Students approaching a University of Michigan vending machine this fall won’t find Celsius, Dr. Pepper, Red Bull, or Pepsi products. In fact, they will only find products owned by the Coca-Cola Company.
After months of negotiations, the University Procurement Services named Coca-Cola the exclusive beverage supplier at all dining venues, vending machines and athletic events for the Ann Arbor, Flint, Dearborn and Michigan Medicine campuses May 21.
Through the agreement, Coca-Cola obtained pouring rights, an exclusive contract between a beverage supplier and an organization granting the brand the sole right to sell and serve on its premises. Before the University signed the exclusive beverage contract, multiple suppliers could provide beverages under separate agreements to the University, resulting in dining settings serving beverages from a variety of brands, including PepsiCo.
Locations across the University will transition to serving solely beverages from Coca-Cola and its partner brands over the next several months.
In an email to The Michigan Daily, Roni Krimgold, assistant director of public affairs, said deliberations over the beverage contract are ongoing and the final details are still being worked out.
“The selection process took over a year,” Krimgold wrote. “The final terms and conditions of U-M’s contract with Coca-Cola are being finalized, so we’re not able to provide any specific numbers at this time.”
Procurement Services established the U-M Pouring Rights Evaluation Committee, which consisted of representatives from each University campus. The committee assessed beverage supplier bids from Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr. Pepper, PepsiCo and Red Bull. More than 3,000 students, employees and retirees completed an online survey or attended virtual town hall meetings to share their pouring rights preferences.
In a University Record article, Tim George, University of Michigan Finance communications director, wrote Coca-Cola’s partnership with the University will offer academic and campus-wide opportunities.
“The new agreement will offer value across U-M in several ways,” George wrote. “Including direct sponsorship funding, student scholarships, internships, ambassadorships, support for sustainability initiatives and nutrition programs, enhanced customer service, streamlined beverage operations, and updated equipment.”
Nationwide, there are more than 100 Coca-Cola student ambassadors who work through partner agency Campus Commandos. Ambassadors promote Coca-Cola through social media, tabling events and more. LSA junior Eric Yin, a Coca-Cola student ambassador, told The Daily Coca-Cola plans to involve its brand in more ways than just serving beverages and he thinks the single-beverage-vendor model will benefit the University and help the brand become part of students’ everyday lives.
“I think having a single distributor makes it a lot more efficient; students can know what’s going on in the dining halls and always get their go-to drinks,” Yin said. “It makes it a lot more hassle-free for the school and also for the people who maintain the actual machines, so I would say it is positive that it is just one organization working with the University. There will also be a much stronger presence of the brand around campus.”
Though some advocate for a single-beverage supplier on campus, other organizations oppose exclusive pouring rights. Tractor Beverage Co. specializes in organic drinks, some of which were served in U-M dining halls until the contract was signed.
In an interview with The Daily, Chrystie Heimert, Tractor vice president of communications, impact and partnerships, advocated for organic beverages on college campuses.
“We’re pro-organic,” Heimert said. “The idea of serving an option — not to say it’s the only thing people drink, clearly there’s an array of options in (campus dining) — but we really feel strongly that organic should be another option, and part of students’ everyday.”
Tractor was informed of the decision in early August. After their removal, members of Tractor formed the Banned Beverage Club, a partnership advocating on behalf of small business and brands displaced by large contracts.
Daily Staff Reporters Reese Kizy and Caleb Obico can be reached at reesekiz@umich.edu and cobico@umich.edu.
