Coke blinked

December 15, 2009 4:33 PM

In late November Costco began a price dispute with Coca-Cola and very publicly announced that Costco would no longer carry Coke products at the current prices. Costco went so far as to stack pallets of Pepsi products near the entrance to warehouses with signs explaining the decision. The dispute has been settled with Coke products reappearing on Costco shelves at a new, lower, price.
posted by ericales (104 comments total)

I'm not sayin' it.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 4:35 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

Pepsi Phew!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:37 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

That was the one.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 4:39 PM on December 15, 2009

Hurray!!!! I'm so glad you posted this. We were anxiously awaiting the return of Coke products at our local Costco.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:40 PM on December 15, 2009 [4 favorites]

My in-laws have a Costco down the road from them and they were starting to get the Diet Coke DTs, so being able to buy crates of the stuff will be good news for them.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:41 PM on December 15, 2009

Seriously TPS? My sarcasm meter is a bit off today.
posted by ericales at 4:41 PM on December 15, 2009

Is IZZE owned by Coca-Cola? We noticed they stopped carrying the delicious IZZE Sodas a few months ago.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:42 PM on December 15, 2009

Something about HFCS?
posted by fixedgear at 4:42 PM on December 15, 2009

I was most interested in whether or not Costco was big enough to successfully force the issue with Coke.
posted by ericales at 4:42 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

It's frightening to me that I knew about this whole Coke/Costco situation already, not from news sources, but from directly-affected friends who actually care.
posted by gurple at 4:43 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

Hehe, yes, seriously.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:44 PM on December 15, 2009

IZZE is owned by PepsiCo. wiki.
posted by stavrogin at 4:44 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

So, who won?
posted by stavrogin at 4:44 PM on December 15, 2009

oh, nevermind.
posted by stavrogin at 4:45 PM on December 15, 2009

worst post on dumbest topic
posted by boo_radley at 4:45 PM on December 15, 2009 [6 favorites]

Seriously TPS? My sarcasm meter is a bit off today.

I'd believe it. HFCS and all that jazz, but Coke products are superior to Pepsi. The latter is not a substitute for the former, and of the diet versions, only Diet Coke is palatable at all.
posted by explosion at 4:45 PM on December 15, 2009 [6 favorites]

The dispute may be over, but for the victims the long road to healing has only just begun, so let's have a bit of respect.
posted by WPW at 4:46 PM on December 15, 2009 [38 favorites]

IZZE is owned by PepsiCo.

:(
posted by Stynxno at 4:47 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

Begun again, this cola war has.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 4:47 PM on December 15, 2009 [16 favorites]

Just in time for the holidays
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:48 PM on December 15, 2009

Pepsi's reaction.
posted by Balisong at 4:49 PM on December 15, 2009

kuujjuarapik: "Begun again, this cola war has."

Always two there are: A regular... and a diet.
posted by boo_radley at 4:50 PM on December 15, 2009 [19 favorites]

IZZE is owned by PepsiCo.

So why did Costco stop stocking it? This saddens me.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:51 PM on December 15, 2009

and sometimes lesser flavors, like Lime or Lemon or Cherry or Vanilla, or Cherry Vanilla even, but those are just to pad out books and really aren't canon.
posted by boo_radley at 4:53 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

Diet Dr. Pepper has all the other diets beat, but when I did the full-on soda experience, I couldn't stand Pepsi--had to be Coke.
posted by misha at 4:55 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

Coke products are superior to Pepsi.
Yes

of the diet versions, only Diet Coke is palatable at all.

What? No. Diet Coke is pretty gross, though I like drinking half Coke, half Diet Coke, which is pretty decent. But overall? Pepsi's diet sodas are less cough-syrupy and lacking as much of the artificial sweetener aftertaste. Coke Zero isn't so bad though, as long as it's really cold.
posted by cmgonzalez at 4:57 PM on December 15, 2009

Sans lemon-flavored diet coke, a mixture of three-quarters Diet Coke and 1/4 light Minute Maid lemonade from the soda fountain is very delicious, with not much sugar at all.
posted by i8ny3x at 5:02 PM on December 15, 2009

So, how much do you pay for Coke in America? We only have one Costco in Australia (Melbourne) and the most up-to-date price I could find was from August - Coca Cola Coke 330mLcansx30pack $13.99 - thats $12.11 USD.
posted by tellurian at 5:02 PM on December 15, 2009

Diet Mountain Dew has a staggering amount of orange juice in it.
posted by johnnybeggs at 5:04 PM on December 15, 2009

Coke is probably the one product I would go on TV to endorse.

not that anyone would care :)
posted by abc123xyzinfinity at 5:05 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

I refuse to believe just on principle that Diet Mountain Dew contains anything from real fruit. It would be fruit abuse.

