Customer Appreciation Day

The breakfast line at Putnam's was noticeably shorter Friday as students passed up the usual morning fare to try out more than 100 different types of free food and drink in the Student Union Lobby. Forty-eight vendors were invited to participate in annual Customer Appreciation Day, hosted by Campus Dining and Shops (CDS).

"Customer Appreciation Day is a free food sampling day open to all students, faculty and staff at UB," said Ray Kohl, marketing manager of CDS.

After students and faculty sampled the different products, they were asked to fill out a survey that listed all the foods in order of appearance. According to CDS, results of the survey cards will determine what products will be available for next year's menus on campus.

"It is a great opportunity for the UB community to sample new products that we are considering bringing in," Kohl said. "They get to judge the products and decide what would be a good fit for the university."

Following this year's sports theme, blue, white and red dividers marked off areas along with balloons and d?(c)cor. Victor E. Bull was in attendance to greet those waiting in line.

Survey cards also acted as raffle tickets that people returned to get a chance at winning gift cards, a bicycle, a football and an inflatable boat among other things.

According to Rose Polino, office manager and event coordinator, Customer Appreciation Day has become a UB tradition - one that's been around longer than the nine years she has been organizing it.

A variety of beverages, produce, cold wraps, sushi, and soup were available, including several different coffees, teas and desserts.

Pistachios and the Tiffin Room were closed and used to prep enough food to feed a line of people that wrapped around the tunnel leading out of the union.

Melissa Yochman, a senior psychology, health and human services major, said that she waited in line for 45 minutes to get a shot at some free snacks.

Despite the long lines, CDS customers were determined and in the end deemed it worth the wait.

"I want them to bring BBQ ribs to UB. I also liked the brownies," said Donnie Smith, a freshman psychology major. "It was definitely worth the 30 minute wait."

The wide variety made the decision about what food students would like to see at UB very difficult for some.

"It was awesome. I had a little bit of everything and I checked yes for most of it," said Keith Carver, a sophomore mechanical engineering major.

According to Bryan Sequira, student manager of Putnam's, the Tyson chicken products were one of the foods brought in after last year's Customer Appreciation Day event. Next year's new items will be this year's student favorites.

"The crab soup was the best. I also liked the sushi and the frozen smoothie drinks," said Sue Moskal, a staff member of the department of romance languages.

Customer Appreciation Day aims to make campus dining more satisfying for students and faculty, Polino said.

"I think it is a really good idea that they do this. I think I had a little bit of everything but I liked the fresh fruit and salad," said Amy Guard, a junior accounting major.

All leftover food from Customer Appreciation Day was sent to the Buffalo City Mission, an organization helping the homeless and needy of Western New York.