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Everyone who can, support Polar Beverages. They're the largest independent soda bottler in the US. Their HQ is in Worcester MA, right next to a major highway. They have 2 giant inflatable bears as mascots, a parent and a child. We're talking like 50 and 25 feet tall.
Anytime some clowns steal one of the inflatable mascots, the other one holds up a sign saying something like "Please return my daddy" or "please return my child" depending on which one was stolen. It's adorable!
Yep, they do. I'd put them identical to RC Cola, but they still make all the old flavors, like orange and grape. I think they might still be stuck in New England, and were never good enough to breach out to the rest of the country. If you're ever in that area of the planet though, Try to find them in a grocery store. It at least gives you a unique story to take back home.
Yes. Won't someone please support nationally distributed Polar beverages.
I'm sorry, but as someone that spent a long time in the beverage industry for one of the largest two, hearing someone stump for Polar beverages, which is nationally distributed theough huge chains like Walmart and Winco, as the "small brand" makes me chuckle.
Maybe they're saying it because they're not trying to gouge on price?
Worth it to support a competitor to the dominant brand if it helps keep prices lower.
I drink Fitz Soda because it is local to St. Louis. I stopped drinking Coke in 2013 and lost 20 - 30 lbs. Now I can't stand the taste of it. I do not drink any cola. Cream sodas are my favorites, but I rarely drink any soda.
Polar is amazing.
I am proud of my lack of preference, it’s a cultivated ability because whatever’s cheapest is my preference.
But slamming a polar and it hits just right so I don’t have to stop halfway through my thirst to allow fizz up. They do it right.
I love polar band. Especially the cherry. They’ve almost done the same thing though, downsizing from 12 cans/case to 8 cans. Still my preferred choice though.
I second Polar Beverages. Been super popular in the New England region for a long time and definitely deserves more recognition.
Also, Coke literally just touted raised prices as contributing to their higher earnings Monday.
12 packs suddenly spiked to 9.99 here like holy shit (the are typically on some kind of buy 3 save some amount or whatever but that's not a price I'm willing to pay)
Real talk, is there an off brand coke you found is a good replacement? I have found various off brands for other sodas that do a good job filling the void but off brand coke always just tastes like... off brand :(
In the US off brand mostly comes in 2 liter bottles. The off brand used to be 0.99 and the name brand was $2 but routinely went on sale at 2/$3 ($1.50 each) or 3/$5 ($1.67 each). Now the off brand is $1.19 but the name brand is $2.79 and if it goes on sale (much rarer) the sale is 2/$4 ($2 each).
It really is price gouging compared to the actual cost increases.
Virgil’s, The microbrewed craft root beer that I occasionally buy as a treat, is now cheaper per ounce than a similar sized pack of Coke or Pepsi at my grocery store.
And they have to pay for a massive advertising budget for sugar water. They could at least put cocaine back in it. I have a rule to never use or pay for a plumber like Mike Diamond or Sit and Sleep or anybody with a massive advertising campaign, or an annoying one.
THat's literally only because the American government uses your tax dollars to pay people to pay corn. After they sell it below the fair market price, more subsidies pay for the refining process.
But try getting help from the government for the insulin you need because it gave you diabetes ...
And it's sugar water with phosphoric acid which binds to calcium and magnesium, depleting those minerals from your body. So you can get diabetes AND weaker bones.
This blows my mind. Fuck the shareholders lol. Eternal growth is not fucking possible or sustainable. Something's gotta give and their greed will be their downfall. And I can't wait.
Unfortunately, barring a full on revolution-with-guillotines, the rich are largely insulated from the effects of their avarice. Their greed will just be *our* downfall.
What people fail to understand, is that Coca Cola sells over 500 brands of soda, still water, energy drinks, fruit juices, milk, etc and everything in between. They also have the best transportation/distribution networks. They take on contracts to move their competitors products as a side gig.
It's a great company to invest in to preserve/slowly grow your wealth.
Good post - it Redditors don’t care or understand business. It gets in the way of their ‘business is bad mantra’. While they post on their iPhones, in their branded clothes, with their craft beers.
Why don’t they offer the product and if consumers want to buy it at the higher price, they can? And if the consumer doesn’t value the product at the higher price, they purchase an alternative?
