From one of our Millennial teammates – With only ten minutes to purchase and eat my lunch before my next class begins, I find myself more often than not choosing pizza without even realizing I had made the same lunch decision yesterday and the day before. Between the ease and price of grabbing a quick slice, pizza has become a delicious and filling necessity for college students.
On my campus, we have a classic brick pizza oven that fills the entire cafeteria with enticing smells that attracts everyone. In fact, the pizza and pasta line is always the longest line of them all. But how did pizza emerge as the No. 1 meal for college students?
Americans, in general, love pizza and almost every city across the nation has their unique way of making it their own. Chicago has their deep-dish pizzas, folding a New York slice in half is normal, and a healthier thin crust is more popular in California styles. Of course, no slice is complete without pepperoni.
In my opinion, students inherently have their individual preferences, but overall, a slice of pizza is a slice of pizza no matter how you make it. What many seem to care more about is the quantity. In a world where most of our friends are just as broke as we are, we want to get some bang for our buck and will choose the pizzeria that sells the largest slices. My school does not have as large of slices as the pizza place within fifteen minutes walking distance, but the ease of ordering from the cafeteria and the time schedule I am on for classes makes up for the size of the slice. Therefore, location always makes a difference in attracting young customers.
Students are ultimately chasing deals. Pizzerias near college campuses have created deals exclusively for students such as a discount for showing a student identification card. It is not only college students they are trying to attract, it is a younger generation in general. Businesses can do this by staying open late for the late-night crowd and offering a deal like a discount on beer if you buy a couple of slices.
So will I decide to choose something other than pizza for lunch? Potentially, but probably not during the chaos of cafeterias or late-night cravings. Pizza is classic and surely is here to stay amongst every age group.