Coke vs. Pepsi: Rutgers University Chooses Side In Cola Wars

The cola wars continue at Rutgers University.

After 11 years, the New Jersey institution is switching its exclusive campus beverage provider from Pepsi to Coca-Cola, reports say.

By the time students return for classes in the autumn the process should be complete. The university began switching brands in its dining halls and vending machines on July 1, a university spokesperson told NJ.com.

Pepsi and Coca-Cola were reportedly the only companies to bid on the contract.

Although the terms of the contract aren’t being released yet because the deal isn’t finalized, the move is expected to add several million to Coke’s coffers. When the university signed its first exclusive, 10-year beverage contract with Coca-Cola in 1994, the rights were worth about $10 million.

Rutgers switched to the Pepsi Bottling Group in 2005, offering the company a 10-year, $17 million deal.

• See related article: Rutgers Pepsi Cans Hit Store Shelves

School administrators decided to extend Pepsi’s contract – which expired last summer – until a final decision on a new deal could be made.

The winning cola company will likely have the exclusive rights to sell soft drinks, fruit juice, packaged tea and coffee drinks, sports drinks and energy drinks on all Rutgers campuses, MyCentralJersey.com reported.

In the past, Pepsi has also had the right to sell food items on campus, including snack products from its Frito-Lay and Quaker portfolios, according to the university website.

In case you’re wondering which company makes what products, here’s a quick refresher.

Coca-Cola products include: Barq’s, Dannon, Dasani, Fanta, Fuze, Gold Peak, Hi-C, Honest Tea, Java Monster, Mello Yello, Minute Maid, Monster, Odwalla, Pibb, Powerade, Schweppes, Sprite and Vault.

Pepsi products include: Amp, Aquafina, Dole, Gatorade, Izze, Brisk, Doritos, Lays, Lipton, Mountain Dew, Mug, Naked Juice, Ocean Spray, Mist, Sobe, Tazo, Tropicana and 7-Up.

The battle lines are drawn. Which do you choose, Coke or Pepsi? Take the Patch reader poll below and share the reason why you voted that way in the comments section.

COKE VS. PEPSI

The campus battle between the competing conglomerates isn’t limited to Rutgers University. Coke and Pepsi have engaged in several, high-profile turf wars at college campuses across the nation.

• The University of Central Missouri ditched its contract with Coca-Cola and awarded a 10-year contract to Pepsi in February
• In 2015, the University of Toledo announced that it was switching from Pepsi to Coke in a contract estimated at $6.9 million over 10 years
• The City University of New York (CUNY) chose Pepsi over Coke in 2013, granting the company exclusive campus rights for a price tag of $21 million over 10 years

However, once soft drink fans get beyond the “taste factor,” the differences between the two companies tends to blur.

Some activists have charged that Coca-Cola has an abysmal human rights and workplace justice records. According to the “The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke” website, Rutgers is just one of dozens of campuses to launch student-led campaigns against the presence of the multi-national corporation at their schools.

Several universities have decided to terminate major contracts with Coke “due to the company's labor, human rights and environmental abuses,” the campaign’s website asserts.

But many schools are faced with little other option to take Coca-Cola’s place except another competing corporate giant such as Pepsi, according to Alternet.org.

“Both Pepsi and Coke have been accused of producing unhealthy products, promoting false marketing campaigns and fueling the obesity epidemic in the United States,” Alernet.org states. “Both have also attempted to vary the way people think about water, from a basic human right to something to be bought and sold, through their bottled-water marketing.”

Photo: Orin Zebest, Flickr Commons