Coca-Cola debate nears settlement
Committee looks to Colombian Jesuits for input
Anthe Mitrakos
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: News
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The debate over Coca-Cola products on campus is winding down as Loyola's upper management prepares its final decision on a future beverage supplier. The Beverage Committee met Nov. 19 to discuss the issue and made its recommendation to the President's Cabinet.
"[The cabinet] was quite impressed with the thorough job done by the committee in preparing its recommendation," the Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., said.
Among criteria considered for the recommendation was an online consumer preference poll administered by Sam Perry, purchasing manager at Loyola. Through GroupWise, the Purchasing Department invited all registered students, faculty and staff to choose their preferred beverage supplier out of three choices, or no preference if they did not have one. The response rate was 47 percent of a total of 7,735 individual poll participants. Statistics provided by the committee concluded a 39.63 percent preference for Coca-Cola products, followed by 32.85 percent for Pepsi products and 9.7 percent for Cadbury Schweppes products. About 18 percent had no particular preference.
"It's not necessarily my belief that the poll was intended to draw predestined results. However, no effort was made to educate students about the products," said Carolyn Paul, member of Loyola Students Against Sweat Shops, "When you say Cadbury Schweppes, most people probably think of chocolate eggs, not Dr Pepper, 7UP, A&W Root Beer and RC Cola."
"The people on the committee dedicated a lot of their time, and they became educated on the issue if they were not already," said Tim McGuriman, associate vice president for business services at Loyola.
In deriving a recommendation in regards to best beverage supplier, no weight was given to specific statistics or criteria.
"All I asked was that [committee members] not be driven strictly by finances," McGuriman said. "Finances was not the most important thing. Service, product differentiation and company communication were taken into consideration."
"[The cabinet] was quite impressed with the thorough job done by the committee in preparing its recommendation," the Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., said.
Among criteria considered for the recommendation was an online consumer preference poll administered by Sam Perry, purchasing manager at Loyola. Through GroupWise, the Purchasing Department invited all registered students, faculty and staff to choose their preferred beverage supplier out of three choices, or no preference if they did not have one. The response rate was 47 percent of a total of 7,735 individual poll participants. Statistics provided by the committee concluded a 39.63 percent preference for Coca-Cola products, followed by 32.85 percent for Pepsi products and 9.7 percent for Cadbury Schweppes products. About 18 percent had no particular preference.
"It's not necessarily my belief that the poll was intended to draw predestined results. However, no effort was made to educate students about the products," said Carolyn Paul, member of Loyola Students Against Sweat Shops, "When you say Cadbury Schweppes, most people probably think of chocolate eggs, not Dr Pepper, 7UP, A&W Root Beer and RC Cola."
"The people on the committee dedicated a lot of their time, and they became educated on the issue if they were not already," said Tim McGuriman, associate vice president for business services at Loyola.
In deriving a recommendation in regards to best beverage supplier, no weight was given to specific statistics or criteria.
"All I asked was that [committee members] not be driven strictly by finances," McGuriman said. "Finances was not the most important thing. Service, product differentiation and company communication were taken into consideration."