And I drink a frightening amount of the stuff, along with Diet Nestea, so I ought to know.
posted by Kadin2048 at 5:07 PM on December 15, 2009

Red Bull Cola or eat shit. That said, I'm glad Costco made Coca Cola bow down. Coca Cola products taste terrible, and they're giving you Type 2 Diabetes and/or they're poisoning your insides.
posted by Burhanistan at 5:07 PM on December 15, 2009

This would be a really interesting front page post if the deal involved Coca-Cola being packaged in cubic bottles.
posted by Tube at 5:13 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

My local supermarket just started to carry Mexican Coke. No Type 2 diabetes for me.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 5:13 PM on December 15, 2009 [4 favorites]

Glad to hear it. Costco is where I get my Mexican Coke.
posted by joedan at 5:15 PM on December 15, 2009

There's a guy who can swallow, like, 40 condoms who supplies my Mexican coke.
posted by GuyZero at 5:20 PM on December 15, 2009 [18 favorites]

Burhanistan: "Red Bull Cola or eat shit."

Well, you're already drinking shit so why not do both?
posted by boo_radley at 5:28 PM on December 15, 2009 [3 favorites]

Is the Mexican Coke the same as kosher Coke - maybe just repackaged?
posted by blaneyphoto at 5:30 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

blaneyphoto: more or less. Mexican Coke, like kosher-for-passover Coke, is made with cane sugar, not HFCS. It's not the same in the Mexican Coke is actually imported from Mexico. (Or such is my understanding.)
posted by kenko at 5:35 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

Red Bull Cola or eat shit.

That's a b-side off Double Nickels On the Dime, right?
posted by Divine_Wino at 5:37 PM on December 15, 2009 [10 favorites]

Mexican coke is made with real sugar, not HCFS, blaneyphoto.
posted by axiom at 5:38 PM on December 15, 2009

My grandfather was shocked, shocked I tell you, when I said I didn't drink Coke. He actually asked what sort of (Family Name) I was to not love Coca-Cola.

It's so alien to me.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:42 PM on December 15, 2009

I wouldn't mind reading about Cola Wars if there actually was some videos of coke and pepsi executives shaking up two-litres and spraying one another, stabbing each other with sharpened cans, possibly throwing mentos bombs, catapulting vending machines across fields ... y'know, proper war stuff.
This is just lame.
posted by mannequito at 5:42 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

I only drink the cheap stuff that makes your dick fall off.
posted by qvantamon at 5:49 PM on December 15, 2009

So they are now selling Coke for the $.10 a liter it takes to make it?
posted by DU at 5:49 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

Monopsony. This article is about Wal-Mart, but it's a similar type of behavior.
posted by bowline at 6:03 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

Is the Mexican Coke the same as kosher Coke - maybe just repackaged?

No. Kosher Coca-Cola is manufactured using beet sugar. Beet sugar is crap sugar*. Mexican Coca-Cola uses CANE sugar. From sugar cane. The real deal. If a sugar could best personify a naked woman dancing in front of you it would be lovely, lovely cane sugar.

Cane sugar is the good shit. And the only reason it even exists on the planet in this rare, wonderful form is because of a giant kick-back from the Mexican government to the local sugar industries. God-be-fucking-praised for protectionism. I love Real Coke (Mexican Coke) because it best represents a fundamental problem in the capitalist system. Cane Coke should be the norm because it is fundamentally the better product—ask anyone born before 1970 and they'll tell you the same. Yet for [insert conspiracy theory here] they have kept with the HFCS bullshit (Pepsi, too, I'm not letting them off the hook, either). I guess it would just be too earth-shattering if the people in Central America started getting some money in their pockets or something.

