Nicholas Souza, News/Online Editor

Utica Coffee Roasting Company will be joining the Utica College campus when it moves into Common Grounds in the Frank E. Gannett Memorial Library this June. The location will also sell Holland Farms’ baked goods.

This is not the first time UC has partnered with an outside food and coffee producer. Starbucks, Subway, and Byrne Dairy currently sell their products across the college’s variety of food service locations.

The partnership between UC, Sodexo and Utica Coffee has been in the works for a long time and is an opportunity for all parties to support local businesses. Since Sodexo manages UC’s food services, they have to approve all of the outside businesses that set up a location on campus to sell their products.

According to Utica Coffee, it is not as easy as just setting up shop but is worth it since this partnership supports local business.

“College kids especially just kind of get what we are about and what we are trying to do for our town,” Heather Delia, owner and vice president of Utica Coffee Roasting Company, said. “Everything we have here is local, down to our milk, to our butter, to our honey that we use in everybody’s drinks. Not only are you supporting local, but you’re getting a much higher quality product than you would if you were to purchase from a much larger company. I always feel like when you’re keeping it small, you’re keeping consistency and you are focusing more on quality than you are on the dollar amount.”

UC joins SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Morrisville State College, and Colgate University in the local area colleges that have welcomed in Utica Coffee.

Sodexo also echoed the sentiment of supporting local businesses and praised the company’s high-quality product.

“We try to buy as much locally as we can,” Sodexo’s General Manager Damian Boehlert said. “They’ve done a wonderful job of promoting their product locally and obviously, it is a great product. It is very hard to get into colleges and they have proven their product and we love it. It’s a great partnership with a local vendor.”

Sodexo will staff this new Utica Coffee location, similarly to how they staff the Starbucks and Subway on campus. Common Grounds with undergo a bit of a revamp to include some of Utica Coffee’s marketing materials.

Additionally, the new Utica Coffee location will include the company’s full range of products.