From 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Concordia students can file into Anderson Commons to stack a new drink atop their usual breakfast menu. The smoothie flavor put out is different from the last, and with everything from raspberry to “Peach Mango Power”, they still share one commonality:
“I like how they’re dairy-free,” said Brianna Orta, a student at Concordia. “I’m lactose intolerant, so I can’t really have most of my items and smoothies. So [that’s been] nice as a replacement.”
Smoothies have been an on-and-off feature of Concordia’s Dining Services (DS) since before the COVID-19 pandemic, though the times and serving sizes they offered remained largely inconsistent.
Shane Garske, a residential dining manager, is the brains behind the mission to bring them back. While not available for comment, another residential dining supervisor, Pat Dew, spoke in his place.
“I promised that I’d give him credit for this,” said Dew. “He’s a thinker.”
DS has increased the frequency of the smoothies from when they were only offered on Mondays, as well as significantly expanded the flavors.
“Previously we had, like, four flavors, and that’s it,” said Dew. “We were kind of limited with flavors, especially when it comes to fruit and depending what time of year it was. Now there’s all kinds of options. The smoothie world has grown.”
An official schedule does not exist for the semiweekly smoothie flavors because it allows staff to be adaptable to any curveballs thrown their way. Anything with strawberry or mango is bound to be a success, for example, but DS needs to make sure there is enough product to keep up with demand for the whole two and a half hours — usually between 350 and 400 smoothies.
The workload itself is why it only occurs twice a week instead of having a smoothie bar available every day. DS has the most staff working from Tuesday to Thursday on any given week, and in the mornings there aren’t many student workers.
“It’s college. Being a morning person is not easy,” said Dew. “We base all our student workers around availability.”
That said, DS still plans to continue smoothies next school year on a similar schedule. This spring has been the “trial period” for the setup. While the flavors will likely repeat, there will be more variety than the last time they were launched.
Not all of the details have been finalized yet, however. Smoothies may stay as a seasonal beverage, depending on demand.
“Not everybody likes smoothies in the winter. Smoothies tend to be a spring or fall kind of thing,” said Dew. “Obviously this spring, the last few weeks, [it’s] been a huge hit, but December, maybe not.”
Some Concordia smoothie enthusiasts, however, disagree.
“I feel like even when it was cold outside, we still would drink it no matter what,” said Orta.
“It’s just like when people still have cold coffee in the winter,” said Shophiy Rai. “I feel like this is a healthier option.”
If they do decide to have them year-round, Dew is already entertaining creative off-season flavors:
“There’s options there too, like a pumpkin spice smoothie.”