* But at least it's not high-fructose corn syrup, so your body can actually process it instead of relying solely on your poor liver.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:03 PM on December 15, 2009 [11 favorites]

Did this apply to Mexican Coke, or was that sort of a back-door deal anyway?
'Cause, honestly, that's the only soda I buy in Costco anyway.
posted by madajb at 6:07 PM on December 15, 2009

Not that I'm dissing regular Coke, mind you, it's just their prices were never really that competitive with other stores.
posted by madajb at 6:13 PM on December 15, 2009

Cane Coke is delicious. All other Coke is shite. As was the FPP. Really, my gods, this was something that needed our collective attention?
posted by five fresh fish at 6:22 PM on December 15, 2009

Coca Cola Coke 330mLcansx30pack $13.99 - thats $12.11 USD.

What? That's insanity. I don't buy it by the case but I'm pretty sure that in Canada it's half that at least, and that's not even at a discount store. Our cans are 355ml.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 6:22 PM on December 15, 2009

The other day in physics class I did a demo for the kids where you put a grape in a glass of water and then raise the density of the water with sugar until the grape floats. Except that I kept adding more and more sugar and the grape never rose. Pour, stir, pour, stir; nothing. Eventually I gave up and told the kids that I'd investigate more before the class met again. Well, after class I poured and poured and poured, and stirred and stirred and stirred; I hadn't realized you could dissolve so much sugar in a glass of water; and finally the grape stayed afloat. A colleague dared me to sip the (by now yellowish) liquid: it tasted like and had the consistency of soda pop. I am seriously re-evaluating my soda drinking habits.
posted by msittig at 6:28 PM on December 15, 2009 [4 favorites]

I doubt most folks can tell a difference between cane sugar, beet sugar, and HFCS. However, it appears the thick, chilled glass bottle makes a big difference for many people.

Tellurian, a 24 pack/case of 355mL Coke and Diet Coke cans cost about $6 at the local store. Coke Zero is significantly more, about $4.50 a twelve pack. Cherry Coke Zero is the same, but is always low stocked, sells out quickly, and isn't sold at all in more economical two liter bottles. I suspect ACORN may have it's fingers in this one.

I say good on those Costco thugs for keeping Coke under the yoke of monopsony.
posted by 2N2222 at 6:30 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

Will no one stand up for Pepsi!? Well, hell, I will. I much prefer Pepsi to Coke. Unfortunately in Japan, Coke has such a strangle hold on the market that Pepsi seems to believe the only way it can compete is to create such abominations as Pepsi White, Cucumber Pepsi, Shiso Pepsi, and more recently Azuki Bean Pepsi. It's nearly impossible to find regular Pepsi in stores here, more likely you'll find Pepsi Lemon (the devil's beverage) or Pepsi Nex, which is just horrible, horrible crap. Even worse, some fast food chains have replaced Pepsi with Pepsi Nex altogether, changing your choice of beverage into a landmine filled interrogation of sorts, where you try to figure out if they'll be serving you Pepsi, or something that tastes like Grandma's old shoe.

Still, Pepsi. It doesn't have that harsh aftertaste that Coke does.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:31 PM on December 15, 2009

I can definitely taste a difference between cane sugar and HFCS in Coca-Cola and everyone who has sampled it can as well. A simple Google search will verify that most people feel the same. Sugar cane Coke = much better. Period.

As for beet sugar v. cane sugar having also tried both (in Pepsi) I can say I also taste a difference and I am not too fond of beet sugar. There is a possibility the actual formulations are different.

Yeah. I drink a lot of Coke.
posted by gnash at 6:35 PM on December 15, 2009

Italian Coca-Cola (made with real sugar). Nothing's better.

Even the Gatorade has to be made with real sugar in Italy.
posted by Zambrano at 6:35 PM on December 15, 2009

Ghidora, I've always been curious to try a Cucumber Coca-Cola. Will you mail me one? I will reimburse you.
posted by boo_radley at 6:43 PM on December 15, 2009

haha, cucumber pepsi is what I mean.
posted by boo_radley at 6:45 PM on December 15, 2009

I gave up soda pop, HFCS, and refined sugar earlier this year, but damn if that cane sugar Mexican Coca-Cola wasn't ambrosia in a bottle. So ridiculously tasty; the stuff instantly evoked my junk food-saturated childhood in the late 1970s/early 1980s. I could almost go for one right now...
posted by porn in the woods at 6:54 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

Speaking of soft drinks. I am utterly, hopelessly, addicted to this local energy drink called Viso they sell around here in Portland. There's 300mg of caffeine per can, it tastes like juice, it isn't carbonated, and I would just drink it all day long if I could afford it. I am drinking it as I type this.