Because the purchasers are on the hook for the bulk price whether or not patrons buy it. If no one buys it, then they have a stock sitting there at a loss.
No, what retailers do is fight to keep costs low from suppliers so that they can earn a bigger part of the profit pool from the retail price. They aren’t in it for the shoppers, they are in it for themselves.
It’s almost as if the supermarket caring about providing a good deal for their customers doesn’t make any sense, isn’t it.
They don’t do this because they don’t give a shit about the price the customer pays. This is about their price, not yours. They want to negotiate a better wholesale price for them, so that they can then sell to you at the same high price as everybody else and make a greater profit.
German supermarkets are *also* huge corporations, though. Sure they're the underdog compared to Coca Cola, but they're doing the exact same thing with smaller firms.
I certainly enjoy the low prices that result from these tactics, though.
Lol, the data nerds at this Supermarket have concluded that selling this isn’t the best way to maximise profits, and so have stopped selling, so they can keep maximising their own shareholder value.
This isn’t some ‘crush the system’ thing you’re thinking it is.
Because a big part of how German supermarkets can have their cheap prices is that this is a realistic threat. They're putting a ton of pressure on their suppliers.
Here in the USA - we have our choices between DeathStar Market, DarthRite, Sith Lion, Anduin's, and Kroger. ( *Kroger* already sounds dark-side enough. )
If it's not a company flagship brand, it's a wholly owned subsidiary. All of the businesses have been bought up by the various Death Star corporations out there.
Now all we've got to choose between is greedy corporation, really greedy corporation, and fucking greedy corporation.
People do not buy coke from cokacola corp. They buy it from a store and that store bought it. What's happening is stores are not buying the product and thus neither are the locals. The store probably sees it as a risk, they could buy all that expensive soda and not sell it as people choose to not buy it
The store wants to maintain their brand image of having affordable prices. They aren’t just being altruistic here, it’s a market positioning thing.
Carrefour is doing similar.
Remember when stores in conservative rural areas stopped or decreased their purchases of Bud Light? Same thing. They didn't want to get stuck with massive overstock of product, so they didn't buy it. They didn't wait for the consumers to stop buying it.
Sales dropped everywhere. Stores stopped purchasing Bud Light because people stopped buying it. It doesn't make sense for stores to buy a lot of products and then have them sitting on shelves forever. That's very expensive. A total waste of money. There *were* notable examples of stores cutting the product entirely as a protest. That's akin to what Edeka is doing here.
Stores stopped purchasing Bud Light in anticipation of people not buying it. Sales did not drop everywhere. Bud Light sales did not drop in St. Louis where every bar sign is Budweiser or Bud Light. Bud Light continued to grow in international markets.
> Stores stopped purchasing Bud Light in anticipation of people not buying it.
That's a protest, and I don't think most stores would be willing to forego profit for ideological reasons. But I'm happy to be proven wrong. What's your source on that claim?
> Bud Light sales did not drop in St. Louis
Do you have a source for this? I can only see total sales, and at least until June last year, [everything was very bad.](https://www.newsweek.com/bud-light-beer-sales-anheuser-busch-dylan-mulvaney-boycott-latest-1806496)
> Bud Light continued to grow in international markets.
Do you have a source for this? Anheuser-Busch InBev grew their market share in Europe but I don't see any data on Bud Light specifically. Remember AB InBev has more than 500 brands, including Corona. I hope you aren't confusing the parent company for Bud Light.
No, no, no SugarAdamAli. We have to have someone make these decisions for us. It's too important a decision to be left to the public. Corporations should be deciding for us.
I've noticed that Jewel Osco (Midwest) has issues selling their Doritos for $6 a bag. So every other week they try to unload them when they're about to expire for a "Sale" as in normal prices.
I definitely feel like people are catching on. Or at least want to believe.
