Hello, $2 Tacos!

     Bon Appétit, USF’s exclusive meal plan provider, has introduced daily value specials in the cafeteria.The value specials offer a different discounted food item each day of the week, from $0.75 coffee on Mondays, to $2 half sandwhiches on Wednesdays, to $0.99 sliders on Fridays.According to Bonnie Azab Powell, the Director of Communications at Bon Appétit Management Company, Bon Appétit USF has been developing a number of initiatives to address student concerns with food pricing and quality.Such student concerns recently culminated in a boycott of Bon Appétit dining services, organized by ASUSF Senate, on Thursday November 21.

Though Bon Appétit USF was not available to provide comment on the boycott’s financial impact, the act did not go unnoticed.

Bon Appétit Resident District Manager Holly Winslow responded to the boycott in an interview with USFTv. “I love the fact that students want to voice their opinion,” she said. “I would have loved to have been involved in the process earlier.”

In addittion to the daily value specials, Bon Appétit wil provide a 25% discount on catering for all student groups — effective immediately — and an expanded traning process for cashiers to reduce transaction times and long lines, Powell said.

There will also be an online survey starting in December to include feedback from the entire student body, she said.

Winslow and Bon Appétit’s Executive Chef, Marco Alvarado, will also reinstate the student food advisory committee, which meets throughout the semester to address concerns and give feedback on how the food service program could be improved.

The changes will be incorporated throughout the remaining time of this semester.

While the specific menu for the daily value specials is still being developed, students can expect items such as $1 pizza slices, $1 grill sliders, and $2 Taco Tuesdays.

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UPDATE: After this issue went to print, Anne-Marie Devine, USF’s senior director of media relations, shared this comment about how the boycott affected Bon Appetit financially:

“While specific sales figures are not released, we do know that there was a dip in sales on the day of the boycott. That was due in part to the food trucks scheduled by a sorority on Gleeson Plaza that day. We hope that the dip in sales translated into a positive for the food truck fundraiser, raising significant funds for the CASA program.”