By Emily Smith, Staff Writer
The increase in price of Peace Tea in The Pirate’s Pantry did not go unnoticed by the Armstrong student body.
The popular drink recently went from costing 99 cents to $1.39 in the campus convenience store.
“It says 99 cents on the can. It’s not really a big deal, it just looks like an embarrassing ploy for profits on The Pantry’s part,” freshman English major, Kylie Fields said. Not only is the drink popular among students because it tastes good, it is also notably the cheapest beverage in the store.
“I’m upset about the price change because the best part about Peace Tea is that you get a huge amount of great flavored tea for a dollar. But I have noticed that they removed the label on the can that said 99 cents,” freshman psychology major Annie Hutmacher said. “It loses part of the value of a Peace Tea.”
Sodexo operations manager, Ken Reich, claimed that the modification is a result of Coca Cola increasing the price of Peace Tea nationwide. “We compared our price with several local convenience stores and have matched or beat their current price for Peace Tea,” Reich said.
Peace Tea customer service verified that the 99 cent price on the can is simply a recommended price that they cannot enforce distributors to abide by.
They claimed that it is rare for a seller to raise the price. “The sales of Peace Tea have stayed the same since they are the most affordable canned or bottled ice tea on the market,” Reich said.
It’s true that the tea is still the cheapest drink in The Pantry, but raising the price of a popular item will surely reap profits. “I hate that, but I guess it’s just an economy thing,” freshman fine arts major Ryan Merica said.
SH • Jan 15, 2015 at 4:27 pm
FYI it’s because the vendor most likely raised the price to the retailer or the vendor stopped giving a discounted price. If the price goes up for the retailer then they have to charge more. They were $0.99 where I work in 2014 due to the vendor’s discounted price. As soon as 2015 hit the discount was taken away by the vendor and suddenly we are losing money by charging $0.99. So until the issue is figured out we had to pull the item. Retailers still need to make a small profit on items they carry. If the cost paid for the item ends up greater than the retail then prices have to increase. Simple as that.
Steve • Oct 15, 2014 at 4:48 pm
This ticks me off, because it’s not simply an isolated issue. This drink is roughly $1.39 universally around Atlanta and I am frustrated by a company not taking a stand on integrity. Has anyone seen the $2 bag of tortilla chips at the markets?? It hasn’t changed since I first discovered it. So does that mean the company isn’t seeing economic inflation like the rest, or are they simply sticking to their roots and offering a good product at affordable price? You tell me.
I’m sure with enough fuss, the masses could encourage or even sway the distributor to start printing cans with 99 cent reference on them. It’s clearly removed due to pressure from investors and influence from vendors wanting to control their own pricing.