Grab-and-Go Concept Debuts at TCU

Campus Sub Connection is test site for new grab-and-co concept.

FORT WORTH, Texas—A new grab-and-go concept at 8,200-student Texas Christian University debuted this semester. According to Legia Abato, district marketing manager for this Sodexo account, the foodservice department is piloting the grab-and-go option at the Sub Connection, a sandwich location on the east side of campus.

“We were hearing that students really wanted a grab-and-go option that could be purchased using the meal plan on the east side of campus,” Abato said. As the campus expands, she said more students find that their classes are being offered in buildings that are increasingly further away from the Market Square, the university’s commons. Because of this, the students began asking for a quick way to purchase food between classes. That’s when Simply To Go, Sodexo’s grab-and-go line, was introduced at the Sub Connection. Now, students can purchase freshly packaged sandwiches, salads, wraps, fruit cups and baked goods for take out.

When dining services changed to a mandatory residential meal plan last fall, Abato said the department knew that with the new requirement, the department would need to make some changes. “One of the things we learned from the student body was that they were looking for a convenient way to use their unlimited plan on the east side of campus,” she said. “With the unlimited pass, students can eat in the Market Square as many times as they want and then they get one convenience swipe on the east side of campus.”

Abato said so far the response for the new program has been positive and that the program may be expanded in the fall.