Less than a year after the College announced intentions to contract with Bon Appetit Dining Services provider, the department of Residential Life and Services (ResLife) has been informed that the San Francisco-based company has been bought by the Compass Group.
The Compass Group is a British company that runs catering and dining services internationally. One of the other sub-companies in the Compass Group is Chartwells, a corporation which was also a finalist for the dining contract after the College severed ties with Sodexho-Marriott last year. Bon Appetit’s board of directors informed the college late last week of the impending transaction.
This announcement may have negative effects on students’ and administrators’ thoughts about the dining service for next year since Bon Appetit was chosen over Chartwells originally because of the differentiation inquality and variety of the food made available by each company. However, ResLife has been reassured that no changes will be implemented either in food preparation or dining hall management as a result of the acquisition of Bon Appetit by the Compass Group.
It is expected that no changes would take place in the dining services at Oberlin. He said that the Compass Group has not actually bought out Bon Appetit, but that it will pay the $155.8 million to the largest shareholder in the company, a Japanese company called the Shidax Corporation. Since the Compass Group is not buying the entire company, Bon Appetit does not anticipate being held answerable to the Compass Group.
This fact is highly reassuring to those who feel that Bon Appetit has been an excellent choice for catering in the dining halls. Many students and administrators alike feel that the company has done its work well and that there is a much higher level of satisfaction than in years past with Sodexho-Marriott.
Kim LaFond, Dean and Director of Residential Life and Services, was very complimentary about the service that Bon Appetit has provided both from his personal point of view and from the results of surveys that Residential Life and Services has taken. Bon Appetit was chosen as Oberlin’s new dining services provider after administrators visited both the University of Pennsylvania and Goucher College and saw that the food quality was very high.
Recommendations from both colleges about the company focused mainly on the great food, whereas recommendations for Chartwells from Townsend State University focused on the company’s excellent management.