Students in the Hub have noticed they're getting less Odwalla for their buck in the Hub these days.
The $3.39 that used to get students 15.2 ounces of their favorite Odwalla smoothie, shake or juice, but the larger bottles were recently replaced by 12-ounce bottles.
"I went to the Hub one day and all the Odwalla bottles were smaller than normal," said freshman Ashley Rosenfeld. "Why? Did they give a reason?"
According to the Odwalla website, the new bottles are the result of a switch to a plant-based bottle called HDPE plastic, which is made from sugar cane and is recyclable. The site says the change will help reduce Odwalla's dependency on fossil fuels. The change in size, however, was not explained.
Steve Santo, dining services manager for DePauw's food provider, Sodexo, explained that Odwalla mandated the change in sizing. Santo is unsure what instigated this change, saying he had not been in contact with the company to discuss it in further detail.
"If you look on the side of the bottle, it now says ‘made from plants'. This might have influenced the change," Santo said.
Students on campus have expressed their confusion at the change in portions.
Santo has recently become aware of the students' frustration at the change, recognizing it could decrease the sales of these smoothies.
"I've never tried the Odwalla smoothies, but that makes me not want to try them" freshman Bri Moore said, echoing students' distaste for the change.
Although Santo plans to contact Odwalla about the change in sizing, he said that he does not have any say in the change, explaining that this is not the first time he has seen items sold in smaller portions for the same price.
"We saw this with Häagen-Dazs ice cream a few years ago," Santo said. "Even at the grocery store, the same thing you could buy in a ten-pack before is now sold in an eight-pack for the same price. You see it happening everywhere."
