for commuter students and faculty with plans to expand its prepared food on-the-go offerings.
“We’ve found that students that live off-campus might not want to sit down and eat in one of the dining halls but might instead be looking for something they can pick up and share with their roommates at their apartments and houses off-campus,” Crozier said. “We’ve looked into pans of lasagna that can serve six people, for example.”
New offerings at Quad Creek Café, like the wing specials and $5 pizzas, have been a hit among off-campus students, prompting a closer look at these students who may want easy-to-prepare meals without having to cook or sit in a dining hall.
“It’s very apparent that Dannie Crozier and Sodexo truly care about students’ opinions and want to see them enjoying their experience with campus dining,” Larson said. “You see this with the new meal plan system this year, for example. It’s not rocket science – the more students like the food on campus, the more likely they are to continue their meal plans when they move off-campus.”
