Mansion Munchies Continues to Make Its Mark At Florham Park
Written by Paul Tonacci, professor of Student-Run Enterprise-course and Director of Food and Beverage at Aramark
Did you hear about the reopening of The Mansion’s café, Mansion Munchies, last spring semester?
Did you stop by and “catch the buzz”, the unofficial slogan devised by the class of Spring 2023’s students enrolled in the course, Student Run Enterprise (ENTR 3102/2710)?
We, at FDU Dining, hope you did pay the café a visit as the collaborative program continues to grow and take shape for FDU’s future cohorts!
As many students and faculty could tell you, there is a unique cafe tucked away in a corner of The Mansion at the Florham Park campus of FDU. It has transformed into a hands-on learning lab for the development of entrepreneurial and business skills, in the context of food vending. Adding to its appeal, student-workers received credit (and pay!) for running this business financially, promotionally, and of course operationally. Here, many of the students could not only tell you what was on the menu, but they could tell you about the class’s social media campaigns, weekly budgets, and even principals of food handling in such detail that, anywhere else, they’d be competing amongst themselves for employee of the month.
Read more: Student-Run Enterprise course gives SNAX Café a new life: Introducing Mansion Munchies
Emblematic of the vibrant community that defines the Florham campus experience, the student team was eager to develop the right product, place, price, and promotional mix for the weeks leading up to their grand reopening in late February. Students were shown many of the successful processes, tools, and philosophies that FDU Dining uses to drive results wherever its team operates, by the many professionals in all areas of Aramark Dining.
The ENTR 3102/2710 course is also unique among other classes offered by the Business and Hospitality schools at FDU in that it provides a hands-on blended classroom experience that allowed students to apply what they learned throughout their undergraduate careers.
Some learning highlights from this past class included the following:
- the psychological price ceilings for various menu items
- the economic value of connecting one product with one individual who buys it routinely
- the marketing challenges of switching to a new food vendor mid-semester
- the timeless lesson that sometimes the best-laid plans just do not work out and successful teams must quickly pivot to find new solutions.
Lastly, and in remembrance of the class of Spring 2023’s progress and achievements, the formerly enrolled students can always return to see the signed and framed t-shirt that proudly hangs on one of the café’s walls, a tribute to the growing tradition of this unique class upon which they have made their indelible mark.
Follow the student’s progress on their Instagram — @fdumansionmunchies
