Aramark Collegiate Hospitality is incorporating more plant-forward, vegan, and vegetarian options into their menus to meet student demands for tastier, healthier, and environmentally friendly dishes. To address this, they organized a menu development session at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where chefs worked on creating plant-based recipes like vegan breakfast burritos, egg-alternative frittatas, and jackfruit meatball subs. They focused on using whole-food ingredients and cleaner labels, moving away from heavily processed meat alternatives.

Recipes were tested and refined multiple times to ensure they appealed to students and worked operationally for employees. The dishes were then served at a plant-based station takeover at UNCW for students to sample and provide feedback. In the months to come, the recipes will undergo further testing, nutritional analysis, and allergen review before being added to Aramark's menu for the fall semester.