Heading into the new school year, Sodexo made three big changes regarding dining services on campus.
The Cafeteria, known colloquially as the Caf, has implemented a new, eco-friendly to-go process after the Sustainability Council and Associated Student Government pushed for styrofoam bans on campus. Sodexo opted to give out reusable plastic containers to minimize waste on campus.
“We made a commitment to the students last year after COVID and the thousands upon thousands of styrofoam boxes that we used last year, that we would be 100% styrofoam free. So we purchased the recyclable ‘Green To-Go Boxes,’” General Manager for Dining Services at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Shelly Duran said.
This year, each resident with a meal plan was given a key fob upon move-in. The fobs can be exchanged for a to-go box which students can bring back home with them. The next time a student comes to The Caf, they can either decide to get another box and exchange the used box for a clean one, or they can exchange the box for another key fob if they wish to dine in that time.
Dining Services wants to ensure that there is always an exchange going on; that the student always walks away with something, box or fob. If a student loses a box or a fob, they can purchase a new box for $2 or they can use the paper to-go boats at each of the lines.
“We really wanted to stay behind our commitment to no styrofoam and to provide as little waste as possible. That’s why the to-go boxes [and boats] are such a good option. We want to make sure that students who just forgot [their box or fob], or came running out from class or something like that still had another option to grab something to go if they needed to,” Duran said.
The dining in Tomlinson Library has been rebranded to better accommodate student feedback. Before Fall 2021, the library served exclusively Mexican food, pizza and pasta.
“They [Tres Habaneros and Pandini’s] were a branded concept. So we had to follow the rules of the brand. We couldn’t change recipes, we couldn’t change sizes, we couldn’t really do anything to be creative with it. We’ve gotten enough comments from students, well, why can’t you just do this? Why can’t we have this kind of pizza? Why can’t we have this type of Mexican cuisine? We made the decision to eliminate the brands and create our own,” Duran said.
The former “Tres Habaneros” is now rebranded as “Picantes.” It is very similar to what students had before, except now a chef and their team are allowed more freedom with the recipes and food in general.
“Pandini’s” is now “What the Mav?” (WTM?), which is centered around its rotating menu every three and a half weeks. Currently, WTM? is serving its “Americano” concept which features different types of noodles, meats and cheeses. Upcoming concepts include an Indian cuisine with different types of curry and an Asian concept with friend rice and different types of protein.
The Starbucks and Deli area in Houston Hall have been transformed into “Take Five.”
“We took that sandwich component and that deli area we had in the middle that was never really very successful for us. We took that out, we cleaned up that area and we really made it like a mini-version of Rowdy’s,” Duran said.
“Take Five” allows more variety for students while still maintaining the deli and coffee component from before. It does this by integrating student suggestions into the venue mix.
“The one thing that’s really important to all of us is that the students’ voices are heard. So we want them to be able to say, ‘Hey, you know, I want to have this certain product or thing down here.’ As long as we can get the product and it’s affordable, we will listen to those suggestions,” Duran said.
Duran stated that feedback from students is encouraged by leaving a review with an employee, supervisor or using the comment cards by each dining option. Additionally, students can communicate their comments and concerns to Duran directly, by emailing shelly.duran@sodexo.com.
