College replaces dining director with Bon Appetit

Knox College has hired a new dining service, replacing retiring Director of Dining Services Helmut Mayer.

The college has entered a one-year contract with Bon Appétit Management Company to run its food service. Bon Appétit will bring two of its employees to Knox and all dining services employees will remain employees of the college, said the college's Chief Communications Officer Megan Scott.

Knox College dining services employs about 150 student workers each term.

“We had an open forum in may with Bon Appétit and another company,” Scott said. “We solicited feedback from those who attended, and Bon Appétit was the company of choice.”

The Palo Alto, California-based company operates more than 650 cafes across the country, including at several colleges and universities.

“They have a wonderful reputation in higher education, and a number of our peer institutions have been using them,” Scott said.

With a one-year contract, Knox will be reviewing Bon Appétit throughout the year.

“We thought we would explore this option, but also recognized this is a big change, so we are doing this for a year,” Scott said. “We’ll review throughout the year and see if we want to continue in this direction.”

In a statement, Bon Appétit district manager Kris Kotte said the company is excited to work with Knox.

Bon Appétit is replacing Mayer, who is retiring after directing Knox’s dining since 2008. In 2011, he received a Golden Beet award for using locally-grown, sustainable food.