Grubhub reshapes college dining with integrated tech solution

College students can now download one app and use their dining dollars across campus, access robot delivery, opt for reuseable containers and cut wait times for meals and retail purchases.

Grubhub created a tech-focused ordering solution that is now linked to meal plans at over 360 campuses, reaching about 4.5 million students.

“Ordering food on demand is table stakes for younger diners, but our app goes much further than mobile ordering,” said Rob DelaCruz, vice president and general manager of Grubhub Campus Business. “It integrates a number of functions into a single platform. Plus, we’re engaging students in a convenient and flexible dining experience and streamlining front-of-house operations so schools can go back to focus on feeding.”

Grubhub’s campus tech journey began five years ago, when the company acquired ordering platform Tapingo. More recently, Grubhub partnered with Topanga.io, integrating its ReusePass program, which allows students to choose zero-waste reuseable packaging at checkout. The program gives eco-conscious diners a way to promote their own and their schools’ sustainability goals. Everything is tracked on the app, from checkout to return, by matching up with a code on the container.

The option of reuseable container packaging is integrated into the app.

Grubhub then created a suite of offerings tailored specifically to college dining. The company’s campus integration allows students to use their meal credits directly through the Grubhub app, providing access to a wide range of campus dining venues as well as local restaurants.

“OSU [The Ohio State University] has 30 to 40 dining options on campus, for example, but also offers the flexibility of off-campus dining with meal credits,” said DelaCruz. “Most schools are using the flex program to provide more choice.” That said, it’s usually required that a minimum number of credits be applied to on-campus dining venues.

Robot delivery is especially handy on large campuses with many dining options, like The Ohio State University. 

Through its partnership with Grubhub, OSU was also an early adapter of robot meal delivery, starting in 2022.  “We work with Starship Technologies, Kiwibot and Cartken to integrate robot delivery and have gotten hundreds of thousands of orders through our app,” said DelaCruz. “It’s especially handy on large campuses.”

The robots are now tooling around the campuses of 20 colleges, with nearly a dozen more schools added this semester, including University of New Mexico, University of Mississippi and Howard University.

Ahead of the 2023 fall semester, Grubhub brought Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology to its campus partners. Students can use the app to scan a QR code at campus convenience stores, pick up food and skip the checkout line. Payment is deducted from their dining dollars or can be linked to a credit card. Several schools have adopted the technology, including Stevens Institute of Technology, Montclair State University and Loyola University Maryland.

Ultimate kiosks are a recent innovation that has been added to the Grubhub platform. Before a student places an order, they get an estimated wait time of when it will be ready, eliminating long lines at popular dining halls. “This feature streamlines front-of-house operations and frees up cashiers,” said DelaCruz. “Foodservice teams can deploy employees elsewhere, like back-of-house food prep.”

Grubhub's tech solution cuts down on wait times and eliminates bottlenecks in busy dining halls.

By eliminating bottlenecks, Grubhub’s order-ahead and real-time wait time capabilities are helping to boost participation in college dining programs, he added. Students are less apt to get frustrated and are more engaged in the dining experience.

Another perk—students whose schools are partnered with Grubhub are eligible to receive Grubhub Student for free, providing $0 delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible orders, 5% back in Grubhub credit on off-campus pickup orders and exclusive deals.

In 2024, Grubhub added 60 new campus partners, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Tampa, Howard University, Tulane University and the University of Missouri.

“Coming off of a strong 2023-2024 school year, I'm very proud that we're continuing to significantly grow our campus footprint and see such strong adoption of our additional services and solutions with our partners," said DelaCruz. “Our technology allows our partners to operate their dining facilities more efficiently by providing them with the ability to get diners through lines faster and provide a broad range of pickup and delivery innovations.”

Going forward, DelaCruz sees further integration opportunities. “Unique orders take longer, but new technologies and better data transparency can allow us to integrate dietary restrictions and allergies into the app and customize preferences,” he said.