Nearly 60 years ago, a group of UC Davis students started a coffee house on campus. Affectionately nicknamed “CoHo,” that one small cafe quickly became a beloved institution for generations of Aggies.
Growing from a modest budget of $75,000 in 1973 to now a roughly $5 million organization. Serving 7,000 customers a day, across seven different restaurants now under the CoHo brand.
Students can find options from Tex Mex to pizza, Halal to sushi and of course the cups of coffee that started it all.
And for the new year, Coffee House customers will find some of their food being served in reusable containers as part of a new pilot program.
Food Service Director for Associated Students Darin Schluep and Shayla Cota, a student and bakery supervisor for CoHo joined Insight with Vicki Gonzalez, to tell us more about that sustainability effort and about CoHo itself.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
For those who didn't go to UC Davis or even alums who haven't been back in a while. Can you help us visualize what CoHo looks like?
SCHLUEP: We're in the Memorial Union, a large student union on campus, kind of the heart of campus. Our front lawn is the campus quad, which is a beautiful view out of our windows.
We have seven different service platforms with a food court feel to it, where you can go and get your coffee in the morning or your lunch or your evening snack. You’re going to see a lot of students and hear a lot of music playing and see a really great environment.
What is the history of CoHo?
SCHLUEP: In 1968, the Coffee House was born. It was some students at the time who were really interested in showing the administration that they could take on big tasks like this. That's when our bus system started, which is primarily student staffed, our student experimental college, our student radio station, KDVS, and then the Coffee House.
It started with sawdust on the floor in a small little facility and it's grown and grown and grown over the years to where we had to bring in some full-time staff to oversee it. We have seven career staff. But right now we have over 350 students doing everything from cooking to cashiering, to service, to student supervisors and student managers. It's very student driven.
And not only do you work at CoHo, but you're an alum as well, right?
SCHLUEP: I am! I started there my sophomore year. My first shift was in the kitchen. I made chocolate chip scones. I think it's the same recipe we're still using.
All right, Shayla. So, you're a student at UC Davis and a bakery supervisor, what is the average day like?
COTA: The kitchen is run by students. So, people are coming in and out of class all day. We open pretty early to serve the students food. I applied, thinking it would be my first on campus job. I ended up loving it, loved the culture of the kitchen, so I've been there for about 18 months now.
It's very friendly, everyone is there in between classes. It's very casual, but we're also pretty driven to keep our students and our campus fed and keep our campus going.
In January, CoHo launched a reusable container pilot program. How does it work?
SCHLUEP: We're working with a third party. We buy containers that folks pay a 50 cent deposit for when they walk in. They get their food in their container. They enjoy their meal.
The reusable containers, made by Friendlier of Guelph, Canada, can be used up to 100 times.Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis
And then afterwards they scan a QR code on the container, put in their financial information. They deposit that container into one of the bins in our facility. Once that container is captured by our third party and registered as returned, that consumer gets that 50 cents back.
Last month, UC Davis was ranked as one of the greenest campuses on the continent. How do you see this program fitting into this larger sustainability effort at UC Davis?
SCHLUEP: You know we weren't aware [of that announcement] when we were researching and doing all the background on this new program.
So it was a bit of a fortunate timing on this but it reinforces all the decisions that we're making. It makes us feel really good about being in line with what the campus is trying to do and to continue its role as a real leader in sustainability. We've always, as the Coffee House, been really proud of our leadership in sustainable food service. So, I think it just meshes really nicely with the overall campus goals.
Derek Vollebregt, left, director of customer success at Friendlier, helps students sign up for the app used to scan used containers before they are put in a collection bin so students can get a refund of their container deposit.Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis
All right, last question, what are your favorite things to eat at CoHo?
COTA: I'm a fan of the chocolate chip scones actually.
SCHLUEP: Don't get me started! I've been eating there every day for 30 years. So there's like a long list of things. I try to get on a rotation.
In the bakery, we have thumbprint cookies which are delicious. Those are with a little jam in the middle, those are great.
But it's all really, really delicious. The work that the students do is just, really admirable. There's tons of really, you know, challenging things about working with students, we're working around their schedules and it can be a lot of training and retraining and retraining again.
But at the same time, they do such a fantastic job of making our food and representing us in a positive way with the campus.
