Campus dining should strengthen the student experience and the budget.
Auxiliary services carry expectations that grow every year — better food, longer hours, more concepts, more dietary accommodation — against enrollment pressure and flat subsidy. Catalyst helps institutions raise participation and quality while improving the economics underneath.
Start the conversationWhat leaders tell us
The pressures shaping higher education today.
Participation is soft and meal plan value is questioned
Students eat off campus, plan sales decline, and the fixed cost base does not move with them.
Contract terms no longer reflect reality
Multi-year foodservice agreements drift out of market. Commissions, investment schedules, and performance standards go unmeasured.
Labor cost and turnover outrun the budget
Wage pressure, vacancy, and inconsistent scheduling discipline erode both margin and service quality.
Financial visibility arrives too late
Period-end reporting tells leadership what already happened instead of what to correct this week.
How Catalyst works
Discipline installed, not advice delivered.
Diagnose the program honestly
Participation, cost per meal, labor productivity, contract compliance, and student sentiment measured against comparable institutions.
Rebuild the operating disciplines
Weekly flash reporting, forecast accountability, labor standards, and food cost controls that hold after we leave.
Reposition the offer
Concept mix, retail brands, hours, and meal plan structure aligned to how students actually eat.
Strengthen the contract
RFP strategy, negotiation support, and performance standards that protect the institution for the life of the agreement.
Relevant outcomes
Results earned in environments like yours.
Improved student participation in campus dining programs by more than 15%.
Developed and deployed 12 proprietary brands, increasing retail sales by more than 26% while reducing reliance on national brands by nearly 50%.
Strengthened weekly financial reporting and forecasting, achieving approximately 95% accuracy against actual results.
- Foodservice contract strategy and RFP support
- Participation and meal plan strategy
- Retail and proprietary brand development
- Labor modeling and productivity standards
- Procurement and supply chain optimization
- Weekly financial reporting and forecasting
Where is your dining program leaking value?
A short conversation with Travis will tell you whether the issue is participation, contract structure, labor, or reporting discipline.
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