Overview

Sodexo is expanding the DefaultVeg strategy at college dining halls, making plant-based meals the default. Building on a successful pilot in all-you-can-eat university dining halls, the DefaultVeg strategy leverages subtle behavioral nudges to encourage students to choose more plant-based options. It is now embedded in the menu design for Sodexo dining halls at nearly 400 university and college campuses across the USA. Each dining hall offers plant-based options throughout its serveries, with one station alternating daily between plant-based and animal-based mains, and one dedicated plant-based station where feasible. Collectively, these halls serve roughly 1 million students every day. The impact has been striking: during the pilot, the share of students selecting plant-based dishes rose by 58.3% on days when plant-based options were the default, absent any other changes to the dining experience.

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Alignment with the EAT-Lancet Commission 

The DefaultVeg strategy advances the EAT-Lancet Commission’s goals by reshaping food environments to make sustainable meals the default.

During the pilot, the two universities that implemented the strategy most consistently saw a 150% increase in students choosing plant-based meals - with up to 81.5% opting for plant-based dishes. Across all three schools, this shift cut food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 23.6%.

Next steps

Build additional resources to effectively train and deploy the default menu structure and explore opportunities to expand the DefaultVeg program to other segments and regions.

For more information contact: Bettertomorrow.Group@sodexo.com