GW’s exclusive contract with Pepsico Inc., the makers of Pepsi Cola, will be up for renewal in the year 2000 and University administrators said they are considering other options.

Al Ingle, associate vice president of business affairs, said it is possible the University will renew a contract with Pepsi but he said administrators will consider signing a contract with more than one soft-drink company.

“We hope that as we get closer to the time when the contract is up, we will receive proposals, not only from Pepsi and Coke but from a couple others like Snapple,” Ingle said. “We want to see if in working out an agreement, we could get a couple of them on campus.”

GW was one of the first universities to seek an exclusive proposal from a soda company, Ingle said.

Ingle said the basis for the exclusive proposal rested on what the soda company would do for the University if administrators accepted a contract with it.

GW has a five-year contract with Pepsi, and Nancy Haaga, director of Auxiliary and Institutional Services, said GW’s contract with Pepsi ends June 30, 2000.

Ingle said the University will start to look at proposals and agreements about a year before the contract is up.

“The companies are so competitive, they know how much each company is going to offer,” Ingle said. “It all comes down to who is going to provide the best extras.”

Ingle said Pepsi has been generous, giving GW Pepsi items and free supplies.

Hippo-adorned Pepsi cans and the 175th anniversary commemorative cans were part of the company’s generosity, Ingle said. He said GW and Pepsi shared the cost of some of the cans.

Larry Jabbonski, a Pepsi representative, said contract extras vary from school to school.

“It varies, but we’d love to keep the relationship with GW,” Jabbonski said.

“Most of the decision will have to do with recreation and sports and talking to them about their ideals for scholarships,” Ingle said.

Ingle said he would not comment on the amount of scholarship money distributed.

While GW has a contract with Pepsi, the Mount Vernon campus has a separate contract with Coca-Cola.

Mike Petron, Marvin Center Governing Board chair, said Mount Vernon can have a contract with Coca-Cola because GW’s contract with Pepsi is only for the Foggy Bottom campus.

Mount Vernon’s contract with Coke is on a year-to-year basis.

“We intend to keep Coke there in order to give students a choice and also to provide us with a check on services,” Ingle said.