Dive Summary:
- The City University of New York signed its first systemwide deal with a beverage company, giving Pepsi-Cola a 10-year deal worth $21 million for exclusive nonalcoholic beverage distribution rights on all 24 of its campuses.
- The money will be shared with each campus, though $300,000 will fund athletic events and another $200,000 will fund sustainability initiatives.
- The deal follows efforts by the Brooklyn-based Campaign to Stop Killer Coke to convince CUNY officials to ban Coca-Cola products from its campuses, as New York University did in 2005, due to its alleged complicity in the murder of Colombian union leaders, as well as discrimination complaints by its workers.
From the article:
... Ray Rogers, the director of the campaign against Coke, claimed victory in the CUNY decision, likening it to a switch to Pepsi from Coke at Rutgers University amid student protests in 2005.
But as Rutgers officials did then, CUNY officials attributed their switch to a better offer from Pepsi.
Pepsi “offered more money” and more forms of promotional support to CUNY than Coke did, Mr. Arena said. “Their proposal offered a variety of products and a level of support and a total royalty number that was superior,” he said. ...