KATE SCHWARTZ
News Assistant
From new products to new venues, Pepperdine students have noticed many recent changes in the Waves Café and other dining areas.
“We are really trying to give students more of a variety,” said Tony DiRaddo, project manager for Sodexho, Pepperdine’s food service provider. “We want students to feel that they have many things that they can spend those huge meal plans on.”
Among the recent changes is the remodeled smoothie station in the Sandbar. Originally scheduled to open at the beginning of the semester, Freshens Smoothie Bar opened Tuesday.
“We had a few construction setbacks,” DiRaddo said. “So we just decided to hold off on the demolition until we got everything figured out.”
Housing Director Jim Brock said construction was almost postponed until next year, but he is happy Freshens opened in time for spring semester.
Brock said, although he has not gotten the exact cost of the project, he thinks it cost about $40,000 from the Housing and Community Living budget. He worked closely with Dining Services and SGA to make Freshens their major project for the year.
“SGA has been asking for a fresh fruit smoothie for a couple of years now,” said SGA President Kevin Mills. “We thought students would really like it and wanted to make sure it opened this year.”
Employees also had to train with Freshens and Pura Vida before serving it to students.
“We had to fly them out to Atlanta for a few days to train,” DiRaddo said. “Representatives from both of the companies also came out and trained here at Pepperdine. It’s definitely a big deal.”
Freshens smoothies, based in Atlanta and primarily operating on the East Coast, have become growingly popular on college campuses. Florida University, Vanderbilt University, New York University and 400 other colleges already feature the smoothies.
They can also be found in malls and airports across the country.
DiRaddo said due to an ongoing relationship between Sodexho and Freshens, Pepperdine does not pay any type of franchise fee.
“We often work with Freshens hand in hand as a contract vendor,” DiRaddo said. “It’s a great relationship and a brand that Sodexho has worked with a lot in the past.”
He also said the responses he has been getting have only been positive.
“I get students stopping me all the time saying how wonderful all of the changes we have been doing are,” DiRaddo said.
“I never really even thought to go to the old Islandz,” said freshman Kristen Butler, “but not I am so excited to go to the new one. It looks really good.”
He attributes the dining makeovers to a “recent shift in management.” Those changes include the new Islandz, the recent sale of Odwalla juices and bars, and other additions that will be released later this semester.
“We are going to bring a lot more natural and organic things,” said DiRaddo. “The truth is, if its not there, the students can’t buy it. ”
The Freshens smoothie bar will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 3 to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
DiRaddo expects the hours to be longer next spring but encourages student input and responses before any changes are made.
“I think the new smoothie bar is great,” said junior Jaime Ruiz. “Pepperdine should have done this a long time ago.
03-29-2007