Assignment 4A – Forming An Opportunity Belief

1. My Beginning Point:

There aren't many healthy food options within the university campus. 

2. Describing My Belief:

First: There are numerous food vendors within the campus, but the majority of them are fast food chains. P.S. I have never seen a concentration of these many Chick-fil-a locations on campus in my life. 

Second: I strongly believe many students and the school associates are conscious about what kind of food they put in their body and they want better access to healthy food options.

Third: Personally, I've only been an on-site UF student for 5 months, therefore, I wouldn't know if there were more varieties of food vendors on campus in the past. However, I assume, that's not likely true. Most of the time, I do not have time or resources to pack my own lunch in the busy morning and I feel that many students feel the same way, and when I'm on campus looking for a healthy food option, I have a very hard time finding one. As a result, many times, I just settle with whatever food option is available around me. 

Fourth: I believe many students go have Krishna lunch in the Plaza of the Americas. Although their food is vegetarian and vegan, their menus are monotonous and repetitive; it gets old quick. 

In my mind, I'm positive many students and faculty members are conscious of the food they eat and they want more healthy food options available within the campus.  

3. Ideal Prototypical Customers:

Customer 1) Health-conscious construction majored female students in her 20s. 
Customer 2) Female student in her 20s who is vegetarian

Customer 3) International faculty member


4. Customer Interview Iteration: 

Customer 1) 

"I think there are good numbers of fast food chains on campus like Chick-Fil-a or Starbucks, but there is not a lot of healthy options, I mean even the smoothie place here isn't that healthy considering the additives and sugar they add in the smoothies. I live off campus so it's not a big problem for me because I eat at home, but for the people who live on campus and don't have a car it's an issue because their options are limited. And the fast food is cheap; there is a saying 'freshmen 15' which means freshmen gain about 15lbs because of drinking and poor diet. I bring my own food, but when I can't, I usually bring a granola bar, or I go to the school store to get a protein bar. I only have this need sometimes, because I bring my own food. I've had this issue only a couple times since I've been at UF since 2015. I was aware of this issue in the first year at UF. I addressed this issue by bringing my own food. I would be satisfied if the school brings in more healthy food vendors but usually, those restaurants have higher prices compared to the fast food chains, so if the price is set right, I'll consider buying the products in the future."

Customer 2)

"Yes, I think the campus needs more healthy food options. When I started my first college year here, I noticed that there are a lot of places you can go to eat around the campus. There are lots of 'Chick-Fil-a' and 'Chomp it'. 'Au-Bon-Pain' is healthy but I feel like there should be more than one healthy food option. Because I always have to go outside of the campus to or I just bring my own lunch. I feel this need only sometimes; it depends on your schedule. I would rather go home and eat or buy Krishna lunch. If you are forced to be on campus,  and if you didn't bring food, you are forced to buy whatever is available. Krishna is pretty healthy though. This is not a need that I think about, but I do think that there should be healthier options for food. I'm also a vegetarian, so sometimes I wish I had something to eat in school that is not Chick-Fil-a. Food on campus can be expensive. I would give 6 out of 10 in satisfaction in campus food. There are more options outside of the campus.  We have a lot of fast food places on campus; 'Croutons' is good but it is expensive and you get a tiny portion. In the future, if there is a healthy food vendor at a reasonable price, I would use their service."

Customer 3)

"I agree, I can't find any healthy food on campus. I consider 'Au Bon Pain'  to be the healthiest option for me. I actually have not tried 'Chick-Fil-a' yet, but I was really surprised to hear the Chick-fil-a sandwich doesn't even come with any vegetable, it only has deep fried chicken inside. Actually, I didn't have many expectations about school food in America in general. It's 50/50 when it comes to experiencing this need. I tried to bring my own food because it's healthier and cheaper. The biggest problem is that campus dining is expensive. The food is for students but many students don't have much money. Even items the school convenient stores sell are expensive. I was at another school in Wisconsin before UF, and the school there had somewhat healthy dining options. But, at UF, I can't find any healthier food options. And one of my students told me there are 2 student dining halls; one is sort of bad and the other hall has healthy food options, but it's a far walk there. If I'm on campus and hungry and I want healthy food, I go to 'Au Bon Pain' or go to 'Subway' and make a sandwich by weeding out the bad ingredients. If there are healthier food vendors on campus with affordable prices, I'm willing to make a purchase from those vendors." 

5. Reflect:

I wish I had a chance to interview a broader array of people in order to hear the voice of the majority, however, I did notice all the interviewees hoped that the school had healthier food options. Most of my interviewees make an effort to bring their own food to campus or they are trying to eat at home, which I am surprised about because it does take effort and planning to do so. The majority of students I know does not pack their own lunch. I noticed that these people also bring their own food to save money and they've shown interest in spending money on healthier food vendors if the price is affordable. They've shown their satisfaction in the Krishna lunch option however, they still think healthier food option is limited on campus, thus, students were willing to go off campus to find some when they want to eat. 


7. Summary:

              Hearing different thoughts from different individuals allowed me to realize things I have missed in my initial analysis on the issue. For example, I did not take pricing and affordability of campus food into consideration at first, however, I noticed this subject was repeatedly brought up in all the interviewees. It was clear they strongly believed not only regular food chains on campus but also healthy food vendors should have affordable pricing in order for them to consider buying the vendors' products; not to mention, all my interviewees claim they resort to eating at home or packing their own food for health and financial reasons. Thus, the opportunity is still there, however, if I were to be an entrepreneur opening up a new healthy food vendor on campus, I need to understand what kind of customers I'm serving and the profiles of these customers. Thus, I absolutely believe I should be adaptive to customers' feedback and value their opinion. University student customers do wish they can eat healthier food but they are concerned that just like other claimed-healthy food vendors, they worry the price of the food may be too high. So if I address this issue, I would have a higher chance to establish a successful business.