Photo by: Brenden Cowan
In September, many new and returning Brock students noticed a new snacking option on campus.
Just a few meters away from the Scotiabank Hall entrance, on level 200 of Thistle Complex, is a brand new dining addition: a self-serve Yogen Früz vending machine.
Upon operating the machine, a screen appears that asks the customer if they want a regular or large size. After a choice is picked, the yogurt machine then offers three flavors: premium vanilla, snickerdoodle, and twist—-which is a combination of the first two flavours. A new flavour advertised beside the machine is called “pumpkin spice snickerdoodle,” which is available for a limited time only.
After a flavour is chosen, there are then six topping options to choose from: chocolate rocks, rainbow sprinkles, Reese’s Pieces, chocolate sprinkles, peanuts, and mini M&Ms. The toppings can be clearly seen in a disposable container inside the yogurt machine.
The machine then serves the frozen yogurt using the chosen size, type and topping chosen. While another dining option on campus is great, students have mixed reviews about it.
“It looks like a bull in a trench slope, I’ve never used it and it’s pretty pointless,” said Mike Roussos, a first-year kinesiology major. “It’s kind of out of place, I feel like it should be where the other food things are. If you would’ve put it downstairs in Market Hall, that would make more sense.”
Seemingly, most students are not making use of the frozen yogurt machine and its odd placement on the side of one of Brock’s busiest hallways might be the reason.
“I haven’t used it, I just think it’s kind of in the way,” said Sydney Bisci, a first-year English student.
The Yogen Früz machine sort of “pops out” of the wall, a move most likely made to advertise it, some students like Bisci seem to find it an inconvenience. Although most students admit to never using it before, some do not seem to mind its presence, and some just wish for yogurt to be served to them in a manual manner.
“I have never used it before, sometimes I do eye it, I’m not gonna lie,” said Ana Maria Serna Botero, a fourth-year sociology student, “I do find that that area of the university is lacking in food places, or in things to get food out of, so maybe if it was an actual person serving the yogurt, that’d be a lot nicer. The vending machine doesn’t really give you enough, I’ve seen the portions from my friends, and it’s just not the way they are marketed.”
Although student opinion on the vending machine is mixed, the yogurt vending machine’s rigid structure indicates that it might stay for a while.