Starbucks has become a new addition to campus this year, employing and serving the student body. Starbucks is one of the California Lutheran University dining services options just like the Centrum, Ullman Commons and Ullman To-Go.

“CLU owns the building and owns the equipment, and Sodexo owns the license to brew, the license to serve and the license to use Starbucks’ name,” said Jessica Grijalva, retail manager for Sodexo on campus. “It’s a fully licensed store which means we have to follow all the same recipes and all the same promotions.”

Grijalva works with Starbucks representatives to maintain the licensing and maintenance standards required by Starbucks corporate offices.

“We get audited by Starbucks people,” Grijalva said. “I have a Starbucks manager who comes once a month and checks to make sure we are doing everything right, and that our signs look right, and that all of our baristas know what they are doing.”

According to Grijalva, the largest Starbucks has sales comparable to a mid- to high- volume corporately-run store.

Grijalva was brought to campus by Sodexo because of her previous experience opening a Starbucks on a college campus. Grijalva had previously opened a student-run Starbucks at California State University, Monterey Bay. After Cal Lutheran decided to open a store, Grijalva started working on licensing and staffing.

“It’s our job to acquire a license, hire everyone and maintain the license,” Grijalva said.

The on-campus Starbucks strives to be a completely student-run store per Cal Lutheran’s request, according to Grijalva.

“We will continue to staff the Starbucks with students until we run out of students,” Patricia Yantzer, general manager of Sodexo at Cal Lutheran said.

According to Yantzer, all Cal Lutheran student Starbucks baristas are employed by Sodexo.

“My whole passion is: you’re a student, how fun is it when you’re getting coffee and the person serving you your coffee is also in your comm [communication] class. I think it’s a better experience for the students overall when you’re being served by your peers,” Grijalva said. “We have 24 student employees right now, from seniors that are getting ready to graduate, to freshmen.”

Student workers at Starbucks have the freedom to study abroad and go on break without being scheduled according to Grijalva. “When they leave here, they are certified baristas by Starbucks’ standards which is really cool too.”

Part of Grijalva’s job is to maintain both Starbucks’ standards as well as Sodexo’s standards.

“If we don’t maintain all of our Starbucks standards, we wouldn’t be allowed to serve Starbucks’ coffee anymore. They come in and they check and make sure that we are doing everything right or they could prevent us from serving,” Grijalva said.

Grijalva and Yantzer both see the Sodexo and Starbucks’ standards as high level.

“Both Starbucks and Sodexo hold very high standards for their food and beverage options. I would rank them equal in holding us accountable,” Yantzer said.

“They are pretty similar. They both maintain such a high level that they are right on mark, pretty high standards,” Grijalva said.

Starbucks on campus at Ullman is open daily from 7 a.m. to midnight.

Kevin Repich
Staff Writer
Published April 22nd, 2015