Wegmania has swept through communities from New York to North Carolina.
Now it’s hit the University of Rochester.
Wegmans, University of Rochester partnership
Under a new partnership with Wegmans, the school is stocking the grocery store chain’s most popular grab-and-go foods at Wegmans Meals Markets in three locations: Hillside Market convenience store in Susan B. Anthony Hall, the Pit in Wilson Commons — both on the River Campus — and the Student Living Center at the Eastman School of Music on Gibbs Street.
Selling meals on a college campus is a first for the company — which has more than 110 stores along the Eastern Seaboard — and “an exciting milestone,” said Frank Guidice, Wegmans digital restaurant director.
The program is based on an idea by John Blackshear, who became UR’s vice president of Student Life in the spring of 2024.
For the previous 22 years, he worked at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. A Wegmans store opened in nearby Chapel Hill in early 2021. He didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
Then he moved here for the UR job. “My wife began to extol the virtues of Wegmans,” Blackshear said, so he checked it out. “Seeing is believing. I really get it now.”
The Wegman family has been a longtime UR supporter, helping to establish Wegmans Hall — home to the Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence — and funding major advancements in children’s health.
It didn’t take long for Blackshear to realize that a UR-Wegmans dining collaboration was a no-brainer and “a celebration of two iconic Rochester institutions” that could enrich campus life.
He walked into the Pittsford Wegmans and told a produce department worker he was interested in talking with someone about it. The employee passed Blackshear’s information up the chain of command, which led to meetings and tastings and a test run.
Reaction on UR campus
The reaction on campus? “Nothing but ecstatic,” said David Ochterbeck, retail manager for the Pit.
The Wegmans Meals Markets have become permanent additions to the school’s dining options.
Currently, Wegmans delivers a total of 3,000 to 4,000 food items per week — from Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies to protein bowls to vegetarian options — a university spokesperson said.
Blackshear appreciates that the choices cater to a variety of palates, preferences and needs.
“We have students from all over the world here,” he said. “And the food offers good, balanced nutrition. For me, university dining is as essential as mental health and physical healthcare. One of first acts of care is feeding someone.”
The food is available to the entire university community; students pay with their meal plans or credit cards.
One of the more popular items is the Latin Chicken Bowl — chicken thigh meat with quinoa brown rice, Caribbean black beans, Monterey Jack cheese, roasted tomato salsa, Pico de Gallo, roasted sweet corn and cilantro lime green sauce.
Zachary Herzog, a junior, is a fan.
Grabbing that dish or Wegmans burrito a couple times a week is a welcome option, he said.
“It’s much quicker and easier to just grab stuff and go, and it’s just good food as well.”
Pit manager Ochterbeck is partial to those Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies.
“Cookies are my favorite food group,” he said. “I could eat cookies all day.”
Blackshear hopes to see the program expand further at UR.
Certainly, there would be support. Third-year Katherine Guallpa said that visiting the Wegmans display in Hillside Market between classes has become part of her routine.
“I love Wegmans,” said Guallpa, while picking up a bowl of Wegmans pasta Alfredo with broccoli and chicken to go. “I don’t know what I’d do without it.”
Wegmans is thinking even bigger.
“With the success of the Meals Market program at U of R, we are continuing to grow the program, targeting colleges, universities, and healthcare organizations throughout our markets,” a spokesperson said by email.
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: How Wegmans is changing college dining at the University of Rochester
Reporting by Marcia Greenwood, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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