Tribe Square businesses will negotiate with the College of William and Mary’s new food vendor for placement on the student meal plan.
After a three-year study of dining services operations and a review of proposals by a selection committee, Sodexo Inc. will replace Aramark in summer 2014 as the college’s vendor, according to an announcement from Anna Martin, W&M’s vice president for Administration.
“The committee overwhelmingly agreed that Sodexo presented a vision of building a world-class dining program with attention to quality, current culinary trends and sustainable practices for the College,” Martin said in the news release.
Tribe Square businesses will now enter into negotiations with Sodexo in the coming months to seek a subcontract that would put them on the college’s meal plan, Martin said in an interview.
Mooyah! owner Alpen Patel said he was looking forward to meeting with Sodexo and he was grateful for the work that had been done so far by college staff and President Taylor Reveley.
“I’d like to really thank the college for working with us and making it possible. Everybody down the chain helped as much as they could,” Patel said. “Mr. Reveley was personally involved and he helped tremendously.”
The meal plan, introduced in 2011, is being rolled out over four years and requires all students who live on campus to buy a portion of their meals from dining halls. Right now, Patel’s business, The Crust, Subway and Pita Pit — all located in Tribe Square beneath student housing — are not included in the meal plan.
The William and Mary Real Estate Foundation, a nonprofit charged with acquiring and managing land for the college, owns the Tribe Square building. The top floors are rented out as student housing and the bottom floors are leased out to the businesses.
Restaurant owners in the building said the meal plan is adversely hurting business. Pita Pit made $500,000 in sales in 2012 and reported $330,000 in December 2013. Because of the sharp drop in sales, business owners started negotiating with W&M dining services in November.
Sodexo and Tribe Square business owners will enter into negotiations in coming months. No timeline has yet been established.
