OLD BRIDGE — Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company providing student nutrition to Old Bridge Public Schools, has launched Taste4, a new meal concept that revamps the classics — salads and wraps, deli sandwiches, pasta, grilled favorites, pizza — and elevates school lunch for today’s sophisticated palettes.
Taste4 was developed for students by students using extensive consumer insights on GenZ’s retail dining experiences and focus groups with students from across the country.
Results showed having fresh food, flavorful options, and spending time with friends in a fun environment are the most important elements to the school lunch experience. Teen consumers were engaged in every phase of development from its name to the imagery and the menus.
Sodexo chefs created a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) compliant menu including world flavors, spicy comfort foods and unique, fun food combinations.
Taste4 keeps the needs and interest of student diners at its center with do-it-yourself stations, grab-n-go options and faster check-out lines leaving more time for socializing. The highly innovative meal concept takes high school diners on a culinary journey where they have kicked-up, squeezable and shakable flavors and sauces inspired by Mexican, Asian, Mediterranean, American Regional and Heat spices from around the world.
“Taste4 is the new standard in school dining, bringing a retail focus to school cafeterias where, through a world of flavor promotion and a selection of branded concepts, each day will bring a new experience to the customers we serve,” said Richard Hill, vice president of marketing, Sodexo Schools, North America.
Taste4 includes an Adventure station that features a weekly rotation of 12 branded concepts to provide a street, retail experience. Student diners will experience something new every week for three months as they are treated to brands including Beale Street BBQ, Overslept, Sub Culture, Country Comfort, TaterTemptations, Chopsticks, Glorious Grilled Cheese, Canal Street Mac Attack, Fiesta, Strutters, Sunset Strips and Favorites.
Artwork reflecting the diversity of the flavors and freshness of the food helps tell the culinary story of each meal. Branding is customized by the school to celebrate school spirit.