Lizzie Martinez

Senior reporter

This semester, rumors circulated that the college was planning to switch food service contractors from Sodexho to Bon Appétit. Director of Auxiliary Services Brad Sinn refuted the idea.

“We are not switching service providers,” Sinn said. “There is no truth behind the rumor.”

According to its Web site, www.bamco.com, Bon Appétit Management Company is an on-site custom restaurant corporation. It focuses on serving businesses, colleges and universities with café and catering services.

The company is a direct competitor with Sodexho, which specializes in integrated food service and facilities management in a variety of settings, according to its Web site, www.sodexhousa.com.

 Linfield has a contract with Sodexho, which is updated annually to account for price adjustments and  other expenditures. Because the entire college budget must be drafted by July 1, the beginning of the college’s fiscal year, the contract is typically reviewed in March or April.

Sinn said there are no plans to change providers from Sodexho in the near future. Sodexho General Manager Bill Masullo concurred.

“If we are changing, that’s news to me,” Masullo said.

Sinn said he was aware that the rumor had surfaced recently, and he suspected the story began with the hiring of Masullo last December.

Masullo was previously employed by Bon Appétit for 16 years at Lewis & Clark College and Willamette University.

“We did change the leadership team,” Sinn said. “(Masullo) brings all of his experience from that
company.”

Though the rumor is not true, other changes are planned for next year, notably a major renovation of O’Riley’s Café.

Construction will begin during the summer months to add a more efficient service window and to create a café-like atmosphere. New colors, furnishings and fixtures will also be added, and the menu will be adjusted.

“If you are familiar with O’Riley’s at all, you know there is kind of a bottleneck there often,” Sinn said. “We’d like to improve that and bring it up to date.”

A budget of $90,000 will be used to make all these changes, and the newly remodeled coffee shop will be ready to open in time for orientation weekend in August.

As for Sodexho, Masullo has big plans for the future, but he is taking it slow in pursuing these goals to get to know the college better.

His work with the Advisory Committee on environment and sustainability has opened up the door to increased environmentally-friendly practices at all the on campus eating locations.

A compost pile will also be added in the future.

“I think it’s great that the cups and plates are compostable, but it’s still going in the trash,” Masullo said.

The students’ attachment to the trays is another subject on Masullo’s radar. Having worked at other colleges, he noted that many campuses do not use trays.

“Here, when we did Trayless Tuesday a few times,  we got resistance,” Masullo said.

All of these challenges are just part of Masullo’s plan.

As a commuter from Salem, he said he spends his 45 minute drive each morning thinking about what Sodexho could be doing better.