Yes, this is a cry for help.

And just today some random guy I met on the MAX told me that I could actually buy it by the case if I want to go to the distributor. If there are no future posts from me, it's safe to assume I've died from caffeine poisoning. Please call 911.
posted by floam at 6:58 PM on December 15, 2009 [5 favorites]

I love Real Coke (Mexican Coke) because it best represents a fundamental problem in the capitalist system.

Multiple problems. Two are clearest in this case:

There's the problem where market prices are distorted because politicians vote to subsidize capitalists who give them money and power (e.g. corn syrup producers) and tax capitalists who don't (e.g. cane sugar producers/importers).

And then there's the problem where, if a large majority of people disagree with a preference of yours (e.g. they prefer cheaper corn syrup over more expensive cane sugar) then it becomes harder to satisfy your own preference.

Unfortunately, the best alternatives to capitalism seem to revolve around political economic control with central planning (thanks to people who don't understand the first problem) and plurality rule (thanks to people who don't understand the second). So I wouldn't get your hopes up from that direction. In fact, just look at the news: the current political winds are pointing to "vice tax on soda", not "wider selection of soda"!
posted by roystgnr at 7:02 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

Sadly (?) Cucumber was last year's flavor, boo_radley. From what I understand, it was foul beyond imagining. It was, essentially, sweetened, carbonated cucumber juice. You could probably get the same from mixing cucumber juice, soda water, and about 8 tablespoons of sugar.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:03 PM on December 15, 2009

>: I doubt most folks can tell a difference between cane sugar, beet sugar, and HFCS.

The difference is obvious.
HFCS has a nasty, syrupy taste and a sticky feel in your mouth, whereas cane sugar tastes much more clean. I can immediately spot pasta sauce that uses HFCS over the sauce that uses sugar.

Coke in Europe uses sugar as well, but I'd be guessing it's beet sugar.
posted by dunkadunc at 7:04 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

Wait, I thought (cane) sugar was the first step! After that comes power, then wimmen, or else Homer Simpson lied to me.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:04 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

How about a red bean one, then?
posted by boo_radley at 7:05 PM on December 15, 2009

Mexican Apple soda is better than Mexican Coke. (OK, not really.)
posted by funkbrain at 7:06 PM on December 15, 2009

I'm riveted. Juuuust riveted.
posted by tkchrist at 7:16 PM on December 15, 2009

I have absolutely nothing to contribute to this thread.
posted by tarantula at 7:20 PM on December 15, 2009

Boo, trust me, you don't want the Azuki Pepsi either. The shiso one this summer was pleasant enough if you're fond of that particular herb, though.

Plus, Japanese Fanta always seems to have a seasonal flavor or two. I've seen white peach, blackcurrant/cassis, and apple, among others (the latter being the current one on shelves everywhere).
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:22 PM on December 15, 2009

The difference is obvious.

It obviously isn't for most people. Which is precisely why those sweeteners are used interchangeably depending on regional cost differences. ISTR a taste test that actually seemed to indicate a general preference for HFCS. I maintain the old style bottle has a significant psychological effect.
posted by 2N2222 at 7:56 PM on December 15, 2009

ehh, Thums Up from India beats all of your sissy american colas.
posted by scruss at 8:21 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

I doubt most folks can tell a difference between cane sugar, beet sugar, and HFCS. However, it appears the thick, chilled glass bottle makes a big difference for many people.

By any useful measure, I do not drink carbonated or sweetened beverages of any sort. I drink two Americanos with milk (not cream) and one sugar each morning, possibly several mugs of unsweetened black or peppermint tea if it's winter, or several very large glasses of filtered water, some with lemon or lime concentrate if it's summer. Oh, and a glass of wine several times a week. No hard liquor unless (rarely) out for dinner. That's it. No milk, no sugary water, no CO2, no unnerving chemical concoctions.

There is one huge difference between Canadian Coca-Cola and Mexican cane Coca-Cola: the latter actually tastes great, and I can see how one could become rather addicted to it. Ordinary Coke rather turns me off, though it does leave my teeth feeling they've been thoroughly scoured, which I rather like. Mexican Coke was an OMG experience. That's the shit you can get addicted to. Full of flavour. And it didn't leave an unpleasant aftertaste.

