On the heels of Bon Appétit Management Company replacing Sodexo USA as Emory’s food service vendor, the new management is bringing with it some sweeping changes, including the addition of PepsiCo’s food and beverage brands to campus.
As terms of the contract that goes into effect June 1, there will be no Coca-Cola products on campus and the Coca-Cola Commons in the Dobbs University Center will be renamed the Pepsi Plaza. These terms were negotiated prior to the announcement of the vendor change.
PepsiCo, with more than 22 brands including Pepsi, Cheetos and Mountain Dew, may be better known as the punchline antithesis to Emory’s stature as the unofficial “Coke University.”
In a prepared statement by Coca-Cola Global Director for Brand Synergy Todd Spritezer, the Company expressed its displeasure in the University’s decision.
“Emory makes up 84 percent of our college market share and is a key player in our brand recognition strategy,” the statement reads. “While we ultimately wish Emory and Bon Appétit the best of luck, we are disappointed that our long, beneficial history with Emory is being cast aside for petty politics.”
Bon Appétit spokesperson Anita Sours wrote in an email to the Wheel that careful consideration was made in the decision to retain PepsiCo for Emory’s campus dining, adding that 15 percent of the beverage options on campus will remain the same.
“Bon Appétit and Pepsi have a storied history with successful partnerships providing quality food service to Emory’s peer institutions such as Faber College and the South Harmon Institute of Technology, among other universities, museums and corporate campuses,” Sours wrote. “Additionally, Pepsi’s commitment to sustainability and changing their portfolio to add healthier options is one of our most important values as a company.”
The University has a long and intertwined history itself when it comes to The Coca-Cola Company. Asa Griggs Candler, founder of The Coca-Cola Company, wrote what is known as the “million-dollar letter” that funded the move to the Atlanta campus in 1915. His brother, Methodist Bishop Warren Candler was an Emory alumnus, former president and its first chancellor.
According to the Emory history website, Coke has “given rise to family fortunes for the Candlers, the Woodruffs, the Goizuetas and others who have been extraordinarily generous to Emory. The philanthropy of these and other donors has enabled Emory’s growth and empowered its ambition to become one of the nation’s leading universities.”
In an email to the Wheel, Candler’s great-great-grandnephew I.M. Candler-Woodruff wrote that this break in precedent was “heartbreaking” but in the long run, his forefathers’ legacy would remain intact.
“Honestly, I am flabbergasted by this decision and I never thought I would see this in mine, or any of my family’s lifetime,” Candler-Woodruff wrote. “But let’s be honest- we’re still Cokelanta and our market share isn’t going anywhere.”
Food Advisory Committee at Emory (FACE) Vice-President and College senior Mike Kidder said that the Pepsi integration wouldn’t affect anything beyond the beverage choices available and vending machines across campus.
“Many PepsiCo products are already on our shelves, including Tostitos, Ruffles and Quaker oatmeal,” Kidder said. “And besides, who doesn’t want more Doritos on campus?”
Kidder added that while FACE was originally morally opposed to the idea of allowing Pepsi on campus, Bon Appétit’s presentation was solid and he believes “most students won’t recognize the difference.”
Editor’s Note updated 2:52 P.M.: Members of Emory’s administration were unable to comment because they decided to go on an all expense paid cruise through the Bahamas. If you haven’t realized this by now, 1) We are very sorry for you and 2) This is an April Fool’s article.
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The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
yeah right. emory will never be able to go against coke. happy april fools day
Emory: look at what you have done: these reviews come from students at Univ of San Fran right in Bon Appetite’s backyard:
Should have learned negotiation skills and negotiated with sodexo during renewal process. they would have addressed your concerns.
Another USF student here – representing Student and Faculty general disdain for Bon Appetit.
The contract with USF offers Boner ApeTit a monopoly over the school’s food. Their exploitative card charge and pricing process is in direct conflict with USF’s Jesuit principles of social justice.
(Examples abound: $1 extra for coffee at law school campus, average price for meal on campus is greater than or equal to high-quality local restaurants, and please see previous reviews)
The only relationship that makes any sense is if Boner ApeTit offers some large profit or lucrative kick-back to whomever is in control over on-campus dining.
This relationship prevents fundraising, acceptable quality of food, market price value of food, and student run projects from existing on campus.
If you live on campus please venture elsewhere for food. This city has so much diversity and quality to offer in food and your dependence on on-campus dining prevents you from this realization.
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ashley w.
San Francisco, CA
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9/2/2009
Bon Appetit manages the University of San Francisco’s cafeteria and caters USF’s on-campus events. Bon Appetit is grossly overpriced. On campus, they charge $4 for a single box of mac and cheese. This same box can be purchased at Safeway (which has also been accused of being overpriced) for less than a dollar. I once purchased a chicken breast that still had a feather shaft in it. It looks as gross as it sounds. This was my grossest experience, but the food in general was gross. And the people who worked for Bon Appetit were, in general, mean (not the servers or cashiers, who have always been friendly to me, but the managers). I got yelled at once by a manager and I’ve heard stories about the rudeness other managers from those who were employed by Bon Appetit. Also, I have a friend who was in a club that wanted to have a fund raiser on the USF campus. The club wanted to sell In N Out burgers on campus, but due to USF’s contract with Bon Appetit, the students were forbidden from doing so. That may not sound so bad, but the club was trying to raise money for a volunteer trip to another country to work with children. And to think that clubs can’t sell *food* on a college campus for a *fundraiser* to do *good works* because the school has a contract with some stupid money -hungry company is just absurd. And very wrong.
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