Starting School This Fall Will Be Easier to Digest as Sodexho USA Launces New Dining Experience Designed by Students for For Students

GAITHERSBURG, MD, August 22, 2005-Sodexho USA (NYSE: SDX), the nation's leading provider of food and facilities management services, announced today that its Campus Services Division has created the first ever Student Board of Directors, a group of students who provide insight and feedback into what “today's college student” is really looking for from campus dining.

Fourteen students, representing all college years and different types of campuses, were chosen to voice their ideas on campus dining. Based on their suggestions, Sodexho conducted focus groups with more than 50 students from across the US. The result is the development of a Customenu and plans for implementation of additional concepts throughout the year. Customenu's recipes have been created by Sodexho in response to the focus group students' taste preferences and will be rolled out across the nation this fall.

“We believe that our intimate understanding of our customers' needs, tastes and preferences is one of the key ingredients that keeps us the industry leader,” said Tatjana Keuper, senior vice president of marketing for Sodexho's Campus Services Division. “Understanding means that we must be continually seeking new and better ways to listen to students and giving them the services they want-whether it be food with a cultural twist, convenience, social atmosphere and ambiance, or all the above.”

Sodexho will continue to work with its Student Board of Directors until its members graduate, at which time new members will be invited to join. Current members act as liaison between all the students on their campuses and Sodexho.

“This was a great experience as a student to feel that Sodexho was really listening to what I feel is important,” said Erin Gaynor, communications studies major at Chapman University in Orange, California.” Other students were equally impressed that Sodexho requested their voices at the discussion table. “I definitely got the feeling our ideas were taken seriously and will be utilized in the future,” said Jason Lively, hospitality and tourism administration student at Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts.

Sodexho USA (www.sodexhoUSA.com) is the leading provider of food and facilities management in the United States, with $6 billion in annual revenue and 120,000+ employees. Sodexho USA offers innovative outsourcing solutions in food service, housekeeping, grounds keeping, plant operations and maintenance, asset management, and laundry services to more than 6,000 corporations, health care, long term care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, military and remote sites in North America. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, Sodexho USA proudly serves as the official food service provider for the US Marine Corps.