TCS students question whether Serviexpress’s prices reflect the quality and variety of the products available. While a Cookies & Cream Polet ice cream bar can be bought for $6.000 COP in other stores, Serviexpress sells it for $11.000 COP. The price raises a question: are TCS students receiving the same value as students in other Serviexpress cafeterias?
For TCS senior and loyal Serviexpress customer Violeta Gallon, this issue begins in the products themselves. If students can buy the same products outside of school for lower prices, the cafeteria needs to offer more competitive prices.
“The products I can buy at the cafeteria I can buy at any other store for a lower price, so no, the quality is not a different quality,” Gallon said.
Gallon’s concerns are more than just finding cheaper alternatives. TCS students have limited opportunities and time to eat and purchase food; affordability influences the products that they choose to buy.
“I would like to see the prices in the cafeteria decrease a little so they can be prices that are more accessible for students,” Gallon said.
Besides affordability, Gallon also questions how the steep prices will impact students’ purchases in the following years.
“I don’t think it’s fair, and I think that the prices should decrease significantly this year in order for people to keep buying things from the cafeteria”
While Gallon brings the perspective of a current TCS student, TCS 2025 graduate Joaquín Pérez has a broader perspective on the topic. After graduating, Pérez continued his studies at EIA University, where there is also a Serviexpress cafeteria; he can compare both cafeterias firsthand. His comments reveal the question of: what are students receiving for the price they’re paying?
“EIA students prefer to buy from many other places than from Serviexpress due to the fact that many other places give more value in terms of quality and cost,” Pérez said.
His comparison implies that the purchasing decisions of EIA students depend on the alternatives available, not only on the prices. This also applies to TCS, where there are currently about 40 student sellers with different alternatives. At EIA, Pérez notices the differences in product selection between the two cafeterias.
“The EIA cafeteria has a lot more to sell in terms of candy and soda and other things that the school foolishly prohibits,” Pérez said.
Even with the same provider, students encounter vast differences in products because of rules, size, etc. A larger offer gives students more voice, but it does not directly relate to a better cafeteria value.
For Pérez, the price/quality relationship is crucial for the comparison.
“The rising prices of the cafeteria, especially of Serviexpress should lead to better quality, but not necessarily in the case of EIA,” insisted Pérez.
Simón Franco, a student at Cumbres, a school that also has Serviexpress, provides a third perspective. Like Violeta Gallon, Franco considers the prices to be high, but he also suggests that the perception of value depends on the selection available at school.
“Yes, sometimes I do think that the cafeteria prices are high, at least here in Cumbres,” Franco said.
His experience is relevant because it shows the broader image; it shows how pricing concerns arise in multiple institutions with Serviexpress. Also, Franco believes the range of products is also an issue. His observations agree with Pérez’s, suggesting that variety needs attention and also affordability.
“The other Serviexpress cafeterias in other schools usually have more options or are bigger,” Franco said.
Both Franco’s and Pérez’s perspectives both show the possibility that consumer behavior can differ depending on the other food options available on campus. Franco believes that expanding the selection could address this issue.
“I think that Serviexpress could add more options in my cafeteria,” Franco said.
Together, the three students highlight the concerns about Serviexpress’s prices, quality, and variety. Their perspectives and experiences show that students want more than convenience; they want a cafeteria that offers a good price/quality value. Ultimately, students question whether what they receive is worth what they pay.