Hey,
I'm a grad student in Richmond, VA doing a project on Minute Maid orange soda. But i can't find information on it anywhere! You all seem very knowledgable about the market. Who is the orange soda leader? Is Coke cannabilizing MM Orange Soda or Fanta by being the parent company to both? Do you know of any trends that are taking place? And why can't i find Minute Maid Orange Soda in my supermarket, or even on Minute Maid's website?
Any info would be a huge help!
Feel free to email me at carrollsk@vcu.edu

I will get nitpicked for this, but:

Long ago, when store brands were non-existant, KO (stock ticker for the Coca-Cola Company and my shorthand for it) had a line of flavors called Fanta (the origin of the name is an interesting story in and of itself). Including orange.

Over the years, KO lost market share to the new store brands and the level of support of Fanta dropped down to pretty much nothing.

However in the late 80s, KO launched Minute Maid sodas, including Orange. Supported with major marketing effort.

Meanwhile, however, in the "rest of the world" Fanta remained a major brand name for KO.

Eventually KO decided that it wanted one brand name in all the world, Fanta. So it relaunched Fanta in North America. Minute Maid got relaunched as a "premium" line, generally not included in the sales.

So is straight-up Minute Maid Orange Soda a thing of the past? I hear about "MM Valencia" now. I'm just a little uncertain on whether Minute Maid is really even offering the Orange Soda on any large scale anymore. I'm going to call them tomorrow to find out, but who know's how far i'll get through on the customer service line.
Thanks for your insight, Sam.

Coke relaunched Fanta in the US, primarily as a discount line (at least at first). Most 2 liter Fanta flavors were pre-priced at 99 cents, while other brands were selling at $1.29 to $1.59. Eventually the pre-priced labels went away in most markets.

Also, after Fanta was relaunched, Minute Maid sodas took a nose-dive. The numbers dropped significantly.

The numbers for 2002 are:

Fanta 73.9 million cases. 99.5% growth over prior year.

Minute Maid 102.9 million cases. -28% growth.

Keep in mind that those numbers include all flavors of each brand, not just the orange versions. But I'd think it is safe to say that the orange version are the dominant part of each of those brands, and their growth should be in line with the overall growth of the brands.

Coca-Cola Enterprises (#1 Coke bottler) has been dropping the MM sodas in many of their markets, in favor of the Fanta sodas. Some of the smaller bottlers, like Central Coke (who has their headquarters in Richmond), are staying with Minute Maid.

[ 11-10-2004, 09:44 PM: Message edited by: fusion ]

Early last year, Coca-Cola reformulated the Minute Maid soda line, and added fruit juice to the sodas. They also revamped the graphics, switching from a graffiti look, to one that mirrors the Minute Maid logo found on their other products.

They also dropped all of the various flavors, except Orange, Grape, and Diet Orange. They were renamed Valencia Orange, Grape Medley, and Valencia Orange Light.

There were plans for at least two other flavors (a berry version, and a tropical version), but as far as I know, they never appeared. Instead, Coke expanded the Fanta line, to include many regional flavors, including Apple, Berry, and Citrus.

Oh, and to avoid any confusion, Central Coke does not sell Coke in the Richmond market. They just have their offices there. CCE actually has the franchise rights to the Richmond market.

So when referring to Minute Maid Orange Soda, I'm really referring to Minute Maid Valencia Orange Soda, is that correct? My assignment was basically to do a advertising/communications campaign for MM Orange Soda. It makes sense now that I can't find any of the graffiti looking bottles. I suppose "Valencia" adds a bit of an international flair to good old Minute Maid. But can it take on the magic aura created by the dancing Fanta girls?
Thanks for your help, Fusion!

Yes, that is correct.

Here's a few pictures..

First, the old look:



And, the new look:



The small writing below the Minute Maid logo says "fruit soda" and "with real fruit juice." Below that, it's "Valencia Orange."

If you need to get your hands on a bottle of it, you'll have to head up towards the Charlottesvile area -- that's probably where you will find it.

I called Coke yesterday to talk about Minute Maid soda, and the customer service rep i spoke to said they are discontinuing Minute Maid sodas and replacing them in the market with Fanta. Basically, I assume Coke realized it was silly to be pitting two sister brands against each other. Can anyone verify that Minute Made Orange soda is being discontinued? I'm not sure the guy I talked to really knew his stuff.

Thanks again!

I'd give it a year or so, CCE will realize Fanta is a dog, and they'll have MM Valencia back, or some new formulation w/the MM name. Fanta doesn't mean squat in this country, and it won't sell now considering it didn't upon introduction.