Senior Elizabeth Phyle considers herself a “coffee snob,” but that’s not the only reason why she’s pushing to make Peace Coffee St. Thomas’ brew of choice when the campus’ Starbucks contract expires in December.

Phyle, a member of Students for Justice and Peace, has been working with other members of the club for a year and a half, trying to convince dining services to contract with Peace Coffee.

“(Peace Coffee) does everything right by environmental standards,” Phyle said. “They do everything right at their own roastery, and then they do fair trade practices with their workers.”

St. Thomas has maintained its contract with Starbucks for seven years and is considering renewing the agreement when it expires in December, but Director of dining services Todd Empanger said his department is also considering Caribou Coffee and Alakef Coffee Roasters, a company in Duluth.

During the summer, dining services conducted a taste test of the four brands of coffee. Empanger said there was no clear winner and results were split between flavors.

“We have not eliminated any of the coffee vendors at this time,” Empanger said. “When we review our contracts, I want to (assign) one location to a different vendor so we have options down the road.”

Since Peace Coffee is not as big of a vendor as other companies, Empanger said he is concerned that Peace Coffee might have a hard time providing coffee to the whole campus, but Phyle is hopeful.

“I think it’s possible for Peace Coffee to do all of it,” she said.

Senior Josh Zahrbock, Students for Justice and Peace project coordinator, said the group would be receptive to a joint contract as long as the second coffee vendor also meets their standards.

“Coffee Bene’s awesome, and Equal Exchange would be another great option,” he said. “People’s Blend is another great roaster.”

Zahrbock said Peace Coffee might even be more popular with students than Starbucks.

“Peace Coffee is all I brew at home,” he said.

“I think it’s the most delicious coffee I’ve ever had, so I think it just makes sense for St. Thomas to go with it,” Phyle said. “It’s really the best coffee we can get.”

Not everyone on campus is rooting for Peace Coffee, however. Senior Alex Meuwissen said she has little interest in Peace Coffee, and the fair trade issue isn’t very important to her.

“I’m obsessed with Caribou Coffee,” Meuwissen said. “I like them because they’re a Minnesota-based company.”

Junior Megan Beetch has never had Peace Coffee and is satisfied with Starbucks’ fair trade brews.

“I’m more into fair trade stuff, but I’m not a hardcore pusher for it,” she said. “I like Starbucks.”

Empanger said there is no way to generalize what is most important to students when it comes to coffee.

“This is individual to people that enjoy coffee,” Empanger said. “Why do people add sugar, syrups, creamer and flavor creamers? It is because they prefer a different taste. It’s hard to predict and meet the expectations of everyone.”

Grace Pastoor can be reached at past6138@stthomas.edu.