The Foster’s on the Fly truck will not be returning to Telecom Drive for lunch anymore, said senior Chris Taylor, co-chair of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee, which met Monday evening.
Although the truck will still be part of the regular evening rotation, it will no longer return during lunch hours due to a lack of business. Several members speculated that this may be because Foster’s food is more expensive than most students would like to spend at lunch. Taylor noted, however, that every time he has gone to Telecom Drive during lunch the area has “seemed empty.”
“The situation is, if we don’t get more people going to [food trucks], we might lose more for lunch,” Taylor said.
Other members noted, however, that they have experienced long lines at the Humble Pig food truck during lunch hours.
Senior Marissa Medine said that she is looking to set up an event so that the Merchants on Points vendors can give samples and free menus to students to promote their businesses.
With the new Merchants on Points payment system, which requires students to select to go to the tip page after the total has been displayed, vendors have experienced a major drop in tip revenue, Medine said.
Many members of DUSDAC used the meeting to report back on the progress of on-campus vendors.
Junior Ben Wang said the Divinity School Refectory is receiving a good amount of business during dinner hours, however there is a decline in the amount of students who eat there throughout the week.
Quenchers management has been upset that Red Mango has “cannibalized” much of their business by offering smoothies, Wang said. He added that after 15 years on campus, they are asking for a larger role once West Union reopns.
“They are just annoyed that Red Mango exists,” Wang said.
Wang added that Quenchers is looking to develop a smaller stand on East Campus.
Blue Express is the only venue on campus that has experienced a decrease in revenue from last year, Taylor said.
Sophomore Lavanya Sunder said she thinks that many students are deterred from eating there by the inconvenient location.
Freshman Katie Becker discussed the first-year dining plan. Because of the nature of Marketplace, there is not much variance in popularity from year to year.
“Business is obviously good, since freshmen are forced to go there,” Becker said, adding that Marketplace management is looking for ways to better get feedback from students.
Marketplace is trying to host more events this year, she said, however the building cannot support all of the students wanting to attend midnight breakfast, which is the most popular event.
Au Bon Pain management is concerned about their cart on the Bryan Center plaza because it is not getting as much traffic as they had originally hoped for, sophomore Brian Taylor said.
Several members suggested moving the cart toward the main residential quadrangle after the arches to the plaza close the first day of Thanksgiving break.
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