To see a video on the vending machine’s rising prices, click here.
Lindsay Kahill, political science junior, is standing up against the increasing cost of vending machines — with brown bags of snacks and drinks.Kahill, like many University students, isn’t happy about the 25-cent price hike at the more than 200 on-campus drink machines.The price increase, the first in about seven years, took effect this semester because vendors saw a rise in food and gas prices, said Jason Tolliver, Contracted Auxiliary Services director.Melanie Clark, Baton Rouge Coca-Cola Bottling Company vice president, said unprecedented fuel costs and increasing plastic prices are two major reasons for the increase. She said $1.25 per 20-ounce beverage is competitively priced.Tolliver said profit margins are predetermined in contracts with snack and drink vendors. Tolliver said the University tries to keep increases to a minimum.”We tried to keep all of our increases in the neighborhood of around 5 percent,” Tolliver said. “It’s costing our providers more to service us.”The University shies away from having price increases while in contract with a vendor unless there are “extenuating circumstances” like the current gas prices, Tolliver said.”What we charge for things on campus reflects what is going on in the regular marketplace,” Tolliver said. Tolliver said he has not received many complaints on the price increase.”It’s because everyone understands the prices of everything has gone up,” he said. Lisa Haefner, studio art senior, recently walked to an on-campus vending machine with a one-dollar bill to buy her favorite drink, a Cherry Coca-Cola — only to find out she needed another quarter. “I will [go back], but I won’t be happy about it,” Haefner said.Auxiliary Services tries to make vending machines Tiger Cash-accessible in high-traffic areas, Tolliver said.—-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]