Sodexo this month unveiled its list of 10 trends impacting workplaces worldwide during 2017. Here are a handful that pertain particularly to FSDs, and how some operators are addressing those trends.
As employees stay in the workforce longer and life expectations continue to grow, organizations are approaching staff learning in new ways, Sodexo says. To boost communication between workers of different generations, millennial foodservice staff at San Antonio Military Medical Center are paired up with their baby boomer counterparts, who serve as mentors.
Workplaces are leaning on robots more often to perform tasks once handled by humans, Sodexo notes. As automation takes a bigger role, some foodservice operations have enlisted robots to help deliver meals to hospital patients, while others use them to speed up prep processes such as rolling sushi.
Companies are not only being positioned as health drivers for workers, but for their families and broader communities as well, Sodexo notes. The dining department at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., provides new hires with what it calls “welcome wellness packets,” giving employees access to an online nutrition tool, information about on-campus offerings and a meal on the house, while Tupelo Honey Cafe in Asheville, N.C., encourages staff to run a 5k once a year—on the operation’s dime.
Sustainability has increasingly become the purview of businesses, not just that of the government and related organizations, Sodexo says, noting that pressure from employees seeking sustainable workplaces is a driver. A number of dining departments have tackled sustainability with initiatives around composting, trayless dining and—in the case of at least one college—reducing the number of straws used on campus.
University of Florida’s solution for feeding students in the midst of construction of a new dining hall has turned out so well, it will almost be a shame to see it go.
The endlessly colorful cuisine of Mexico is always in season, but Cinco de Mayo is a great time to bring some new recipes to the party, starting with El Rio Picante, an alternative marg, and finishing with DIY churro sundaes.