Costco nixes Coke products

Corporate Coca-Cola meets it's match with Costco - let's see how capitalism handles this one.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hC_n50ZLyl8FLDBIkGfCn7-110BwD9C1KD500

Costco customers may have to look elsewhere for Coca-Cola products now that the retailer has stopped carrying them because the pair are fighting over prices.

"Costco is committed to carrying name brand merchandise at the best possible prices. At this time, Coca-Cola has not provided Costco with competitive pricing so that we may pass along the value our members deserve," said a message on the company's Web site labeled "Price Alert!"
A Costco executive confirmed the move Monday but would not discuss the matter further.
The wholesale club operator, based in Issaquah, Wash., is not removing products like Coke and Diet Coke from store shelves, but it does not plan to restock them "until the matter is resolved," according to the message on its site.

Ten years ago, a Sams Club 2 liter of cola cost 50¢ every day. Coke and Pepsi cost $1 in grocery stores and $1.39 in c-stores.

Now, Sams Club 2 liter is 79¢ every day, Coke and Pepsi are $1.33 on sale (as of tonight at Sweetbay) , regularly $1.79 and now $2.19 in c-stores.

So the price ratio has stayed pretty much the same, but it's not really the same because Coke and Pepsi have climbed above a threshold. Ninety nine cents might be twice as much as fifty cents, but it's still under a dollar. $1.79 for a 2ltr of coke starts to add up.

Profit margins on soda are like the banks on credit cards - only worse.

The Coke bottlers have even lower costs due to a direct price from Coke for the syrup and massive quantities bottled.

for all it does to our teeth, body and such, seems like a bad deal all around

exploiting third world nations http://killercoke.org/
threatening unions
and using child labor http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0610-01.htm

Don't drink coke

At least for bottled and canned product. I happen to be a distributor and we are extremely lucky if we can manage a twenty percent profit margin. My business is set up to exist on a twenty five percent profit margin and because our margins are so low in the beverage division we are hurting severely. Costco is a major problem for us as well. People can buy our product from Costco cheaper than they can directly from me. Prices are set by the manufacturer and not by me so I have no choice in the matter. Costco really hurts my business.

a month ago, I could not find pop for less than $1.50 per two liter bottle. The exception was DG (Dollar General) where it was $1.25. Then suddenly prices went down a couple weeks ago. Suddenly pepsi products were $1 again, almost everywhere, and RC, Sunkist and A&W were 79 cents for a two liter. So I now have about 30 two liter bottles at home. The price went down, so I stocked up.

I can remember paying $1.09 for RC at my local grocer in the mid 1990s, and that was the cheapest non-generic pop that store had. Now, about 15 years later and the price is still $1 a bottle, when the price of everything else has gone up quite a bit. True $1 is kind of a "sale" price, but such sales are fairly frequent and regular.

They are pricing themselves out of the market.

Thats probably the price point Costco wants so they can compete.

However, I will say that Costco is partly to blame because the smaller stores share the loss on low sale prices to get shoppers to shop there, which COSTCO doesnt seem to think they need to do because of their high volume.

are as hooked on Coke as others are on cigarettes.

I was hooked on fountain Cherry Coke for years. When my health got really bad, I was determined to get off it. When I started drinking iced tea instead, I lost 30 pounds in about three months, and it's 30 pounds I never gained back. I missed that Coke for a long time, but the last time I thought I'd have a treat and got a Cherry Coke, I couldn't drink it. I don't even like it any more.

it's cheaper! :)

microbrews have doubled in the last 2 years.

As long as I can fill my freezer with two months worth of meat for $200.00, and as long as they treat their employees well, I don't care about Coke or Pepsi. I don't drink the shit anyway. I'm more of a slow food kinda guy.

I say it doesn't matter. He says that it's Coke or nothing.

Now truth be told, a couple of years ago I actually felt that way. But since then, Pepsi has done something to their formula for Diet, and it's harsh compared to Coke.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5682125

612,000 Metric Tons per year according to their list - not including manufacturing/bottling, distribution

sorry

I can still buy Coke elsewhere. Costco is only an adjunct source of groceries for me.

I wouldn't buy the HFCS stuff anyway, but the Mexican import shouldn't have anything to do with their "dispute" with the corporate office in Atlanta.

Pricy, compared to the stuff from Atlanta, but worth it. (Costco had it for $17 a case, last time I checked)

something about the corn syrup makes coke unkosher or ? sugar coke sounds good. I'll take a look for it

grain based sweeteners like HFCS are a no no, so they do release a limited batch of real Coke out of Atlanta then. It's not widely distributed.... for obvious reasons it usually ends up in areas with higher Jewish populations. Haven't seen it yet in this one synagogue town. But it's still in the plastic bottles, so it's not quite as good as the Mexican stuff anyway. The glass bottle really does make a difference.

I buy Coke in glass bottles here whenever I can get it at the grocery store, and when I can't get it at the grocery store, I buy it from a restaurant. :hi:

but $18 a pop is just too much to pay.

:dunce:

:evilgrin:

including wild cherry (I honestly think my SO would kill for wild cherry Diet Pepsi in the right situation), $1. I need a bigger truck. :evilgrin:

about 5 times a year. American Coke is a joke and a syrup.

Or is it only from American distributors that they aren't stocking it?

If they keep selling the Mexican no HFCS coke, it actually might serve a useful purpose of getting more people weaned off of HFCS cola if they buy the Mexican coke in Costco instead, and discover that real sugar in Coke also tastes better than HFCS as well.

Of course it was a long time ago - probably 50 years - and it was a 6.5 oz bottle.
And it was in a break area where my mom worked, so maybe the cost was subsidized a bit by the company.