The University will ask their food service provider, Sodexo, to reconsider its fruit pricing in J Street and other venues after a number of students expressed dissatisfaction with the high costs, Executive Vice President and Treasurer Lou Katz said.

The high price of whole fruits like bananas, apples and grapes was one of the most cited criticisms on the comment cards collected in J Street this February, said sophomore Chris Franzetti, director of the Dining Service Commission. Whole fruit currently costs 99 cents when paying by GWorld, since tax is excluded, and $1.09 without GWorld.

“Students want lower-priced, healthy options for food,” Franzetti said. “The comment cards showed that students want different options.”

Katz said he has heard several student complaints specifically about the whole fruit pricing.

“We will talk to [Sodexo] and see if they can have different pricing,” Katz said. “[The students’] issue was not with the pay-per-pound salad bar. Right now, they were hoping for different prices for the whole fruit.”

Katz said Sodexo has been accommodating with University requests in the past, including revamping their pricing policy for catering at student organization events.

Sam Ramos, Sodexo director of operations at GW, said fruit is expensive because Sodexo decides the prices at the beginning of each year and builds in a safety net in case their costs rise so they do not have to raise prices in the middle of the year.

“We look at the prices and do a comparison with other stores,” Ramos said. “You can’t compare us to grocery stores – they buy in a bulk that I can never do for [J Street].”