Fusion,
Good point. Caribou is very much like Starbucks. It's bitter and by no means
like an average cup of joe. I'm pretty sure that they roast the heck
out their coffee beans. A few years back I got an iced coffee, even after I
sweetened it up like I would a Starbucks IC, it was wicked. LOL

My Dad who is a Starbucks drinker says that Caribou coffee tastes
stronger than Starbucks. Who knows????

I personally do not think that frappuccinos 98% share is in much danger, no matter what coke tries to throw at it. PBG/Pepsico along with Starbucks have spent to much time and money developing the brand for it to be knocked down by another attempt from coke to compete with it. It is too much of a cash cow and PBG would simply lower the price for awhile to crush whatever competition there ends up being.

I think that most of Coke's failure in the RTD coffee market is putting unrecognizable brands out there.

Planet Java.. no name recognition at all.
Godiva - brand name, but associated with chocolate, not coffee.

Caribou is a name that is associated with coffee, but only in areas where they have shops. The closest one to me is north of Baltimore, MD (i was actually there on Wednesday, checking to see if they were carrying the RTD drinks, but they weren't).

Other coffee drinks struggled/failed due to poor distribution and/or poor graphic design. those Havana drinks look cheesy, and the other drinks I have seen looked good, but they were hard to find.

Then you have that whole issue with the defective self-heating cans.. Wolfgang Puck couldn't have been happy about them!

I liked it, Honest! But I absolutely hated the price, I felt like an idiot paying 4 bucks for 4 bottles.....But It tasted good and became my A.M. drink of choice, Oh well............Better stock up at the local store, and yup.............I saw this coming a long time ago, I'm surprised it lasted THIS long!

$4 is almost a bargain, considering it was over $6 in some places when it first came out (even more for single bottles).

I wonder if we'll see any leftover stock at Big Lots or Dollar Tree?

6 bucks !!!! Wow that's insane!!! When I first heard about it I was psyched!!! Then I get to the store and I see these tiny bottles................I can buy a 12 pk of regular coke for $3.33!!

Too bad too...................Because I DO like it!!

Oh well, I guess I have to find a new cold coffee drink!

Originally Posted by tomyear2134

6 bucks !!!! Wow that's insane!!! When I first heard about it I was psyched!!! Then I get to the store and I see these tiny bottles................I can buy a 12 pk of regular coke for $3.33!!

Too bad too...................Because I DO like it!!

Oh well, I guess I have to find a new cold coffee drink!

you get a 12 pack of coke for $3.33?!? i paid $7.49 last week!!!

Originally Posted by popologist

you get a 12 pack of coke for $3.33?!? i paid $7.49 last week!!!

WOW....HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!
Last Sunday I paid $5.50 for a cube of Pepsi.
Last week and now this week the chain grocery stores
are selling Coke case (24cans) for $5

Like I have said before, the Chicago soda pop market is very competitive.
Fridge packs normally sell for 4 for $11, on sale they sell for 4 for $10
2 ltrs are normally sold each week on sale for $1 to .89 cents.

Blak was so bad, about a month before it hit the shelves, I spoke to two two Coke reps who told me personally (with conviction), that it tasted like crap, and it would be far to overpriced to last long in the beverage market. "You didn't hear this from us bud!" was their parting conversation.