We are delighted to have returned to this year’s TUCO Summer Conference alongside other suppliers and delegates in the HE catering community, which took place from 25 – 27 July at Keele University. The event was packed with talks, exhibition activities and the TUCO Awards 2022 to celebrate the efforts and achievements of member teams and individuals throughout the past year.
The event was a great source of current insights about the latest trends and matters of concern for the catering community in universities and colleges. Our team also enjoyed having many conversations with delegates about how Uniware’s solutions can help them tackle various challenges and make the most of new opportunities in the market.
Launch of Scan – Order – Pay, Uniware’s latest QR code online order solution
As one of the latest solutions in Uniware’s innovative product suite, Scan – Order – Pay was specially designed and built to help education caterers overcome challenges with staffing issues while enhancing their customer experience. The solution can be used for both users with or without the Upay app, offering customers more flexibility to take advantage of all available loyalty benefits, or just quickly make an online order with no download or registration required.
Since it is natively built into the Uniware EPoS system, Scan – Order – Pay offers university and college caterers many unique benefits that other similar solutions in the market don’t have, such as:
Unique QR code linking directly to an outlet, or multiple QR codes applicable for different types of buyers, different catering outlets or different events
Consistent data collection across all catering outlets and sales channels
Real-time data review and analysis in one central system
Student VAT exemption
Easy online menu creation from existing items
Click here to find out more about Scan – Order – Pay or book a one-on-one demo with our team to see how it works at your site.
Industry insights: the latest topics of interest and concern for education caterers
Sustainability and various related topics such as plant-based food and waste reduction were a strong theme throughout the event, and Keele University as the event host was most suiting with its various sustainability-related projects across all teams, from a Renewable Energy Generation Park to smaller-scaled but not less important campaigns such as reusable cups and takeaway boxes throughout its campuses.
While many keynote speeches and organized activities revolved around sustainability, conversations among delegates seemed to be more about the day-to-day concerns and struggles of managing university/college catering operations, such as high costs due to the continued inflation, supply chain issues and staff shortages. We asked Paul Whitcombe, Uniware's Account Manager, about what hot topics he has heard delegates discuss for the past few days at the conference. Paul said: "Over the last 3 days, it's been fantastic to meet with various universities and colleges, as well as like-minded suppliers from various industries. One common theme has been staffing and supply issues, and how systems and tech can support and make things easier for the catering industry. Although these are not keynote topics, they are high on the agenda for many delegates."
Struggling with staffing issues yourself? Check out how you can do more with fewer staff using the UPoSM all-in-one mobile PoS, or adopting our QR code online order solution, Scan – Order – Pay.
Celebrating teams and individuals in the HE catering community
We joined the organisers, exhibitors and delegates to congratulate the winners of the TUCO Awards 2022, which celebrates the efforts and achievements of various teams and individuals in the HE catering community. The winners include:
Edge Hill University, winner of the Innovation Award
The University of Chester, winner of the Sustainability Award
Green Shoots Cafe at Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd, winner of TUCO Team of the Year
Amy Maher from The University of Huddersfield, winner of the Rising Star Award
The University of Bristol, winner of TUCO Member of the Year
Nick Leach from The University of Portsmouth, winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award
Missed us at the show? Get in touch today and see how we can help!
You can find out more about Uniware’s full range of products under the Solutions tab, or get in touch with us via info@uniware.co.uk for a one-on-one product demo.