Duke University Dining Services faces a $2 million budget deficit run up since it signed its contract with Compass Group and its Bon Appetit Mgt. Co. subsidiary in 2006, reports the Duke Chronicle. The change in vendors was made in tandem with an increased commitment to higher quality food and service. That resulted in more locations, longer dining hours, more meal choices and an increased emphasis on costlier local, organic and made-to-order food, increasing expenses by about $1 million a year.
The university had been subsidizing the shortfall out of central funds rather than passing it on to students, but says it can’t maintain that commitment because of tightened budgets across the board. However, school officials have agreed to put off any major changes in the dining program until the fall of 2010.