By Jessica Oates
With newly designed cafeterias and more choices, students of Hamilton Township are looking forward to lunchtime like never before.
Starting in September, district schools have been served by a new food vendor, Aramark, with the focus on offering students a variety of food options.
“It seems to have really taken off,” school district business administrator Katherine Attwood said.
Eric Colebaugh, the general manager of Hamilton Township School System Food Services, said students will be seeing much more than new additions to the menu.
“We are remaking the cafeterias,” Colebaugh said. “The changes will be happening in all schools. There are some very noticeable differences already, but it will be a gradual process. We will be starting off by introducing branding concepts and then making bigger changes over time.”
Part of this branding concept involves introducing specific, themed food stations into the cafeteria, complete with signage and other visual elements that make each station readily identifiable.
One of the most popular stations is the Tortilla station, described on the food services website as a “fresh Mexican concept,” which will offer burritos, nachos, tacos, fajitas and quesadillas that are prepared daily.
Other stations that will be part of the main “food court” area of the cafeterias will include The Green Street Deli, Custom Bros. Grill and Co. and Corner Crust Original Pizza. In addition to a variety of stations to choose from, students will also get to choose just how their meals are prepared and which ingredients they want to include.
High School students will also be able to relax during breaks in the u.b.u lounge, a comfortable area complete with couches and music where students can fuel up before their next class.
Likewise, elementary school students will enjoy a food-court inspired concept with colorful graphics and a variety of menu options, in what the district is calling the Cool*Caf.
According to Colebaugh, a great deal of thought and student input goes into school lunch programs.
“We conduct annual surveys,” he said. “Every year, the federal government modifies school lunch requirements, like acceptable sodium levels and whole grain content. We conduct the surveys to make sure we are offering satisfying options that appeal to students while still meeting all of the government mandated requirements. Students today want made-to-order. They want that retail feel. You don’t go to Wawa anymore and ‘say give me hoagie,’ you ask very specifically for what you want.”
Colebaugh said student response has been extremely positive so far. In the first week of the school year, sales had increased by more than 450 meals from sales at the end of the previous year. This was without many of the changes being initiated.
Colebaugh said the conversion from Chartwells to Aramark has been very smooth so far, and the cafeteria staff has met new training and new recipes with enthusiasm.
For more information about the new menus, including nutritional information and pricing, go online to hamilton.schooldish.com.
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