case study | Egg soldiers
University of Manchester:
Transforming the Student Union food offer into a cohesive, scalable F&B strategy
Transforming the Student Union food offer into a cohesive, scalable F&B strategy
University of Manchester Students’ Union partnered with Egg Soldiers to review, rethink and rebuild their entire food and beverage operation.
UOM Students’ Union
Our Client
Our Client
University of Manchester Students’ Union is a multi-outlet hospitality environment serving a large and diverse student body, alongside staff, visitors and event audiences.
Its venues span cafés, bars and food kiosks, each playing a role in the wider campus experience.
Its venues span cafés, bars and food kiosks, each playing a role in the wider campus experience.
UOM Students’ Union
The Brief
The Brief
The SU required a full review of its catering services to inform a new strategic direction, with implementation targeted for the coming summer.
This included assessing product range, pricing, service delivery, marketing, staffing and operational structure, alongside identifying opportunities to maximise trade across dayparts and better serve evolving student needs.
This included assessing product range, pricing, service delivery, marketing, staffing and operational structure, alongside identifying opportunities to maximise trade across dayparts and better serve evolving student needs.
UOM Students’ Union x Egg Soldiers
Key Project Elements
- End-to-End Operational & Commercial AuditWe delivered a full audit of the University of Manchester Students’ Union food and beverage operation, reviewing menu performance, labour models, service delivery and customer experience across all outlets.
Our analysis identified gaps in commercial performance and missed revenue opportunities - common challenges in university catering environments.
This created a clear, data-led foundation to improve profitability, streamline operations and unlock growth across campus F&B. - Concept Strategy & F&B RepositioningWe developed a new food strategy designed specifically for a university audience, aligning concepts to student behaviours, dayparts and price sensitivity.
The resulting concept mix introduced scalable, relevant formats across breakfast, grab-and-go and street food, repositioning the Student Union as a competitive campus food destination.
This ensured the offer balanced affordability, quality and trend relevance, all in line with the essence of modern student union catering. - Implementation Roadmap & Scalable FrameworksWe translated strategy into a clear, phased delivery plan tailored to a complex university catering environment.
This included defined ownership, practical rollout steps and prioritised actions across food, people and operations, ensuring changes could be implemented efficiently by internal teams.
The roadmap provided a structured path from insight to execution, enabling the Student Union to confidently activate and sustain its new F&B strategy.
UOM Students’ Union x Egg Soldiers
The ResultThe project delivered a clear transformation roadmap, turning a fragmented operation into a cohesive, commercially driven hospitality strategy.
Key outcomes included:
Crucially, the SU was repositioned not just as a place to eat, but as a destination that supports student life, community and experience.
Key outcomes included:
- A fully redefined F&B proposition aligned to student needs and behaviours
- A scalable concept mix designed to drive footfall across all dayparts
- Improved margin opportunities through smarter pricing and product strategy
- Operational clarity through defined roles, processes and training frameworks
- A stronger platform for marketing, engagement and long-term growth
Crucially, the SU was repositioned not just as a place to eat, but as a destination that supports student life, community and experience.
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