My Opportunity:
The opportunity I have identified is expanding Panera Bread onto the University of Florida campus. Panera Bread is one of the most well-known franchises across America due to its wide variety of food and drink. UF has a limited amount of chain restaurant options on campus, and Panera would be one that could really assist in bringing in more revenue for the school. Panera Bread is perfect for anyone, whether they are in the mood for coffee, comfort food, or a sweet treat.
The Who: University of Florida students, University of Florida faculty, Gainesville residents
The What: The University of Florida does not have enough chain restaurants on campus. Panera bread is an extremely popular fast-food that could bring in more revenue because it has coffee, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The Why: Possibly due to a contract with Starbucks or other companies. Panera could also be against being located on college campuses.
Interview #1: Female Student at Opus Coffee Shop
Conclusion:
This student loves to get coffee and sit down somewhere while studying, however Starbucks is typically too rambunctious for her. She said this makes her try to venture to different coffee shops that are more "low-key" where she is able to focus more. However, this causes her to miss out on the food aspect that Starbucks has to offer. She said that if there were a Panera Bread on campus, she would always study there because it would be a quieter environment with excellent food and coffee. This student was inside the boundary of the opportunity.
Interview #2: Female Student at Pod Market Subway
Conclusion:
This student has a meal plan with a sorority, so she is forced to buy her own food on weekends or whenever she is not satisfied with the meals being served at her house. Since she lives on campus and does not have a car, she has a very limited selection of food to pick from. She said that she gets Subway every weekend and sometimes twice a weekend because of the limited choices of food options on campus. She also stated that since Subway is open later in the night it is easy to go to when she has a midnight craving. When asking this student how she would feel about a Panera on campus, she said she would be eager to eat there because it would give her some diversity in her meal choices. This student was inside the boundary of the opportunity.
Interview #3: Female Student at Reitz Union
Conclusion: This student has a meal plan with UF and often gets bored with her choices on campus. Whenever she goes to the Reitz Union, the only two places she finds appetizing are Starbucks and Wendy's. She admitted to refusing to try some of the other restaurants simply because they are not chain restaurants. When asked how she would feel about a Panera being put on campus, she said she would be ecstatic and would want to eat there everyday. She also stated that it would be nice because there is not a lot of food on campus that is good to eat when you are sick, so it would be nice to have a Panera to go to in order to get some soup. This student was inside the boundary of the opportunity.
Interview #4: Male Student Living Off-Campus
Conclusion: This student lives driving distance from campus and states that the local Panera is the same distance as campus from him. Panera also offers rapid delivery to his apartment, so there would be no need for him to ever utilize the on-campus location. This student was outside the boundary of the opportunity.
Interview #5: Male Student at Library West
Conclusion: This student loves to study at Library West but often gets sick of how long the line is at Starbucks. He, among many others, often resorts to getting UberEats delivered to the library when he knows he will be studying for a long period of time. He says that Panera would be a perfect place to put near campus because he could order coffee, breakfast, lunch, or dinner from there, depending on what time of day he is at the library. This student was inside the boundary of the opportunity.
Findings Summary:
This exercise has helped me organize my findings and made me realize even further the lack of variety on campus. However, businesses such as Starbucks and Subway will be extremely hard to beat out due to the fact that they have been on campus for much longer. It will be difficult to find a spot to put the Panera on campus, but one of the student I interviewed pointed out how many of the restaurants in the Reitz Union are not a franchise, so this could be a good location. I also think it is important because with the constant population growth for UF, there needs to be more locations to study.
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