In an effort to save students money without disrupting quality, the university has switched the way it deals with vendors for dining hall food.

Allen Foods Co. took over as the “sole source of food purchases” at the start of the spring semester this year to save money for students as well as the university and increase efficiency, Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs, said.

This semester marks the first time the university has one prime food vendor. In the past, there was a vendor for each type of food. Last fall, dining services had 18 different vendors delivering food to the university, a process that was a “nightmare,” Mark Hudson, director of University Housing and Dining, said Tuesday.

Hudson also said in the past system the university didn’t receive consistent

delivery of food and the students lost out because of it.

“(Allen Foods’) reputation is very strong for delivering,” he said.

Vendors bid on prices for food multiple times per semester with the university and prices fluctuated with each bid. Cooley said one prime vendor enables the university to negotiate with Allen Foods for lower “mark-ups” in food prices, saving the university “tens of thousands of dollars.”

The savings of the university through Allen Foods will then be relayed to students, who will get more quantities of food for their dollars.

“I’m very confident that it will be a positive relationship,” Hudson said. “(It) feeds into what are goals are.”

In addition, Cooley said the newly renovated food court’s purchases will increase, generating more money for the university.

Along with the new vendor, will be student taste tests for constant evaluation of different types of food to meet students “evolving interests,” Hudson said.

Hudson said the idea for a prime vendor had been under negotiation for the last “couple of years” and this past fall a team of administrators including Jody Horn, director of residential hall food service, Shirley Stewart, vice president for student affairs and Delisa Bowlin, purchasing officer.

Hudson also said a contract was signed before this spring semester that will secure Allen Foods as Eastern’s prime food vendor for 18 months, a contract that can be breached at any time.

The year and a half contract stipulates that the price doesn’t exceed $6 million, and eight vendors, including Allen Foods, Inc. of St. Louis, submitted proposals for the contract.

Allen Foods is not the only prime vendor on Eastern’s campus, Cooley said many other university materials are supplied through one vendor, including copy machines.

“There’s really no downside to it,” he said. “(It’s) much easier to manage and students save money.”