If people can't tell the difference, that's a little sad. But unexpected, I suppose, as there are plenty of people who can also eat fast food, and not be sickened by the salt and the unpleasant taste and texture of the processed foods.

Soylent Green. It's made for people who love people.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:23 PM on December 15, 2009 [3 favorites]

The best coke you'll have is the one you have after giving it up. Well, ok, I haven't really given it up, but drink it less then once a week. Go a week, minimum, maybe 2 or 3. Now, have one Coke. Don't bother with a big one, the effect fades. Drink it when you are good an thirsty. It really is amazing; there are wonderful deep flavours in those first drinks. Alas, about 1/2 can in it sort of all becomes sugar water; a good rush, but not delicious anymore, just functional. But those first drinks....
posted by Bovine Love at 8:31 PM on December 15, 2009

I say, wasn't that rather a few too many "rathers", old chap?
posted by five fresh fish at 8:32 PM on December 15, 2009

Cane sugar is the good shit. And the only reason it even exists on the planet in this rare, wonderful form is because of a giant kick-back from the Mexican government to the local sugar industries.

The US has a similar giant kick-back scheme with the corn famers, which is why everything has corn syrup in it. (But we don't call it a kick-back. We call it a subsidy. It sounds less corrupt that way).
posted by eye of newt at 8:53 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

The dispute has been settled with Coke products reappearing on Costco shelves at a new, lower, price.

Phew. Boy that was a cliffhanger. Will there be a sequel? One can only hope. Now pardon me while I go eat some broken glass and shit blood.
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 9:22 PM on December 15, 2009 [4 favorites]

boo, memail me your address, I'll pick it up and send it out. Just don't curse me when you realize it's god awful, I tried to warn you.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:37 PM on December 15, 2009

I maintain the old style bottle has a significant psychological effect.

I won't claim to have ever done a blind taste test, but one thing about Mexican Coke is that it has more "bite" to it.
This could certainly be due to the way the bottle directs the Coke onto your tongue (vs. a can). Or maybe the glass keeps more carbonation in the mix. Hell, maybe it's because you just have to drink it slower (due to flow rate).

I dunno, maybe someone can get some HCFS coke put in in one of those tall bottles and we'll see what happens.
posted by madajb at 10:03 PM on December 15, 2009

Metafilter: I have absolutely nothing to contribute to this thread.
posted by liketitanic at 10:05 PM on December 15, 2009

Actually, the hand's down best tasting coke I've ever had didn't come from a glass bottle. Bottle can's, the aluminum bottles with the screw top, ice-cold, are the only way I actually enjoy drinking coke. There's something about the bottle can that makes the coke taste that much better.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:08 PM on December 15, 2009

I prefer Pepsi, because it tastes a bit like ginger. Cola, to me, tastes like caramel and ick. European, mind you, never had the HFCS stuff marketed in the US.

However, I feel like wailing on some REAL COKE THAT ISN'T COCAINE after reading this thread.

Also: 1 333ml can of Pepsi will run you about $1.80 in Norway.
posted by flippant at 10:35 PM on December 15, 2009

Pepsi seems to believe the only way it can compete is to create such abominations as Pepsi White, Cucumber Pepsi, Shiso Pepsi, and more recently Azuki Bean Pepsi.

That's because Pepsi doesn't produce those, Suntory does, since they own all of the bottlers in Japan and hold all distribution rights for Pepsi products. All of these weird flavors are seasonal products, since (a) that's the way of things in Japan, with product lineups changing every season, every month, or every week, and (b) Suntory seems to think that they can make more money attracting one- or two-time drinkers for each product for the curiosity factor. I'm not sure how much they actually make from this, but the end result is that everyone thinks Pepsi has gone off the deep end here.

However, Suntory makes Pepsi Nex, which is like Coke Zero but a jillion times better, so all is forgiven. (Even Pepsi Gold and Pepsi Carnival.)
posted by armage at 10:48 PM on December 15, 2009

Your favorite cola beverage sucks.
posted by IvoShandor at 10:58 PM on December 15, 2009

The other day in physics class I did a demo for the kids where you put a grape in a glass of water and then raise the density of the water with sugar until the grape floats. Except that I kept adding more and more sugar and the grape never rose. Pour, stir, pour, stir; nothing. Eventually I gave up and told the kids that I'd investigate more before the class met again. Well, after class I poured and poured and poured, and stirred and stirred and stirred; I hadn't realized you could dissolve so much sugar in a glass of water; and finally the grape stayed afloat.

