Coke to phase out Vanilla Coke in U.S

[Itsme]

Coke to phase out Vanilla Coke in U.S
By Anupama Chandrasekaran

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest soft drink maker, said on Friday it would phase out its Vanilla Coke, Vanilla Diet Coke and Diet Coke With Lemon beverages in the United States by end of this year.

Coca-Cola shares were down 1.1 percent in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The announcement came a day after Coca-Cola said it would phase out Vanilla Coke and Vanilla Diet Coke in the United Kingdom early next year. The company said sales have declined.

Coca-Cola added that it plans to introduce Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke and Black Cherry Vanilla Coke in the United States in January 2006.

The company said Vanilla Coke, which was introduced in the United States in 2002 and Diet Vanilla Coke in 2003, could return sometime in the future. Details about whether Diet Coke With Lemon, which made its U.S. entry in 2001, would be brought back were not available.

"I don't know if we have ever taken out a flavor and brought it back to the market, but the landscape continues to change and we want to be as flexible as possible to adapt to the changing landscape," said Scott Williamson, a spokesperson for Coca-Cola.

The phase out follows declining sales for the brands in the United States. Vanilla Coke sales slipped to 35 million unit cases in 2004 from 90 million unit cases in 2002, while Vanilla Diet Coke sales dropped to 13 million unit cases last year from 23 million unit cases in 2003, according to Beverage Marketing, a beverage research and consulting firm.

Sales of Diet Coke with Lemon have fallen to 9.9 million unit cases in 2004 from 24 million unit cases in 2001, data showed.

Analysts have said that one of the keys to the company's future is to innovate new products that will help Coca-Cola capture more consumers who have moved away from sugary soft drinks to diet versions, or to healthier low-or no-calorie beverages such as water and orange juices with reduced sugar.

Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Inc., the No. 2 soft drink company, are battling for the allegiance of increasingly picky U.S. consumers. The United States is the largest market for the soft-drink companies.

"It is a rapidly changing beverage landscape and it is important for Coke to move quickly to deliver on what the consumer wants," said Gary Hemphill, managing director of Beverage Marketing. "The competition for shelf space is intense."

[OC]

I should buy a case and Ebay it in five years.

[avlena]

it's better to take normal coke and just dump vanilla rum in it!

[DarkFury]

I should buy a case and Ebay it in five years.
5 year old soda.... Ewww... NASTY!!! :2far:

[Grimm]

They would do better by moving more diet products to Splenda. Have you tasted Diet Coke with Splends? It's awesome. Tastes a lot like regular Coke.

[surfer]

Mmmm... This sounds good. Black Cherry Vanilla Coke.

[johnnymk]

They would do better by moving more diet products to Splenda. Have you tasted Diet Coke with Splends? It's awesome. Tastes a lot like regular Coke.

:stupid: plus aspartame is one of the worst things you can put in your body

[MikeD]

They would do better by moving more diet products to Splenda. Have you tasted Diet Coke with Splends? It's awesome. Tastes a lot like regular Coke.

:agree: as well. Vanilla Coke (and its' derivatives) make me want to :puke:

[jstreet]

it's better to take normal coke and just dump vanilla rum in it!:stupid:

[johnnymk]

it's better to take normal coke and just dump vanilla rum in it!


mmmm...sounds yummy. Gotta try that the next time I play pool.

[OC]

it's better to take normal coke and just dump vanilla rum in it!
Dammit, now I have to run to the liquor store. ;)

[Airencracken]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

I love vanilla coke :cry:

[BigJon]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

I love vanilla coke :cry: :stupid:

Me want nilly coke.

[ialsohaveadream]

it's better to take normal coke and just dump vanilla rum in it!
When I read that the sales had been declining steadily since 2002, I was like, "Well of course! Bacardi came out with vanilla rum!" :)

[zenbooty]

:stupid: plus aspartame is one of the worst things you can put in your bodyhttp://www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartame.asp

[Grimm]

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartame.asp
But as a side note, aspartame does attend the monthy Union of Evil (local 667) meetings. :P

[ialsohaveadream]

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartame.asp
Just because it's not linked to cancer, etc doesn't mean it's not terrible for you.

[zenbooty]

Just because it's not linked to cancer, etc doesn't mean it's not terrible for you.How is it terrible for you? There are some conditions under which it can be dangerous, as the FDA report mentioned. But nothing else was mentioned.

[Nija]

Vanilla Coke (and its' derivatives) make me want to :puke:You have impugned the honor of my sacred Cherry Coke. For this, you must die... ;)

[esme]

You have impugned the honor of my sacred Cherry Coke. For this, you must die... ;)


i love cherry coke!! ...... :lick:

[Sirrich3]

That's fine with me...

[molecularfire]

Hehehehehe... MS..... I love it. If anyone was able to show that aspartame causes MS... heck if they can show anything that causes MS, they will most likely win the nobel. Look at the history of MS, everything has been associated with MS. It's what people do when they want to find something bad in something... they link it to diseases that we don't know much about so that they can say that nobody has shown that it doesn't cause it.

[AlpineJay]

I should buy a case and Ebay it in five years.

yeah, remember Surge? even in undrinkable condition (well past the fresh until date), they still fetch 10-15 bucks for a six-pack.

[jstreet]

yeah, remember Surge? even in undrinkable condition (well past the fresh until date), they still fetch 10-15 bucks for a six-pack.Ooooh... I'd forgotten about Surge.... I used to love that.

