By Kayla Landers, April 15, 2025
A bag of Takis at Vons costs $2.79, while at Cal Poly Pomona stores, those who buy the same product must pay $4.99. At Albertson’s, it costs $2.79 for a 28-oz bottle of Gatorade, but on campus it costs $3.49. A 13.29-oz pack of Oreos sold at Walmart costs $3.76, but it’s $9.99 at CPP.
Inflation on food items, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, has risen 2.6% from February 2024 to February 2025, but CPP students are dealing with even greater price hikes as campus stores are charging more for products compared to traditional, off-campus convenience stores.
According to Thomas Sekayan, the chief operating officer for CPP Enterprises, the organization in charge of setting food prices for dining services and other stores on campus, several factors go into the pricing strategy for food and beverage items on campus.
Sekayan said the cost of both the product and employee wages impacts the price of goods, which is why campus stores may charge more for certain items than other off-campus convenience or grocery stores.
Sekayan said off-campus locations, such as major national brands like 7-Eleven and AM/PM, have greater spending leverage with the distributors of products, so they can pool their national spending on the cost of goods sold and negotiate lower prices for goods.
According to Sekayan CPP stores operate differently from most larger businesses, and he noted that they use their non-profit status and student influence to negotiate lower prices on the items sold.
The non-profit status of CPP Enterprises makes it eligible for certain benefits that other companies are unable to possess.
“As we make decisions regarding prices and hours, we maintain a focus on how our decisions impact the university community,” Sekayan said.
Even though CPP Enterprises operates in a manner that puts the university community first, some students who purchase items are not sold on the idea of higher prices and how they benefit them.
“I think the prices on campus are expensive,” said Hunter Prough, an animal science, pre-veterinary student. “I notice a difference between drinks sold at Cal Poly (Pomona) and drinks sold at normal stores off campus.”
Prough said that his favorite bottled Starbucks drink costs about $4 after tax at Target, but on campus, it’s around $6.
Kiara Ramirez, an economics student, said there should be a limit on the amount of money CPP charges for food and drinks. She said she’s noticed the difference in pricing between stores both on and off campus.
However, Sekayan claimed CPP still finds a way to offer some lower prices in on-campus stores.
“While there are some items we cannot source for less or at the same cost as off-campus businesses, we compensate by pricing other items lower than the average off-campus price,” Sekayan said.
When McDonald’s, for example, decided to drop its any-size fountain beverage for a dollar, Sekayan said, CPP introduced a $0.99 fountain beverage with a meal to increase the profit margin, a commonly used financial ratio that measures the degree to which a business makes money, on drinks. Sekayan said this price is expected to remain for a while.
“Additionally, off-campus businesses sometimes use loss leaders, pricing certain items artificially low to attract customers who then end up spending more on higher-priced, higher-margin items,” Sekayan said.
But CPP Enterprises, according to Sekayan, avoids this practice to maintain what it believes to be fair pricing for all consumers.
Sekayan said that the extra money made from these higher-priced items goes to employing students, funding scholarships, maintaining facilities, and reinvesting in the campus food and beverage program, like replacing aging and unpopular brands with new ones.
Even though the money made from these items goes back to CPP in multiple ways, many students like Prough and Ramirez want to purchase food and drinks for lower prices, or at least prices that reflect stores outside the university.
“I believe they shouldn’t raise prices however they please because students pay enough with tuition to have food and drinks upcharged,” Prough said.
Feature image by Kayla Landers
