Pepsi lands Crush?

reset man · #1 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 08:24 PM

Anyone hearing Pepsi has or is close to cutting a deal with Dr. Pepper/Snapple to distribute Crush soda?

fusion · #2 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 08:51 PM

Yup. I saw it in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. PBG is picking it up, not PEP. My guess is they'll have it everywhere except where they already have Sunkist. Twister has always been a weak brand.

drpep · #3 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 09:30 PM

I wonder if that includes Western NY State? One of the beer vendors in the Elmira/Corning area distributes Cro-pac made Crush now. I'm not sure who has Rochester but it's from Cro-pac. I'm sure Clintons Ditch still produces Crush. Pepsi had Crush here until @15 years ago.

mjb1124 · #4 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 11:15 PM

I've always been hoping this would happen. It seems that DPSG (and its predecessors) have mostly been focused on Sunkist in recent years, putting Crush to the side while Pepsi was stuck with weaker brands. So this should work out well for both sides. Crush has been mostly MIA around here in recent years, except for the occasional glass bottles. I look forward to seeing it again.

Wally1912 · #5 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 11:21 AM

I wish Pepsi would strike a simlar deal with DPSG to distribute Hires and deep-six that horrible Mug Root Beer.

Tannerman · #6 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 11:59 AM

Here's the article from the AJC

Tannerman · #7 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjb1124

It seems that DPSG (and its predecessors) have mostly been focused on Sunkist in recent years, putting Crush to the side while Pepsi was stuck with weaker brands.

Why do you think that is? Do you think it's the caffeine (Sunkist) vs. non-caffeine (Crush) element at play? Or something else?

Wally1912 · #8 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 02:17 PM

Another article in the Wall Street Journal has a little bit more detail, if anyone is interested.

Quote:

Pepsi Bottling to Distribute
Dr Pepper's Crush Sodas
By BETSY MCKAY
August 22, 2008; Page B5

The maker of Orange Crush is squeezing some new life out of an old soda standby.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. Thursday disclosed that Pepsi Bottling Group Inc., the second-largest soft-drink bottler in the U.S., will distribute its Crush sodas in most of the bottler's U.S. markets.

The deal is a coup for Plano, Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple, spun off from Cadbury PLC earlier this year, and marks a comeback for a well-known brand that faded from store shelves after several bottlers dropped it for other brands.

The new arrangement will make Crush available in about two-thirds of the U.S., still excluding parts of the northern Midwest and northern mountain states. It is sold in less than 40% of the country now, mostly in the Midwest.

PBG will gain a widely recognized brand to take on Coca-Cola Co.'s Fanta, the leading orange soda by volume. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

PBG's move represents a blow for PepsiCo Inc., which stands to lose a large chunk of distribution for its own main orange soda at a time when sales of fruit-flavored drinks are performing better than cola. To accommodate Crush, which PBG will sell in orange, diet orange and grape flavors, PBG in those markets will drop Pepsi's Tropicana Twister soda, which comes in similar flavors.

While Coca-Cola and PepsiCo bottlers sell a few outside brands, they rarely take on a product that competes directly with a Coke or Pepsi drink. PBG distributes more than half of Pepsi's U.S. volume. It distributes Crush in Canada.

Pepsi spokeswoman Nicole Bradley shrugged off the distribution loss. "Of course we would prefer our bottlers to carry our products over anyone else's, but we have no objection to PBG's orange-soda decision," she said. "We're making bigger bets together, going where the growth is," such as enhanced water and energy-drink brands, she said.

PBG spokesman Jeff Dahncke said relations with PepsiCo have "never been stronger."

The market for orange sodas -- which includes fruit flavors such as grape and pineapple -- represents a small portion of U.S. soft-drink volume. They account for a 4.1% share of the market, according to industry publication Beverage Digest.

But fruit-flavored sodas are performing better than Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, or other giant soda brands partly because they are popular among the growing number of Hispanic consumers in the U.S., according to Jim Johnston, Dr. Pepper Snapple's president of sales. "We believe Crush has some unlocked potential," he said.

Sales of orange sodas declined 1.6% by volume in the U.S. in 2007, hurt by consumers shifting to newer drinks such as enhanced waters and energy drinks. But the drop was less steep than the 2.3% drop for the carbonated-soft-drinks industry overall, according to Beverage Digest.

Tannerman · #9 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 05:16 PM

Nice find, Wally1912. It's interesting to note from the WSJ article the direct mention of Twister's failure.

Dewman1979 · #10 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008, 03:36 AM

Hope this means that grape will be available in 12 packs. We can already get it in bottles.

I also want strawberry. I freakin' love Crush.