[MikeD]

You have impugned the honor of my sacred Cherry Coke. For this, you must die... ;)

How is Cherry Coke a derivative of Vanilla Coke? :spock:

[MikeD]

Just because it's not linked to cancer, etc doesn't mean it's not terrible for you.

:agree:

Maybe "terrible" isn't a good term here, but it's probably worth passing up on. Not in this household, not with us having kids...

BTW IAHAD, you still need to change your avatar

[johnnymk]

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/history.faq

The link between the FDA and the pre-approval process of aspartame in the seventies.

[Nija]

How is Cherry Coke a derivative of Vanilla Coke? :spock:
Maybe I was misunderstanding (which is quite possible) I was reading it as, good riddance to all Coke derivatives (i.e. Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, etc.). If that's not the case, you can live. For now.

[Augix]

:puke: :puke:Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke:puke: :puke:

[MikeD]

Maybe I was misunderstanding (which is quite possible) I was reading it as, good riddance to all Coke derivatives (i.e. Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, etc.).

Yeah, certainly wasn't saying that. Cherry Coke is the supreme soft drink of all time! Bwahahhaha...


If that's not the case, you can live. For now.

:eek3: Never underestimate the power of the MikeD

[Nija]

:eek3: Never underestimate the power of the MikeD

Well, on the plus side, you spelled my name correctly.

*grumbles about being called ninja*

/drinking Cherry Coke right now

[GraingerGuy]

5 year old soda.... Ewww... NASTY!!! :2far:

Don't you remember that someone did that with Crystal Pepsi? It didn't looks very crystally....it looked more dirty yellow. :)

[Augix]

Don't you remember that someone did that with Crystal Pepsi? It didn't looks very crystally....it looked more dirty yellow. :)


hmmmmm :bigeyes: http://cgi.ebay.com/16oz-twist-top-crystal-pepsi-bottle-not-coke-like-new_W0QQitemZ6221984383QQcategoryZ39501QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[baggio248]

They would do better by moving more diet products to Splenda. Have you tasted Diet Coke with Splends? It's awesome. Tastes a lot like regular Coke.

I LOVE Diet Coke with Splenda. I really wanted Diet Coke Lemon with Splenda. I loved the Diet Coke with Lemon. :( I went to a few different stores to find the last of DC w/L but they couldn't find it.

[jstreet]

It's funny --- Diet Coke with Splenda is a more legitimate Diet Coke (actually tastes exactly like Coke). But I don't like Coke or the DC w/Splenda, I like the Diet Coke taste :(

[attgig]

I should buy a case and Ebay it in five years.
exactly what i was thinking.

pepsi clear still sells well on ebay


haha, looks like someone already beat me to it.

[Airencracken]

Whats next will they axe code red too? :cry:

[PrObLy]

I was ready to be very upset when I saw the title of this thread. I was thinking that it would be ridiculous to do this because Vanilla Coke was such a great selling pop that it was copied throughout the industry.

I was relieved to see that they will be replacing it with a Cherry-Vanilla version, I think this will be great.

Here in Iowa we got the test run of Cherry-Vanilla Dr. Pepper and it's one of my favorite drinks.

[Airencracken]

Huh. I love orig. Dr. Pepper and really don't like the cherry vanilla one.

BTW WTF is pop? :P

[Airencracken]

Drinking one of my last 20oz's right now. Bring it back coke, bring it back :cry:

[Yossarian]

and here i was, thinking there was a good reason do dig up a 6 month old thread :P

[g1984]

Did anyone taste Blak Coke? The one where it's coffee and coke. I haven't seen cases for it yet, but heard it's actually good. The thought of coffee and coke is gross.

[BigJon]

Coffee is gross. Coffee and coke? Don't even want to fathom what it tastes like.

Bring back Vanilla!

[ray]

I have a case of the Black Cherry Vanilla Coke at home. I like it, though I prefer the Coke with Lime more =)

[MrGreg]

I would love it if they made a Diet Cherry Coke w/ Splenda, or a Diet Cherry Coke Zero.

As it is, I add a touch of grenadine to my Diet Coke of the day, and it comes pretty close.

[Showtime]

Did anyone taste Blak Coke? The one where it's coffee and coke. I haven't seen cases for it yet, but heard it's actually good. The thought of coffee and coke is gross.

Found a 4 pack and it was like $6 I think.

It was..... :puke:

I added ice cream to see if it would taste like a coffee float and it was still a little too bitter imo. I think they should have called it Tan and added cream or vanilla. A soda frappacino....

[blueindian]

i dig the coke blak pretty good, but at $1.50 per ten ounce bottle they can forget it. it it was a little more coffee, little less caramel, little more caffeine i'd buy it more often. but, given that it's $1.80 for a single i think the american consumer is going to say, "no thanks"

[smeakim]

I like Coke Zero. Now thats the bomb. I hope they keep that around. Its about the only diet I drink that has caffeine.

[oblongmelon]

:stupid: plus aspartame is one of the worst things you can put in your body

So aren't most Coke products.

[ialsohaveadream]

So aren't most Coke products.
:stupid: Pass on the soda...unless it's mixed with alcohol. Even then, use it sparingly. :)

[sizemic1]

Oh the humanity!! How will I EVER survive?!?!
As far as I'm concerned, every Diet, Vanilla, Cherry, and Dr. Pepper flavored type sodas can be mothballed. :puke: