Fueling Student Athletes for Peak Performance Takes Precise Nutrition: Aramark Collegiate Hospitality Launches Eat to Excel™ Dining Platform Designed Specifically for Athletes
- The Eat to Excel program offers nutrition education and personalized fueling guidance to student athletes, potentially improving their performance.
- The program is designed for Division II and III athletes, expanding comprehensive training table support beyond Division I programs.
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Aramark Collegiate Hospitality (ACH) has launched a performance-based dining platform designed to help student athletes excel on and off the field. Created with Division II and III athletes in mind, Eat to Excel provides an educational, menu and nutrition tracking solution on campuses that do not have dedicated training tables for student athletes.
Created by Aramark Collegiate Hospitality’s registered dietitians and culinarians, the Eat to Excel™ program features easy-to-understand nutrition education and personalized fueling guidance. Student athletes can access this information on campus in dining halls through menu highlights and via catering options, including buffets and boxed meals for away games.
Student athletes can download the Eat to Excel™ health and wellness app that helps them to choose the right foods to eat, personalized to each student’s training schedule, goals, and biometrics. The “plate” recommendation provided by the app—which is fully integrated with the campus dining program —varies based on each student athlete’s needs of training, resting, or preparing for competition, recommending just the right combination of protein, carbohydrates, and colors (fruits and vegetables).
“We think student athlete success is dependent on a sound nutrition foundation and education to help them achieve their goals,” said Dan Wainfan, Vice President of Health, Wellness, and Nutrition. “We are excited to offer this program with all student athletes in mind.”
Traditionally, comprehensive training table support has largely been reserved for Division I athletics programs. Aramark’s Eat to Excel™ program makes it easy for campuses to support all of their student athletes more comprehensively than before, particularly those in Division II and III programs. Students can maximize their meal plans to gain the fuel they need with personalized dietary plans unique to each student’s sport, activity level, and schedule. The program is designed with an approach similar to a traditional training menu but is made for every athlete and every higher education institution, giving student athletes access to balanced nutrition for peak performance.
Eat to Excel™ was piloted in the spring 2023 semester at select schools and was enthusiastically received by student athletes. The program is promoted through tabling events, live demonstrations and assistance, peer-to-peer communication, dining hall signage, website promotion, and direct collaboration with the campus leaders, athletic director, and coaching staff to reinforce the benefits of the program and assist in driving performance gains.
“Proper nutrition is critical for athletes to train and perform at a high level. I really believe it can be another competitive advantage for athletes, similar to what strength training did for athletes many years ago. The knowledge we have today to customize nutritional needs for various sports is amazing. That is why I think the Eat to Excel™ program is important,” said Barry Fried, Director of Athletics at
About Aramark
Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) proudly serves the world’s leading educational institutions, Fortune 500 companies, world champion sports teams, prominent healthcare providers, iconic destinations and cultural attractions, and numerous municipalities in 18 countries around the world with food and facilities management. Because of our hospitality culture, our employees strive to do great things for each other, our partners, our communities, and the planet. Aramark has been recognized on FORTUNE’s list of “World’s Most Admired Companies,” DiversityInc’s “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” and “Top Companies for Supplier Diversity,” Newsweek’s list of “America’s Most Responsible Companies 2023,” the HRC’s “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality,” and scored
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Heather Dotchel
dotchel-heather@aramark.com
215-264-2112
Source: Aramark
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