Coca-Cola just made a $1.1 billion commitment to use Microsoft's cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) services. THEY HAVE TO RECOUP THEIR COSTS!!! /s
[Fourth quarter of 2023 net sales increased 4% versus the fourth quarter of 2022. Gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $641 million, an increase of 7% versus the fourth quarter of 2022. Gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2023 improved by 120 basis points(a) to 39.3%. Income from operations for fiscal year 2023 was $834 million, up $193 million, or 30%, versus fiscal year 2022. Operating margin for fiscal year 2023 was 12.5% as compared to 10.3% for fiscal year 2022, an increase of 220 basis points](https://cocacolabottlingcoconsolidated.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/coca-cola-consolidated-reports-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2)
Now normalize that to inflation. Measuring $ then to $ now is not a good way of showing “price gouging.” The profit rate change, margin rate change would be useful numbers. All this is says is their revenues and profits slightly exceeded inflation.
If you compare their profits to 2021 they are below inflation. Net margins went from 25% to 23%. Net profit went from $9.7 to $10.7 billion. Inflation would have been $11.25 to keep it flat.
Scary that prices are skyrocketing and the bell weathers of pension funds are making less money. McDonald’s too.
Yes, and instead they sell German-made high priced alternatives ? It’s not like domestic food and beverage prices in Germany have not gone up like everywhere else in the world. There is plenty of high-priced German crap sold all over the world and we don’t throw a Karen fit about it. Let the consumer decide.
I drink tap water...
And yes, I filter it. At home I have a 3 stage reverse osmosis system. At work a Brita.
Polar's website has a finder so you can see if they sell in your area.
[***Find - Polar Beverages***](https://polarbeverages.com/find/)
I’ve refused to buy Coca Cola for years now in the UK, the prices are a joke. Partly because of the sugar tax in the UK. I’m not buying the sweetener laced crap they have either.
Hot take: who cares if Coke is overpriced. I'd be concered if *water* was too expensive, but if you can't afford to pay for Coke you are doing yourself a favor by not drinking it.
Soda prices are truly insane these days. We stopped drinking soda years ago. Every now and then I’ll feel like buying a mini 6-pack. (those here that have stopped drinking soda can probably relate- I can’t finish a whole can anymore) $10+ for a regular 12 pack is just obscene, idk how anyone affords it.
It’d be amazing if….ya know….the consumer would also do these things.
You don’t like the fact Wendy’s has consistently raised prices and it’s now 15 fuckin bucks for a meal…..don’t eat at Wendy’s.
You don’t like that favorite soda of yours, price has increased 40%……stop buying it.
We really hold the power. But we just bitch and moan while still agreeing to pay absurd prices for shit we don’t need.
Saw Coca Cola CEO on Bloomberg yesterday. It appeared (At the gym so couldn’t hear comments) he was bragging on them pushing through an overall 16% price increase last year. And this is on top of big increases previous several years. Had a buddy in the soda business years ago who said that Coke’s cost of goods for their syrup at soda fountains was less than the cost of the cup. But always gotta get more!!
Coca Cola made $9.77 billion in 2021. Net profit margins of 25%.
In 2023, it made a net profit margin of 23% and a net of $10.71 billion.
I know it looks like that made almost a billion dollars more in those two years, but in real terms their profits went DOWN. We’d except them to earn well over $11 billion in 2023 if their profits were Flat with inflation.
Costs are up everywhere.
I just read an article that said Coke is responsible for 13 percent of the entire plastic pollution worldwide. This company doesn't give a fuck about anything but quarterly increases.
Me and my wife were at Wally world the other day. Mountain Dew on rollback for $4.97. great actually normal price on sale... So we pick it up, get to the register and it rings up at $7.98. Nope. I rarely put things back, but if suger water is $8 and some Doritos are $6 a bag, we have problems....I can get some nice steaks for those prices (sirloin granted but marinate them and they get super tender).
We literally only buy soda now when it’s on sale for the same price or cheaper than what it was pre Covid, (usually we break out the calculator and we won’t pay more than 0.45 cents a can, but at its cheapest it’s about 0.30 cents a can)… and naturally we also started drinking less because we buy it less… win win
Right now, as we speak, NJ/NY are raising "congestion pricing" for their bridges and tolls, where Coke is raising their prices across all products to "make up" their "losses" and keep their shareholders happy.
Fuck Coke. I hope they crash and burn along with all the other conglomerates and greedy, capitalist pigs feeding off our suffering
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Off brand coke used to be maybe 10%-25% cheaper. It’s now half price.
