Mexican Coke — the real thing?
Posted on Sunday, December 23, 2007
Coca-Cola is facing some inhouse competition.
Mexican Coca-Cola, for years a popular item in U. S. stores that specialize in Hispanic foods, is gaining a hold in more mainstream retail venues. Prized by the Mexican immigrant community in part for its nostalgic, thick green glass, other Americans are starting to take notice because of the formula’s one difference: cane sugar.
In the United States, Coke is made, for economic reasons, with high-fructose corn syrup. While the cane sugar Coke is generally thought to be sweeter and some say it has a different mouth feel, the company maintains that there’s no taste difference.
“The syrup is the same, the sweetener is the same, but because of the Latino population, and the sense of nostalgia with those bottles, they just find it’s part of their heritage and something they grew up on,” said David Sords, spokesman for Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. ’s southwest Texas business division.
However, consumers maintain they taste a difference, and science backs them up.
Marjorie Fitch-Hilgenberg, a nutritionist and dietitian for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s School of Human Environmental Sciences, said that cane sugar and corn syrup break down differently at a chemical level, causing different tastes.
“I think the popularity we see with the Mexican Coca-Cola could be a taste factor,” Fitch-Hilgenberg said. “It’s just a difference in how the tongue picks up the different sugars.”
Myths surround the American brand’s switch to corn syrup as the main sweetener. Sords said corn syrup was introduced in the 1970 s. However many consumers believe that the introduction of “New Coke” in 1985 — and subsequent though short-lived shelving of the original recipe — was an elaborate cover to keep loyal drinkers from noticing a change in sweeteners when Coca-Cola “Classic” was reintroduced a few months later. Now the American version of “The Real Thing” is made completely with corn syrup, except for a small amount bottled in some regions for consumption during Passover, during which the Jewish religion mandates avoiding corn. The Passover Coke has a yellow bottle top marked OU-P.
FRANCHISE ISSUE Until recently, stores that wanted to buy the Mexican version had to do so through third parties, a practice frowned on by Coca-Cola. Sords said each bottler licensed by Coca-Cola is assigned a franchise territory. The bottlers are not supposed to transport anything outside that area. “What’s happening is the Mexican Coke... is being bought by what we call third-party operators,” he said. “They’re in- dependent” and not bound by the franchise agreement. U. S. Customs and Border Protection agents have no reason to stop the soda since it’s genuine.
He said it’s difficult for the company to gauge how popular Mexican Coca-Cola is in the United States, because most of it is being brought in by the thirdparty operators.
In response, Coca-Cola has developed a few pilot markets over the past couple of years — most of them in Texas — to allow franchises to import and sell the Mexican version. The only difference is that the bottles are marked “No Retornable,” whereas those made for the Mexican market are returnable.
“The pilot is successful in some areas, and it’s not successful in others,” Sords said. “We’re going to continue to see, and explore and expand across the United States.”
The program was developed in response to the Hispanic population’s desire for the glass-bottled drink, Sords said, not because the company believes Mexican Coca-Cola tastes differently. U. S. Coke is available in six-packs of 8-ounce bottles in many grocery stores, and also is seen as a nostalgia item.
Mexican Coke has been available for years at specialty Hispanic grocery stores, said Ana Gonzales, owner of El Torito Mexican Supermarket in west Little Rock. She sells the domestic and Mexican versions — but she had at least five times as much of the Mexican type in stock last week. She said the “always popular” Mexican Coca-Cola sells for about $ 1. 25 per 355-milliliter bottle — slightly less than the amount in a 12-ounce can. She orders the product from a Texas company about once a week, she said. The store also stocks Mexican Coke in 1 liter glass bottles.
GAINING STEAM The Mexican version also is gaining steam in more mainstream markets around Arkansas. It’s turning up in gas stations and at supermarkets. At The Fresh Market at the Pleasant Ridge Town Center in west Little Rock, the Mexican Coca-Cola is the top selling cola in the cold case, according to corporate spokesman Catherine Ogle. At the store, 12 ounces of Mexican Coca-Cola sells for $ 1. 79, while the 20-ounce American version a couple of shelves lower sells for $ 1. 29. The Little Rock location is the first of the chain’s 77 grocery stores to carry the Mexican version of the popular drink, Ogle said. “Little Rock was chosen as the first market because it has a larger cold case than other stores, and The Fresh Market wanted to utilize the extra space to offer new products,” Ogle said. “And, because it has been so successful in that store, The Fresh Market is planning to expand this product to other stores beginning in early 2008.” She said customer feedback has shown people like it for the taste and because of nostalgia for glass bottles. “We sell out of it on a regular basis,” said Tom Bland, assistant manager of the Little Rock store. “We can’t keep it in stock.”
HOW SWEET IT IS He said the store carries a large selection of sodas made with cane sugar rather than corn syrup, and the flavor seems to be the biggest factor in his customers’ choice. “I think there’s a very distinctive taste difference,” Bland said. Although he doesn’t drink much soda, he recently started using the Mexican Coke for his steak marinades, and the sugar caramelizes much better than the American version, he said.
The Fresh Market gets its supply from Real Soda in Real Bottles Inc., a Torrance, Calif.-based soda distributor, which, in turn buys the Mexican Coke from a third-party, said owner Danny Ginsburg.
Real Soda has been selling Mexican Coke for about 20 years, he said, but recently he has seen increasing popularity.
“It looks better, it tastes better,” Ginsburg said. “I’ve noticed the difference myself.”
His customer base is made up mostly of high-end groceries, hotels and even movie stars who have old Coke and Pepsi machines in their houses. Sodas in bottles and those made of cane sugar just tend to be more popular, he said.
“Cane sugar seems to bring out the real flavor of soda,” he said. “Corn syrup, in my opinion, has more of a sort of gummy, syrupy flavor to it.”
Sam’s Club also carries Mexican Coke in 60 of its stores across the United States, including the ones in Bentonville and Fayetteville, said spokesman Kristy Reed. Sam’s Club started carrying it about a year ago, and it tends to sell well, depending on the location. They order it directly from Coca-Cola, and Arkansas is the farthest east and north that the brand is carried.
Sam’s originally started selling the Mexican Coke to make a connection with its Hispanic members, Reed said.
“However, we have seen a huge gain in popularity across all segments of our member base,” Reed said. “Looking towards the future, we do hope to make it more widely available than where it is now.”
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