No taste test was needed to determine that Pepsi will replace Coke in OU's dining halls and snack bars this year.

Before The Coca-Cola Company contract expired on Aug. 1, both Pepsico Inc. and Coca-Cola bid for the chance to provide OU's Food Services with fountain drinks and canned beverages. Although Coca-Cola had the contract for the past ten years, Food Services signed a three-year contract with Pepsico Inc. after the company underbid Coca-Cola, said university food buyer Tom Foxen.

Gene Reed, OU's director of food services, said Pepsico bid 25 cents less per case of cans and 25 cents less per gallon of fountain drink syrup than Coke did. After the syrup is mixed with the carbonated water to make the pop, the difference widens to $1.50 per gallon, Reed said.

"We had the option to split the contract if one company was better," Foxen said. "But Pepsi was more price competitive for both."

Price was not the only issue Food Services looked into. The Coke fountain drink dispenser serves only six flavors while the Pepsi dispenser has eight flavors plus a built-in ice machine.

Foxen said the ice machines Pepsi provided were one of the reasons the company got the contract. The university will not have to spend money to replace its aging ice machines, he said.

Reed said Food Services did not poll students to determine which soft drink company students prefer because he thought student opinion would have been divided almost evenly.

In the past, Food Services has asked for student opinion when deciding which brands of ketchup, orange juice and yogurt to serve, Reed said. No other food contract should expire this year, he said.