INDIANOLA, Iowa — Millie’s Coffee Shop now offers more protein-based and grab-and-go food options, including hard-boiled eggs and beef jerky, according to Sodexo staff.

This addition serves as a compromise for Au Bon Pain not opening until 9 a.m., which is the No. 1 complaint about dining services, said Mindy Murphy, general manager of Sodexo.

The best-sellers from ABP are now sold in Millie’s to help ease complaints and provide healthier options that are easy to take on-the-go.

Murphy said the items purchased before 9 a.m. in ABP were typically fruit cups, yogurt and other grab-and-go items, rather than sandwiches.

Millie’s added fruit and yogurt cups last semester, a move which has been successful. Dining services is now trying to add a variety of portable options that will fit the needs of students wanting a quick breakfast before morning class.

Simpson needed to reduce the hours of operation from either ABP, Millie’s or Pfeiffer Dining Hall, and when looking at purchase history, cutting ABP’s hours made the most sense, Murphy said.

“Simpson just doesn’t have the traffic of student body to support every single area the way that we were running the hours last year, so we had to make some operational changes,” she said.

Cutting Pfeiffer’s hours was illogical because of how busy it is in the mornings, especially with student athletes. The decision then came down to either Millie’s or ABP.

By putting the best-sellers from ABP in Millie’s, dining services aims to give students the best of both worlds.

“ABP was a hard decision but also something that made the most sense when you were looking at what was being bought and the flow of traffic,” Murphy said. “It’s really going to take a little while for people to get used to it.”

Murphy said the idea stemmed from food committee, which meets every other week to discuss changes and ideas for dining services.

Senior Cody Isabel, a food committee member, said the decision was made for students who want items they can grab in a hurry.

“It’s pretty much for people that don’t want to go to Pfeiffer in the morning for breakfast because ABP is closed until 9, so people who have 8 a.m. class can’t grab ABP where they usually have these types of options,” he said.

Freshman Kelli Hanson has an 8 a.m. class and said she would benefit from ABP opening earlier.

“It would be nice if it were open earlier so you could get breakfast there before class,” she said.

The addition of more protein-based foods is a step in the right direction, Hanson said, and she plans to try some of the new options at Millie’s for a healthier alternative.

Both Murphy and Isabel are expecting the new items to be popular at Millie’s.

“I think it’s not a perfect option, but it’s better than before, so I hope people like it,” Isabel said.