You can actually dissolve more sugar in water than there is water, if that makes sense.

Which happens to be how to properly make Sweet Tea and Lemonade. You bring 5 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water slowly to a boil, and keep stirring until the sugar dissolves completely, and you've made a simple syrup.

Use that to sweeten your tea or lemonade instead of just pouring sugar into it. It'll mix thoroughly, and it ends up tasting much sweeter for the same amount of sugar.
posted by empath at 11:20 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

I think people like whatever they've gotten used to. I drink exclusively diet soda now, and I like nearly all of them. However, I don't really like regular soda as well anymore - it just tastes harsh and acrid and feels syrupy. Of course, when I started with the diet soda, it was exactly the other way around.
posted by Mitrovarr at 12:54 AM on December 16, 2009

We love Mexican coke and we did do a blind taste test about 2 months ago. It was so much cleaner, with no chemically taste like the American stuff had. There is a huge difference. We only buy the Mexican kind but rarely, just for a treat. Unfortunately, my husband and I drink diet coke like water.
posted by pearlybob at 4:42 AM on December 16, 2009

HURF DURF COLA DRINKER
posted by chinston at 4:49 AM on December 16, 2009

No Coke! Pepsi!
posted by TedW at 6:45 AM on December 16, 2009

Ghidorah: another vote for pepsi over coke. and while Pepsi Lemon may well be the devil's beverage, pepsi lime is sublime.
posted by msconduct at 6:57 AM on December 16, 2009

Cherry Zero, beeyotches.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:23 AM on December 16, 2009

this is all 2nd hand, but i swear it's true.

for years i volunteered at the new orleans jazz & heritage festival. years! i tell you. i worked with a great group of people, 95% of whom are local but i never see during the rest of the year. so the fest is like a musical family reunion of sorts. when i was volunteering, a cold drink cost $3. according to the guy who handles the beer crew (or 'krewe' since it's a new orleans thing), of that $3, $1 goes to the fest, $1 goes to the fair grounds which is 'rented' every year for the fest to the tune of about a million bucks, and $1 goes to whichever ngo is running each booth each booth is (wo)manned by a non profit that provides the bodies to hand over the drinks & in return gets a percentage of the total sales. you can see, that leaves exactly zero profit for the manufacturer/distributor.

my fellow volunteers come from all walks of life. one is a lawyer, who knows the woman who handles coke's legal work locally. he told me that every year it's a battle between the fest organizers and the coke/miller folks who sign a contract to be 'the official beverage of the new orleans jazz & heritage festival. coke keeps insisting that it can't continue to give away its products, and, in fact, the company actually *loses* money because they have to divert drivers away from their regular routes to service the fest. in return, the fest keeps insisting that if coke won't do it, they'll find someone else who will. every year, coke capitulates, but it's come down to a matter of hours before opening day that they've caved in.

i'm no fan of mega corporations, and i'm willing to bet that i love a bargain at least as much as the next person, but there's something very, very wrong with that picture.
posted by msconduct at 7:25 AM on December 16, 2009

Who will win? Beverage analysts said don't bet against that famous logo.

"This is not going to bully Coke into changing its pricing strategy," said John Sicher, editor of trade publication Beverage Insights. "I think Coke is going to basically be focused on the right price and right market for its products, no matter the cost."

When reading this part all I could think of was William Kristol, something about the combination of empty platitudes and utter wrongness.
posted by Challahtronix at 7:56 AM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

Canadian Coke stills tastes better than American Coke. My friends and family will come over to my house and STEAL cans of Canadian Coke after I've come back from a teaching gig there.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 8:12 AM on December 16, 2009

Costco sells Mexican cane cola by the case and in glass bottles. I nearly wept in joy and almost threw my back out loading it into the cart.

Now, I used to be one of those people who believed in the interchangability of sugars until I lived in Europe with its cane cola lifestyle. Sweet Lord, I lost weight and was able to imbibe less soda because I was satisfied much more easily. I speak as a person who worked at a computer with 128 oz. of Coke per session back in the day so to scale down so much was astonishing.

