San Angelo ISD Poised to Drop Coke for Pepsi

The San Angelo ISD is poised to drop Coca-Cola in favor of Pepsi. The item was discussed at Monday night’s school board meeting, but no vote was taken. Trustees want to gather more information.

Assistant Superintendent of Business Support Services Dr. Jeff Bright said that the district solicited bids from interested companies to provide drink vending machines on the district campuses, and to provide the soft drinks, bottled water and other liquid refreshments at the sporting complexes, such as San Angelo Stadium. There were three responses to the district’s formal request for proposals (RFP), he said.

Bright assembled a scoring committee, “and it came down to being between Coke and Pepsi,” he said. The scores incorporated 10 percent based upon references, from both internal and external sources; 20 percent was “ability to meet the district’s needs”; 10 percent was product selection; and 60 percent was potential revenue to the district.

Bright’s analysis did not have a breakdown of the amount of money that would be made at the stadium and sporting events versus how much earning potential there was from the campus vending machines.

Nonetheless, Bright’s RFP committee selected PepsiCo as the winner.

Bright said that the in-school vending machines no longer make as much money as they used too. Vending machines on campuses are prohibited from dispensing carbonated drinks, and more healthy natural fruit drinks are forbidden because they interfere with federal nutritional programs. So, the only item a school vending machine can dispense is bottled water.

The cash cow for the vending contract is the sporting events, such as football in the fall, where carbonated soft drinks are allowed and sold in large quantities.

Bright didn’t have the exact annual revenues that the school district earns overall in the vending contract, but said the cash flow was still significant, despite the on-campus restrictions.

Bright recommended that the board instruct him to negotiate a contract with Pepsi as his selection committee recommended. If contract negotiations are not satisfactory to the district, he said, they can go back to Coke and negotiate with them. However, once that decision is made, they cannot go back to the original bid winner.

The board instead decided to wait for more information. The district has until Aug. 31, 2015 to replace the on-campus vending machines if the board decides to switch to Pepsi.

As for selection, Pepsi is the distributer for Dr. Pepper; Coke's answer is Mr. Pibb.