Chartwells took over UNM dining services June 6 and has already made changes to the SUB and La Posada.
After receiving a great deal of student feedback on the subject, the Board of Regents reached a consensus in March to sign an eight-year contract with Chartwells instead of renewing one with Aramark.
Chartwells District Manager Rudy Simchak said the new service will mean changes across the board at UNM. Not only will students see a new menu in La Posada, but there are already changes in the SUB.
The MarketPlace has been replaced with a sandwich shop. The Pizza Hut has closed and will possibly be replaced by Saggio's, Simchak said.
Simchak said prices at the SUB could increase by as much as 4 percent next semester due to the changes being made, though that decision is made by the University, not Chartwells.
Simchak said he has many more changes in mind. There will be menu changes in the dining hall, and he plans to bring in a variety of options including a new vegan and vegetarian section.
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As far as changes in the SUB, Simchak plans to focus on local business.
Higher Grounds, one of the restaurants that will still remain in the SUB, has already switched to Aroma Coffee, which is locally roasted, and hopes to get other local businesses to join the team, Simchak said.
He said he also hopes to bring more organic foods into the SUB as well as other food stores on campus like Dane's Deli.
Krystal Tuning, a sophomore, said she is not excited about the changes in the SUB, especially the loss of Pizza Hut.
"We already have a Saggio's right across campus, and Pizza Hut was better anyway," she said. "Now we have even less variety."
Simchak said there will not be much turnover in terms of employment. Students who worked for the restaurants under Aramark's contract need not worry about losing their jobs, he said.
The new restaurants coming in have been encouraged to hire employees from the previous business, and almost every employee of Aramark has been re-hired by Chartwells, he said.
Simchak said he also has plans for going green.
Chartwells already has a compost program in their kitchens; all food scraps are composted and distributed to local growers, he said.
They will also begin using post-consumer products and corn-based plastic, but there may be problems with that technology, Simchak said.
"As soon as you'd put one of those spoons into hot soup, it would dissolve," he said.