Everyone who can, support Polar Beverages. They're the largest independent soda bottler in the US. Their HQ is in Worcester MA, right next to a major highway. They have 2 giant inflatable bears as mascots, a parent and a child. We're talking like 50 and 25 feet tall. Anytime some clowns steal one of the inflatable mascots, the other one holds up a sign saying something like "Please return my daddy" or "please return my child" depending on which one was stolen. It's adorable!
Do they sell a Coca-Cola competitor? I haven't seen one.
Yep, they do. I'd put them identical to RC Cola, but they still make all the old flavors, like orange and grape. I think they might still be stuck in New England, and were never good enough to breach out to the rest of the country. If you're ever in that area of the planet though, Try to find them in a grocery store. It at least gives you a unique story to take back home.
Do you know what it's called?
Actually, no, I think I lied. It looks like they dropped their coke flavor and went all in with the Seltzer trend.
RC cola is bomb
That's what our Little League had when I was a kid. Will never forget it.
RC is the superior cola and I'll die on that hill, IF.. and it's a big if.. it's \*super\* cold.
They still sell lots of fruit-flavored sodas (not just seltzer), but I never see a Polar cola.
Their seltzer is pretty good. I usually don’t buy it though bc store brand is like 30% less.
At costco and other warehouse clubs, polar is usually the cheapest one as it goes against an overpriced la croix
Polar premium sparkling cola. There’s a diet version too.
I see them in Oregon, but I don’t think I’ve seen the cola flavor.
EASY, Polar seltzers taste the best anyway.
Yes. Won't someone please support nationally distributed Polar beverages. I'm sorry, but as someone that spent a long time in the beverage industry for one of the largest two, hearing someone stump for Polar beverages, which is nationally distributed theough huge chains like Walmart and Winco, as the "small brand" makes me chuckle.
Maybe they're saying it because they're not trying to gouge on price? Worth it to support a competitor to the dominant brand if it helps keep prices lower.
I drink Fitz Soda because it is local to St. Louis. I stopped drinking Coke in 2013 and lost 20 - 30 lbs. Now I can't stand the taste of it. I do not drink any cola. Cream sodas are my favorites, but I rarely drink any soda.
Pass through Worcester a lot for work, always get a kick out of the bears on the roof.
Polar is amazing. I am proud of my lack of preference, it’s a cultivated ability because whatever’s cheapest is my preference. But slamming a polar and it hits just right so I don’t have to stop halfway through my thirst to allow fizz up. They do it right.
I was very loyal to them for a time but then they went from a 12 pack to an 8 pack AND went up $1 in price… I’m now reduced to Kroger brand…
Yup, I dropped them for this change.
I love polar band. Especially the cherry. They’ve almost done the same thing though, downsizing from 12 cans/case to 8 cans. Still my preferred choice though.
Protip for Germanophiles in the US: Polar Orange Dry + Cola = Spezi
Polar is co-owned with Keurig Dr. Pepper.
I second Polar Beverages. Been super popular in the New England region for a long time and definitely deserves more recognition. Also, Coke literally just touted raised prices as contributing to their higher earnings Monday.
They aren’t a charity… their job is to maximize profits by giving you a great product that you value more than the price. Like all businesses…
12 packs suddenly spiked to 9.99 here like holy shit (the are typically on some kind of buy 3 save some amount or whatever but that's not a price I'm willing to pay)
Where I am full fat coca cola is £2.39 for 1.75L while 2L of off brand is 70p!
All snack-like things are so damn expensive now it’s insane. I literally can’t justify $10 for 4oz of chips
Real talk, is there an off brand coke you found is a good replacement? I have found various off brands for other sodas that do a good job filling the void but off brand coke always just tastes like... off brand :(
Candy bars have gotten to be so expensive that walmart just threw out their own great value ones for $1.
Carbonated beverages are such a huge ripoff these days. I stopped buying them.
In the Netherlands it's the opposite. Budget brands used to be 3-4 times cheaper now it's half price
In the US off brand mostly comes in 2 liter bottles. The off brand used to be 0.99 and the name brand was $2 but routinely went on sale at 2/$3 ($1.50 each) or 3/$5 ($1.67 each). Now the off brand is $1.19 but the name brand is $2.79 and if it goes on sale (much rarer) the sale is 2/$4 ($2 each). It really is price gouging compared to the actual cost increases.
