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Coca-Cola has lost a key court case.
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The company will lose access to the number-two selling soda brand in some markets.
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Some fans will be disappointed at the brand that takes the key spot.
While Coke and Pepsi have battled for cola supremacy, other parts of the soda wars have been less of a two-brand race.
Sprite, for example, has always been the clear leader in the lemon-lime soda space. PepsiCo has tried various brands, but they’re a distant number two, much as R.C. Cola is technically third in the cola space, but is not really even playing the same game as Coke and Pepsi.
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1959: Pepsi launches Teem, its first lemon-lime soda to rival Sprite.
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1984:Teem is discontinued in the U.S.
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1984:Slice debuts. That was a fruit-flavored soda line (including lemon-lime) positioned against Sprite and 7-Up.
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1984-2000s:Slice expands to multiple flavors, then fades as Pepsi shifts focus to Sierra Mist.
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1999:Sierra Mist launches nationally as Pepsi’s new clear-soda flagship.
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2010-2016: Multiple rebrands including “Sierra Mist Natural,” “Mist Twst,” and thenback to “Sierra Mist” all fail to gain traction.
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2023: Pepsi drops Sierra Mist and launches Starry, aimed at Gen Z with a crisper flavor and modern branding.
Source: KSBW
Sprite has been the clear lemon-lime leader in the same way that Keurig Dr Pepper’s Dr. Pepper has dominated the market for whatever its flavor is supposed to be. Coca-Cola’s rival to Dr. Pepper, Mr. Pibb, has not caught on as a clear alternative.
That’s going to hurt Coca-Cola, or at least some fans of Dr. Pepper, as Keurig Dr Pepper now has the right to pull its product from Coca-Cola’s supply chain.
A Texas court order went into effect on Oct. 27 that officially ends Dr Pepper’s long-running distribution agreement with Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling, which supplies Coke products to parts of California and Nevada, according to Bloomberg.
“That ruling gives Dr Pepper’s parent company, Keurig Dr Pepper, full control to bring its soda back under its own distribution system.
This means that some Coca Cola-controlled venues and restaurants will lose access to the world’s second-most-popular soda, Dr. Pepper.
“That legal shift may sound technical, but here’s the short version: In areas where Coke bottlers handled Dr Pepper, some Coke-affiliated fountains could lose access to Dr Pepper syrup on Monday [Oct. 27]. When that happens, restaurants and theaters often swap in Mr. Pibb, Coca-Cola’s “intensely flavored, refreshing, spicy cherry alternative,” Parade.com reported.
