University of Maryland Dining Services and the IDEA Central Cafe have partnered with xFoundry to create DeliXious Labs, a cafe that incorporates food technology into its menu, in the E.A. Fernandez IDEA Factory.
DeliXious Labs wants to “lower the barrier to food entrepreneurship” for community members by allowing students and outside local businesses to test specific ingredients, recipes or products in the cafe and receive consumer feedback, according to Dr. Phillip Alvarez, xFoundry’s associate director of ventures and partnerships. xFoundry is an organization at this university that aims to foster student innovation.
Alvarez defines food entrepreneurship as anything from opening a new restaurant, to making a kitchen robot, growing a new food or participating in other aspects of the food supply chain. DeliXious Labs is a good way for food entrepreneurs to debut their products, he said.
Tenants will cycle through the cafe, Alvarez said. The cafe’s current tenant is Kraveworthy Kitchens, a micro food hall with an organic plant-based menu, according to xFoundry’s website.
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Kraveworthy Kitchens was chosen as DeliXious Labs’ first tenant because their food does not replicate another food item that’s easily available on campus, according to xFoundry co-founder and executive director, Amir Ansari.
“Six months from now, a year from now, there could be a new tenant there,” Alvarez said. “This is intended to be something that serves multiple people in the community.”
DeliXious Labs has student participants test out new recipes and ingredients from different businesses and food entrepreneurs before they are debuted in the cafe, according to Alvarez.
“It’s a new model for how Dining Services can be utilized as a resource to the entire community,” said Alvarez.
xFoundry also wants to incorporate technology initiatives into DeliXious Labs, such as AI-based systems that can track peanuts being used in a food preparation space in case of allergies, according to Ansari. Students will have the chance to build these applications, and can be compensated if they succeed and hit the goals assigned to them in the creation process, he said.
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“We are using this space for people that are not necessarily inclined in the food space, but are related to food tech,” said Ansari.
The cafe is more of a “complete experience” compared to other cafes in the area, such as the Kirwan Food Court, due to the flexibility of its menu and its ability to cook food to order, according to Dining Services spokesperson Bart Hipple. DeliXious Labs is one of four cafes on campus that make their food on-site, Hipple said. Dining Services workers will still staff the cafe.
Some students, such as sophomore computer science and mathematics major Shara Alam, miss the food that the IDEA Central Cafe had on their menu and said they do not like that a menu item they enjoy can be taken away.
Despite this, Alam thinks the cafe will do well due to its changing menu and students’ desire to try new foods.
xFoundry plans to canvas students in the IDEA Factory area to see what type of food they would like in the cafe, according to Ansari. He thinks that other cafes on campus could benefit from this concept.
The cafe is currently in its trial phase and is planned to officially open next semester, Ansari said.