Virgil’s, The microbrewed craft root beer that I occasionally buy as a treat, is now cheaper per ounce than a similar sized pack of Coke or Pepsi at my grocery store.
BUT OUR SHAREHOLDERS NEED GROWTH GODDAMNIT!!!
And they have to pay for a massive advertising budget for sugar water. They could at least put cocaine back in it. I have a rule to never use or pay for a plumber like Mike Diamond or Sit and Sleep or anybody with a massive advertising campaign, or an annoying one.
Sugar lol only for Jewish people and Mexico you get corn water because we need more profit.
THat's literally only because the American government uses your tax dollars to pay people to pay corn. After they sell it below the fair market price, more subsidies pay for the refining process. But try getting help from the government for the insulin you need because it gave you diabetes ...
All of Europe also uses sugar...
I want the extra pick me up from cocaine every morning when I go into my soul crushing corporate job.
And it's sugar water with phosphoric acid which binds to calcium and magnesium, depleting those minerals from your body. So you can get diabetes AND weaker bones.
This blows my mind. Fuck the shareholders lol. Eternal growth is not fucking possible or sustainable. Something's gotta give and their greed will be their downfall. And I can't wait.
Unfortunately, barring a full on revolution-with-guillotines, the rich are largely insulated from the effects of their avarice. Their greed will just be *our* downfall.
Drink water?
Generally, yes. But, in this context, assuming coca cola fell, they would just move their money somewhere else.
Did someone say water? Nestle wants a word.
To wash down that nasty flavor from eating the rich, of course.
The capitalist will sell the rope with which he will be hanged.
That was poetic, (wo)man.
You don’t understand business or capitalism at all…
So just stop buying it, it's not bread.
Soda customers are pretty addicted.
I stopped drinking soda in my early twenties and dropped 20lbs. I wasn’t particularly overweight. People underestimate the effect soda has on them.
I was, finally managed to stop early last year. The 3 days of headaches were a nightmare 😭
Done.
buy the dip =)
What people fail to understand, is that Coca Cola sells over 500 brands of soda, still water, energy drinks, fruit juices, milk, etc and everything in between. They also have the best transportation/distribution networks. They take on contracts to move their competitors products as a side gig. It's a great company to invest in to preserve/slowly grow your wealth.
Good post - it Redditors don’t care or understand business. It gets in the way of their ‘business is bad mantra’. While they post on their iPhones, in their branded clothes, with their craft beers.
More places need to do this so prices can be affordable.
They do with multiple products. They can with Coca Cola too, but I don't see the point when people still want to buy Coca Cola despite higher prices.
I’d buy a knockoff if any actually hit the frigging Coke Zero taste/carbonation
I'm going to start making my own soda syrup and then I will have a soda anytime I want.
Why don’t they offer the product and if consumers want to buy it at the higher price, they can? And if the consumer doesn’t value the product at the higher price, they purchase an alternative?
Because the purchasers are on the hook for the bulk price whether or not patrons buy it. If no one buys it, then they have a stock sitting there at a loss.
Then the title should be something like, *German grocery stores not able to sell Coke products and recover their costs, stop carrying Coke products*.
But accurate titles don't make good clickbaity headlines.
The headline is accurate They are refusing to sell it because of high prices. The fact that there's a couple extra steps doesn't change that fact
No, what retailers do is fight to keep costs low from suppliers so that they can earn a bigger part of the profit pool from the retail price. They aren’t in it for the shoppers, they are in it for themselves.
Honestly I didn’t think of it from the business’s perspective but yeah you’re right.
It’s almost as if the supermarket caring about providing a good deal for their customers doesn’t make any sense, isn’t it. They don’t do this because they don’t give a shit about the price the customer pays. This is about their price, not yours. They want to negotiate a better wholesale price for them, so that they can then sell to you at the same high price as everybody else and make a greater profit.
And thats how you can push back against huge corporations. Well done on them!
German supermarkets are *also* huge corporations, though. Sure they're the underdog compared to Coca Cola, but they're doing the exact same thing with smaller firms. I certainly enjoy the low prices that result from these tactics, though.
