Posted on 11/19/2009 9:25:33 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Costco nixes Coke products over pricing dispute
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.
By EMILY FREDRIX and SARAH SKIDMORE, AP Food Industry Writers
ATLANTA — 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.
The public squabble between one of the nation's largest wholesale club operators and the world's largest soft drink maker is likely to fizzle quickly. But it reveals real tensions as retailers and product makers square off on prices.
As shoppers continue to grapple with the recession, retailers want to win their favor by giving them low prices. But that has been creating tension between product makers like Coca-Cola Co., who are working hard to maintain profit margins while meeting retailer demands.
Typically such negotiations take place behind the scenes, but once in awhile, a public dispute erupts.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Ping!
Dang. Wonder if this includes the Mexican-bottled Cokes with sugar sweetening (rather than HFCS). That’s the only stuff I let into my house. Tastes really good, too— like Cokes used to before they went super-ultra-sweet.
I never understood why Costo was always more expensive than the almost always on sale price of soda at the local supermarket.
Prolly just as well. The government wants to tax you out of the wazzoooo for buying soda drinks anyway.
“I never understood why Costo was always more expensive than the almost always on sale price of soda at the local supermarket.”
Yep. Agreed. You must be a shopper ;)
2.5 Liters of Shasta for $.99 at Stater Bros markets.
Fizzy sugar water is fizzy sugar water. I’ll never understand paying $1.39 for 2.0 Liters just because the bottle says Coca Cola on it.
In related news — this Coke drinker nixes Costco in brand-loyalty dispute. WalMart, Sams, Target, Costco ... they’re all the same. Coke is non-negotiable.
SnakeDoc
I have wondered the same thing, though I expect it comes down to grocery stores' willingness to sell below cost to get people in the door (loss-leaders), while Costco probably does not use that strategy. I have noticed that Costco's price for Coke products (at least for the 32-packs of 12oz. cans) is typically equal to or slightly higher than what I might find at the Publix down the street.
I buy it anyway because I'm already there and the price difference does not justify an additional trip to the grocery store just for that. However, if I'm at Publix for other stuff and drinks are on sale, I'll definitely stock-up :-)
>> Fizzy sugar water is fizzy sugar water. I’ll never understand paying $1.39 for 2.0 Liters just because the bottle says Coca Cola on it.
I am something of a carbonated beverage connoisseur (along with steak and chicken wings). There is a difference in the name brand and the cheap stuff. But, I put away about a 24-pack a week ... people who don’t drink quite as much as me may not be able to tell. If you can’t tell the difference ... definitely go with the cheap stuff.
SnakeDoc
Tastes similar to RC Cola, if you like that.
Coca Cola had less cans per multi-pak at Costco than Pepsi multi-paks. Which one to purchase at Costo was a no-brainer (and it was never Coke that went into my family's cart).
When soda pop costs almost as much as alcoholic beverages, it's time to switch to tea, lemonade or other drinks. Local grocery stores ask between $3.99 to $4.99 a 12 pack for colas. With the economy in the toilet, such products can price themselves anywhere they want, but it doesn't mean we'll be buying them. In this economy, most of us will leave the coke behind and fill up the gas tank or buying food to sustain our families instead.
>> Fizzy sugar water is fizzy sugar water. I’ll never understand paying $1.39 for 2.0 Liters just because the bottle says Coca Cola on it.
I am something of a carbonated beverage connoisseur (along with steak and chicken wings). There is a difference in the name brand and the cheap stuff. But, I put away about a 24-pack a week ... people who don’t drink quite as much as me may not be able to tell. If you can’t tell the difference ... definitely go with the cheap stuff.
SnakeDoc
I have to agree Coke/Pepsi is definetly better than Shasta or whatever generic 99 cent store brand soda.
But I always buy Coke product or Mountain Dew becuase Pepsi is just too sweet.
On another note, I go to Costco twice a month but to the supermarket once a week so I always get my soda there. Either Albertsons or Ralphs.
At least in my neck of the the woods there is almost always a 4 12 pack for $10-$12 deal every 3-6 weeks.
That is when I stock up and get two deals.
SnakeDoc, I’m a cheap beeztard, and I learned a long time ago that one can get used to almost anything, and survive. So say I why not TRY lesser products, and just get used to them. If one can’t get used to them, then try something else.
Most often that theory works out, and I find something I like in the lesser category that is cheap like me, and I save money. ;)
What happens is one adapts, and the alleged primo stuff becomes less desireable to the point it doesn’t matter at all anymore.
Sound familiar? LOL (Politically I mean.)
Coca Cola I understand has one “H” of a Union Monster with a voracious appetite to feed. I wouldn’t be surprised it’s not in the cards for them to reduce their prices much in todays economy when many folks will bypass that 12 oz. can of fizzy sugar water to save a few nickels.
I’ll bet too that down the road that extremely hungry Union monster at Coca Cola turns on them, and puts them in a similar position as a couple of car companies I’ve read about.
Five 12 packs of Pepsi this week at Kroger for $11.
>> So say I why not TRY lesser products, and just get used to them. If one can’t get used to them, then try something else.
Oh, we do use generics and lower-costs brands on most things.
We have our non-negotiables — Coke (I’ve tried the store brand ... didn’t cut it); cheese (Kraft Deli Deluxe — expensive, but angels sing every time you bite into a sandwich); Toilet paper (goes without explanation); usually luncheon meat (Hillshire farm thin sliced ... good stuff); steaks (the thicker the better, makes for a beautiful medium rare).
The rest ... generic is just as good.
SnakeDoc
+1, Costco needs to back off. They are DISTRIBUTORS, nothing more.
Fizzy sugar water is fizzy sugar water. I’ll never understand paying $1.39 for 2.0 Liters just because the bottle says Coca Cola on it.
<<<<<
You mean “fizzy high fructose corn syrup water”. Costco (and numerous smaller markets) sell the only really good Coca Cola version that is bottled in Mexico with cane sugar. It’s just good. I’m not really
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