Cane based drinks do taste different. The Orangina in the US is an abomination in comparison to the Oranginas of the UK, France, Switzerland, and Germany. To get something even close to Orangina is to buy Pellegrino's Italian imported Arranciata and that is not a full substitute.
posted by jadepearl at 8:41 AM on December 16, 2009

My Costco sells Mexican Coca-Cola. A whole pallet of Coke is way too much for me, though. On the other hand if they carried Dublin Dr. Pepper...
posted by mike_bling at 9:28 AM on December 16, 2009

I think people like whatever they've gotten used to.

Undoubtedly.

Which is why a person should give up sugary, carbonated products and start drinking plain old water and tea. It'll be hell for the first month or two, but in the end you'll come to really enjoy proper refreshments and you body will thank you.

Liquids intake does not have to be an unthinking, habitual, chemical-driven addiction. Except for coffee, which is of course the elixir and lifeblood of my morning routine.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:42 AM on December 16, 2009

Cane Coke

Heh.
posted by Pax at 9:42 AM on December 16, 2009

I'm hoping this is a story more about Coca-Cola's waning influence than it is about Costco's growing one.

FWIW, you can still get cane cola here in the U.S. from smaller producers. I don't know how wide their distribution is, but Boylan's, for example, makes one, as does Jones. If you've never tried it, do so ASAP- you'll immediately understand what your parents were talking about when they'd grouse about how Coke used to taste so much better.
posted by mkultra at 11:17 AM on December 16, 2009

Coke is the one true God and all heretics will be purged with the Holy Fire!

*hides from heretical, Pepsi drinking wife*
posted by quin at 11:38 AM on December 16, 2009

ehh, Thums Up from India beats all of your sissy american colas.

Really? My other friends in India say Thums Up is/was the standard-bearer for horrible knockoff products that filled the market gap when companies like Coca-Cola were barred from operating in the country.
posted by kittyprecious at 12:24 PM on December 16, 2009

The best coke you'll have is the one you have after giving it up.

Not if you really do give it up.

I used to be a Coke maniac, couldn't wake up without getting one on the way to take the kids to school, and of course it was a LARGE one in one of those bladder-buster, and then again when I picked them up, sometimes at lunch and again at dinner, too.

Now I look at that and just can't believe I did it to myself. I've even cut down on the diet Dr. Pepper because iced tea gives me the caffeine I still crave but it actually quenches my thirst. I can't drink more than one, MAYBE two cans a day if I am going to be up for extra-long hours. But I'd prefer tea or water or juice.

If I accidentally taste a regular soda now (pick up my husband's), I can't stand it.
posted by misha at 12:32 PM on December 16, 2009

But misha, drinking diet soda drinks just makes you a crypto-soda drinker; that isn't giving it up at all, it is just drinking a pale imitation. It's still going to keep your tastebuds in "sweet" mode, even if they are being conned.

My sub to coke has been largely Pelligrino. I find it, on the whole, more refreshing, it doesn't give me an appetite, it doesn't hurt me in anyway and it is delicious.

Diet drinks are the worst of all worlds. Makes your body think it is getting sugar, but you get none of the rush. I don't get why anyone would drink it at all. Fizzy water (without the faux sugar) are much nicer.

Plus, I remain fairly convinced that scamming your body is, in general, a bad idea; of course, I have no facts for this, so it remains a superstition. But it does go against my belief in living life genuinely. But that is a track for a different day.
posted by Bovine Love at 12:52 PM on December 16, 2009

Bovine Love, you are preaching to the choir here: I actually agree with you.

I'd like to just ditch the diet soda altogether.

And I am getting closer to that point, as I prefer iced tea (unsweetened) to the diet soda. I like Pellegrino, too. But only what the Italians refer to as still water, not fizzy.

I actually can't stand fizzy water. I have your same, What's the point? reaction to that as you do to diet soda. If I'm not having soda, I don't need the carbonation.
posted by misha at 1:42 PM on December 16, 2009

The best coke you'll have is the one you have after giving it up.

My dad would probably agree with you. He had to go without it for a while during his basic training for the Air Force. When he finally got a chance to take a break, the first thing he did was drink two or three bottles in about five minutes. He and my mother raised me in a Coke saturated environment and celebrated the beverage with decor and consumption. We even had a functional, old fashioned bottled coke machine in the garage which required the payment of a dime for its use.
posted by inconsequentialist at 6:25 PM on December 16, 2009