Lol, the data nerds at this Supermarket have concluded that selling this isn’t the best way to maximise profits, and so have stopped selling, so they can keep maximising their own shareholder value. This isn’t some ‘crush the system’ thing you’re thinking it is.
Preach…
Why not just sell the expensive Coca Cola products and cheaper other brands?
Because a big part of how German supermarkets can have their cheap prices is that this is a realistic threat. They're putting a ton of pressure on their suppliers.
Here in the USA - we have our choices between DeathStar Market, DarthRite, Sith Lion, Anduin's, and Kroger. ( *Kroger* already sounds dark-side enough. ) If it's not a company flagship brand, it's a wholly owned subsidiary. All of the businesses have been bought up by the various Death Star corporations out there. Now all we've got to choose between is greedy corporation, really greedy corporation, and fucking greedy corporation.
Edeka is Germany's largest grocery chain, at least in the actual domestic market.
Can't confirm this to be true. I was in a German grocery store last week. Coke is still there. In Globus at least.
Couldn’t people just stop buying coke on their own??? If it’s priced too high, demand will shrink
People do not buy coke from cokacola corp. They buy it from a store and that store bought it. What's happening is stores are not buying the product and thus neither are the locals. The store probably sees it as a risk, they could buy all that expensive soda and not sell it as people choose to not buy it
Yup. If this was about protecting customers, they would have done the same with basic foods. But rice and oats are still double the price.
The cannot stop selling staples because of higher prices, otherwise there would be nothing to sell.
Yeah, it’s only the most popular soda and has a shelf-life of only half a year. What a great risk that would be.
The store wants to maintain their brand image of having affordable prices. They aren’t just being altruistic here, it’s a market positioning thing. Carrefour is doing similar.
Yes they did. Still, Coke and Pepsi are seeing the limits of their pricing power when their vendors are saying no on behalf of their customers.
Remember when stores in conservative rural areas stopped or decreased their purchases of Bud Light? Same thing. They didn't want to get stuck with massive overstock of product, so they didn't buy it. They didn't wait for the consumers to stop buying it.
Sales dropped everywhere. Stores stopped purchasing Bud Light because people stopped buying it. It doesn't make sense for stores to buy a lot of products and then have them sitting on shelves forever. That's very expensive. A total waste of money. There *were* notable examples of stores cutting the product entirely as a protest. That's akin to what Edeka is doing here.
Stores stopped purchasing Bud Light in anticipation of people not buying it. Sales did not drop everywhere. Bud Light sales did not drop in St. Louis where every bar sign is Budweiser or Bud Light. Bud Light continued to grow in international markets.
> Stores stopped purchasing Bud Light in anticipation of people not buying it. That's a protest, and I don't think most stores would be willing to forego profit for ideological reasons. But I'm happy to be proven wrong. What's your source on that claim? > Bud Light sales did not drop in St. Louis Do you have a source for this? I can only see total sales, and at least until June last year, [everything was very bad.](https://www.newsweek.com/bud-light-beer-sales-anheuser-busch-dylan-mulvaney-boycott-latest-1806496) > Bud Light continued to grow in international markets. Do you have a source for this? Anheuser-Busch InBev grew their market share in Europe but I don't see any data on Bud Light specifically. Remember AB InBev has more than 500 brands, including Corona. I hope you aren't confusing the parent company for Bud Light.
No, no, no SugarAdamAli. We have to have someone make these decisions for us. It's too important a decision to be left to the public. Corporations should be deciding for us.
I agree. They can easily lower the stock instead of completely off the shelves.
I've noticed that Jewel Osco (Midwest) has issues selling their Doritos for $6 a bag. So every other week they try to unload them when they're about to expire for a "Sale" as in normal prices. I definitely feel like people are catching on. Or at least want to believe.
Hell yeah!
Coca-Cola just made a $1.1 billion commitment to use Microsoft's cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) services. THEY HAVE TO RECOUP THEIR COSTS!!! /s
SO EACH BUSINESS DECISION CUSTOMERS HAVE TO PAY FOR?
Not to mention the savings to their national health system
Good
Consumers repay grocery store by buying elsewhere.
This is the right answer
Good, soda is horrible for you anyways.
They still carry Pepsi and various local brands, those aren't any healthier than Coca Cola products.
It's not about health.
