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Mundelein High to stick with Coca-Cola beverages

Mundelein High School teachers, students and sports fans will continue to enjoy Coca-Cola beverages under a newly approved exclusive deal with the soft-drink giant.

The five-year contract will net the school $5,000 annually, officials said. That's half of the revenue from the current five-year deal, which expires this summer.

PepsiCo had offered to give the school $2,100 annually for the right to sell its drinks on campus, said Gary Lonquist, the school's chief business official.

The anticipated revenue from Coca-Cola is significantly less than what some other Lake County schools collect from vendors for exclusivity.

For example, Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire collects $101,000 annually from PepsiCo under its five-year vending deal.

Libertyville High got $10,350 this year from Coca-Cola, while Vernon Hills High got $22,998 from PepsiCo.

Mundelein High officials declined to talk about the revenue disparity.

Lonquist met with representatives from both companies before recommending the Coca-Cola contract to the school board. The board approved the deal Tuesday.

Coca-Cola has been Mundelein High's beverage vendor for the past five years.

The school has nine Coca-Cola machines. Seven are in public areas and two are in areas reserved for employees.

The public machines sell bottled water and flavored vitamin water, not soda.

To limit students' sugar intake, the public machines are disabled during the school day.

The deal also applies to concession stand sales at athletic events and other gatherings.

In addition to the annual payout, Mundelein High gets a percentage of Coke sales made on campus. Last year, that resulted in an estimated $2,400 of additional revenue for the school, Lonquist said.

PepisCo offered a larger commission percentage than Coca-Cola, according to District 120 documents. Pepsi also offered to give Mundelein High $200 worth of free products.

But the overall financial advantage went to Coke, officials said.

The revenue from the contract goes into a special fund that's used to make purchases that benefit the entire student population, Superintendent Jody Ware said.

Stevenson High inks $505,000 deal with Pepsi

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