Coca-Cola may be the world's best known brand, and is classically associated with all things American. So how can it be that the latest fad (craze?) is something known as "Mexican Coke?" Mexican Coke is actually Coca Cola's product that is bottled and distributed in Mexico, and is now also available in the U.S. While good ole American Coke sells for approximately the same price as (in fact usually less than) bottled water, Mexican Coke commands a shocking $3 per12 ounce bottle even when purchased by the case!
Aficionados of Mexican Coke will tell you that there is a real difference, thanks to the thick glass bottle and the use of sugar, rather than high fructose corn syrup as the primary sweetener. And thus a market has been created. Now available at Amazon, and allegedly seen at Costco in various parts of the country, Mexican Coke exists as a new, alternative beverage in a crowded field. Small restaurants differentiate themselves by selling Mexican Coke (sometimes instead of and sometimes alongside the other "Real Thing").
Is this the work of some marketing genius? A product manager at Coke spotting an opportunity to innovate and increase margins by a factor of 10? Or just another example of how unpredictable the marketplace can be? The question now is whether or not Coke should jump into this new segment more aggressively. There already so many variations of Coke (classic, diet, cherry, vanilla, etc), why not add "sugar flavored"? And just to make this puzzle even more challenging, it turns out that such a product already exists - but it's only available in certain parts of the country during Passover (because corn syrup ain't Kosher for Passover). Just look for the yellow caps!
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