UC Berkeley’s 10-year beverage contract with Coca-Cola Co., which has previously been highly scrutinized by some students on campus, expired Wednesday and will likely be followed by a new contract with PepsiCo Inc.
In May, the university released a request for proposal which stated the minimum requirements necessary for beverage companies to bid for a contract. The only responsive bid came from Pepsi, according to Nadesan Permaul, the director of and alliance negotiator for the ASUC Auxiliary.
“No contract has been signed, but the campus is working closely with Pepsi to ensure that contract language acceptable to both parties is in place,” Permaul said in an email. “We unanimously drafted the RFP and are pleased that we received a responsive bid.”
If successful, the new contract will span from Aug. 3 to August of 2021.
Last spring, a group of concerned students joined forces with ASUC senators to author a bill condemning Coca-Cola’s business practices and urging the campus to reconsider the terms of its contract.
The student bill raised concerns about Coca-Cola’s labor, human rights and environmental track records in India and Guatemala as well as domestic health and sustainability practices.
Pepsi agreed to the minimum requirements outlined in the proposal, which include an annual $1.3 million sponsorship fee to be paid to campus stakeholders, product donations of $40,000, sustainability program support of $15,000 and marketing and promotion funds of $235,000.
“We were looking at the criteria and the amount of money we were receiving from the contract,” said former ASUC president Noah Stern. “Coke wasn’t willing to give us more money, improve their recycling program, so on all fronts Pepsi seemed to be a better fit.”
The contract’s stakeholders are composed of representatives from the four-unit campus beverage contract consortium — the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, the ASUC Auxiliary, Residential and Student Service Programs and the Recreational Sports Facility.
If passed, the contract will not only result in more revenue for members of the consortium, but Pepsi also seemed interested in recycling programs and working with students to meet the needs of the student body, Stern said.
“We’re going to see an open partner with Pepsi,” he added.
ASUC Cooperative Movement Senator Elliot Goldstein said there was a call from students for the contract to include environmental considerations and recycling programs. As a result, the proposal stated that the offer will be expected to address financial and operational support for recycling, waste reduction and minimization of plastic container use, recycled product use and promotional support.
While in previous contracts, certain sale goals had to be met in terms of volume, the new contract will not set any minimum sales for water bottles.
“It’s all part of the goal to remove bottled water, and Pepsi seemed more than willing to cooperate and support the recycling program,” Stern said.
Students at UC Berkeley also participated in an effort last spring to reduce plastic waste on campus. The “End the Sale of Bottled Water” initiative requested that the campus consider ending the sale of bottled water and increasing the number of working drinking fountains and hydration stations.
Not only will the new contract support sustainability on campus, but the agreement also contains “broader choices for students including healthier drink options, and will increase support to ASUC student groups through enhanced revenues over the next ten years to the ASUC,” Permaul said in the email.
Forming the proposal has been an ongoing collaborative process between members of the beverage consortium and the ASUC.
“Unlike our political leaders, the campus representatives and students worked out language that met the goals of a number of constituencies and needs, and produced a product that will serve the campus well over the next ten years,” Permaul said in the email.
Stern added that each of the members’ concerns were heard and that they weighed the needs of each of the units.
“I think everyone walked away getting something they wanted,” he said.
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Well as I said, forget the goodiea for me. NOTHING tastes better with Pepsi!
This decision is mostly about finding new revenues for student programs (obviously a huge problem.) Let’s be honest Pepsi isn’t really that much more sustainable than Coca-Cola. Here is an article with some interesting comparisons on the sustainable angle: http://www.fastcompany.com/1646746/sustainability-faceoff-coca-cola-vs-pepsico
Overrated most expensive USA public university: University of California Berkeley.
University of California (UC) picks the pockets of Californians,
foreign, out-of-state students clean. UC shouldn’t come to the Governor or
public for support. (The author has 35 years’ consulting experience, has taught
at UC Berkeley (Cal)
where he observed the culture & way senior management work)
University of California Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau ($500,000 salary)
has forgotten that he is a public servant, steward of the public money, not
overseer of his own fiefdom. These are not isolated examples: recruits (uses
California tax $) out of state $50,600 tuition students that displace qualified
Californians from Cal. public university education; spends $7,000,000 + for
consultants to do his & many vice chancellors jobs (prominent East Coast university accomplishing same 0 cost); pays
ex Michigan governor $300,000 for lectures; in procuring a $3,000,000 consulting firm he failed to receive
proposals from other firms; Latino enrollment drops while out of state
jumps 2010 (M Krupnick Contra Costa Times); ranked # 70 USA best universities
Forbes; tuition to Return on Investment drops below top 10; QS academic ranking
falls below top 10; only 50 attend Birgeneau all employees meeting; visits down
20%; absence Cal. senior management control NCAA places basketball program on
probation.
It’s all shameful. There is no justification for violations by
a steward of the public trust. Absolutely none.
Birgeneau’s irregularities continue. Governor Brown, UC
Board of Regents Chair Lansing must do a better job of vigorously enforcing stringent
oversight over Chancellor Birgeneau who uses the campus as his fiefdom.
[The student bill raised concerns about Coca-Cola’s labor, human rights
and environmental track records in India and Guatemala as well as
domestic health and sustainability practices.]
Personally, I would have worried about which one tasted better, and what arrangement was a better deal for the campus finances, but hey, that’s just me.
ripoff. i had to drink crappy coke all the years i was there. where was the pepsi when i needed it!!
Guess it’ll be water, hate pepsi! Was there a survey done for preference? Sad day and loss of revenue from this bear!!!!
Although I like Coke products better than Pepsi products, seems like ASUC milked the hell out of PepsiCo for all it’s worth. Still the decision should be based on the quality of the products not bleeding heart ethnic studies retards crying about Coke and shit that no one cares about
1o years? everyone involved with this decision will be long gone in 2
“Unlike our political leaders, the campus representatives and students
worked out language that met the goals of a number of constituencies
and needs, and produced a product that will serve the campus well over
the next ten years,” Permaul said in the email.”
Lol…they sort of forgot about the primary constituency, consumer demand, in this case, primarily the demand of Berkeley students, the majority of whom prefer coke to pepsi. I honestly don’t see why there can only be one companies product. As far as other beverages, there are far healthier alternatives than offered by Pepsi made by numerous small independent domestic companies.
If this deal passes, then I will personally supply Coca-Cola, preferably with real coca and kola, to my fellow students in order to undermine PepsiCo’s inferior product.