To support healthy eating options for staff, students and visitors, Southampton Solent University has refreshed, restocked and re-launched its ‘Natural’ salad bar on campus. This new market-leading concept from the University’s catering provider Sodexo is a response to both student and staff requests for a broader range of healthier food options.
It encourages a ‘build your own’ approach to dining, with a choice of over 30 salad items and a variety of healthy box sizes. There is also a wide range of healthy vegetable juices, fresh soups, fruit teas, rice cakes and gluten-free snacks.
Promoting a healthy lifestyle
Nick Hayter, Sodexo Group Manager says: “We are thrilled to be continuing our commitment to the University to help promote a healthy lifestyle for its staff and students. We are listening to what our customers want and are doing everything we can to meet their needs.”
‘Natural’ comes hot on the heels of last year’s introduction of healthy vending option, the Honest Café, which has received excellent comments, national acclaim and widespread interest across the sector.
The stylish new salad bar follows suit with an urban-chic design using exposed brick and wooden palette accents.
Keen to keep up with customer requirements, the University’s catering provider Sodexo plans to evolve ‘Natural’ into an entirely vegetarian-based provider over the next couple of months.
Bryan Carroll, Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities, said at the launch: “Enhancing the student experience is very important to us at the University, and we are pleased to be able to support our catering provider Sodexo in their continued commitment to meeting the demands of everyone on campus.”
The University and Sodexo have been champions of promoting innovative food choices on campus for a number of years with health and wellbeing at the core of their mission.
Sodexo’s on-campus catering facilities were also recently awarded a prestigious ‘Silver Status’ catering mark as part of the Soil Association’s commitment to venues who recognise ethically-sourced produce free from controversial additives.