Today's Wall Street Journal featured a front-page article about the
demand for Mexican-made Coca Cola in the U.S. Mexican Coke is made with cane sugar, unlike American Coke, which is
sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. While some soda aficionados like Mexican Coke for its supposedly cleaner taste
and better mouth feel, its main market in the U.S. is to Mexican immigrants. While Coca Cola authorizes several bottlers
to distribute its products in Mexico, the company is continually trying to stop the importation of those soft drinks
into the U.S. for fear that they'll compete with the sodas bottled here. Since the bottles aren't actually counterfeit,
they're still legal to import. The results are slightly covert networks of distributors that import Mexican Coke to the
U.S. and then distribute it throughout the country. The WSJ traces a few bottles from Mexico to Georgia.Mexican Coca Cola
Today's Wall Street Journal featured a front-page article about the
demand for Mexican-made Coca Cola in the U.S. Mexican Coke is made with cane sugar, unlike American Coke, which is
sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. While some soda aficionados like Mexican Coke for its supposedly cleaner taste
and better mouth feel, its main market in the U.S. is to Mexican immigrants. While Coca Cola authorizes several bottlers
to distribute its products in Mexico, the company is continually trying to stop the importation of those soft drinks
into the U.S. for fear that they'll compete with the sodas bottled here. Since the bottles aren't actually counterfeit,
they're still legal to import. The results are slightly covert networks of distributors that import Mexican Coke to the
U.S. and then distribute it throughout the country. The WSJ traces a few bottles from Mexico to Georgia.Comments [24]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1I buy it by the case from an independant grocer here in Florida....I dont normally drink anything but diet soda, but even at 28 bucks a case its well worth it! Best Coke ive drank in years, and I believe the lead scare is aimed at keeping people from buying something other than Coca cola's stateside products.
23-26-2006 @ 11:42AM
ML Seymour said...
I finally bought some Mex coke from a local Mex grocery. Yes, it tastes like 'real Coke' (like Coke used to taste.) They do not take the bottles back, however. It cost $1 a bottle, well worth it. Coca Cola Co. should simply start making American coke with sugar instead of HFCS, it'd sell better and more than make up the difference in cost for the sweetner
3I'm fortunate to have a grocery store that stocks Mexican-made coke in the 1 liter glass bottles. Besides them being glass bottled (which I wish all soda companies still did) it tastes better than american coke. I was born a year after they did the switcharoo on the formulas, but from what I read, the mexican coke tastes like the pre-classic formula. Idk what else they put in it down in mexico, but I'm addicted. Even caught the attention of the clerks working at the store, and I might have made some converts.
4Why don't American Coca Cola change it back to cane sugar added instead of HFCS? Sugar is not that expensive to use. Corn is the worst thing. I will never drink american coca cola until they change it. I will pay good money for Mexican and Canadian Coke. I go to Kroger's to get Mexican Coca Cola. Also does Pepsi have a Mexican version? Any Mexican versions of any sodas without HFCS? I tried an East Indian pepsi and it was good. No HFCS.
5I found out about Mexican Coke when I lived in Arizona. 8 years later, I found out I'm allergic to corn and the Mexican variety had been a life saver for me, a dyed-in-the-wool at-least-a-coke-a-day drinker.
Now I live in VA, right down the street from a Coke distributor, and it kills me to drive by it. I keep thinking of stopping by and asking if they could make me a batch with sugar... :)
6When they changed the coke years back and returned again with the classic it was never the same. I have found that most soft drinks now dont have that good fizz to it anymore. that good burn in the throat and nose tickle I really miss that.............Flat sodas dont rule. Please bring back vanilla coke and pepsi adn Mr Pibb!!
7Mexican Coca-Cola is fantastic! Here in Albuquerque it is even available in some restaurants. Taste like Coke should. Rich, smooth, and with that little kick we all love. We buy it by the case at a local Mexican market every other week. I even ask for it in Spanish! Nothing better after a day at work than a nice cold Mexican Coca-Cola...Viva Mexico!
88-15-2009 @ 3:54PM
Aida Tanaka said...
Love Mexican Coca Cola in glass bottles. Surely it tastes very different from those in aluminum cans or plastic bottles. I think the CO2 can be preserved better in glass bottles than that in plastic or aluminum cans. And one more thing, never for me a Diet Coke. I hate the artificial sweetness of Splenda or high fructose corn syrup or whatever. Love Coca Cola in glass bottles, the best is from Mexico!
910-19-2009 @ 6:45AM
wallflower said...
I just had my first Mexican coke in the US today (I live in Tucson, so I get it in Mexico all the time). I was so stoked to find it at the Albertsons grocery store, pricey, $1.29, but oh so worth it. And I agree with the comment regarding corn subsidies, sugar and the Cuban embargo. It's one of the reasons sugar is so costly. I'm also trying to keep HFCS out of my diet.
10We recently heard through the underground real coca-cola lovers network that a mexican store had "real" coke ith sugar in it. Took the whole family to get some. $9.00 later and 5 "real things"-cold, and we were in throat burning, zesty taste bliss. Yeah, I agree with everybody on the list. American Coke-cola sucks. How about this for a marketing ploy to the directors of the company. Use sugar instead of HFCS and wipe the floor ith pepsi.Blah. Good drinking to all you "real" lovers out there.
Having a "REAL" Coke and a SMILE
Drew
121-11-2006 @ 7:03PM
adam maccabe said...
The coke you get from the burrito joint is the best i been going there for years reminds me of that mean joe green commercial with the little kid and the jersey. old school
131-11-2006 @ 7:25PM
Ray Saunders said...
I've had coke in a number of countries including Mexico and have found most of them have a much better flavor than any I've had in the US. The reformulation of the so-called "classic coke" though probably a money-saving ploy from Atlanta has really reduced the taste and quality of the product. Because of this don't drink as much coke as I used to before the change; there are a number of cola products which as equally as good or better than "classic coke." I know that the Coke executives really could care less, but the pre "classic" and foreign cokes are so much better that most coke-drinkers don't really know how much their missing!
15My hubby makes a pilgrimage every week to the local Mexican market to pick up a couple bottles of imported Coke. He says the Coke made with cane sugar is just like the stuff he grew up with.
There is also some concerns that HFCS is a main contributor to the growing obesity problem, as the way the body metabolizes corn syrup differs from how it metabolizes cane sugar.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8003-2003Mar10?language=printer
161-12-2006 @ 8:18AM
Punisher2k said...
I just don't want to know how they are smuggling Coke across the boarder :-/
17I live right on the border here in South Texas. I love taste of Mexican Coke. It's so much better than the American crap. I routinely bring back cases of the stuff. Best of all, it's completely legal. All you have to do is buy the bottles, which means you leave $5 for the deposit of the bottles and you get to go and get a new case whenever you want without having to buy the bottles.
201-12-2006 @ 11:36AM
Blue Balloon said...
I live about 100 miles away from Dr Pepper where they made with sugar cane. It's very expensive. $1.19 in 12 oz glasses bottle. Usually, I get it from Central Market where it actually sell most import soda you can find. Gotta love Central Market!
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