Apr. 9—OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa Community School District will be switching beverage vendors after staying with the same company for several years.
After releasing a request-for-proposal for beverage services, district Chief Finance Officer John Berg gave the findings to the board of education during Monday's meeting at Career Campus.
The board unanimously approved a switch to Atlantic Bottling Company, which sells Coca-Cola products and has a local distributor, and will be ending a years-long run with Keurig Dr. Pepper. Though the RFPs for each were competitive and similar to each other, Berg cited a higher commission rate for product sold, as well as better revenue for the district through Atlantic Bottling Company.
"We've been doing business with Keurig Dr. Pepper for years, and we have no issues there," Berg said. "But we also look at feedback from coaches, athletic boosters and program sponsors. We reached out to schools that work with them to make sure that they deliver the same level of service that is comparable."
Activities Director Brandon Brooks said the district took in a lot of information from stakeholders who work with the vendors. He said no one has complained about Keurig Dr. Pepper, but it was a matter of preference for what the community wanted at events.
"When they're doing these sales, they understand what people are looking for when they come to the concession stand," he said.
Berg noted Atlantic Bottling's annual contribution of $18,000 without a minimum sales requirement was "actually up a bit from the last proposal we'd received. They upped it about 20%."
So even though Atlantic's annual contribution was $1,000 lower than Keurig Dr. Pepper, the opportunity for more commission existed, and the district estimated it would take in about $1,200 more in revenue by going with the Coca-Cola bottler.
Brooks said the district has had to purchase Gatorade for the sidelines in stores because Dr. Pepper did not have a popular power drink. Under Atlantic, Powerade will be the sports drink provided.
Board member David Weilbrenner asked if Atlantic Bottling would be offering services "on short notice" if an event or a block party was occurring.
"I think it's always hard to ask a vendor you're doing business with, 'Hey, will you give us a lot of freebies?' But I think what our intention would be is that we would push and ask for the same kind of treatment we've been receiving," Berg said. "They want the school's business, so I would assume we would get some of those freebies. Obviously they aren't obligated to do any of it. Dr. Pepper has been fantastic about that. We have nothing negative to say about the relationship."