Dartmouth Spring Water has a fraternal twin that can be purchased at Grand Union super market for about one-third the price.
This term, Dartmouth Dining Services replaced 16 fluid ounce bottles of Vermont Pure Natural Spring Water, which cost $1.25, with 16 fluid ounce bottles of Dartmouth water, which cost $1.50.
But the same company that bottles Dartmouth water sells its water at the Grand Union in Hanover for 59 cents.
DDS Director Pete Napolitano confirmed that both Dartmouth Spring Water and Glacial Mist Natural Spring Water are bottled by Cornucopia Beverages Inc., a company based in Bedford, N.H.
Dartmouth water and Glacial Mist water are both bottled at the same source -- the fountain springs in Alton, N.H. -- and are both sold in identical bottles, but with different labels.
In addition, Grand Union sells a 33.8 fluid ounce bottle of Glacial Mist water for 99 cents.
Napolitano described putting a Dartmouth label on the water as "part of a trend that is going on at college campuses. It is a fad and something I wanted to get in front of."
DDS purchases Dartmouth Spring Water from Cornucopia Beverages for about 40 cents before labeling costs, Napolitano said. The labeling fee cost $900 for the initial set-up.
"All that stuff has to get factored" into the price, Napolitano said. He admitted the water "is a little pricey."
"We would have liked to have it at a dollar and a quarter," he said. "We had to pay some added labeling costs for printing in addition to the quantities I committed to."
Napolitano said DDS committed to buying a large number of bottles over the course of the year in return for permission to affix the Dartmouth label on it. He declined to comment on how many bottles he purchased.
Napolitano said the amount of Dartmouth Spring Water DDS ordered was small compared to the amount Grand Union could afford to buy at a lower price.
"They sell at what is called a grocery store price whereas we are more of a convenience store," he said. "If we were a grocery store we could sell for much lower but we can't compete with a grocery store."
"You could go down to Grand Union on any price for price and find the price you are paying on campus is higher than that of Grand Union," Napolitano added. "They can outsell us and our convenience store every time. I am not in the grocery store business."
Napolitano said he is even having trouble storing the amount of water purchased. Most of the water has to be stored in a warehouse in Claremont, N.H.
Napolitano said the new water was "just a brainchild we had over the summer at a conference and accomplished with a little bit of research and digging."
"I noticed that there were companies out there that put specialized labels on their water," he said.
The people at the conference tried to sell Pennsylvania water to Dartmouth, Napolitano said.
"It was very expensive," he said. "I wondered why couldn't we do it on a local level. Local bottlers were excited to do it."
Napolitano said he initially asked Vermont Pure Natural Spring Water to bottle water with the Dartmouth logo, but found it to be too expensive.
The Coca Cola bottling branch in New England recommended Napolitano to the Cornucopia Beverages company.
Napolitano said he personally spent a time choosing the label design for the bottle and arranging for the appropriate bottling codes throughout the summer.
"I wanted Dartmouth, Baker Tower and the word 'spring water' because it was spring water," he said. "After a couple of weeks of Cornucopia doing their thing, we got this label."
Napolitano said the new water was a "big hit."
"Students like it, parents are taking it home as souvenirs, it is a nice novelty," he said.
This marketing technique has worked for some students.
Kara Jursak '99 said she bought the Dartmouth water because "it was in a neat container this year."
"I don't usually buy bottled water," she added. "I bought it because I thought it was cute because it had Dartmouth on the bottle."
It was a big risk to commit to so many bottles, Napolitano said.
"The only place to get it is through Dining Services," he said. "But we had to buy so many ... and commit to selling strictly through Dining Services on campus."
Students were not surprised to discover that Dartmouth water was more expensive than its sibling.
Rachel Moss '99 said she bought the Dartmouth water because it was convenient.
"I like buying the bottle and refilling it," she said.
Moss said the water "seemed expensive, but everything here is."
Moss expressed disbelief that the water was almost a dollar cheaper at Grand Union and said she would probably stop buying the water.
"That's pretty ridiculous, but typical," she said.
