LAURA GOSS/Emerald
Melinda Doggett sells Seattle's Best Coffee for the EMU in Willamette Halls Atrium Cafe.
Coffee vendor files lawsuit
after losing bid for contract
The owner of Custom
Roasting said the
selection process
sboived favoritism
By Michael Hines
Editor in Chiet
The EMU coffee controversy
that plagued the finishing stages of
the building's renovation has
arisen once again.
Alberto Miranda, owner of Cus
tom Roasting, filed a petition for
review in the Lane County Circuit
Court in mid-August. Custom
Roasting was one of the coffee ven
dors that participated in last
spring’s selection process. Seattle
Coffee Co. won the bid.
The petition names the Univer
sity and University Contract Coor
dinator Vicki Wanner as defen
dants. The petition asks that Seattle
Coffee Co.’s proposal be rejected
and Custom Roasting either be
awarded the contract or compen
sated $78,000. As an alternative,
the petition also requests that the
entire process be repeated again.
The problems began last spring
r
when three companies com
plained that the first selection
process was unfair. Wanner can
celed the first process and ordered
a second, which was administered
by a selection committee and
EMU Food Services Director
Theresa Coleman-Kaiser.
“We went to the second request
for proposals and we learned the
spirit of intent to select a good
source of coffee for the students was
in favor of a coffee company from
Seattle,” Miranda said. "We were
disappointed. I love the institution.”
Several local vendors decided
not to bid after the pre-proposal re
view, he said.
“We believe that the people who
chose not to participate were very
good, very noble companies,” Mi
randa said. “They were very disap
pointed by the display of infatua
tion for SBC (Seattle’s Best Coffee, a
subsidiary of Seattle Coffee Co.).
Because the petition is still in
litigation, Wanner and Coleman
Kaiser both refused to comment.
Legal counsel for the University
Peter Swan said there was not any
favoritism in the process.
“It's a very impersonal process,”
he said.
Miranda maintained the
process was unfair, and the com
mittee had their decisions made
early in the process to go with a
“marketing-oriented” company.
"I think the University wanted to
land a big company rather than a
good company,” he said. “We would
like to see if we can make market
forces prevail rather than favoritism.”
Miranda said he has a gut feeling
that the University will prevail, but
he’s counting on public support.
“We got the hopes that once it
comes out in the open, we will be
able to get a good, fair chance,” he
said. “I’m not trying to make a
buck out of this. We have the best
customer base. I am really happy
with the way things have worked
out for us so far.”
One aspect of the selection
process Miranda was particularly
unhappy with was the elimina
tion of a taste test in the second re
quest for proposals.
“That input probably would
have given the competitive process
a very clear profile,” he said.
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