Hi all - recently I dropped in to a shop here in Ontario (Canada) that sells a whole variety of sodas from all over the place (they stock Cheerwine, Dr Pepper [w/cane sugar], Faygo, A&W longneck, and a ton of others, all in glass bottles.

They have also imported Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light, and Pepsi from Mexico in glass. So here's my question. When I went to pick up the 355mL glass bottle of Pepsi, it was fresh product in one of the old 1980s logo bottles! I'm assuming this is because Mexico still uses refillable bottles?

Just out of curiousity, I would have thought most of those bottles from the 1980s should be long gone - refilled so many times over that they were destroyed. Does anyone know how long they use their refillables? In Mexico, do they have anything in plastic yet or are they still on the old system? Do they pay a deposit on their glass bottles in Mexico?

If anyone can offer any insight for me, I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks,
Blair.

In LA I see a lot of 16.9 oz.pepsi glass, most of them are verry Old. The plastic shells they come in are coated in dirt(honest).

I have seen a few bottles with a newer round logo that look New in plastic shells tht are also new.

Sometimes there are 2 or 3 of the newer cases on a pallet (9 24ct. cases X 5 high) mixed with the old.

It is a shame 2 see these bottles go to waste, I imagine that is why in the US we get mostly worn out bottles.

In some parts of Mexico they pour you're Pop in a plastic bag and keep the bottle.

In the case of Coke products, it's rare to see old sodas, cause most of them are brand new or almost new... but in the case of Pepsi products, specially Pepsi and Mirinda, they're still bottled in some glass bottles from the 80's...

In fact, you can check the age of a glass bottle checking at the bottom and the middle of a glass bottle, where bottles are scratched after putting them many times in the cases...

Blair...

I found these Pepsi bottles (full)for sale at a Mexican grocery in Yonkers, NY about a year ago...

The bottle on the left was made in 1972. As long as the bottles get returned and aren't damaged, they can remain in circulation. It's not unsual for refillable bottles to stay in circulation for 20 or more years, though they do get pretty scuffed up.

In Mexico, you can still find Coke and Pepsi products in refillable glass. Refillable plastic bottles-that's right, refillable plastic-- are also available. Of course, cans and one-way plastic bottles are becoming more popular-or are being pushed more aggresively by Coke and Pepsi.

One of the big Coke bottlers in Mexico is ARCA. For a look at some of the various packages used in Mexico by this bottler, go to http://www.e-arca.com.mx/productos_i.asp

Sr. Cokeaholic has provided some links to other Mexican bottlers in the past (along with other great info), maybe you can again ?

As you know, Prince Edward Island, Canada, mandates the use of refillable bottles for carbonated drinks. I found a 750 mL 7-Up bottle from 1978, with the vertical "7-UP" graphics, for sale in a supermarket there last summer. It is said that 98% of the bottles used on PEI are recovered. The other two percent are lost or broken, inadvertently thrown out or recycled, or taken home by nuts like me .

And I'm again sharing this photo of Pepsi products I bought in August of 2005. Old enough for ya?

Originally posted by No Soda:
Sr. Cokeaholic has provided some links to other Mexican bottlers in the past (along with other great info), maybe you can again ?

Sure I can!

Coca-Cola FEMSA (distributes Coke products in Mexico City, Guanajuato, Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla and Michoacan): www.coca-colafemsa.com

Grupo Continental (distributes Coke products in Jalisco, San Luis PotosÃ*, Zacatecas, part of Coahuila, Durango, part of Colima and my hometown Aguascalientes): www.contal.com

BEPENSA(distributes Coke products and own products in Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo): www.bepensa.com

Grupo Tampico (distributes Coke products in part of Tamaulipas, part of San Luis Potosi and part of Veracruz): www.grupotampico.com.mx

Grupo Fomento Queretano (distributes Coke products in Queretaro): www.gfq.com.mx

Embotelladora del Nayar (distributes Coke in Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco) www.grupoalica.com.mx

Grupo Yoli (distributes Coke products and own products in Guerrero: www.yoli.com.mx (under construction, as always)

CompañÃ*a Embotelladora del Fuerte (distributes Coke products in Tijuana, B.C. and part of Sinaloa): www.cef.com.mx (under construction)

The rest (CIMSA, Embotelladora de Colima, Organización RICA and Bebidas Refrescantes de Nogales) doesn't have website

[ 11-30-2006, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: Ramón Cokeaholic ]

and now we're talking about soda in glass bottles here are the glass bottle sizes we have here in Ags.:

Coca-Cola
6.5 oz. Returnable
8 oz. Non Returnable
355 ml Returnable (Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, Fanta, Lift, Fresca and Ciel Mineralizada)
500 ml Returnable (Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Lift and Fresca)
(More info at www.contal.com )

Pepsi
355 ml Returnable (Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Mirinda, Manzanita Sol, Kas and 7UP)
Jarritos 340 ml Returnable

[ 11-30-2006, 01:45 AM: Message edited by: Ramón Cokeaholic ]

When I was in the store picking up the Peruvian sodas I posted on the other thread, I saw a Manzanita Sol bottle with graphics that were significantly older than the rest of the bottles. It was a simple, plain white logo, while the other bottles had the flashier red logo.

Maybe that bottle was from 1980's, after PepsiCo. acquired the Manzanita Sol brand...

Another interesting website is from the second largest Pepsi bottling company in Mexico: GEUSA (Grupo Embotelladoras Unidas) www.geusa.com.mx , where you can find what sizes and brands use in their territories...

[ 11-30-2006, 12:32 PM: Message edited by: Ramón Cokeaholic ]

Originally posted by sodadood:
I would have thought most of those bottles from the 1980s should be long gone - refilled so many times over that they were destroyed. Does anyone know how long they use their refillables?

Looking at US Coke - most of the 6.5 oz. Coke bottles that I got in Winona, MN are from the 70's and 80's with some from the 60's (some say "Coca-Cola" on both sides and not "Coke").