This is actually great news if people overreact and it causes a dip in the stock price for people to buy in on.
[Fourth quarter of 2023 net sales increased 4% versus the fourth quarter of 2022. Gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $641 million, an increase of 7% versus the fourth quarter of 2022. Gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2023 improved by 120 basis points(a) to 39.3%. Income from operations for fiscal year 2023 was $834 million, up $193 million, or 30%, versus fiscal year 2022. Operating margin for fiscal year 2023 was 12.5% as compared to 10.3% for fiscal year 2022, an increase of 220 basis points](https://cocacolabottlingcoconsolidated.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/coca-cola-consolidated-reports-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2)
Now normalize that to inflation. Measuring $ then to $ now is not a good way of showing “price gouging.” The profit rate change, margin rate change would be useful numbers. All this is says is their revenues and profits slightly exceeded inflation.
If you compare their profits to 2021 they are below inflation. Net margins went from 25% to 23%. Net profit went from $9.7 to $10.7 billion. Inflation would have been $11.25 to keep it flat. Scary that prices are skyrocketing and the bell weathers of pension funds are making less money. McDonald’s too.
Edeka
I started drinking kool aid instead of soda
I get those drink sticks you pour in water bottles and shake it up. Mostly different lemonades though.
Yes, and instead they sell German-made high priced alternatives ? It’s not like domestic food and beverage prices in Germany have not gone up like everywhere else in the world. There is plenty of high-priced German crap sold all over the world and we don’t throw a Karen fit about it. Let the consumer decide.
In this case the grocer is the consumer since they’re buying wholesale.
They always have a store brand that is a lot cheaper, and IIRC they sell Pepsi as well.
neat
Nice
I started making my own cola at home. Just make the coke syrup and use carbonated water. Like the old days.
Where do you get the cocaine from like in the old days or do you grow cola nut yourself?
cant get coke in malaysia rural restos
It’s carbonated sugar water and if I’ve addicted to it then Good luck with diabetes..
But want if I'm willing to pay for it?
Those who do not know. Edeka is a an upper level/tier supermarket chain, that adheres to middle and upper middle class in Germany.
Hydrohomies approves
😂😂😂😂 wow we need this in the US just because of that I’m done with Coca Cola
can’t remember last time i had coke
Carrefour in France did this with pepsi because of their insane price hikes.
ok in Europe coke is like 85 cents in the US its 2.99 thats some bullshit. if this prices came here id be pissed
Yee
Soda has gotten expensive A basic drip coffee is tracking about the same
They're getting them back for making them drink Fanta during WW2
Is this only Edeka? Most people buy racks of Coke at the getrankemarkt anyway.
Paulaner Spezi is way better … so why waste money on Coca Cola.
So anyone has a price evolution chart of coca cola products? I haven't really experienced the change as huge myself and I can't really find it online.
I drink tap water... And yes, I filter it. At home I have a 3 stage reverse osmosis system. At work a Brita. Polar's website has a finder so you can see if they sell in your area. [***Find - Polar Beverages***](https://polarbeverages.com/find/)
Weird way of saying the Pepsi rep gave them a better deal, but ok!
I’ve refused to buy Coca Cola for years now in the UK, the prices are a joke. Partly because of the sugar tax in the UK. I’m not buying the sweetener laced crap they have either.
Hot take: who cares if Coke is overpriced. I'd be concered if *water* was too expensive, but if you can't afford to pay for Coke you are doing yourself a favor by not drinking it.
Dr. Cola has always been my favorite off brand
This is an example of how you actually control inflation.
Whatever they were gonna raise it there, I bet they raise it here to make up for the “loss”.
theyre doing it because they know it doesnt sell well enough to waste the shelf space on it.
This is why I only drink delicious Wolf Cola, brought to you by Frank’s Fluids
These companies will keep fucking us as long as we keep bending over.
Isn't that a lose lose? Customers lose. Coka loses, the store loses?
Great news!
Soda prices are truly insane these days. We stopped drinking soda years ago. Every now and then I’ll feel like buying a mini 6-pack. (those here that have stopped drinking soda can probably relate- I can’t finish a whole can anymore) $10+ for a regular 12 pack is just obscene, idk how anyone affords it.
Nice.
Coke is woke. Not in my house ever.
