With the cost of living continuing to soar - the price of consumer goods and services rose at the fastest rate in four decades in the year to October 2022 - it is vital that value for money is central to our new campus catering contract, without compromising on quality.

When we conducted our community consultation last December, 61% of people thought that campus catering was good value for money. The reasons given by those that didn't included portion size, the price of coffee, and comparison with off-campus outlets. However, what’s interesting is that previous focus groups' participants have highlighted that portion sizes from some of our campus eateries were too generous and resulted in food waste.

More than 57% of you said that price was very important, with a further 20% saying it was important. We also asked whether you would be prepared to pay more for things that matter to you in terms of sustainability: both staff and students said they would be prepared to pay more for items that were locally sourced or fairly traded, but it was clear that value is crucial too.

How our catering partners are responding

The £2 Sussex Special meal has been a huge success since it was introduced in November last year: more than 60,000 meals were served between then and June 2023. And our provision of healthy, low-cost vegan and vegetarian hot food options on campus saw Sussex shortlisted for the Cost of Living Award at this year's Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCA). 

VIDEO: kitchen assistant Tomos Vaughan-Streater on why the £2 meal has been such a hit

Students have purchased the majority (86%) of the £2 meals but there are also plenty of staff taking advantage of this tasty and nutritious offering. The busiest month? March, when a whopping 16,091 meals were served.

These are available in Botanical Café at Jubilee from noon to 2pm over the summer. Tasty options when it returns to Eat Central for the new term will include aromatic black-eyed bean curry, almond and green lentil stew and Thai green chickpea curry – all gluten-free, with a wider range of wallet-friendly options to be added too.

Catering colleagues will be working to strike a balance between portion size and avoiding food waste, and will be rolling out an expanded range of coffee in response to the survey feedback; some of the brands served, like Orangutan and Change Please, are more expensive to buy in as the profits go to the charities they support.

Making sure we keep listening

Our new catering contract will see the introduction of even more ways to have your say, after many of those involved in both our survey and focus groups said how much they valued the opportunity to share their views.

We will be introducing new means of gathering feedback from the community, such as student liaisons and a ‘foodie forum’. More on this to come very soon…

In the meantime, if you want to share your feedback on this article or our future service, please email bettercampus@sussex.ac.uk or join the conversation on our dedicated food group on staff social network Viva Engage.

For more information on how we are supporting University staff through the cost of living crisis, visit Financial help and advice.