Pouring Rights Contract with PepsiCo at UC Davis

Pouring Rights Contract (PRCs) are when a beverage company (primarily The Coca-Cola Company or PepsiCo) have exclusive rights to sell and market beverages in an institutional setting, such as a university. Through these multi-year contracts, universities sell exclusive access to their own campus community and brand, allowing beverage companies to push sugary drinks, often in single-use plastic containers, on students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors and promote those products with on-campus advertising in exchange for sponsorship money. 

UC Davis has a PRC with PepsiCo for beverages. The only area on campus that is not part of the contract is the ASUCD Coffee House (CoHo). 

Negative effects of the Pouring Rights Contract with PepsiCo

We, the students of EPPC, reviewed UC Berkeley’s Pepsi PRC, obtained under CA’s Public Records Act.

• Nearly exclusive (85%) contract – unable to sell healthier or more sustainable brands
• The PRC with PepsiCo is a 10 year long contract (2014-2024), UC Davis was unable to meet their zero waste 2020 single-use plastic elimination goal.
• PepsiCo’s branding is all over campus, and as the second largest producer of plastic waste in the world, a partnership with Pepsi contradicts UC Davis’ values of sustainability.
• The sponsorship money received from the contract is about $600K per year, which is 0.01% of UCD’s total annual revenue. 
• Pepsi lacks sufficient healthy or sustainable drink options for students on campus. 
• Pepsi lobbies against sustainability policies
• The PRC conflicts with the Healthy Beverage Initiative (UC HBI)
  • UC HBI is to encourage the consumption of tap water as a healthy, free, and sustainable alternative to sugary drinks.
• The majority of the money goes to the college athletics department which represents 650 undergraduate students of 30,000 total (2% of study body)

EPPC's Vision without a PRC

• Supporting small businesses
• More opportunities for reusable containers
• Eliminating single-use plastics
• More healthy, environmentally friendly options for students

EPPC’s work

• Rally on June 1st, 2023, on Quad on campus

• Social Media Campaign on our Instagram

• ASUCD Senate Resolution #6 Spring Quarter 2023  

• Cal Aggie General information about PRC 

• Op-ED Cal Aggie wrote for PRC 

• Davis Enterprise Pre-planning Protest

• Activists pressure UCD to drop Pepsi contract

• Davis Vanguard Article about Protest

• Daphne Crother and Catherine Cochran with CUNY 

• Cal Aggie Disapproval on PRC 

• EPPC’s OpEd on PRC

Current Standing

• UC Davis’ contract with PepsiCo PRC is set to expire September 2024
• UC Berkeley renewed their PepsiCo Pouring Rights Contract, despite student protest. 
• UC Davis will be offered sign a similar Pepsi PRC to Berkeley's

Collaborations

EPPC has worked with Professor Jennifer Falbe (a professor of human development whose research in nutrition emphasizes the dangers of sugary food and beverages). We have also worked with CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest) and other UCs undergraduate students and faculty members who do not support PepsiCo Pouring Rights Contract.