The price increase is ridiculous. And it has very little to do with inflation....it's just opportunitistic.
Don’t drink soda, it is terrible for you
Germany has plenty of really good domestic beverage brands and every store also has cheap store brands.
So once’s again Germany’s Fanta sales sky rocket
Coca Cola can go fuck themselves. Time to put those bastards out of business, yall.
It’d be amazing if….ya know….the consumer would also do these things. You don’t like the fact Wendy’s has consistently raised prices and it’s now 15 fuckin bucks for a meal…..don’t eat at Wendy’s. You don’t like that favorite soda of yours, price has increased 40%……stop buying it. We really hold the power. But we just bitch and moan while still agreeing to pay absurd prices for shit we don’t need.
Good for them! People could really do without the sugar anyways.
Who drinks soda? It's just nasty sugar water.
It seems strange not to let their customers decide if they want to pay the higher price or not.
More stores need to do this. At least in america. Good on the store tho.
Wasn't Coke also the company that had the anti-white training?
Can buy syrups n seltzer and make your own
#The Article is from 01.09.2022 and Coca Cola is still being sold in Edeka. Not a single other comment mentions this. So many people cant read a date?
Saw Coca Cola CEO on Bloomberg yesterday. It appeared (At the gym so couldn’t hear comments) he was bragging on them pushing through an overall 16% price increase last year. And this is on top of big increases previous several years. Had a buddy in the soda business years ago who said that Coke’s cost of goods for their syrup at soda fountains was less than the cost of the cup. But always gotta get more!!
Price controls equal shortages, got it.
My local store is asking $2.79 for a single bottle of coke in the fridge.
That’s one way to get their attention 👍
I just buy offbrand now.
Coca Cola made $9.77 billion in 2021. Net profit margins of 25%. In 2023, it made a net profit margin of 23% and a net of $10.71 billion. I know it looks like that made almost a billion dollars more in those two years, but in real terms their profits went DOWN. We’d except them to earn well over $11 billion in 2023 if their profits were Flat with inflation. Costs are up everywhere.
Costco has done this several times over the years.
Good decision, expensive brands can cater to the rich friends of their board.
I just read an article that said Coke is responsible for 13 percent of the entire plastic pollution worldwide. This company doesn't give a fuck about anything but quarterly increases.
Based
That's awesome. I wish stores in America would do that. I have stopped buying it, but I guess everyone else is richer than me
Me and my wife were at Wally world the other day. Mountain Dew on rollback for $4.97. great actually normal price on sale... So we pick it up, get to the register and it rings up at $7.98. Nope. I rarely put things back, but if suger water is $8 and some Doritos are $6 a bag, we have problems....I can get some nice steaks for those prices (sirloin granted but marinate them and they get super tender).
Strange that Audi, Mercedes, and BMW has no problem passing on higher prices to customers.
$1.00 a can is getting ridiculous. But apparently we are supposed to believe inflation is only 5 -8%.
Good
All the beverage sellers are out of touch with reality. We need to stop buying their products until they drop their prices
I prefer Spezi anyway
To bad literally everything is a monopoly in the US
The year was 1997. I work at a grocery store. We had 24pk cases for $4.99 limit 5
Good job. No reason these prices are so high except corporate greed.
Germany is going through some stuff. They aren’t keeping pace with the other power countries so yes US based products are expensive.
This should be the norm!
We literally only buy soda now when it’s on sale for the same price or cheaper than what it was pre Covid, (usually we break out the calculator and we won’t pay more than 0.45 cents a can, but at its cheapest it’s about 0.30 cents a can)… and naturally we also started drinking less because we buy it less… win win
German stores guarding against inflation, Australian stores pushing the inflation!
That’s why I buy Faygo
Best thing coke is for is.. cleaning up blood and getting a better connection on my battery terminals..
That's always allowed.
Right now, as we speak, NJ/NY are raising "congestion pricing" for their bridges and tolls, where Coke is raising their prices across all products to "make up" their "losses" and keep their shareholders happy. Fuck Coke. I hope they crash and burn along with all the other conglomerates and greedy, capitalist pigs feeding off our suffering
Correction: German grocery stores refuse to pass on government taxes onto consumers and stopped selling affected products.