According to Sodexo Director of Operations Tinashe Dzvurumi, the University of Central Missouri and Sodexo are currently considering updating their contract to require students, faculty and staff to purchase pizza from Sodexo for all gatherings on campus, although the final decision has not yet been made. Many students have expressed dissatisfaction with this potential policy change.
“A lot of people complain about the food at Sodexo. I actually don’t think I have planned an event or gone to one that had Sodexo food. Most of the time, we just got pizza. So I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said sophomore Cienna Labayen.
On June 1, 2025, the contract between UCM and Sodexo was renewed, triggering both parties to begin discussions on altering previous policies. According to Dzvurumi, in the original contract signed in 2019, Sodexo was given the exclusive right to cater for all events hosted on campus, including club meetings, with the exceptions of pizza, donuts and popcorn. When the original contract was created, Sodexo did not offer pizza, so they allowed for outside brands to come on campus for events. Now, Sodexo has expanded to include pizza on their menus, which allows them to remove pizza as an exception.
“The pizza part came about because we did not have any pizza offerings on campus … So we said, ‘Okay, pizza is okay. People can bring pizza on campus.’ Same thing with donuts. We don’t have a donut shop on campus,” said Tinashe Dzvurumi, Director of Operations at Sodexo.
On the Campus Catering website, Sodexo provides seven different options of 16-inch pizzas, including vegetarian options. They also offer two smaller, 7.5-inch cauliflower-crust pizzas for those with gluten intolerance. There is no way to customize the pizzas but there is a way to give special instructions. Sodexo offers gluten-free crust but requires a two-week notice since they have to buy special crust from outside sources. Sodexo’s pricing is about the same as its competitors, with a 16-inch pepperoni pizza costing $17.52 and an extra-large pepperoni pizza from Domino’s costing $17.74.
With this potential change on the horizon, students have been openly critical of the original policy and its upcoming amendment.
“I think that it’s egregious,” said freshman Nick Tarr. “If we want to have Domino’s or whatever pizza place … Why aren’t we able to have that? Maybe Sodexo should improve their dining quality and then I wouldn’t be so upset with it, but I feel like most of the time, whenever I go to the food halls, it’s like bare minimum.”
UCM and Sodexo have yet to come to a conclusion on whether or not to require UCM events to purchase pizza through Sodexo.
“The discussions are still ongoing. We don’t know if anything is going to change or if everything is going to stay the same. We just haven’t come to an agreement on if changes are necessary or when changes are necessary; there are a lot of other factors that come into play that are not yet set in stone,” said Dzvurumi
Because of this, Sodexo is encouraging students to voice their opinions on the subject as they and UCM finalize their negotiations. Sodexo has an open-door policy with students and welcomes their opinions.
“We’re always open to suggestions and feedback. If students come to us and say, ‘Hey, this policy does not work for us. This is what we would like to see, or let’s change this policy to look a certain way.’ That’s feedback that we can then take and present to the university, or go to our discussions with the university and say, ‘Hey, this is what the students want. As Sodexo, this is what we propose,’ ” said Dzvurumi.
The Sodexo office is located in Ellis Hall, room L14. Sodexo also provides comment cards in the dining halls, which students can fill out.
